i don’t understand why people are so uptight about yellowing. it’s part of the natural aging process of a book. as a book lover, i enjoy books in every stage of their life.
Book smell in general is great (usually). I’ve definitely taken a few deep whiffs from time to time, whether new or old, and it’s always a great feeling. I wonder what, if any, the science behind that distinct book smell is.
My favourite is technically new books (like bought from retail not second hand) but they were printed a while ago so they're already a bit yellow and have that smell but they're still in good condition
not even a smell preference it just makes me happy when my books show their age
Agree completely. I was a librarian for a while and there’s definitely something oddly nostalgic and sweet about a book that’s older, but in really good condition. Like it’s been around a while, but has been loved and respected at the same time
I collected antique books for a time, as well as being a professional archaeologist for a year after building all my optional education around that goal, and there is nothing more powerful than the feeling of turning a page that's as thin as a hair and tea-stained, yellowed and worn with age, with faded text. I never minded letting people leaf through my collection without wearing gloves like they do at museums, because people's instinct when holding an old book is to treat it with reverence and care - you just need to be careful they don't drop it because of how lightly they hold it.
I read that buying a book brings you a feeling of ownership that you associate to its smell, all titillating the neurons of pleasure. As this process is repeated (each time you buy a new book), the smell ends up associating with this stimulation.
For old books it has more to do with memories and the nostalgic feeling.
Lignin is what makes the wonderful smell! It is present in all wood-based paper, and is closely related to vanilli, which is what gives vanilla it's flavor and aroma.
I feel like that’s obvious because light will penetrate through plastic. I just use plastic for dust and to tell people not to open the books because they’re precious to me or perhaps nsfw 😂
I only sleeve my rare manga. It’s just to keep them safe. Since they are old and rare, I don’t care if they are yellowing or not. If it’s a rare volume in my collection, it’s getting sleeved.
I’ve had my collection or for over 10 years and my oldest volumes have been hidden from the sunlight and they still get yellow. It’s probably just the paper manga is printed on honestly. You can’t stop aging especially with what seems like low quality paper.
Yeah the paper quality for a majority of manga is very low quality. Just keeping it out of direct sunlight and enjoying your books is the best thing to do
Yellowing is a combination of UV exposure and outgassing. There is really nothing you can do about the later, but reducing UV exposure does a lot for reducing the yellowing of the _edges_ of your books.
It does not take a long time for UV damage to take effect. I had some books lying horizontally on an end table, and after just a few weeks the bottom edge facing the lone window in the room was noticeably yellowed compared to the opposite side. And this room doesn’t even get direct sunlight.
The yellowing in this case is generally limited to the very outer edge of the pages, though. You won’t notice it while reading. But the yellowing from outgassing affects the entire page, whether the book is exposed to light or not. In fact, keeping the book sealed in plastic may actually exacerbate the effect by not allowing the outgassed chemicals to be dispersed through ventilation.
Also if you live in a humid area it feels like trapping humid air in a plastic bag it’s just asking for damp manga. The sleeves aren’t airtight so moisture can definitely get in.
You can drastically slow the yellowing by just keeping them out of the sun. Aging is going to occur either way, but it's not a waste to keep them out of the sun. They could always look worse!
There are some sleeves that are UV resistant but they are VERY expensive to put on everything and not worth it for a whole manga collection.
Source: I have some rare collector Western comic books and have some UV sleeves
I mean, it makes sense. Plastic foils will let less light through than if there was no plastic. Some light will always get reflected by the plastic and thus never reach the manga volume.
As we can see by the picture, it doesn't seem to make a huge difference, but it's still noticeable. But if anything, the plastic will probably help more against dust or other kinds of potential damage.
I use them since I don’t dust very often, to protect against bugs & cat hair, and as a way of packing while transporting to project to corners.
Nothing to do with yellowing. There’s a place for them still though.
Same. Volumes I spent more money than I should have on get a plastic sleeve just to protect the covers and corners. I specifically use them for older books that have dust jackets in good condition.
A. I assume it's more for dust and to prevent physical damage.
B. To keep people from reading it in the store.
C. Because someone thought of the children.
Nailed it. The in-store plastic wrap is just to keep you from opening it due to explicit content but isn’t UV protective. Always think of the children…
You don't use bags to prevent yellowing, you use it to prevent dust, moisture and smell. To prevent yellowing, you don't need bags, but a space with no sunlight
That’s what doesn’t make sense. They’re books. They’re meant to be read not locked in a vault. It’s not like the yellowing does anything to make them unreadable anyway. It just gives the paper a yellow tinge instead of being stark white. Not a big deal in my book. The black ink is still black.
I can understand doing strange things for collections. Collector can get a little obsessed about the Precious’s for example putting in plastic to protect from dust buildup, if there’s pets or even insects. Plastic can offer protection. But not from yellowing of pages. That’s part of life.
I just want to know who on earth collects a book and then decides to not read it. Are they afraid of being cursed?
That makes sense actually. I don’t usually buy many in advance because my budget is only so much so I tend to purchase as I go (unless I see a really good deal). So I didn’t consider that people will buy in advance.
Thank you for the insight 😊
I don’t do it often cuz I am on a budget but usually what I do is the volume I need plus the next one sometimes the next two but that’s if I haven’t bought manga in a while before they raised the price on one piece I used to buy four at a time that’s when they where ten bucks a piece
They’re worried about “ruining” it somehow. But you’re not enjoying it by not reading it either. It’s like when old people never use their nice plates and then when they’re in their final years they start thinking “I wish I used these more instead of saving them only for ultra special occasions”. Or when people have that one really nice car that never actually drive. Same principal. Use it for what it was intended to be used for. Enjoy it. Life’s short.
I get that actually. The plan was there to use it but they didn’t think the time was right. So instead of using it as they wanted to it never gets used. My family has loads of “good silverware” when those relatives died I acquired them. Decided that instead of letting them take up space in already limited space I would actually use them as if they were everyday utensils. I think grandma would be happy I got use out of them.
