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Storage of Autographs
Im not sure where to post this but since I’ve found you guys to enjoy the hobby as much as me, I figured here would be good…
The dilemma that I’m currently facing is that my collection has become overwhelming, so much so that my wife has requested that I take all of the picture frames down, which was very saddening to me…
She had agreed to allow me to hang them up in our back rooms, the ones less travelled in, and for a week I’ve had seven 11X17s hung up, but today I’ve noticed that the room has a slight draft, which I think creates humidity and has caused three of the posters to warp a bit, so now I’m stuck with only being allowed to hang my favorites in the hallway, so… I have to find a way to store the ones that aren’t “favorites” which is impossible because they’re all my favorites… I’ve been collecting for a long time and can’t seem to let go of anything that I don’t have multiples of…
I bought an 11X17 portfolio which will become the home to most of my signed posters, but I’ve got a lot that go all the way up to 16X20 and as small as 4x4… Ultimately, I want to display them, but I can’t afford to make my back rooms have zero humidity, and I’ll be devastated if any of my items become ruined, so I guess what I’m asking is how would you guys go about transitioning from having a massive collection on display to having a massive collection hidden in books? Are there portfolio books that might be better than others? What’s the safest approach?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dan on
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Acid free archival boxes, they exist in all size. House your autographed items in acid free archival sleeves. Do a Google search. For your humidity problem you can choose a safer storage place in your home and / or buy a humidity control device /dehumidifier. If you have a lot of oversized posters, a plan chest is also an option but they do take quite a bit of space.
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It’s a nightmare and I hate it, I have stuff on display that I love but know they are degrading day by day.
I have a portfolio and noticed recently 1 or 2 sigs were sticking to the sleeves.
I hate even touching my stuff :(
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OK also invest in decent quality white cotton gloves, it greatly diminishes the risk of damage / finger marks. If your sigs are sticking to the sleeves you got a real problem. Invest in the items I mentioned above and start your reorganisation process. It takes patience and time but it's worth it. I reorganise my collection every year or so.
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Permalink Reply by crazyrabbits23 on
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To echo the comments:
- if you can, go for acid-free sleeves/bags
- put your stuff in a cool, dark (and dry) place if you have the storage space
- most of my signed books are neatly organized by subject (with some collections spaced out)
- don't be afraid to prune your collection if you need to
- silica might help for long-term storage
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You can buy acid free, archival quality sleeves meant for storing photos at Hobby Lobby in tons of sizes. Thats where I get mine. They also sell portfolios there in many sizes. Might not be the best prices but I'm sure Amazon has the same things maybe cheaper I haven't really checked.
You can also buy toploaders similar to what they put sports cards in if you want added protection. I've put signed photos in those and hung them directly on the wall with command strips which works well and can easily be removed or swapped out with others if needed... or if the wife complains lol.
If you're worried about them sticking, if you frame them use matboard to keep them off the glass. I do that with anything I'm worried about sticking to the frame, it also leaves some space so they don't warp from sitting against the glass.
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Also another important point, if you store them in boxes, make sure you let them breathe, don't stuff the box with tons of autographs. If a box can take 25, only store 20 per box.
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I saw this a while ago: https://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/framing-a-audogrpah...
@Mike Shepherd wrote "If you frame an autographed item in Mylar"
I saw this Mylar sleeve in another old question there, but really can't find these in many sizes.
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I'm not sure what material the sleeves i use are. I've put some stuff in sleeves first, and put it in frames or toploaders touching the autograph... I should take one out that Ive had in the frame a few years and see if it sticks at all.
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Permalink Reply by Joe W. on
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I use acid free sleeves and store my items upright(not flat) in totes inside a closet. I've done that for many years and never encountered a problem.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on
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First things first: Are you sure she's the girl for you?
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Permalink Reply by Jorge Marin on
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Exactly. My wife understands my obsessions for all signed stuff and I got them all displayed in my studio at home. I don't have wall room anymore and I am starting to slowly remove family pictures in a sneaky way to gain more room, haha. I'm lucky that there's no windows in the room so I don't have to worry about sunlight, but in the case of the original poster, acid free quality sleeves might be the best option. Good luck with the wife, you should negotiate better though.
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Permalink Reply by 216 to 313 on
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We’ve been married for 10 years now… Haha…
We’ve come to the agreement of my greater items being on display, but in her defense, I had nearly every inch of our house covered… It wasn’t tacky, it looked legit, but nothing was hers, and when we decided to repaint the walls we agreed that I cut the display down to just my favorites in the main rooms and the rest in back
rooms…
This obsession that some of us have can’t be explained to our loved ones, and until she gets it, I’m stuck with my new options
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