Stapling magazines? And other questions

[ProfessorS84]

Hey all, I have a moderate (albeit very unorganized) game magazine collection. I have a bunch of NPs I got from an ebay lot in like...2005. It was something insane like 40 issues for 40 dollars. Most NES and SNES era stuff. Anyway, a lot of the NES era stuff (and the 1996 issues for whatever reason are stapled. My bound magazines are holding up pretty well, but the stapled magazines are starting to fall apart. This stuff is pretty much my bathroom reading so I would like to keep it in decent shape :)

Anyway, do you guys here have any advice for stapling a magazine back together? Not sure if there's a special stapler I need or anything like that.

While we're at it, there isn't a really great way to repair bound magazines are there? I have that gigantic 400 page EGM from 1994 and it's falling apart.

Finally - how do you all store your mags? I have a lot of mine on a bookshelf that I had to stack vertically....which doesn't seem to be the best way to store these things.

 

[kitsunebi]

I've gotten pretty good at taking magazines apart.  Never tried putting one back together...

You would definitely need a special stapler.   Regular staplers aren't designed to staple more than a handful of pages.  You'd be looking for a "heavy duty" stapler capable of penetrating however many pages you need to penetrate (different staplers have different ratings).  You also need to find one specifically designed to staple books (saddle binding), or else it would probably be impossible to reach the center seam of the magazine.

[MigJmz]

I store them in big storage containers to avoid fading and dust. It sucks to take them all out just to look thru them.

[kitsunebi]

On 10/13/2018 at 3:19 AM, ProfessorS84 said:

Finally - how do you all store your mags? I have a lot of mine on a bookshelf that I had to stack vertically....which doesn't seem to be the best way to store these things.

I assume you mean you've got them stacked one on top of another, which you're right, is the worst way to store them.  Whether you're talking books, magazines, comics or record albums (anyone remember those?) they should be arranged standing upright in order to minimize pressure.  And of course if they're being stored on a shelf, the shelf should either be full or utilize bookends of some sort to prevent any sagging. 

If you're serious about collecting and archival preservation of your mags, you'd also want to store them in mylar bags (which is what the Library of Congress uses), or (much cheaper if not quite as good) polyethylene bags.  Acid-free backing boards can also be used to prevent bending or sagging.  And rather than storing on shelves, you could buy magazine boxes, which are long cardboard boxes similar to boxes in which comics are stored, but wide enough to accommodate magazines.

[ProfessorS84]

Thanks for the advice. Will probably start with the magazine boxes. This will help me keep them organized too.

[E-Day]

On 10/13/2018 at 10:39 PM, ProfessorS84 said:

Thanks for the advice. Will probably start with the magazine boxes. This will help me keep them organized too.

I have mine in banker boxes with the magazines stored vertically. For my GamePro magazines I have each of them in individual resealable magazine bags, like these or these. I'm contemplating adding backing boards as well, but that would mean less magazines per box, and another box to keep around.