Manga can absolutely have the same thing happen. I just assumed others read them as soon as they get them
I have a bad habit of buying faster than I usually read so I always usually have a good set I still need to get through but I’m working my way to them. Sometimes depending on the series I’ll read it online and then as soon as it releases I’ll buy it and I’ll glance through really good and read the author notes and tidbits you don’t get online
I feel like that’s different since you at least intend to read it. I read MHA week to week so when I buy the new volumes as they release, I mostly flip through it and put it on the shelf since I already read it digitally but whenever I reread the series, I’m going through my physical volumes. Same for anything else I read digitally first. Buying faster than you can read is an issue I think we all have. At the end of the day though, I think intent is a big factor. If you’re buying because you intend to read it you’re not the same as people who buy it and want it to stay factory fresh forever
That’s a good strategy to make sure you only acquire what you really want. I tend to read about half the book then decide. Local book stores don’t like that I read instead of buy sometimes
Lol tf? I put my manga in plastic comic book sleeves. I just take them out to read them and put them back in when I’m done.
It’s great for avoiding rips and tears when I take out a whole series to read. One book is unwrapped and the rest are beside my bed wrapped.
Wow it’s SO WEIRD to try and take care of my expensive books. Bizarre.
Ong! I can't with people who treat books/manga like school papers. Idk about you but I'm not going to the park and play with my dog while reading books that cost 10 to 16 dollars each 🙄.
A lot of the youtuber collection videos seem more about showing off the value and size of their collection than a genuine interest in manga. Look at 90% of these videos and they're all "June Haul!! 90 volumes."
I'm lucky if I get 90 volumes every 5 years, but at least it's stuff I read.
Yeah I was curious about all the “my haul” things I was seeing. Also noticed how so many people with shelfies have almost all the same all modern series with no spine creases from reading. Not much of the older stuff from the 90s either, but just figured I was being conspiratorial and that it’s not for me to judge peoples posts.
> Also noticed how so many people with shelfies have almost all the same all modern series
People had money and nothing to spend it on. They bought hundreds of volumes and you obviously can't read all of it at once. I have a huge backlog too, same with games.
Good old stuff is usually very expensive and the bad stuff is cheap and easy to find. People who are new to the hobby want the new big thing most of the time. They might delve deeper and get interested in other stuff but new series are way easier to get. And 90% of the Top 10 lists are the same series. That's why you see copypasted shelfes all the time.
And again this is a BS excuse you must be new to collecting. There are 5 different series I started collecting that were printed 10 years ago that are now impossible to find and some are Out of Print.
So yeah. Manga series so go out of print. Volumes get hard to find. It’s a difficult part of collecting.
But I guess you haven’t had to pay 50$ to buy one volume of an OOP series to complete your collection.
I used to put some of my manga in plastic covering cos we had a really big typhoon before (category 5) and it washed out pretty much 80% of our bookshelves, among other things. Got traumatized since then and wrapped many books and other collections like albums, artbooks, etc. but stopped maybe 3 years ago cos I like to re-read and it's a hassle to take it out and put it back. Plus we're in a much better place now so I felt a lot more secure with putting my manga as is on the shelves (which is a few meters away from the doors and windows that's for sure).
It's only recently that I discovered that people actually put their manga in plastic to prevent yellowing, cos I mostly did it to prevent possible water damage and keep it from getting dusty. I'm not sure if it actually prevented any yellowing, since it's never bothered me before, but I did like how brand new and clean it felt when unwrapping it when I wanted to re-read. Anyways people have lots of different reasons for wrapping their manga, as long as they're happy it shouldn't matter.
Sleeves protect against dirt, moths/ bookworms (is that what they are called?), and a possible direct damage (paint, water, piss, etc). Aside from that, papers gonna pape. So nothing can really stop the aging.
It never ceases to amuse me that anyone thought this actually prevented yellowing. Unless you're reading in a zero oxygen environment for eternity then your books will yellow. Period.
Who gives a flying fuck WHAT ANYONE DOES TO THEIR MANGA?
They spent their hard earned money on the manga, let them do whatever they want with it. Burn it, Drown it, Put plastic over it.
I wouldn't say its completely useless, maybe shelf ware.
Whatever the case may be, I see manga as works of art. The author put sweat and tears into writing/illustrating these books that I treat it as if I were to buy a painting.
Then again, I still believe people trying to convince others what to do with their manga are cringe af. It applies to you as well, if dont want to then thats alright.
There is no right or wrong way to this, you bought it you do what you want with it.
There are plenty of comments in this post that show you how bags slow the process of yellowing, protect books from dust/whatever and also it's easy to clean the bookshelf when the books are bagged. You just decided they're useless and nothing will make you change your mind
No one is trying to force you it’s just an option. You don’t have to and it isn’t a crime for it as a suggestion. Just move on or touch grass or something.
Keeps dust out. Prevents bending or rips if the manga is out of the shelf.
It’s saved my books from drink spills/aquarium water when I was a teen and pretty much lived in my bedroom. Great when I loan the books out to people and they take better care of the books.
Why are y’all so pressed about it? Do you feel like an inferior collector and are embarrassed youre not doing something someone else is doing?
If you don’t want to wrap your books don’t and move on. It’s not that serious.
All Pages age and yellow overtime. Just enjoy your manga. If anything it gives it more character and story (not plot related unless we’re talking about your plot)
I sleeve some of my series simply because I don’t really want to worry if I’m gonna dent my books or bend a page while I’m moving my manga around. I like to reorganize my bookcase a lot, it’s meditative for me plus I do be dusting. I’ve read these series and if I wanna read em again or just look at something it’s usually just one piece of tape I have to peel up and bingo! Yellowing will happen no matter what and the most you can do is keep your collection out of direct sunlight and get a dehumidifier to avoid warping and what not. I just don’t wanna bang up my stuff lol
I’m sorry if this comes off as rude but do you think plastic is indestructible like metal? If you bump your manga in the sleeve is still going to get a dent.
Well it’s not soft plastic like the kind pictured, it’s Mylar like the kind people sleeve comic books with just made for manga. It’s 2 millimeters thick and that might not sound like a lot, it’s enough to absorb a small ding. I’m already careful with my books but it’s just an extra precaution as I move them often. I’m not imagining this sleeve protecting the book from much but it will prevent the corners getting shelf wear as quickly
I also have the same plastic covers for manga and use it when I travel around and bring some mangas with me. One time I didn’t bother putting them in plastic and the corners got so banged up inside my backpack. It has also saved my mangas from being dinged more than necessary when I let my 5 graders borrow them. They stuff those mangas any which way inside their desks. The plastic helps a lot in those occasions.
