Preserve Your Comics in Pristine Condition With These Top 4 Mylar Comic Book Bags
To protect your most valuable comic books you should use mylar comic book bags. But what exactly is mylar?
In this article, you will learn about four mylar comic book sleeve products that you can use to protect your most valuable comic books.
Firstly, here is what you need to know about Mylar and why it is a comic book supply product of choice for hardcore comic book collectors.
Mylar Comic Book Bags
Mylar is a plastic product made from a material called biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate, or BoPET. It is a translucent polyester plastic film product.
Mylar comic book bags are prized for their durability and high tensile strength. Unlike standard, easily tearable, and cheaper comic book sleeves made from polypropylene, it takes extended effort to tear or rip mylar comic book bags.
Benefits of Mylar
Mylar comic book bags are used by the Library of Congress for archiving documents because they last for so long. The average polypropylene comic book sleeve might last just under a decade under optimal conditions. Polypropylene comic book sleeves are notorious for rippling, tearing apart at the seams, and becoming brittle.
Some polypropylene comic book sleeves could last less than 3 years before deteriorating. Mylar comic book bags can last up to 150 years before they begin deteriorating.
Mylar sleeves reflect sunlight and protect comic books from yellowing and fading from extended sunlight exposure.
Mylar’s enhanced durability means that it will protect the aesthetics and dimensional integrity of your comic books. Some experts say that mylar has a fraction of the strength of steel. Additionally, mylar acts as a protective barrier and suppressant against lignin, the natural substance in paper products that causes paper to degrade over time.
Mylar is over 350 times more efficient and resistant than polypropylene when it comes to diffusing gases like carbon dioxide or oxygen. Comic book paper is made from wood, so it will incrementally release gases and acids that will degrade and fade the paper over years and decades.
Mylar is also extremely resistant to the proliferation of fungus, mildew, mold, moisture, and insect attacks.
“Acid-free,” or “acid-neutral” mylar comic book bags are treated with 3% calcium carbonate to further protect your comic books from natural deterioration.
Here are four mylar comic book bags that you should consider using to protect your comic books.
BCW Graded Mylar Comic Book Bags (25 Pack)
BCW Graded Mylar comic book bags are designed to have graded and slabbed comic books inserted into them. Slabs are rigid plastic shells that encase valuable comic books to preserve their value.
However, just because a comic book is encased in a slab does not mean that the slab is vacuum sealed. Slabbed comic books are not vacuum sealed even though they may look that way. The seals in the slab allow for ventilation and for the natural gases and acids that are released from comic books to be diffused.
BCW’s graded mylar sleeves add an extra layer of protection for your slabbed comic books. Additionally, mylar allows for the natural diffusion of gases released by comic book paper.
The manufacturer guarantees that this product will last indefinitely.
Here are the dimensions of the product: 7.87 x 4.72 x 3.94 Inches
You can get a 25-pack for $38.61 at Amazon now.
BCW Comic Mylar Bags for Modern Age Comics (50 Pack)
This product is 2 millimeters thick and designed to house Modern Age comic books. The translucency of the mylar is crystal clear and its durability is archival quality.
Here are the product’s dimensions: 7 x 10 1/2 x 1 1/2 Inches
Get a 50-pack for $20 at Amazon.
BCW Silver Age Comic Mylar Bags (50 Pack)
This product is designed to house Silver Age-era comic books. Here are the product’s dimensions: 7 1/4 X 10 1/2 Inches
Comic books produced during the Silver Age of comics or through the years between 1956 and 1970, were generally produced with very cheap paper, ink, and rust-prone staples. Most people did not view comic books as investment items or valuable collectibles during that era.
The dimensions of comic books published through different eras vary, so this is a great product to buy to protect and appropriately fit your Silver Age comic books.
You can buy a 50-pack of these mylar sleeves at Amazon for $20.50.
E-Gerber Mylites Comic Book Bags (50 Pack)
E-Gerber’s Mylite bags are designed to house Bronze Age and Modern Age comic books. The manufacturer claims that its Mylar product has one-third the tensile strength of steel.
Here is the product’s dimensions: 7 1/4″ x 10 1/2″ Inches
Get a 50-pack for $17.01 at Amazon.
Conclusion
Mylar comic book bags can be a pricey product to buy. The items featured on this list are affordable, but most mylar products are pricier than polypropylene sleeves.
Unless you have the cash to spare, you may want to strategically decide which of your comic books are valuable enough to store in mylar versus polypropylene comic book sleeves.
You may want to inventory your comics, identify the most valuable ones, and place those in the pricier mylar sleeves.
Read More
4 Best Mini-Safes to Protect Valuable Comic Books
Comic Book Investing Guide: Flashpoint
Showcase Your Superpower with these 4 Stunning Comic-Con Costumes for Women
Allen Francis is a full-time writer, prolific comic book investor and author of The Casual’s Guide: Why You Should Get Into Comic Book Investing. Allen holds a BA degree from Marymount Manhattan College. Before becoming a writer Allen was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including saving and investing in your own small business.
