A sad day - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

A sad day

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
banshee
Jun 06, 2004 14:31:15 I've been getting more use out of my old Planescape books lately, and found to my horror that I guess due to age, the bindings on a few of them are starting to give....they are 10 years old now, afterall.

Two pages recently came out of the DM's book from the main boxed set, and I've had a page come out of the Factol's Manifesto as well.

Can this be fixed in a softback book?

If not, is there any way to prevent it from happening any more?

Is this just a matter of time breaking the book down...has anyone else had it happen? It's a first for me...

Banshee
#2
zombiegleemax
Jun 08, 2004 16:30:00
Originally posted by Banshee
Two pages recently came out of the DM's book from the main boxed set, and I've had a page come out of the Factol's Manifesto as well. Can this be fixed in a softback book?

There are places that can rebind books (and some of them can even do binding for softback books). Unfortunately, I don't know of any retail chains to refer you to. I suppose the closest thing that I can think of at the moment is Kinkos, although they wouldn't be my first choice. I do know that they can do bindings if the old ones come apart, though.

Originally posted by Banshee
If not, is there any way to prevent it from happening any more?

As far as I know, there isn't any way to avoid wear-and-tear without sealing your books away someplace. Being careful with the pages and bindings would help extend their life, and washing your hands before using the books would keep oil and dirt from eating away at the pages.
#3
gilliard_derosan
Jun 09, 2004 2:32:15 Well, to preserve the integrity of the material, if not the actual integrity of the original bindings, you can always tear them apart yourself and just put them in plastic sleeves in a 3 ring binder. I know there have been a few RPGs I have purchased in the past that were sold softcover with shoddy binding (MektonZ/Bubblegum Crisis from RTS) that deteriorated after a few months of use, so I simply stripped the glue off, slipped them in plastic sleeves.. now they are sitting here in 3 ring binders for ease of use. And when someone needs to reference say skills or weapons, just pop open the rings, remove the sleeved page and hand it over. Really helps with reference as well as keeping them usable and safe from getting lost
#4
zombiegleemax
Jun 10, 2004 17:27:49 Oooh..... that really and truly sucks.

As to why it's happening, remember the velveteen rabbit? The fact that it's getting worn and falling apart a little is just a sign that it's been loved. If it had just sat uselessly on your shelf for years, it'd probably be almost as good as the day you bought it, and that'd be a sign of a virtually wasted purchase- it's worn because it's seen so much use. Of course, being taking good care of books can make them last longer, and the quality of the initial bookbinding is certainly a factor (my 3e Monster Manual is ALREADY starting to shimmy loose from the spine!), but a book thats used will eventually start to look the part, no matter how careful you are with it.

Normally, a good bookbinding set would be all you'd need to fix this, but since you said it's shedding just a page or two at a time, I think I'm going to have to agree with DeRosan. Binding a bunch of seperate pages is MUCH harder than just binding a whole section that spontaneously detached from the spine. Cruel though it may sound, your best bet may indeed be to take out all the pages and put them in a ring-binder- or, failing that, to collect them as they fall and put them in plastic sleeves until eventually the whole book gets transferred over.

As an absolute last resort, you may consider scanning the whole thing in and creating a PDF of it.
#5
gadodel
Jun 13, 2004 22:44:10 Just goes to show that an updated, hardbound book for Planescape is necessary...;)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 banshee Jun 06, 2004 14:31:15	I've been getting more use out of my old Planescape books lately, and found to my horror that I guess due to age, the bindings on a few of them are starting to give....they are 10 years old now, afterall. Two pages recently came out of the DM's book from the main boxed set, and I've had a page come out of the Factol's Manifesto as well. Can this be fixed in a softback book? If not, is there any way to prevent it from happening any more? Is this just a matter of time breaking the book down...has anyone else had it happen? It's a first for me... Banshee
#2 zombiegleemax Jun 08, 2004 16:30:00	Originally posted by Banshee Two pages recently came out of the DM's book from the main boxed set, and I've had a page come out of the Factol's Manifesto as well. Can this be fixed in a softback book? There are places that can rebind books (and some of them can even do binding for softback books). Unfortunately, I don't know of any retail chains to refer you to. I suppose the closest thing that I can think of at the moment is Kinkos, although they wouldn't be my first choice. I do know that they can do bindings if the old ones come apart, though. Originally posted by Banshee If not, is there any way to prevent it from happening any more? As far as I know, there isn't any way to avoid wear-and-tear without sealing your books away someplace. Being careful with the pages and bindings would help extend their life, and washing your hands before using the books would keep oil and dirt from eating away at the pages.
#3 gilliard_derosan Jun 09, 2004 2:32:15	Well, to preserve the integrity of the material, if not the actual integrity of the original bindings, you can always tear them apart yourself and just put them in plastic sleeves in a 3 ring binder. I know there have been a few RPGs I have purchased in the past that were sold softcover with shoddy binding (MektonZ/Bubblegum Crisis from RTS) that deteriorated after a few months of use, so I simply stripped the glue off, slipped them in plastic sleeves.. now they are sitting here in 3 ring binders for ease of use. And when someone needs to reference say skills or weapons, just pop open the rings, remove the sleeved page and hand it over. Really helps with reference as well as keeping them usable and safe from getting lost
#4 zombiegleemax Jun 10, 2004 17:27:49	Oooh..... that really and truly sucks. As to why it's happening, remember the velveteen rabbit? The fact that it's getting worn and falling apart a little is just a sign that it's been loved. If it had just sat uselessly on your shelf for years, it'd probably be almost as good as the day you bought it, and that'd be a sign of a virtually wasted purchase- it's worn because it's seen so much use. Of course, being taking good care of books can make them last longer, and the quality of the initial bookbinding is certainly a factor (my 3e Monster Manual is ALREADY starting to shimmy loose from the spine!), but a book thats used will eventually start to look the part, no matter how careful you are with it. Normally, a good bookbinding set would be all you'd need to fix this, but since you said it's shedding just a page or two at a time, I think I'm going to have to agree with DeRosan. Binding a bunch of seperate pages is MUCH harder than just binding a whole section that spontaneously detached from the spine. Cruel though it may sound, your best bet may indeed be to take out all the pages and put them in a ring-binder- or, failing that, to collect them as they fall and put them in plastic sleeves until eventually the whole book gets transferred over. As an absolute last resort, you may consider scanning the whole thing in and creating a PDF of it.
#5 gadodel Jun 13, 2004 22:44:10	Just goes to show that an updated, hardbound book for Planescape is necessary...;)