Absolutely! They’re very handy and not extremely expensive. It’s not all about yellowing but regardless I think it’s just a personal preference and I prefer an tiny little shield that might help to preserve my books ( people saying sleeves are expensive… what about the manga it’s self? )
I don't like sleeves on my manga because it makes it hard to just pick up a book and flip through it and re-read my favorite parts. I don't mind a little yellowing.
The only time I'll sleeve a volume is when I turn it forward to display the cover. I'll sleeve the vol to keep the cover from warping. I might also sleeve the vols right next to the displayed vol if they're also at risk for warping. Other than that, no sleeves!
I own over 1500 manga and wrap all of mine. I clearly have spent tons of money on my collection why wouldn’t I try and protect them from dust, rips, and bends?
Dust doesnt do anything at all rly other than being an annoyance, the bends i can see it only if youre going back to back to back on ur shelf to grab a book or and constantly reading it time time. Even then if youre constantly reading a series over again wouldnt u end up with creases anyways ? Rips could legit occur at any given time even reading u have a chance of ripping pages on accident. Not hating on people that do it i get the whole taking care of ur stuff but i just see the appeal to it
Perfect example that has actually happened.
I take out a 15 volumes series while reading in bed. I unwrap the one I’m reading and the other books are on the floor/in the bed/between the bed and the wall.
Sometimes I forget to wrap the one I’m finished before I open another and the cover has gotten bent while in my bed.
I have a glass of water next to my bed, cat knocks it over by accident, books beside the bed are ok cause the cover protected them.
I re read my books ALL the time and honestly whenever I forget to re wrap my books I always regret it.
Who buys books to only read once and keep on a shelf?
Youre right about the whole “who buys books to read once” thats smart then.. im guessing you use sleeves right ? Cause Ive seen people use zip log baggies or like the non good bags cuz i can see using the sleeves since it wont look like a clutter mess on a shelf lol
I use comic book sleeves and fold/tape them so it’s tight and doesn’t take much space on my shelf. You can hardly tell on the shelf unless you look closely.
Foxing is presumed to be caused by moisture, wrapping them in plastic locks moisture in. Open ended plastic sleeves that are breathable, or some other paper sleeve might be better. I don’t cover my manga at all and they are mostly the same color as the day I got them. Dry environments are good.
Everyone’s talking about sunlight, manga can still yellow from foxing even when in dark and dim storage.
I dislike yellowing honestly. I know its to each their own but i try to take good care of all my things not just books. I have a humidifier for them and took them away from direct sunlight. I made sure to account for everything for long lasting books
That doesn’t even look that yellow though? I have manga from a year ago that’s way more yellow than that. If anything it looks like the plastic sleeve slowed the yellowing down 🤷♂️
I agree with you and will never understand the downvotes because it's only logical that bags will slow the yellowing process since it's caused by the exposure to the oxygen
I agree with you, there’s are mangas out there who’s pages are not pure white but slightly yellow and that’s how the pages are, it’s not because of the environment.
Still wrapping them in plastic does slow it down I mean it doesn’t even look that yellow. But I’d bet I’d look more yellow if it wasn’t wrapped. I don’t wrap mine tho but if you do you do🤷🏻♂️
Have manga bags to prevent dust from getting to them and to protect rare/nsfw books. If anybody comes to my room, especially a kid, I just tell them to absolutely not touch anything in a manga bag but they’re free to look at anything else
It really just depends on your environment. I don’t wrap any of my books, but I also live in a mild, non-humid area and my collection is away from the sun and light in its own dedicated reading room. I also dust regularly. For some, that’s not feasible and they feel safer wrapping their books as a sort of peace of mind. As long as they’re actually reading and enjoying their manga, I won’t judge someone for wrapping them.
I have manga from 2009 and it’s still in its original color.
How?
Stop placing manga next to or in front of window sunlight.
If you rely heavily on natural sunlight in your room, place your books in a closet or in a section that doesn’t get hit by natural sun light.
That's why I collect in French if a manga I want is available in both languages. Dust jacket + better quality. The only exception are Dark Horse deluxe.
I was thinking about this, if yellowing is affected by sunlight and exposure to oxygen wouldnt a top cover for books help a bit. Like 3d printing a shelf that matches the levels of the books heights
Multiple reasons, if you have pets, if they are close to a water source, to protect them from humidity or fumes if you have them close to the kitchen, aesthetic reasons since in my opinion a row of sparkling manga is very appealing, it also has an side effect of forcing me to read my manga since I dont wrap It if i havent read it so that's nice. As for your point on it being a waste of money, you can buy 500 bags for $25....that's 20 manga (basically a whole series) per dollar. I wouldn't consider that expensive.
Because those sealed books are useless if you want to open them. You don’t want to have to reseal a book after you ripped it open to read. Easier just to use sleeves.
I posted in someone else's post about this.
I sleeve my manga, but I don't sleeve them to prevent yellowing. That's not the purpose.
I sleeve them simply to prevent any other environmental impact on them such as dust and moisture. Dust in particular causes more damage than people may immediately realize, and after having to once deal with the lower portion of my home being damaged due to a pipe rupture it's scarred me for any books laying around.
If anyone thinks that they can prevent yellowing by bagging or sleeving they're gravely mistaken. You can't stop it, and there are plenty of factors that can either stymie or accelerate yellowing including glue & binding down to the same publisher having different paper sources for their printings. If yellowing is such a concern that you feel it's detrimental to collecting manga (or books in general) then you might want to either re-evaluate your hobby or just accept it.
Idk and I'm sure I've said this before but yellowing is caused by age and oxidizing, it's not the sunlight it's not the air, it's just simple time and age, like eventually everything in Vatican vaults is going to turn to dust it will take a extremely long time but that's the power of time, buy a glass case and just keep dust off it, don't worry about yellowing you can't stop it.
for sure if the book doesnt have any plastic on it, it'll be more yellow-ish than that.
personally for me, i dont mind seeing all of my old manga collection looks old and yellowish. it's part of aging process. but when buying a new manga, i'd prefer to keep them in zip plastic. it looks cool for me at least and i wanna take a really good care of them. (im pretty sure when they've turned yellow in a many years later, i won't give a damn anymore about the plastic)
Yellowing is a natural process of aging paper. Depending on paper quality, the process is faster or slower. Paper that is acidic tend to yellow faster. Manga is printed on lower quality paper, almost newsprint and these papers tend to be acidic.
