The Scoop – Industry News: Comic Books and Safes

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Industry News: Comic Books and Safes

Comic Books and Safes

Industry News, Scoop, Friday, April 07, 2006

Scoop has just learned of a recent development in regards to comic
books and storage. The discovery has been made that certain safes may be harmful
to comic books.

Uncle Scrooge is a conscientious collector who watches over his money bin with great fervor. If you have or are looking into storage for your comics or prized collectibles be sure to investigate all the details.

Over a year ago, CGC was contacted by a collector
stating that he had some books with rust growing on the staples of a few comics.
There had been no rust when he last saw the books and he was asked to send them
to CGC for inspection. When the books arrived the staff of CGC was very
surprised to see extremely rusty staples that had not been rusted a few years
prior. After a long investigation and with the help of the collector, CGC
learned that rust could have developed because of the chemical compound used to
make his safe fireproof or fire resistant. But because information was limited,
at that time it was suspected that heavy moisture in the room where the safe was
located contributed to the poor storage conditions for these books, not just the
safe itself, since this had never been heard of before.

Recently a
collector, well-known to CGC, called them to ask about the same problem
affecting a single book. He was told to send his book in so that they could
inspect it. After thinking about it and remembering the safe incident from the
year before, he was asked what type of storage he uses for his comics. His
comics were also stored in a fireproof safe. Coincidently, both reported
incidents involved the same brand of safes. There is strong reason to believe
that any fireproof or fire resistant safe might create a harmful storage
environment for your comics or possibly other collectibles with metal parts.
Also fireproof/fire resistant safes are prone to develop moisture. Many fire
resistant safes contain insulation, which in turn, contains water crystals; thus
the high content of moisture.

If you have a fireproof or resistant safe,
or if you are thinking about buying one, please do as much research as possible
to determine if it can be harmful to non-precious metals.

Click the images for a close-up view (when available)

The top staple found rusted recently.

The bottom staple found rusted inside a safe.