Oversized Comics... Treasury Edition etc.

[benday-dot]

Hi everyone... I recently had cause in CBR to refer to the Marvel Treasury Edition series of comics Marvel put out a while back. Once upon a time, I recall, the occasion of release of any of these oversize books was cause for much personal happiness and delight. Though they largely consisted of reprints seeing those giant diplays of Ditko and Kirby was never a cause for complaint. Anyway I just dug out a bunch of my old copies of these books and was wondering if any of you out there have any preservation ideas for these large books. Do they make boards and bags for this format? It is about the only type of comic I own that is currently at the mercy of who knows what...

Also have any of you recently looked at the DC Collector's Edition oversize volume of Superman vs. Shazam from 1978? I have it here in front of me right now, and, having not looked at at for a hell of a long time, I'd forgotten what a knockout it is. The Buckler/ Giordano art really impresses.

[scratchie]

Hi everyone... I recently had cause in CBR to refer to the Marvel Treasury Edition series of comics Marvel put out a while back. Once upon a time, I recall, the occasion of release of any of these oversize books was cause for much personal happiness and delight. Though they largely consisted of reprints seeing those giant diplays of Ditko and Kirby was never a cause for complaint. Anyway I just dug out a bunch of my old copies of these books and was wondering if any of you out there have any preservation ideas for these large books. Do they make boards and bags for this format. It is about the only type of comic I own that is currently at the mercy of who knows what...Bags Unlimited (http://www.bagsunlimited.com) makes a bag and board for "Old Life Magazine" sized magazines which should, I think, fit these comics (the older Life issues were bigger than the newer ones). I've started to come to the conclusion that Bags Unlimited is overpriced and kind of poor quality, though.

For the few Treasury comics I have, I store them in "Tabloid Size" bags & boards that I got from http://www.the2buds.com/. These are too tall for the Treasury comics but they're the right width. It looks like The2Buds also sells Treasury-sized bags: http://www.the2buds.com/subagtrs.htm but not boards (you could get some of the tabloid-sized boards and cut them down).

[TheHistorian]

How was 2buds? I'm thinking of ordering from them fairly soon.

[scratchie]

How was 2buds? I'm thinking of ordering from them fairly soon.2Buds are fine. I've ordered from them numerous times. Their website looks a little amateurish but I haven't had a problem with their service. Although I've been buying mostly bags and boards from them, they seem to sell a lot of other stuff that Bags Unlimited also sells (e.g. comic book boxes).

EDIT: One thing that's weird about 2Buds is that they sell Ultra-Pro bags, but the matching boards they sell are some knock-off brand. I don't think it's a huge deal but the brand they sell tends to shed little board particles when you take them out of the package, which is mildly annoying. But on the other hand, I did see the exact same brand of boards with the comic supplies at Newbury Comics yesterday so it seems like they're gaining market share.

In any case, though, 2Buds is a lot better than Bags Unlimited. I ordered some "Rolling Stone size" bags from B.U. (because 2Buds was sold out) and they seemed like they had been sitting in their warehouse for a couple of years; the "self-sealing" glue strip was completely dried up and the bags themselves were all crinkly rather than supple. That, along with the high prices, finally turned me off from Bags Unlimited altogether (at least for comic supplies; I'm sure I'll order from them again when I need LP sleeves).