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Preserving Your Comic Book Collection for Trade Shows

by Dave Elliott
Preserving Your Comic Book Collection

Preserving Your Comic Book Collection

You may have spent many years and thousands of dollars on your precious comic book collection. A comic book is a work of art that can be destroyed by light, humidity and heat, so it’s crucial that you preserve them properly. This is especially true for rare and valuable comics. For a comic book to retain its value, it should have minimal wear and tear and be extremely well kept.

Because comic books are usually printed on low-grade newsprint paper, they can easily become destroyed. What you will need to properly preserve your comic book collection for trade shows are Mylar sleeves, acid-free backing boards, comic storage boxes, tab dividers and a self storage facility. There are many self storage facilities all over the country to choose from.

When you’ve got all of your commodities sorted out and are ready to begin, start by bagging each individual comic book. This should be the comic’s home; it should never be out of its Mylar sleeve unless you’re reading it. There are lots of different sizes of comic book sleeves, so you’ll have to find the right fit for the comics that you have. There are high quality comic book sleeves made for the purpose of archiving and there are less expensive options, but zip lock bags aren’t recommended for preserving comic books.

Next, you have to place a backboard inside of the Mylar bag to give it a spine. This board can go down the center of the comic or in back of it. This will prevent the comic book from getting wrinkled or bent. As tempting as it may be, stay away from regular cardboard because the acids in in will destroy the comic books over time. Specially treated comic book boards will not have this effect.

After the comic books are in their Mylar bags with a proper backing, you need to find sturdy, waterproof storage boxes. The comics should be stored standing upright. Use tab dividers to keep the comics organized by title, date and publisher. Be sure to leave enough space in the boxes because cramming them in will crush or bend them. Short comic book boxes hold about 100 books and long ones can hold about 300.

Store the comics away from direct light, high temperatures and humidity, all of which will eventually destroy them. The best place to store your comic book collection for trade shows is in a self storage facility. These facilities are the perfect place for your valuable collection because they will keep your comics safe, secure and in an environment that is the proper temperature.

Whether or not your comic book collection is valuable, it’s a good idea to properly store them. This will make them readable for many years, allowing you to share your fun hobby with your grandchildren. But if trade shows are in your future, it’s even more important to store them properly so you can show your goods off.

 

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