Anastatic Comics and Sticker Albums: How to Proceed.
Summary: vonbalden raised the issue of how to handle comics and anastatic sticker albums. However, there are no responses or further details in the discussion.
Anastatic copies, usually produced in publishing for old comics or sticker albums
from bygone times, are copies of an original that are identical in every way to the edition that had
produced it back then. They are not reprints. But reproductions that make it possible to own a comic or an old sticker album in their original layout. With a cost that is obviously different, within everyone's reach. There are enthusiasts who cannot spend high amounts for an original issue but who would do anything to reread an old Disney comic from the fifties, now impossible to find. This is the usefulness of a so-called anastatic copy. Obviously, a seasoned collector recognizes them, and does not buy them even if they are not always declared. But for everyone, there is the possibility of recognizing them. First of all, they are always new, neatly cut, impossible to find in any other condition for sale. The colors, always fresh off the press. An original comic is never like that. It retains the patina and wear of time, even if limited. The paper of an anastatic copy cannot be period paper. That was fibrous, irregular in printing. Of an off-white tending toward dirty white, not perfect like today's paper. The colors were also duller and lighter in period comics. The binding staples cannot be new like those of an anastatic copy. In an original comic they are often rusted, with stains extending onto the paper. An interested observer notices these differences immediately, even in photos. And abstains. But for those who want to relive the magical time of an old adventure, even an anastatic copy can make many enthusiasts happy.
