Using cling-film for securing MOC's.

[indianawars]

I had a brief chat with Steve over at UKG this morning, and wrapping cling-film around MOC's is a bit of a no, no.
I am guilty of this practise, but wasn't aware of the damages it can cause. It may well be common knowledge with the majority of you boffins here, but I thought I would just highlight what is can do to MOC's.

Cling-film sweats and stops air flow and sticks to the card and takes off the colours.

People think it will protect the bubble but do not realise that cling-film is designed to stick and when it sticks it ruins them..

Steve mentioned he has seen it too many times now So please bare it in mind when securing MOC's.

 

[itfciain]

Interested to hear this as I have sold around 1000 MOCs in the past year and pretty much everyone of them has gone out with film wrap - for me it supports the bubble id the figure jumps into it - no one has ever suggested that the wrap has taken any of the colour from the card - and I know some people have been sending cards this way for years

Would be interesting to hear from anyone that has lost colour on their cards

 

[indianawars]

I suppose under the right circumstances is how it happens. I would imagine heat is the biggest factor and perhaps how tight it's been wrapped. Nonetheless, I thought it was interesting.

 

[itfciain]

Yes, I think heat would play a big part but I know a lot of collectors out here in the US use it as well - everything from FXtoys comes heavily wrapped and they are based down here in Florida as well (which gets pretty hot)

I don't tend to wrap them too tightly as I put them in a Star Case as well - but would probably continue to do that (unless specifically requested not to) until I see proof of it doing more more damage than good

 

[Palifan]

I'm thinking that cling-film might cause problems over time but if you're using it to send something out and then the buyer removes it once it's arrived that there won't be a problem with it.

Maybe Steve could shed some more light but as Iain hasn't had any complaint about using it I doubt if there's a problem for the short term, just don't store them over a long period like this.

Ian

 

[itfciain]

I'm thinking that cling-film might cause problems over time but if you're using it to send something out and then the buyer removes it once it's arrived that there won't be a problem with it.

Maybe Steve could shed some more light but as Iain hasn't had any complaint about using it I doubt if there's a problem for the short term, just don't store them over a long period like this.

Ian

Yes, that is probably a good point - there is no way I would store them film wrapped

 

[sith-smith]

I've used it in the past without any issues, but this certainly makes me question it.

 

[RifleSmile]

For me the risk of a damaged bubble on certain cards outweighs the risk of colour loss through using cling film

However heat isn't really a problem in the UK to be honest!

 

[jayums]

Perfect for temporary transport, bad for long term storage - it *can* get stuck to card.

 

[Caswellbot]

It can have an impact on the litho of the card. I would avoid using it personally.

 

[edd_jedi]

I have found it difficult to remove from cards in the past. No damage done from memory, but by its nature cling film is sticky and not easy to remove from anything.

 

[_Lee_]

Ive never encountered a problem with its use during shipping. I even found Iains sandwiches had been left inside my MOC box, and they were wrapped in clingfilm too

Some guys swear by it, and use it to wrap all their vintage goodness. I know people who have stored their collections using cling film for years as protection with no ill effects - do a search on RS and you will see. It was acutally quite a popular method.

 

[itfciain]

I think that unless I see some evidence then I will continue to use it - although I will be happy to post out to people without it should they request that

 

[_Lee_]

Nowt wrong with the packaging Iain

 

[Jez]

There's been a couple of times that I've been worried about this new technique. I totally understand people doing it as it is a bit more secure and I'm glad that people go the extra mile but I have seen the faintest of residual ink stick to the cling film. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there was obvious damage to the MOC at all, more like a 'Shroud of Turin' on the cling film.

 

[tiefighterboy]

****.. Now i got to use something else for a condom.

 

[indianawars]

I think that unless I see some evidence then I will continue to use it - although I will be happy to post out to people without it should they request that

Honestly, I don't see anything wrong with how you pack MOC's my friend, in fact the reason I started wrapping MOC's in cling-film was because I thought the way you did it was genus... Where as you sell, wrap and post - People sending things to the graders, their MOC's will sit around for a while. If you think about someone posting from abroad will take a week before they receive it, then it's 25+ working days (not including weekend days) until the item is graded, so that MOC has been sitting around for 6-8 weeks before it's taken out of the cling-film. I think it's a long term thing rather than short one.

 

[edd_jedi]

Agreed, doubt it would do any short term damage.

 

[Dannywhiteley]

I have recent experience of this technique going bad and can see exactly what Steve at UKG is saying.

I sent a mint Palitoy ROTJ chewie (not a TT) to a buyer (UK to UK) a few months back and had recently started using the cling film technique without any problems. Turns out the buyer couldn't collect from the post office for nearly a week and in that time it had stuck reasonably well to the card. Result was a few small litho spots removed in a couple of locations around the bubble that were definitely not there beforehand. I apologised, reimbursed the buyer a mutually agreed amount and we moved on. I stopped using cling film from that point on however.

 

[aussiejames]

Strip of bubble wrap around the bubble- strip of glad wrap around that. That protects the sides of the bubble. Bit of cardboard just a bit bigger than the cardback, bubble wrap around the whole lot , then cling film. No cling film touches the card back. Lots of packing beans into a good box. Job done.