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I'm sure that there are many of you who have bought someone's comic book collection, or gone through one at a yard sale, etc. and you'll now what I'm talking about.

People have an odd way of "protecting" their books sometimes. I have seen large, square boxes with the comics just tossed in willy-nilly, one guy had homemade bags and boards - any piece of cardboard will do, cereal boxes, beer cartons, cat food containers and all wrapped in kitchen plastic wrap and sealed with a large swath of masking tape. Another time someone had EVERY book triple boarded, no matter what it was or what condition it was in. So a long box had about 150 comics in it and weighed a ton. Now that's mono-mania!

Recently I picked up a collection of Silver and Bronze Marvel and DC. I was impressed at first because they were all in Mylars. Once I started going through them however I noticed that instead of tape to close the bags the previous owner had used some type of glue from side to side about a quarter of an inch from the top edge of the bag. The thing is, this glue has eked out and now the bags are stuck together.

Luckily, I guess, the books aren't anything special other than being old. Meaning no key issues and the highest grade is probably VG, maybe a VG/FN? So I'm not too worried about them suffering much more damage as I pry them apart but what I'm facing now is about 100-150 Mylars that are sticky. I've re-bagged the comics but I don't want to throw away the Mylars cause they're like what, 12 cents each? Is there any way to clean them and reuse them safely or are they all trash?

Feel free to let us know if you have encountered any bizarre incident like this, I'm positive that you have. I could use a good laugh!

I had a friend from work show me some of his books once. He put them all in a tube. It looked like the tube you get after you use up a roll of wrapping paper. Each tube was cut to the length of a comic and several comics were put in each one. Needless to say nothing was flat, although I suppose they would flatten back out over time.

I just think the Mylar thing is funny. Going to a comic show, finding some 2 for a $1 stand or something, and having random modern-age books in Mylar. Probably from some previous owner. And the hard Mylar bags are more than twelve cents each--back in the day, they were anywhere from .75 to $1 each (I think Mylites are like twelve cents each, maybe a little more). Not sure what they are now, but they're worth more than the modern-age book it was protecting.

when I was a kid I didn't have a LCS or 'the internet' so I'd use giant freezer bags and cardboard cut to size.... it took me forever to bag and board a childhood collection once I discovered real bags & boards. As for re-using those mylars, no use in trying man they're shot.

lol, I am one of those shmucks, I put all my comics in Mylars with extenders as well. So costs me about $0.50 to bag any comic I buy. Only reason I do this though is I bought a huge bulk order to cut price down from $1 to $0.50 so have enough to go around for a while.

Craziest thing I saw was a Hulk collection I snagged on Ebay, all the old silver age stuff had the right edge trimmed so it would be the same width of the newer stuff. Couldn't figure out why they were so floppy in the bags, wasn't until I graded 4 or 5 books before I realized what was going on. That pile has been sitting on a shelf for 2 years while I figure out what to do with them, hoping the next CCL has a notes indicator.

I was afraid of that. I tried Windex on a couple but it just smeared the stuff around and didn't improve it at all. Made it worse. Oh, well. At least none of the comics got the glue on them so that's a plus. I should try running them (the bags) through the diswasher!

I also seem to remember someone saying on one of these forums that he vacuum seals his comics with a Kitchen Cryovac. To each his own...

Use lighter fluid to remove the glue from the bags. It also evaporates after use, so no danger of it ruining the comics later.

Or rubbing alcohol

So, what you're saying is, wrapping my books in wet burlap and burying them under a chicken coop is bad??? Hm. Who knew.

Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

I love you Canadians and your sense of humor!

Wait, you were joking - right?

Yes.......kidding. For sure kidding. I mean really. Who in a million years has that much burlap kicking around to wrap comics in.

Aren't there the "Market Notes" section? I've been putting all my information in there :/

The problem is that most people don't look at the market notes. So they're pretty much pointless on this site right now.

Crossbow is hoping (along with the rest of us) that a future CCL update will contain a feature where a store's listings are flagged somehow, directing the buyer to check the market notes because of some specific reason (condition, Mark Jeweler insert, signature, etc).