Backing board
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A backing board (or backer board) is a comic book- or magazine-sized piece of cardboard designed to keep comic books flat during shipment or storage. Backing boards became popular during the comics boom of the 1990s, when more collectors became interested in the storage and preservation of their comic books with the goal of future financial gain.
Comic book collectors refer to a comic book that has been placed in a polypropylene bag with a backing board as "bagged and boarded."
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[edit] Varieties
While uniformly white, backing boards come in a variety of materials and sizes.
[edit] Grades
As of 2006, there are three grades backing boards:
- Chipboard - A pH-neutral backing board that is .30 point thick. Chipboard contains acid and is recommended for short-term storage. These are white on one side and bare cardboard on the other.
- Acid-free - Acid-free boards trap and neutralize acids in paper that would otherwise permeate and slowly destroy them. These boards are usually .028 point thick and white on both sides, one shiny, one matte. Acid-free backing boards are recommended for long-term storage.
- "Super" acid-free - For archival-quality protection, these acid-free backing boards are buffered with calcium carbonate, which prevents the board from breaking down, supposedly. These boards are the thickest, at .40 points.
[edit] Sizes
In addition to the magazine and recently introduced manga sizes, backing boards for American comic books are sized based on the era of publication, including current, "regular", Silver Age, and Golden Age sizes.
[edit] Common sizes of comic book backing boards:
| Format | Average Size | Bag size |
|---|---|---|
| Current | 6-11/16 in. by 10-3/8 in. | 6-7/8 in. by 10-1/2 in. |
| Regular | 6-15/16 in. by 10-3/8 in. | 7-1/4 in. by 10-1/2 in. |
| Silver Age | 7-3/16 in. by 10-3/8 in. | 7-1/8 in. by 10-1/2 in. |
| Golden Age | 7-11/16 in. by 10-3/8 in. | 7-3/4 in. by 10-1/2 in. |
| Magazine | 8-11/16 in. by 10-3/4 | 8-3/4 in. by 11 in. |
| Treasury Edition | 10-1/8 in. by 14-1/4 in. | 10-3/8 in. by 14-1/2 in. |