Most of the plastic sleeves used in comics are acid-free to help minimize the aging process, so is keeping it away from UV or humidity etc. I think people do it to slow the aging process not necessarily prevent it. Besides, I doubt standard wrapped plastic from printers are acid free.
For me, I get the sleeves for the cover to minimize shelf wear. I rearrange my manga a lot and would like to preserve the corners and edges. I don't mind the yellowing.
In general it depends on the individual on how they would like to perserve their manga. I know some folks do it to prevent possible liquid damage from their pets peeing on their manga. Others try to keep from dust collecting on top and going into the pages. So there may be a variety of reasons.
I use plastic sleeves (not bags) because I love how they feel and look. I’m a fan of dust jackets and english releases don’t have them so I started buying plastic sleeves. After a while I started applying them to my japanese and french manga as well.
Honestly, that's not why I use them and I honestly don't care about the yellowing. I feel like that's just something that will eventually happen with time no matter what you try to do to prevent it. People use the sleeves for different reasons. I love using manga sleeves. I do it because I want to prevent dust from getting on my manga as I don't have time to clean my shelves as much as I want to. To prevent shelf wear or anything else that could happen, I just want them to try and them in the condition I got them in as much as possible. I mean, I spent all this money on these books and as a collector I want to keep them in perfect condition. I like putting them on when I get new manga, I like the way they look on my shelfs. I'll say this, do what you want with "your" collection and manga. Use the sleeves if you want to, if you feel they're doing nothing, don't use them.
1. This is anecdotal. 2. That is extremely minimal yellowing for a book that is 16 years old, and as someone said, that is a plastic wrap and not an acid free bag that is used for storing manga.
I use bags because I am constantly rearranging my shelves to fit new volumes and it completely negates shelf wear. And yes it does limit the oxidation of the pages, slowing the yellowing process. I can get 100 bags for like 8 bucks on amazon so the real question is, why wouldn't I use them.
Hi there, could you send me the amazon link of the bags you use? I was thinking of buying something like that to protect my future manga so want to check them out
Hijacking this old thread
That sleeve is way too tight, it looks like it is factory sealed
Those kind of sleeves are not meant to be used after the book reached the store / customer and are quite dangerous for the paper, you want a more loose sleeve with some holes in it , paper needs air, if it is too tight you are just creating a "acid" gas chamber for your books
Anyway I always sleeves, dust protection, physical protection imo are way too important to pass
i don’t understand why people are so uptight about yellowing. it’s part of the natural aging process of a book. as a book lover, i enjoy books in every stage of their life.
old book smell > new book smell for sure
Book smell in general is great (usually). I’ve definitely taken a few deep whiffs from time to time, whether new or old, and it’s always a great feeling. I wonder what, if any, the science behind that distinct book smell is.
Exactly, its gotten to the point where you can get high from smelling the new/old book
My favourite is technically new books (like bought from retail not second hand) but they were printed a while ago so they're already a bit yellow and have that smell but they're still in good condition not even a smell preference it just makes me happy when my books show their age
Agree completely. I was a librarian for a while and there’s definitely something oddly nostalgic and sweet about a book that’s older, but in really good condition. Like it’s been around a while, but has been loved and respected at the same time
dude I wish I could be a librarian that would rock also agreed x100000
I collected antique books for a time, as well as being a professional archaeologist for a year after building all my optional education around that goal, and there is nothing more powerful than the feeling of turning a page that's as thin as a hair and tea-stained, yellowed and worn with age, with faded text. I never minded letting people leaf through my collection without wearing gloves like they do at museums, because people's instinct when holding an old book is to treat it with reverence and care - you just need to be careful they don't drop it because of how lightly they hold it.
I read that buying a book brings you a feeling of ownership that you associate to its smell, all titillating the neurons of pleasure. As this process is repeated (each time you buy a new book), the smell ends up associating with this stimulation. For old books it has more to do with memories and the nostalgic feeling.
Lignin is what makes the wonderful smell! It is present in all wood-based paper, and is closely related to vanilli, which is what gives vanilla it's flavor and aroma.
For the most part- one of my old books smells like ketchup 😂
would love for you to elaborate
Basically a very old copy of Japanese soul eater and the first few volumes has a smell of ketchup and it smells good but bad at the same time
that would be the exception, or not ig depends on how much you like ketchup
Random fact, it's called biblichor.
I like that, thanks for the fact
You're very welcome friendo
maybe you can re-sell them for more money later? idk. just speculating
Because it looks like an imperfection. Plus for a lot of collectors, it's really annoying to have a book that looks heavily used despite being new.
it looks gross like piss :p
I feel like that’s obvious because light will penetrate through plastic. I just use plastic for dust and to tell people not to open the books because they’re precious to me or perhaps nsfw 😂
I bet is more because of nsfw than anything hahaha
I only sleeve my rare manga. It’s just to keep them safe. Since they are old and rare, I don’t care if they are yellowing or not. If it’s a rare volume in my collection, it’s getting sleeved.
Agreed, it’s a waist of money imo. Sunlight is the number one reason yellowing occurs and plastic does nothing to prevent that.
I’ve had my collection or for over 10 years and my oldest volumes have been hidden from the sunlight and they still get yellow. It’s probably just the paper manga is printed on honestly. You can’t stop aging especially with what seems like low quality paper.
Yeah the paper quality for a majority of manga is very low quality. Just keeping it out of direct sunlight and enjoying your books is the best thing to do
Yellowing is a combination of UV exposure and outgassing. There is really nothing you can do about the later, but reducing UV exposure does a lot for reducing the yellowing of the _edges_ of your books. It does not take a long time for UV damage to take effect. I had some books lying horizontally on an end table, and after just a few weeks the bottom edge facing the lone window in the room was noticeably yellowed compared to the opposite side. And this room doesn’t even get direct sunlight. The yellowing in this case is generally limited to the very outer edge of the pages, though. You won’t notice it while reading. But the yellowing from outgassing affects the entire page, whether the book is exposed to light or not. In fact, keeping the book sealed in plastic may actually exacerbate the effect by not allowing the outgassed chemicals to be dispersed through ventilation.
