The Monster Times They Are A Crumbling

[Rex fury]

I pulled out my collection of the Monster Times this morning enjoying a bit of nostalgia. Unfortunately, like the Comic Buyers Guide, they were printed on very cheap newsprint. I found even carefully leafing through the pages caused minor damage. They're fun in that they contain great artwork by Wrightson, Morrow, Jones, Smith, etc. However, the newspapers are literally crumbling with age.
Anybody else dig through these old issues? If so, how do you avoid damaging them?
Also, I saw an ad for a clothbound edition of Captain America Comics 1-10. This was listed long before Marvel officially reprinted the comics. Anybody ever seen this book?
RF

[Mike Scott]

Also, I saw an ad for a clothbound edition of Captain America Comics 1-10. This was listed long before Marvel officially reprinted the comics. Anybody ever seen this book?

There are a bunch of them on eBay. Anywhere from $35 to $400.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/394836560730

[horrorhunter]

Most of the issues are available on Archive.org: https://archive.org/search?query=The%20Monster%20Times

Cool Monster Times website: https://the-monster-times.com/

I love The Monster Times. I started buying them otr late in the run with #38, then ordered the back issues. I had to get some of them later from dealers. I read each one and tacked some of the big centerspread posters to my walls. I enjoyed reading TMT and Castle of Frankenstein more than other monster mags, but I enjoy them all. You can't do much about the crumbling so just read them online. I still have my whole run including the 3 specials, but I've handled them sparingly in the last few years. The tabloid format made for a spectacular presentation but didn't hold up well after decades, especially with the cheap newsprint. I even found one of the elusive TMT pinback buttons a few years back. Still love 'em!

[Rex fury]

There are a bunch of them on eBay. Anywhere from $35 to $400.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/394836560730

I think that volume was printed a few years later than the one advertised in TMT. It was the run with the infamous Bucky's privates and Eight ball fiasco .

[Sir Masksalot]

Where I live, the problem is silverfish. I have four or five editions of
The Monster Times  and have to keep them (and other precious paper)
hermetically sealed in plastic, lest the destructive bugs devour them.

[Hepcat]

The Monster Times and Comics Buyer's Guide were indeed great reads, but that's precisely what they were intended to be. Nobody envisioned that they would also become collectors' items.

Who would have thought that virtually everything we kids of all ages loved from the 1940's to the 1980's would become the treasures of today. Yes, a wayback machine is the only answer.

 

[MonsterBaker666]

Yep, mine have been falling apart for several years now.  Sad, as I always like the magazine (well, newspaper).  I guess nothing last forever but the earth and sky (and even those are showing signs of falling apart).

[Mike Scott]

I guess nothing last forever but the earth and sky

Kansas fan?

[Rex fury]

Hey, hey
My, my
Bob Dylan, Kansas and the Monster Times- they may crumble but they'll never die!
(With apologies to Neal...)
RF

[MonsterBaker666]

It's better to burn out, 'cause rust never sleeps.

I missed the first 6 issues of the mag, and found issue # 7 (Godzilla cover) on the news stands and immediately bought it and loved it.  Plus, it was on sale every 2 weeks - so for a monster kid, that was way too cool! I asked for the first 6 issues as a birthday present, and they arrived on my birthday - a hot, humid, drizzly summer day.  So every year I pull those 6 issues out on my birthday and re-read them.  And, yes, each year I haver to be more and more careful turning the pages, and sweeping up the paper crumbs afterwards.  As I too am getting older each year, I wonder who or what will last longer - me or those Monster Times issues.