Preserving Comic Books
How should I handle a collectible comic book?
Collectible comic books you have to handle very carefully if you want to maintain and preserve the grade of the particular comic book. Here we have a comic book that's in a bag, most of which are usually secured with tape. You want to keep the comic book as flat as possible. You have to be careful when removing the tape and when removing the comic from the bag, that obviously the tape does not affix itself to the comic book. And you have to also always be careful with what's on your fingertips. Are your fingertips greasy or sweaty? Because that way you can impart a fingerprint onto the comic book. At anytime, even if you're just reading a comic book, you can, but obviously the enjoyment is for reading. If you're looking to then inspect it, you keep the comic book flat. You worry about not bending the covers as well and you look through as much as possible each particular page to see if there's any damage to a particular comic book. But obviously as with any collectible, the fewer times you can handle it the better. You obviously always, if looking at someone else's comic book, ask permission to look at that particular comic book. The more valuable it is, it may be that the dealer wants to show you the comic book rather than have you look through it. But if you're looking through inexpensive comic books you will be able to examine it yourself. From a selling perspective, the old adage that the customer is always right applies to comic books as well as to anything else.
How should comic books be 'bagged' and 'boxed'?
There are specialized bags and boxes that one can buy to properly store your comic books. These are designed to ensure that there's no damage that could possibly be attributed to your comic book from the bag because bags, over time, because they're plastic, they can melt into your book. The boxes could have certain types of greases and chemicals within it, so you want to go buy specific supplies for comics. You don't want to just grab a bag from your kitchen or a box from the garage. You want to go and buy the specialized treated boxes and bags, so you can store your comics and know they will remain safe for many years to come.
How can light and temperature damage my comic books?
Comic books are paper, that means light and heat and environment can damage the comic books. So you don't want to expose them to intense sunlight for example, as the books will fade. And if the comic books fade then that will impact the value of the books, so you want to keep them away from moisture because as paper the moisture will impact on the comic book and damage the book. So where ever you store the comic books you'd want to keep them away from pipes that are behind it, so that the condensation doesn't build up obviously in concern of a flood. As paper these are the kind of collectibles that you want to store away from the high intense light, heat, ultraviolet light or moisture. In many ways these are very obvious things to think of, but common sense comes into play as to where you store your comics so they don't end up in the trash bag tomorrow.
Where is the best place in my home to store comic books?
The best place in someone's house to store comics is to keep it away from heat, light and moisture. And to have some sort of cold temperature so you can keep them in classes depending on where. Probably, usually on a lower level, so usually a basement might be good. You've obviously got to keep the comic books off of the floor if you can, just in case of a flood or of any damage. Keep the comic books in a place where the condition will ensure that paper will does not degrade over time. So that there is no rust build up on the staples. Some place where the paper can breathe but not at the same time not have damage caused to it over the years.