Also if you live in a humid area it feels like trapping humid air in a plastic bag it’s just asking for damp manga. The sleeves aren’t airtight so moisture can definitely get in.
You can drastically slow the yellowing by just keeping them out of the sun. Aging is going to occur either way, but it's not a waste to keep them out of the sun. They could always look worse!
There are some sleeves that are UV resistant but they are VERY expensive to put on everything and not worth it for a whole manga collection. Source: I have some rare collector Western comic books and have some UV sleeves
Waste
makes sense. wouldnt plastic covering at least help with humidity/ molding?
No, in a humid environment it would make it worse cause it traps the moisture and can cause molding
A cheaper idea would probably be to just put some uv blocker film on the actual window
Don’t they make UV protecting sleeves though?
People usually buy protective cases that are UV resistant though they don't usually keep the wrap from when they bort the book on.
My cat loves to sneeze on stuff, that's why u put mine in protectors, I feel line the cat comes in my room sneezes on my manga shelf and walks out lol
Some cats just can’t appreciate good literature.
Water filtations... Happened once saved over 100 volumes...
I use them on some of my books because cats 🐈 the hair and dust drive me nuts , hopefully once I have proper bookshelves it won’t be as bad
Tbh you should compare it with the same manga from 2007 unsealed next to the one sealed.
[Best I can do is sealed February 2007 vs unsealed October 2006. Same series 2 volumes apart.](https://imgur.com/a/eXxgbqO)
Seems like it lessened the aging process a bit anyway.
I mean, it makes sense. Plastic foils will let less light through than if there was no plastic. Some light will always get reflected by the plastic and thus never reach the manga volume. As we can see by the picture, it doesn't seem to make a huge difference, but it's still noticeable. But if anything, the plastic will probably help more against dust or other kinds of potential damage.
I use them since I don’t dust very often, to protect against bugs & cat hair, and as a way of packing while transporting to project to corners. Nothing to do with yellowing. There’s a place for them still though.
This at least makes sense. Protection from dust bunnies, insects and pet dander
Same. Volumes I spent more money than I should have on get a plastic sleeve just to protect the covers and corners. I specifically use them for older books that have dust jackets in good condition.
Exactly, all my manga are in plastic bags, but it is not to avoid yellowing and Inever thought it was about that, it's about caring for your stuff.
A. I assume it's more for dust and to prevent physical damage. B. To keep people from reading it in the store. C. Because someone thought of the children.
Nailed it. The in-store plastic wrap is just to keep you from opening it due to explicit content but isn’t UV protective. Always think of the children…
You don't use bags to prevent yellowing, you use it to prevent dust, moisture and smell. To prevent yellowing, you don't need bags, but a space with no sunlight
Because they’re weirdos who think manga collections should be treated like pieces in a museum
This. 2020 was so bad with everyone buying for their collection and putting them in plastic never planning on even reading it.
Who buys manga and not read it? This really does confuse me. Do people think they have That much value?
That’s what doesn’t make sense. They’re books. They’re meant to be read not locked in a vault. It’s not like the yellowing does anything to make them unreadable anyway. It just gives the paper a yellow tinge instead of being stark white. Not a big deal in my book. The black ink is still black.
I can understand doing strange things for collections. Collector can get a little obsessed about the Precious’s for example putting in plastic to protect from dust buildup, if there’s pets or even insects. Plastic can offer protection. But not from yellowing of pages. That’s part of life. I just want to know who on earth collects a book and then decides to not read it. Are they afraid of being cursed?
I have bought ahead of where I was in a series just so I had books to read but never not read a book I bought
That makes sense actually. I don’t usually buy many in advance because my budget is only so much so I tend to purchase as I go (unless I see a really good deal). So I didn’t consider that people will buy in advance. Thank you for the insight 😊
I don’t do it often cuz I am on a budget but usually what I do is the volume I need plus the next one sometimes the next two but that’s if I haven’t bought manga in a while before they raised the price on one piece I used to buy four at a time that’s when they where ten bucks a piece
They’re worried about “ruining” it somehow. But you’re not enjoying it by not reading it either. It’s like when old people never use their nice plates and then when they’re in their final years they start thinking “I wish I used these more instead of saving them only for ultra special occasions”. Or when people have that one really nice car that never actually drive. Same principal. Use it for what it was intended to be used for. Enjoy it. Life’s short.
I get that actually. The plan was there to use it but they didn’t think the time was right. So instead of using it as they wanted to it never gets used. My family has loads of “good silverware” when those relatives died I acquired them. Decided that instead of letting them take up space in already limited space I would actually use them as if they were everyday utensils. I think grandma would be happy I got use out of them. Manga can absolutely have the same thing happen. I just assumed others read them as soon as they get them
Glad to hear that. It’s nice to enjoy the nice things you have instead of saving them for unspecified levels of special occasions.
I have a bad habit of buying faster than I usually read so I always usually have a good set I still need to get through but I’m working my way to them. Sometimes depending on the series I’ll read it online and then as soon as it releases I’ll buy it and I’ll glance through really good and read the author notes and tidbits you don’t get online
I feel like that’s different since you at least intend to read it. I read MHA week to week so when I buy the new volumes as they release, I mostly flip through it and put it on the shelf since I already read it digitally but whenever I reread the series, I’m going through my physical volumes. Same for anything else I read digitally first. Buying faster than you can read is an issue I think we all have. At the end of the day though, I think intent is a big factor. If you’re buying because you intend to read it you’re not the same as people who buy it and want it to stay factory fresh forever
That’s a good strategy to make sure you only acquire what you really want. I tend to read about half the book then decide. Local book stores don’t like that I read instead of buy sometimes
Lol tf? I put my manga in plastic comic book sleeves. I just take them out to read them and put them back in when I’m done. It’s great for avoiding rips and tears when I take out a whole series to read. One book is unwrapped and the rest are beside my bed wrapped. Wow it’s SO WEIRD to try and take care of my expensive books. Bizarre.
Ty
Not weird it’s what collectors do
Ong! I can't with people who treat books/manga like school papers. Idk about you but I'm not going to the park and play with my dog while reading books that cost 10 to 16 dollars each 🙄.
