Sorry, my mistake, they're actually not made out of mylar (= polyester) but polyethylene. I was talking of ordinary recloseable storage bags. You can get them cheap at every super market. The ones I'm using measure 20x32 cm, and are the inexpensive kind without a ziploc slider. They're great for a variety of box sizes:
- "Rainbird/Firebird" boxes (Magnetic Scrolls, Level 9, Microprose) - SSI standard boxes - IBM grey plastic cases etc. Nothing fancy, but an affordable solution to protect the games from any further wear (as I always try to preserve a game in the condition in which I receive it). Especially useful for your trade pile, you can never know how long that stuff will be around ;) /Alexander -----Original Message----- From: Marco Thorek [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 1:01 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [SWCollect] How to preserve them? Thank you for the long answer, Alexander. As you apparently are from Germany, too, could you tell me where around here I can find suitable mylar covers? To be honest, I never before heard about mylar. Marco Alexander Zoller schrieb: > > In my opinion the acid problem, while certainly a long-term threat, can > be neglected. Admittedly those games weren't produced with archival > durability in mind, but they should still survive a period of 50-60 years > without any such corroding effects becoming apparent. I have a bunch of > books and documents from the 19th Century, and they still are all in > fairly good shape. High humidity and direct sunlight are factors that > will speed up the ageing process, but they can be omitted rather easily. > > The bigger problem as I see it is the constant exposure to oxygen and > dust, which results in the much deprecated color loss and yellowing of > the paperwork. Take Silver Age comics for example. Most are still in > sound condition, the paper hasn't suffered any fatal structural damage. > However, yellowing/tanning and color loss can ruin the impression of an > otherwise fine copy. > > I'm currently storing most of my vintage software in mylar covers with > air holes, to expose them to as little air and dust as possible while > maintaining a necessary minimum of air exchange. The more you give them > a chance to "breath", the more smell they will absorb, and the quicker > the paperwork tends to tan. > > Lastly, certain type of shrinkwrap appears to be extremely susceptible > to dust, making it brittle within just a few years, even when other > ageing factors such as UV light have been avoided. Again a secondary > plastic cover seems to be best to avoid this. > > /Alexander > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
