Effective Comic Book Protection

Collecting comic books is more than just enjoyable – it can be a good investment. Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman, is worth around $500,000. Even new comics can be worth a pretty penny. Take “30 Days Of Night” #1 for example. It was released in 2002 and is now worth around $60! That’s twenty times the cover price. With these kinds of numbers floating around, protecting your comics doesn’t just make sense, its just plain smart. And with three simple and inexpensive items, protecting your comics is easy.

To fully protect your comic books, you will need three things: a comic book box, boards, and comic bags. With these items, your comic books are assured a long and healthy life. Without them, they won’t even be worth their cover price.

Boxes

The first item you need is a comic book box. These boxes are built to perfectly fit comics, and are available at your local comic shops, or at an online retailer like, www.mycomicshop.com. Comic book boxes come in two basic sizes, called “long” and “short”. They are both the same depth and width, but come in different lengths. Short boxes are 15 inches in length and the long boxes are 25 in length. Short comic book boxes are great if you need to store them in a small closet like in an apartment, but longer boxes will cost less for the overall space, if you have the room to store them.

Boards

You also need comic book boards. Without them, your comics will flex and the corners will bend. A good comic book board will prevent this, but keep in mind they should be switched out every 3-5 years. If you don’t, the acids in the comic board can change the colors of your comic, damaging them instead of protecting them. Comic stores usually sell comic book boards individually, and in bags of 100.

Bags

The last item you will need is comic book bags. These polypropolyene or “mylar” bags are designed to seal out the elements and protect your comic books from spills and anything else. They are not indestructible however, so be careful.

Comic book bags come in a few different sizes. Over time, comic books have changed sizes, generally getting smaller. There are comic book bags designed for what are known as the, “golden age” (comics made in the 1930’s through the 1940’s), the, “silver age” of comics (comics made in the 1950’s through the 1960’s), and comics in this current “age” are labeled as the “modern age” (all comics made after 1970).

Now that you have your favorite comics bagged, boarded and boxed, you will need to find a safe place to store them. The best place to store your comics is in a climate controlled room. Avoid wet basements, drafty garages, and blistering attics. These things will only cause harm to your comics, so avoid them.

So, let’s do the math. Three inexpensive items plus your comic book collection equals keeping your comics safe for a lifetime. This insures that not only you, but your friends, and even your children will be able to enjoy what you have for years to come.