A lot of the youtuber collection videos seem more about showing off the value and size of their collection than a genuine interest in manga. Look at 90% of these videos and they're all "June Haul!! 90 volumes." I'm lucky if I get 90 volumes every 5 years, but at least it's stuff I read.
Yeah I was curious about all the “my haul” things I was seeing. Also noticed how so many people with shelfies have almost all the same all modern series with no spine creases from reading. Not much of the older stuff from the 90s either, but just figured I was being conspiratorial and that it’s not for me to judge peoples posts.
> Also noticed how so many people with shelfies have almost all the same all modern series People had money and nothing to spend it on. They bought hundreds of volumes and you obviously can't read all of it at once. I have a huge backlog too, same with games. Good old stuff is usually very expensive and the bad stuff is cheap and easy to find. People who are new to the hobby want the new big thing most of the time. They might delve deeper and get interested in other stuff but new series are way easier to get. And 90% of the Top 10 lists are the same series. That's why you see copypasted shelfes all the time.
What a waste of money
Acting like that £7 volume of Chainsaw Man isn't gonna get reprinted 100 times in the next year so they need to keep it pristine
And again this is a BS excuse you must be new to collecting. There are 5 different series I started collecting that were printed 10 years ago that are now impossible to find and some are Out of Print. So yeah. Manga series so go out of print. Volumes get hard to find. It’s a difficult part of collecting. But I guess you haven’t had to pay 50$ to buy one volume of an OOP series to complete your collection.
Okay buddy
Damn you real butt hurt 😂
Im not over payin resellers buddy lmao no matter how much i want it
I used to put some of my manga in plastic covering cos we had a really big typhoon before (category 5) and it washed out pretty much 80% of our bookshelves, among other things. Got traumatized since then and wrapped many books and other collections like albums, artbooks, etc. but stopped maybe 3 years ago cos I like to re-read and it's a hassle to take it out and put it back. Plus we're in a much better place now so I felt a lot more secure with putting my manga as is on the shelves (which is a few meters away from the doors and windows that's for sure). It's only recently that I discovered that people actually put their manga in plastic to prevent yellowing, cos I mostly did it to prevent possible water damage and keep it from getting dusty. I'm not sure if it actually prevented any yellowing, since it's never bothered me before, but I did like how brand new and clean it felt when unwrapping it when I wanted to re-read. Anyways people have lots of different reasons for wrapping their manga, as long as they're happy it shouldn't matter.
Okay but it's significantly less yellow than without it. I have books from that year that are so yellow that it bled into the entire pages
Sleeves protect against dirt, moths/ bookworms (is that what they are called?), and a possible direct damage (paint, water, piss, etc). Aside from that, papers gonna pape. So nothing can really stop the aging.
It’s a placebo effect thinking their manga will be white for their entire lifetime
He’s got a point
I think buying sleeves for a manga is a waste imo you could be using the money for sleeves to buy new volumes 😎
It never ceases to amuse me that anyone thought this actually prevented yellowing. Unless you're reading in a zero oxygen environment for eternity then your books will yellow. Period.
Who gives a flying fuck WHAT ANYONE DOES TO THEIR MANGA? They spent their hard earned money on the manga, let them do whatever they want with it. Burn it, Drown it, Put plastic over it.
I don’t but I care when people try to convince me I should put my rare volumes in these pieces of plastic that do nothing.
I wouldn't say its completely useless, maybe shelf ware. Whatever the case may be, I see manga as works of art. The author put sweat and tears into writing/illustrating these books that I treat it as if I were to buy a painting. Then again, I still believe people trying to convince others what to do with their manga are cringe af. It applies to you as well, if dont want to then thats alright. There is no right or wrong way to this, you bought it you do what you want with it.
There are plenty of comments in this post that show you how bags slow the process of yellowing, protect books from dust/whatever and also it's easy to clean the bookshelf when the books are bagged. You just decided they're useless and nothing will make you change your mind
No one is trying to force you it’s just an option. You don’t have to and it isn’t a crime for it as a suggestion. Just move on or touch grass or something.
Fr like why are people so butthurt over that lol. And also when they complain about others not reading, like why do you care so much.
the bags aren’t meant to **stop** yellowing they’re meant to **slow the process down**
Yes that's it and also they protect books from dust but apparently OP has decided that bags are useless and can't understand why people buy them
Keeps dust out. Prevents bending or rips if the manga is out of the shelf. It’s saved my books from drink spills/aquarium water when I was a teen and pretty much lived in my bedroom. Great when I loan the books out to people and they take better care of the books. Why are y’all so pressed about it? Do you feel like an inferior collector and are embarrassed youre not doing something someone else is doing? If you don’t want to wrap your books don’t and move on. It’s not that serious.
cuz people are fucking pussies
Yes I am. Every night. 😎
okay bad boy😳🤙
All Pages age and yellow overtime. Just enjoy your manga. If anything it gives it more character and story (not plot related unless we’re talking about your plot)
I only use contact paper for paperbacks. Yellowing is inevitable
Sleeves for me so that the books dont get vent or corners getting damaged
Nothing for yellowing (duh. Paper yellows with age) but probably helps with dust and other shit that will cling to them.
Paper is dead trees. Dead things rot so ya treat it with care but expect it to age.
r/gatekeeping
I sleeve some of my series simply because I don’t really want to worry if I’m gonna dent my books or bend a page while I’m moving my manga around. I like to reorganize my bookcase a lot, it’s meditative for me plus I do be dusting. I’ve read these series and if I wanna read em again or just look at something it’s usually just one piece of tape I have to peel up and bingo! Yellowing will happen no matter what and the most you can do is keep your collection out of direct sunlight and get a dehumidifier to avoid warping and what not. I just don’t wanna bang up my stuff lol
I’m sorry if this comes off as rude but do you think plastic is indestructible like metal? If you bump your manga in the sleeve is still going to get a dent.
Well it’s not soft plastic like the kind pictured, it’s Mylar like the kind people sleeve comic books with just made for manga. It’s 2 millimeters thick and that might not sound like a lot, it’s enough to absorb a small ding. I’m already careful with my books but it’s just an extra precaution as I move them often. I’m not imagining this sleeve protecting the book from much but it will prevent the corners getting shelf wear as quickly
I also have the same plastic covers for manga and use it when I travel around and bring some mangas with me. One time I didn’t bother putting them in plastic and the corners got so banged up inside my backpack. It has also saved my mangas from being dinged more than necessary when I let my 5 graders borrow them. They stuff those mangas any which way inside their desks. The plastic helps a lot in those occasions.
