Best Way to Care for your Collection?

[slayn666]

I don't think putting a Brodart on a dust jacket keeps you from opening your book and smelling/molesting it .

[Theli]

I liken my care for books to a Coen brothers movie: Burn After Reading.

[bugen]

Thank you guys for the comments. Based on what I've read I believe I'll stick with the current plan, which is to protect collectible DJs with Brodart except for slipcased. I barely own any traycased, but they'll remain without mylar. Many, if not all, of your collections far exceed mine, so this was probably the right place to ask.

I like the fact that many of this crowd actually reads the book, though I go back and forth between reading the books on kindle or sometimes another paper copy, reading the collectible, and just smelling/molesting them. When I do read them I think of it as a luxury. I've never read Hell House, but I know Matheson (short stories, pretty much ALL of them), so I picked up the Gauntlet limited a while back. Been reserving this read for a particularly rainy day.

Happy reading, guys, and thanks again.

Oh, and in case any of you missed it, Epic Rap Battle of King vs Poe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56R3hU-fWZY

[jhanic]

I don't read my limiteds. That's what trade editions are for. I do, however, take them out occasionally and page through them, just to admire the artwork, the layout and the quality of the volume.

John

[Sock Monkey]

I read my limiteds. Though I do it very very carefully. When I first started collecting I debated with myself if I would or not. I decided to read them. I couldn't bear the thought of all those great stories presented so beautifully going unread.

I really need to pick up some Brodart covers. I keep putting it off because there is only so much money yet so many books to buy...

[bugen]

Could I please get the opinions of some collectors on this?

Easton Press recommends that all of their books be removed from shrinkwrap upon reception. Most of mine have been unwrapped, but I have a 2 of the more collectible that are still in the wrap I received them in - my signed Ender's Game and Sword of Shannara.

Is there any protection offered by the wrap, or only harm from a lack of oxygen to the book?

I do not plan to sell either volume, but they were so expensive I probably won't read them either. Right now I'm starting to think the ONLY reason to keep them in wrap would be for resale value, and even that's debateable if actual harm is coming to the book from being more or less sealed up.

Does anyone have any strong feelings or experience with this? I'm really leaning towards opening them up, but the cost is giving me pause.

[jhanic]

I would strongly suggest removing the shrink wrap. Some varieties of shrink wrap are harmful to the books themselves. (They can stick to the covers, etc.) If Easton recommends removing it, do it!

John

[Tommy]

I am bad about this but I am getting better, If the book is more than a few years old, the shrinkwrap can actually be a liability, it can damage dust jackets and even cause warping to the boards if it is super tight, some collectors absolutely will not take anything out of shrinkwrap and I use to be this but after reading about peoples bad experiences with shrinkwrap, I definitely remove it, eventually, maybe not on the first day I get it but I do eventually remove it, I read one collectors comments on tdt.org who said they removed the shrinkwrap and then fold it up and put it in an envelope placing it beside the book it came off, this is hilarious to me, also inspecting your book is a must because the sig sheet could be missing or printed incorrectly or other things may be wrong with the book

[RJK1981]

Yep, heard more of the "remove the shrink-wrap" than anything. I was also going to say it is a good idea to do so you can make sure any signature that is supposed to be there is actually there. I have only had one signed book shrink-wrapped (Easton Press edition of American Gods), but I remove it from them all, including ones I won't read

[Joe315]

And if you want the book protected since it doesn't have a dust jacket you could always place it in a large comic book bag.

[bugen]

If it's unanimously recommended here, on this forum, then by Jove it's the right thing to do. Just finished a novel so there's a quick review to be written, then I'm off to remove the shrinkwrap.

So awesome to have access to this community. Thank you all for your responses, they are much appreciated!

*edit
They're beautiful, and had some super-stiff spines that required a slow, patient break-in. Shannara had been sealed since '99! As the solid text block and the creaking spine could attest. Doing this has probably prolonged their lives decades based on what I saw after unwrapping, so thanks again everyone.

[RJK1981]

You're welcome. I have never had a bad experience with shrinkwrap, but after hearing all the recommendations I removed it from my copy of the 1st edition of CD's Blockade Billy with the baseball card to avoid any chance of damage down the road due to the wrap. It took me a little while to make that decision though

[divemaster]

I bought a S/L book and upon removing the shrinkwrap discovered that one of the two-page art inserts was stuck together. When opening the pages, they actually ripped apart. Another book was missing pages 1-13.

If you don't take off the shrinkwrap, you can't be sure that your book is without a production error.

If a book is offered on eBay "still in shrinkwrap," I won't even bid. I am not confident on what I'll get.

[Br!an]

The books you unwrap are guaranteed to have more problems than the books you leave in shrinkwrap.

I have removed shrinkwrap and found: Mold/mildew, printing errors, binding errors, missing signatures, wrong/missing limitations, wrong editions, adhesive residue, stuck pages, warped (moisture damaged?) pages, missing text pages, missing art pages, folded pages, etc..

The books I haven't unwrapped have none of those problems.

If you don't remove the shrinkwrap then you don't know what you own.

[RJK1981]

Ha! All the more reason to open for me as I would definitely get a refund or replacement from the publisher. Also wouldn't buy a book in shrinkwrap from a source other than the publisher. I have actually had no bad experiences with shrinkwrapped books, but I won't be terribly surprised if it happens one day.