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  1. #31
    Mighty Member Dayle88's Avatar
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    My first omnibus was Ultimate Spider-man. I put it on my bookshelf and not long after the top of the spine was completely flat from the text block dropping. Didn't do any actual damage but all my omnibus are stored horizontally now. I stack them on top of each other in pairs and some have three in a stack for the smaller ones. I looked into the shoes but it does seem a pain to do all that measuring and modifying.

  2. #32
    Incredible Member NZ_InFerno's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrGregatron View Post
    This is great thread and very helpful since I'd guess about a quarter of the Marvel omnibuses I've owned have had this problem after one reading. My The Stand omnibus had this problem before I got to the halfway point while reading. While I don't if the new Marvel omnibuses with the cheaper paper are more prone to this due to cheaper construction--since I've stopped buying them--I do think it's a shame buyers are having to repair books they've read once or twice and then let sit on a shelf.

    Now I've worried about the bindings giving out on these gigantic books since I first started collecting, Cerd. But would happen if you didn't do this kind of repair? Is this only cosmetic or will the binding get worse with age and multiple readings? I notice that most of my omnibuses want to sag in the middle of the text block because the block is so massive. Should I put supports under the block like some people here do? I don't know if it's damaging the binding by doing this or not?
    A quarter of your Marvel Omnis after one reading? Crikey how do you store your books.

    As long as you have them together on a shelf, reasonably tight together so the books can't open, and with books of the same height they will be fine. I've pulled my Omnibuses off th shelf every now and again to check on them and once they're fine and not damaged. Some of the bigger ones have a little bit of sag, but having them together on a shelf stops it being an issue.

    Now I've got the proto Omnibus, Barnes and Noble Ultimate Spiderman form 2004, that I got cheap as it was beat up and I've stored that in various ways, and it's still fine. When I got it, it had a massive amount of sag on the block. But it sits in there fine, all the signatures are good and you can read it no problems. Nothings falling out, it can't sag any further so it's not getting any worse. I check it as well, because when I got it I thought it was rooted, and it is I suppose. But it's still able to be read and hasn't fallen apart over the last 5 years and a couple of reads.

    I wouldn't get so concerned about these books, sitting on the shelves correctly they will last for a long time.

  3. #33
    Super Member DrGregatron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NZ_InFerno View Post
    A quarter of your Marvel Omnis after one reading? Crikey how do you store your books.

    As long as you have them together on a shelf, reasonably tight together so the books can't open, and with books of the same height they will be fine. I've pulled my Omnibuses off th shelf every now and again to check on them and once they're fine and not damaged. Some of the bigger ones have a little bit of sag, but having them together on a shelf stops it being an issue.

    Now I've got the proto Omnibus, Barnes and Noble Ultimate Spiderman form 2004, that I got cheap as it was beat up and I've stored that in various ways, and it's still fine. When I got it, it had a massive amount of sag on the block. But it sits in there fine, all the signatures are good and you can read it no problems. Nothings falling out, it can't sag any further so it's not getting any worse. I check it as well, because when I got it I thought it was rooted, and it is I suppose. But it's still able to be read and hasn't fallen apart over the last 5 years and a couple of reads.

    I wouldn't get so concerned about these books, sitting on the shelves correctly they will last for a long time.
    The quarter of which I speak aren't as bad as The Stand--that's the worst for sure. But I treat my books very gingerly when reading them and the Marvel omnibuses tend to have the paper backing come off after reading them. I figured that must be pretty normal for the Marvel Omnibus line--as if they don't use enough glue when attaching the backing or all the glue runs to the bottom of the book before drying--I'm sure you've all seen that happen.

    I store my omnibuses on a nice solid shelf, tight enough to offer support, but not so tight they cannot be easily accessed. When I read them I read them on my lap so that they're opened at less than a 90-degree angle. The only better care I could be doing is supporting the book block I suppose.

  4. #34
    Spectacular Member Cerd the nerd's Avatar
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    Hey DrGregatron,

    What will happen to a book with a defective spine if you do nothing?

    It's a good question. Obviously it depends on how marked the defect is and how much the book is read and the spine flexed and extended.

    The book spine structure essentially has 3 elements.
    The signatures, which are like little 16 page booklets each with individual stitching through the spine of the centre double page.
    These signatures are joined together by a process known as Smyth sewing, where essentially the stitching is between or across the signatures.
    If you imagine, the thread goes into and out of the central stitching of one signature, then moves down to the next signature and goes into and out of that one, then moves down to the next signature and so on.
    Finally, you have the lining which is glued to the signature spines. The lining and the glue provide significant flexible reinforcement to the Smyth sewing.

    If you have a defect where the lining is not attached to the whole length of the spine at one point, then when you open and close the book the only thing holding the signatures together at that region is the Smyth sewing.
    If you're just reading the book through carefully once or twice, the I don't think a problem is that likely.

    But if the book gets a lot of use (I find lending them to friends will quickly satisfy this level of usage!) then the wear and stress on the spine will be greater.
    All it takes is for a few of the stitching threads to break and the signatures will start to come apart.
    In the case of my Secret Wars II omnibus, I'm sure it would have been o.k. If I left it. I'm probably only ever going to read it once or twice anyway.
    But that kind of defect just bugs me so that's why I decided to fix it.
    Now it doesn't bug me any more!

