Fin Fang Foom wrote:

It's very unlikely but sometimes it happens. I know a certain line of very cheap tpbs from a certain company that has the problem of ink fading.


Would you care to be a bit more specific? Or are you being vague for a reason?

I know there are people 'round here live in fear that the books they buy are only moments -- moments! -- away from binding coming apart, or paper turning to dust, or some other catastrophe that will destory them forever, but fading ink color on the bookblock is even less likely. On a case or dust jacket? Sure, that's bound to happen, especially if you don't keep books out of direct sun, but other than that, it's really not something to be worried about. (Not that the other things are anything to worry about, but, you know, one step at a time.)


People probably worry about fading/discoloration because they're replacing their faded/discolored floppies with these collected editions and know what time can do. The binding on some of these larger books is of some concern, though. Some of these higher pagecount OHCs and omniboo sag in the middle due to a heavy text block which stresses the binding and can cause damage. It looks like one of my smaller omniboo has the paper backing (that hides the stitching) separating from the textblock due to sagging. Anyway, I'm not surprised that collectors--who are prone to OCD and who spend time arranging their shelves to appease that inner-demon that says Fatal Attractions can't possibly sit between Mutant Massacre and Fall of the Mutants--should obsessively worry about the future condition of their collection.

But I guess if you were only to buy softcovers you wouldn't have to worry about that.