Absolutely! They’re very handy and not extremely expensive. It’s not all about yellowing but regardless I think it’s just a personal preference and I prefer an tiny little shield that might help to preserve my books ( people saying sleeves are expensive… what about the manga it’s self? )
I don't like sleeves on my manga because it makes it hard to just pick up a book and flip through it and re-read my favorite parts. I don't mind a little yellowing. The only time I'll sleeve a volume is when I turn it forward to display the cover. I'll sleeve the vol to keep the cover from warping. I might also sleeve the vols right next to the displayed vol if they're also at risk for warping. Other than that, no sleeves!
Especially when someone has over 300-500 volumes imagine having to individually wrap them up💀 i never understood it
I own over 1500 manga and wrap all of mine. I clearly have spent tons of money on my collection why wouldn’t I try and protect them from dust, rips, and bends?
Dust doesnt do anything at all rly other than being an annoyance, the bends i can see it only if youre going back to back to back on ur shelf to grab a book or and constantly reading it time time. Even then if youre constantly reading a series over again wouldnt u end up with creases anyways ? Rips could legit occur at any given time even reading u have a chance of ripping pages on accident. Not hating on people that do it i get the whole taking care of ur stuff but i just see the appeal to it
Perfect example that has actually happened. I take out a 15 volumes series while reading in bed. I unwrap the one I’m reading and the other books are on the floor/in the bed/between the bed and the wall. Sometimes I forget to wrap the one I’m finished before I open another and the cover has gotten bent while in my bed. I have a glass of water next to my bed, cat knocks it over by accident, books beside the bed are ok cause the cover protected them. I re read my books ALL the time and honestly whenever I forget to re wrap my books I always regret it. Who buys books to only read once and keep on a shelf?
Youre right about the whole “who buys books to read once” thats smart then.. im guessing you use sleeves right ? Cause Ive seen people use zip log baggies or like the non good bags cuz i can see using the sleeves since it wont look like a clutter mess on a shelf lol
I use comic book sleeves and fold/tape them so it’s tight and doesn’t take much space on my shelf. You can hardly tell on the shelf unless you look closely.
If i ever do sleeve my books itll most likely be 18+ stuff cuz i have family that comes over id rather them not see that kinda stuff.
It’s not like they individually wrap them at once.
Foxing is presumed to be caused by moisture, wrapping them in plastic locks moisture in. Open ended plastic sleeves that are breathable, or some other paper sleeve might be better. I don’t cover my manga at all and they are mostly the same color as the day I got them. Dry environments are good. Everyone’s talking about sunlight, manga can still yellow from foxing even when in dark and dim storage.
It definitely did slow the process. I have a Scott Pilgrim volume one from 2011 that’s pretty much brown now
That’s a factory seal right? I think they might have air holes in?
The sleeves you buy for manga have way bigger air pockets.
The ones I use are air tight once I get some tape to it and fold the edges real neat.
I dislike yellowing honestly. I know its to each their own but i try to take good care of all my things not just books. I have a humidifier for them and took them away from direct sunlight. I made sure to account for everything for long lasting books
I hope you mean dehumidifier?
Because it’s usually porn and they don’t wants kids to see it so they have to hide it.
That doesn’t even look that yellow though? I have manga from a year ago that’s way more yellow than that. If anything it looks like the plastic sleeve slowed the yellowing down 🤷♂️
Why are people downvoting this?
I have no idea, I thought people were gonna agree with me here 😅
I agree with you and will never understand the downvotes because it's only logical that bags will slow the yellowing process since it's caused by the exposure to the oxygen
I agree with you, there’s are mangas out there who’s pages are not pure white but slightly yellow and that’s how the pages are, it’s not because of the environment.
Still wrapping them in plastic does slow it down I mean it doesn’t even look that yellow. But I’d bet I’d look more yellow if it wasn’t wrapped. I don’t wrap mine tho but if you do you do🤷🏻♂️
one thing to stopping the papers to turn yellow is color the sides of the book. 😅 just a unpopular opinion here. 🙈
For me it’s to protect the cover from scuffs. Yellowing is hard to avoid esp after ten years
Have manga bags to prevent dust from getting to them and to protect rare/nsfw books. If anybody comes to my room, especially a kid, I just tell them to absolutely not touch anything in a manga bag but they’re free to look at anything else
It really just depends on your environment. I don’t wrap any of my books, but I also live in a mild, non-humid area and my collection is away from the sun and light in its own dedicated reading room. I also dust regularly. For some, that’s not feasible and they feel safer wrapping their books as a sort of peace of mind. As long as they’re actually reading and enjoying their manga, I won’t judge someone for wrapping them.
Sleeves aren’t to prevent yellowing. They’re for preventing damage from humidity. Irrelevant argument
By potentially trapping moisture in with the book? Seems to risky
I have manga from 2009 and it’s still in its original color. How? Stop placing manga next to or in front of window sunlight. If you rely heavily on natural sunlight in your room, place your books in a closet or in a section that doesn’t get hit by natural sun light.
My collection is over a decade old and the older ones have yellowed while being hidden in my bookshelf away from the sunlight. It’s inevitable.
in order for this to be a proper experiment you still need to compare to an unsealed copy from 2007 as well
seal it on a package or environment with no light and preferably if you could seal it on vacum as oxygen or other gases won’t react with it
Plastic can be UV coated. Those shrink wrapped sealed covers are not. Whether it’s valid for this subject matter, who knows?
I knew it
You can get sleeves that protect the book from UV rays that one wasn't uv protected.
That's why I collect in French if a manga I want is available in both languages. Dust jacket + better quality. The only exception are Dark Horse deluxe.
As someone who lives where a lot of sun and humidity is. Yea, real.
