Mylar advice

Burrell · Post by **Burrell** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:05 pm

I'm looking to rebag all of my comics in mylars with acid free boards.

E. Gerber looks to be the cheapest source. Can anyone give me an idea of the difference between the 1 mil bags and the 2 mil bags. I am familiar with the 2 mils as I have had some comics bagged in those from DCBS. Would it be too much of a step down to go to the 1 mils? Are they just too thin?

The overall ballpark difference in price for the quantity that I am thinking of orderring is $350 cheaper if I go with 1 mils, hence my indecision.

Any idea?

Thanks!

Post by **JohnMayo** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:31 pm

Great question. Unfortunately it isn't one that I can really help you with. I've got over 38,000 comics and I'm way too cheap with use mylars.

How big of a collection are we talking about here? Based on the estimated savings, I'm guessing around 8,000 to 9,000 or so.

If you are going to order 10,000, it is worth emailing E. Gerber and asking if they have any sort of volume discount. Worst thing that could happen is that they say no.

It sounds like it would be worth going to a local store and getting one of the 1 mil to check them out first hand. That way you can judge if $350 is worth it to you or not.

And, if you can't find them locally, I'm sure you could ask Cameron to toss one in your next DCBS shipment.

It seems like it is worth the time to check out the 1 mil mylars before investing in enough of either them or the 2 mil mylars to rebag your entire collection.

I am interested in knowing what you end up going with and why.

HassanT · Post by **HassanT** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:17 pm

I tried both Mylar 1 and 2. I wasn't a big fan of Mylar 1 but I love Mylar 2. I agree with John, try it with DCBS first, that is what I did.

I now buy bulk from E. Gerber (who has both the best prices and product). However, I have no desire and money to convert my entire collection. It is not as large as John's or Bob's (over 5,000), but I just felt it would cost too much money to do. I have started to put my favorite runs in Mylar (i.e. New Teen Titans) and I put majority of my new comics in Mylar.

Of course, I put Countdown and related minis in regular bags since I don't think they are worth the Mylar.

Burrell · Post by **Burrell** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:22 am

Thanks for the reply, guys.

My local shop does not carry mylars so I can't check them out there. But I will follow your advice in asking Cameron to throw is a sample with my next order.

I will have around 6000-8000 books after I purge some things that I do now want to keep. I have considerred doing it in stages, but then I start looking at those 70s and 80s books and see the yellowing of pages, and think that I just need to jump in head first and get it all done.

But I will keep you posted as I make my decision.

Thanks for the replies!

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 5:59 pm

Mylar 1's get kind of "crinkly" for my tastes, I'd suggest the 2's.

Also, I think plain poly bags are just fine for any comic worth < $20, but that's just me.....

ShawnL · Post by **ShawnL** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:29 pm

I'm considering starting to use mylars. Currently I don't bag or board my books at all (don't look at me that way!)

My thinking is that regular bags would (supposedly) have to be changed after a given number of years, lest the bags start to damage the books, therefore, it's mylar or nothing.

But being somewhat cheap, I'd get a variety of sizes, so that I have the option of putting runs of books together in the same bag. This is not only a matter of expenses, but also the hassle of bagging and unbagging books that I go back to read would be minimized.

Does anyone tape their flaps down on their bags? I'm too paranoid to use regular tape, that could catch on the books and tear them up. I'd get removable tape to use, if any tape at all.

Wood · Post by **Wood** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:32 am

When I first started listening to comics podcasts, all the talk of mylars from E. Gerber got me thinking I was doing my collection (about 10,000 comics) a disservice. So I started getting my mail order bagged in Mylite2s for a bit. But I've since reversed course and use traditional poly bags and boards. I've placed a few orders with e.Gerber and use mylars now for my higher end issues. Probably transitioned about 1,000 books over to mylars at this point, and could easily see another 1,000 or so. The rest will stick in regular bags and boards for the duration.

