I don't own truly expensive posters, Mark. If I did, I'd probably be more careful. This said, I never understood the point of mylar sleeves. Maybe it's because I live in Southern Cal. where humidity is not so much a factor, but my posters have been stacked up since I started collecting some 16 years ago, and they are all in the exact same condition I bought them in. Better actually, since the folds have been flattened and I fixed whatever small defects they had.
T
With the exception of over-sized items I keep every poster, cheap and expensive, in a mylar pocket. There are numerous benefits:-
- Under weight, fold lines greatly diminish and rolled posters become permanently flat.
- Posters are protected from dust, bugs, moisture etc.
- Handling damage is virtually eliminated. Fragile posters in particular are given extra support.
- It is easy to pull out a poster from the middle of a pile without disturbing those above and below.
- Posters of similar size can be kept together for the same title
- The pockets are archival.
- They form a barrier between the poster and potentially harmful resins and glues in my antique wooden plan chests.
- They self-contain any contamination present in a poster (eg foxing) so that it cannot spread to another poster.
- They seem to improve the clarity of the poster.
Mark