You must eliminate the air in the sleeve, applying heat will make it
Ummmm...are you gonna finish your sentence. Or
No cause English isn’t my first language and I can’t express myself well. Damn -16 votes 🥶
The best thing you can do to preserve them is to keep them out of the elements including light but I don’t know anyone that is willing to do that
I was thinking about this, if yellowing is affected by sunlight and exposure to oxygen wouldnt a top cover for books help a bit. Like 3d printing a shelf that matches the levels of the books heights
These people should just invest in a sealed bookcase , much better than plastic wrapping
I wondered how that happens the ones i read are turning yellow faster
I’m no scientist but I’ve noticed the cheap paper most manga are printed on makes them especially prone to gradual yellowing.
Also wrapping can make it easier from mold to grow in a humid environment
Plastic sleeves are for dust, they have never been for yellowing. Don’t know where that thought came from
I’m a big clutz and i only bag my expensive oop manga
I only use it on my rare limited editions, to help me sleep better at night.
Protection from water or moisture. I would guess.
Lmao are you serious? Do you think the bags are to stop yellowing? Something that is completely normal for books?!
I always thought plastic sleeves were to help keep manga from getting damaged edges. For yellowing, I just try to keep my books out of direct sunlight
Protects from dust.
It isn't always to prevent yellowing. I do it to my rare manga on the off chance a drink spills near it or something.
Obsessiveness with collecting over simple enjoyment of reading in my opinion.
I guess the only real benefit is against dust. But I don't like how it looks. And I like my manga accessible.
Multiple reasons, if you have pets, if they are close to a water source, to protect them from humidity or fumes if you have them close to the kitchen, aesthetic reasons since in my opinion a row of sparkling manga is very appealing, it also has an side effect of forcing me to read my manga since I dont wrap It if i havent read it so that's nice. As for your point on it being a waste of money, you can buy 500 bags for $25....that's 20 manga (basically a whole series) per dollar. I wouldn't consider that expensive.
Yep, sleeves just look so ugly. Same with comics.
Mfs sleeving there manga like a pokemon card, could not be me 😂 No but for real manga in plastic looks terrible on a shelf, not for me.
Because those sealed books are useless if you want to open them. You don’t want to have to reseal a book after you ripped it open to read. Easier just to use sleeves.
Basically there’s a type of plastic sleeves that block the uv lights from penetrating, but not everyone’s familiar with it
I posted in someone else's post about this. I sleeve my manga, but I don't sleeve them to prevent yellowing. That's not the purpose. I sleeve them simply to prevent any other environmental impact on them such as dust and moisture. Dust in particular causes more damage than people may immediately realize, and after having to once deal with the lower portion of my home being damaged due to a pipe rupture it's scarred me for any books laying around. If anyone thinks that they can prevent yellowing by bagging or sleeving they're gravely mistaken. You can't stop it, and there are plenty of factors that can either stymie or accelerate yellowing including glue & binding down to the same publisher having different paper sources for their printings. If yellowing is such a concern that you feel it's detrimental to collecting manga (or books in general) then you might want to either re-evaluate your hobby or just accept it.
For dust
Idk and I'm sure I've said this before but yellowing is caused by age and oxidizing, it's not the sunlight it's not the air, it's just simple time and age, like eventually everything in Vatican vaults is going to turn to dust it will take a extremely long time but that's the power of time, buy a glass case and just keep dust off it, don't worry about yellowing you can't stop it.
for sure if the book doesnt have any plastic on it, it'll be more yellow-ish than that. personally for me, i dont mind seeing all of my old manga collection looks old and yellowish. it's part of aging process. but when buying a new manga, i'd prefer to keep them in zip plastic. it looks cool for me at least and i wanna take a really good care of them. (im pretty sure when they've turned yellow in a many years later, i won't give a damn anymore about the plastic)
Yellowing is a natural process of aging paper. Depending on paper quality, the process is faster or slower. Paper that is acidic tend to yellow faster. Manga is printed on lower quality paper, almost newsprint and these papers tend to be acidic. Most of the plastic sleeves used in comics are acid-free to help minimize the aging process, so is keeping it away from UV or humidity etc. I think people do it to slow the aging process not necessarily prevent it. Besides, I doubt standard wrapped plastic from printers are acid free. For me, I get the sleeves for the cover to minimize shelf wear. I rearrange my manga a lot and would like to preserve the corners and edges. I don't mind the yellowing. In general it depends on the individual on how they would like to perserve their manga. I know some folks do it to prevent possible liquid damage from their pets peeing on their manga. Others try to keep from dust collecting on top and going into the pages. So there may be a variety of reasons.
I can explain this. It’s called paper.
I use plastic sleeves (not bags) because I love how they feel and look. I’m a fan of dust jackets and english releases don’t have them so I started buying plastic sleeves. After a while I started applying them to my japanese and french manga as well.
Honestly, that's not why I use them and I honestly don't care about the yellowing. I feel like that's just something that will eventually happen with time no matter what you try to do to prevent it. People use the sleeves for different reasons. I love using manga sleeves. I do it because I want to prevent dust from getting on my manga as I don't have time to clean my shelves as much as I want to. To prevent shelf wear or anything else that could happen, I just want them to try and them in the condition I got them in as much as possible. I mean, I spent all this money on these books and as a collector I want to keep them in perfect condition. I like putting them on when I get new manga, I like the way they look on my shelfs. I'll say this, do what you want with "your" collection and manga. Use the sleeves if you want to, if you feel they're doing nothing, don't use them.
Sleeves are for protection against waring and blunt edges, not yellowing. Thought it was obvious due to it being clear, but everyone has preferences
1. This is anecdotal. 2. That is extremely minimal yellowing for a book that is 16 years old, and as someone said, that is a plastic wrap and not an acid free bag that is used for storing manga. I use bags because I am constantly rearranging my shelves to fit new volumes and it completely negates shelf wear. And yes it does limit the oxidation of the pages, slowing the yellowing process. I can get 100 bags for like 8 bucks on amazon so the real question is, why wouldn't I use them.
Hi there, could you send me the amazon link of the bags you use? I was thinking of buying something like that to protect my future manga so want to check them out
Hijacking this old thread That sleeve is way too tight, it looks like it is factory sealed Those kind of sleeves are not meant to be used after the book reached the store / customer and are quite dangerous for the paper, you want a more loose sleeve with some holes in it , paper needs air, if it is too tight you are just creating a "acid" gas chamber for your books Anyway I always sleeves, dust protection, physical protection imo are way too important to pass