    As for the text blocks pulling away from the spine, I can see that logically this is a possible problem, but I've been collecting Omnibi since 2008, I have over 60 of them, and it's just not something that I've ever experienced in my own books.
    Yes, I can see that the text block is heavy, and yes I suppose in must pull against/ away from the spine. But I can't see any evidence of the text block coming away from the spine in any of my books.
    I store them on a bookcase, vertically and close together (as many other people do on this board), but not jammed in so tight that they're difficult to retrieve.
    I think that there is enough friction between the inside of the covers and the text block to limit the amount of sag there is.
    When it comes to my collection, I think I have as much OCD as the next collector and I usually send books back unless they are in excellent condition or have only very minor dings.

    But putting 'shoes' or whatever under the text block to support it? For me personally, I just can't see that it's necessary.
    Maybe in 10 years time I'll find a load of books with text blocks tearing away from the spine and cover boards and I'll regret not having done something earlier to stop this happening.
    But really, I just don't see it happening.

    Finally, here's a picture of my Spider-Man Stern Omnibus. You can see that there is a small defect where the lining is not glued to the spine properly.
    Although it does go all the way down the spine, even I can acknowledge that that it's very minor and unlikely to cause problems. I haven't bothered to repair it and I'm reading the book now.
    I'll keep an eye on it and if it does start to get worse (I,e the unglued area starts to get bigger), then maybe I'll repair it later.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Cerd the nerd; 08-12-2014 at 04:28 PM.

  5. #35
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    Hey guys. Here's my Tomb 1 omnibus with some binding issues. You can see that the center-most pages seem to be detaching and that the signatures in the middle aren't attached to the band. Can I really repair this with glue? The gap between the pages and band is very small, so I'm not sure how I'd get glue in there.image.jpg

  6. #36
    Spectacular Member RickyMeister's Avatar
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    Does anyone have or know of any videos for this? Someone in the masterworks forum said they seen one but never replied when i asked.

  7. #37
    Spectacular Member RickyMeister's Avatar
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    Here is a video i found of someone fixing the Miles Morales omnibus.

    https://youtu.be/wGc8Tg2hgSI

  8. #38
    All-New Member kazzzama's Avatar
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    Hello everyone!

    A few days ago I was flipping through my Marvel art books and I noticed that one of them has binding problems. I got most of the books from the "Art of the MCU" series, but only one of them looks like this (they are sewn bound books):

    20190125_174948842_iOS.jpg

    20190125_214021919_iOS.jpg

    The other books from the series look fine:

    20190125_175124075_iOS.jpg

    It seems that the glue let go and I'm worried that the book will fall apart (it's long been out of print so buying a new one is not an option). Would you recommend glueing it back as some of you did or it's just a cosmetic issue?

    Thanks!

  9. #39
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    Judging from what i can tell from your pics, since the signatures/glue/initial lining are still adhered, the book will probably be fine depending on how often you flip thru it. That's the foundation of the page block. The "reinforcement" has separated it seems. I would recommend gluing it back as in this case it would be a fairly simple fix and the cosmetic aspect would annoy me.

    My only advice, if you choose, would be to slide some paper under the head and tail bands to keep any glue off the book that may be forced out after closing. This makes for easy clean up (the bands can be wiped with a damp cloth or q-tip or whatever). And most importantly, give the glue time to fully dry, at least 24 hrs. No peaking! This can disturb the bond and leave you right back where you started.

  10. #40
    All-New Member kazzzama's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by awayne83 View Post
    Judging from what i can tell from your pics, since the signatures/glue/initial lining are still adhered, the book will probably be fine depending on how often you flip thru it. That's the foundation of the page block. The "reinforcement" has separated it seems. I would recommend gluing it back as in this case it would be a fairly simple fix and the cosmetic aspect would annoy me.

    My only advice, if you choose, would be to slide some paper under the head and tail bands to keep any glue off the book that may be forced out after closing. This makes for easy clean up (the bands can be wiped with a damp cloth or q-tip or whatever). And most importantly, give the glue time to fully dry, at least 24 hrs. No peaking! This can disturb the bond and leave you right back where you started.
    Thank you for the quick reply and the great tips, I really appreciate it!

    It's going to be pretty hard to glue it back though, because the gap is quite small, so I will need a very tiny paintbrush or something to reach the middle comfortably.

    Do you have any recommendation on how much binding glue should I apply, how thick the layer should be?

  11. #41
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    You want to give it a good coating, but not to the point glue comes gushing out when you close the book obviously. As far as access, i like to use these long soft-tipped applicators (think extended q-tip). Ideally youd like to coat it all, but you could squirt some glue in there and work it evenly down the spine as far as you can reach, and that should be good enough to re-adhere the backing in my experience.

    *Also want to say to just dive in. I was wary the first time but in reality you're not gonna make it worse than it already is. If the bind doesnt hold, it doesn't hold. You can always try again. Just get in there the best you can and see how it pans out
    Last edited by awayne83; 01-28-2019 at 10:54 AM.

  12. #42
    All-New Member kazzzama's Avatar
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    Thats some great info again, thank you!

  13. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by kazzzama View Post
    Thats some great info again, thank you!
    I used this glue to fix a binding.
    https://www.amazon.com/Books-Hand-Ne...ords=book+glue

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