Post by **JohnMayo** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:39 am

I use poly bags for my entire collection and haven't had any problems.

But, keep in mind that not all poly bags are created equal. When I move my collection into Drawer Boxes two years ago, I made sure my entire collection was bagged and boarded. The a lot of the 20+ year old bags got replaced but the comics themselves were fine.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:01 pm

ShawnL wrote: Does anyone tape their flaps down on their bags? I'm too paranoid to use regular tape, that could catch on the books and tear them up. I'd get removable tape to use, if any tape at all.

I tape the flaps using regular Scotch "Magic Transparent Tape".

No problems with it coming off or being a problem, even on really old books.

The key to not snagging tape on a comic, if you need to take it out of the bag after it is taped, is to TAKE THE TAPE COMPLETELY OFF. Throw it out, or put it somewhere well away from the comics. Just use a fresh piece of tape when you put the comic back in the bag.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 5:03 pm

BTW, I only have about 1000 books in Mylar. I reserve if for the 1st 100 issues of titles like:

Justice League
Fantastic Four
Avengers
Spider-Man

Basically my older silver age stuff.

Burrell · Post by **Burrell** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 2:05 pm

Well, here's an update.

Egerber will not discount for 7000-8000 bags. He said that their prices are the cheapest in the industry and that they only start a bulk discount at 25,000.

I then asked about getting samples, and they have sample packs available for $8.00 which include 3 each Mylites, Mylites2, Archives, Halfback and Fullback. It comes in Current, Standard and Silver/Gold Sizes.

After receiving the sample pack, I would now choose to go with Mylites2 and half backs. I'd love full backs, but they cost about twice as much.

But even after this, I am still faced with indecision. I feel like I need to give my books the mylar treatment, but with serious collectors like Bob and Wood thinking that's unneccesary except for only certain books, I'm starting to rethink. I would think that the backing board would cause the most yellowing of the comics, so maybe I should just use acid free backs and keep the polybags I already have, which, for the most part, are in good shape.

What type of polybags (brand) do you guys use? Do you use acid-free boards? Any further advice you can give?

Wood · Post by **Wood** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:51 am

Burrell wrote:Well, here's an update.

Egerber will not discount for 7000-8000 bags. He said that their prices are the cheapest in the industry and that they only start a bulk discount at 25,000.

I then asked about getting samples, and they have sample packs available for $8.00 which include 3 each Mylites, Mylites2, Archives, Halfback and Fullback. It comes in Current, Standard and Silver/Gold Sizes.

After receiving the sample pack, I would now choose to go with Mylites2 and half backs. I'd love full backs, but they cost about twice as much.

But even after this, I am still faced with indecision. I feel like I need to give my books the mylar treatment, but with serious collectors like Bob and Wood thinking that's unneccesary except for only certain books, I'm starting to rethink. I would think that the backing board would cause the most yellowing of the comics, so maybe I should just use acid free backs and keep the polybags I already have, which, for the most part, are in good shape.

What type of polybags (brand) do you guys use? Do you use acid-free boards? Any further advice you can give?

I do use acid-free backers; although I don't profess to have any particular loyalty to a manufacturer. I buy them in bulk when I need them, and have so many at home I can't remember where I last purchased them.

BobBretall · Post by **BobBretall** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:48 am

Wood wrote: I do use acid-free backers; although I don't profess to have any particular loyalty to a manufacturer. I buy them in bulk when I need them, and have so many at home I can't remember where I last purchased them.

Same for me. I get them a few thousand at a time (wherever they are cheapest), but do not stick with any particular make.

I do know (since we have been entering books into comicBase a lot lately) that comics in ploy bags from around 1990 still seem to look fine with no particular yellowing. Comics I have from the 70s had bags in kind of rough shape & I replaced them, but the 18 year old poly bags & boards still seemed fine.

I think they switched to a new formula in the late 80s that holds up better or something. I'm not particularly worried about it.