Way back in another life i collected the James Bond set Die Another Day from Rittenhouse and put together a complete master set in the official binder which i have stored safely away all these years.

The other day going through some old stuff i came across the binder and sat down to look through it.

Shock, horror, the 6 card set which i think were called star cards and numbered S1 - S6 had totally disintegrated, the foil had allmost come off and stuck in patches to the 9 card pocket page, the whole 6 card set was a right off. All the other cards in the set were fine.

I contacted Rittenhouse telling them what had happened and asking about replacements but the responce was that they do not do replacements for any cards older than 12 months, something to remember there.

If you have this set stored away you might want to go and check it out.

Sorry to hear that...

Where was the binder stored?

Do you think heat/humidity played a part in the cards demise?

Maybe some members have extras and can help you out replacing them.

Good Luck!

Wow, that's terrible. I rushed to check mine and they are all ok. I only had one extra though so do not want to give it up. I had an autograph fade away to nothing once, but nothing like you describe here.

quote:

Originally posted by MarcG:

Where was the binder stored?

Do you think heat/humidity played a part in the cards demise?

Storage was fine, it was not exposed to any heat / humidity.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
If you have this set stored away you might want to go and check it out.

I checked my cards, oh dear .

The finish on the Star cards may have reacted to my Ultra-Pro pages they were in, giving them a matt/slightly sticky finish rather than a glossy finish. Luckily I managed to remove them, and gently wiped them with a slightly moistened kitchen tissue which returned them to their former condition.

The same reaction has occurred with some of my 'Die Another Day' 9 Women of Bond cards to a lesser extent, again I wiped them and they returned to a glossy finish.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: WOMBLE,

What kind of pages? I never thought much about 'archival quality' or other marketing-speak. Now that I think about it, I haven't bought new pages in, sheesh, many many years.

I also have something wrong with my Star cards. It looks like someone has sprayed a liquid over the fronts and then it has dried making the card look very discoloured. To my mind something must have gone wrong with the manufacturing process that has taken years to materialise. The 9 card foil set looks okay though. My pages are Ultra Pro.

John

I haven't looked at mine in a while but I have seen my Star cards slowly deteriorate over the years. I've always used ultra pro sleeves/pages so I have no concerns in that area, especially as no other cards have ever been affected.
I looked to eBay a few years back to upgrade but they all seem to display condition issues, so I didn't bother in the end (this set is a nightmare for chipping too). Just the way they were manufactured I guess. A shame as they are a really nice looking chase set.

quote:

Originally posted by JOHN LEVITT:
I also have something wrong with my Star cards. It looks like someone has sprayed a liquid over the fronts and then it has dried making the card look very discoloured. To my mind something must have gone wrong with the manufacturing process that has taken years to materialise.....

The mess came off very quickly with a kitchen tissue once I had moisten the gunk, be careful with the edges though as they chip very easily.

I have a semi-related problem with my Rittenhouse binders. Many of them have become very wrinkled on the bottoms of the covers. I have no idea what causes this.

I have a somewhat similar issue but with Topps Star Wars Chrome Archives. The cards are stuck to the 9-card pages (Ultra-Pro). It appears I will have to cut the cards out of each pocket, hoping that works anyway.

Years ago, I noticed that the Empire Strikes Back Widevision chromium chase cards (the fronts) were sticking to the card sleeves. It wasn't a problem with the Star Wars nor Return of the Jedi chromiums though I should probably dig those out to check them.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Way back in another life i collected the James Bond set Die Another Day from Rittenhouse and put together a complete master set in the official binder which i have stored safely away all these years.

The other day going through some old stuff i came across the binder and sat down to look through it.

Shock, horror, the 6 card set which i think were called star cards and numbered S1 - S6 had totally disintegrated, the foil had allmost come off and stuck in patches to the 9 card pocket page, the whole 6 card set was a right off. All the other cards in the set were fine.

I contacted Rittenhouse telling them what had happened and asking about replacements but the responce was that they do not do replacements for any cards older than 12 months, something to remember there.

If you have this set stored away you might want to go and check it out.

quote:

Originally posted by cardaddict:
I have a semi-related problem with my Rittenhouse binders. Many of them have become very wrinkled on the bottoms of the covers. I have no idea what causes this.

Just checked mine, my spartacus blood and sand binder has a wrinkle on the front cover, Game of Thrones both the series 1 and 2 have wrinkles on the rear, all the others are fine.

quote:

Originally posted by WOMBLE:

quote:

Originally posted by JOHN LEVITT:
I also have something wrong with my Star cards. It looks like someone has sprayed a liquid over the fronts and then it has dried making the card look very discoloured. To my mind something must have gone wrong with the manufacturing process that has taken years to materialise.....

The mess came off very quickly with a kitchen tissue once I had moisten the gunk, be careful with the edges though as they chip very easily.

Many thanks for the advice Womble. I have wiped the cards very carefully and it made no difference so I have assumed whatever the problem is it is below the surface of the card.

regards

John

As far as binders go, whether you buy the generic versions or the ones made especially for the set, they are never that good. Forget about wrinkles, wait till the whole cover starts to separate from the inside and breaks away from the spine.

Set binders are smaller, less overstuffed and usually less opened compared to regular large card binders. That's why they tend to show less wear and last longer. Any binder in good use over several years is going to fall apart and need replacement eventually. Even if you don't use it much, environmental issues can damage it. I have had to switch out binders many times.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Way back in another life i collected the James Bond set Die Another Day from Rittenhouse and put together a complete master set in the official binder which i have stored safely away all these years.

The other day going through some old stuff i came across the binder and sat down to look through it.

Shock, horror, the 6 card set which i think were called star cards and numbered S1 - S6 had totally disintegrated, the foil had allmost come off and stuck in patches to the 9 card pocket page, the whole 6 card set was a right off. All the other cards in the set were fine.

I contacted Rittenhouse telling them what had happened and asking about replacements but the responce was that they do not do replacements for any cards older than 12 months, something to remember there.

If you have this set stored away you might want to go and check it out.

That happened to me, I have Toby Stephens and Rosamund Pike, both look like they have water damage on them

What about chrome cards ? I have Batman Forever and Species colour chrome, they have all turned yellow.

quote:

Originally posted by cardaddict:
I have a semi-related problem with my Rittenhouse binders. Many of them have become very wrinkled on the bottoms of the covers. I have no idea what causes this.

That isn't specific to Rittenhouse, my SkyBox/Impel binder for the 25th Anniv. set looks like the skin of a 97 year old...

Bond DAD cards are not the only sets that are self-destructing despite my keeping a fairly stable storage environment.

Just last week I noticed that my oversize Buffy Season 8 promo had gone all slimey within the Ultra-pro two-pocket page.

So you better monitor those nifty spot-finish cards from VersiColor and other cardmakers.

Does anyone think that perhaps Ultra-Pro sheets are not as archive safe as they claim?

quote:

Originally posted by anthonyd:
Does anyone think that perhaps Ultra-Pro sheets are not as archive safe as they claim?

Good question. I'm sure Ultra Pro would say they are, but I don't see how they know for sure.

Cards are being manufactured so differently now, its not just cardboard and ink and maybe some gloss anymore. All these chemicals and combinations are different and the premium cards and metals have surfaces unlike anything done in vintage products.

Its no different than what happens with new medicines. If a new med comes out its deemed safe in general, but all the interactions with other meds can not be tried. No one knows the effects that may come when its taken 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc. until people get to take it that long. So you have to wait and see what happens as time goes by.

I think certain sets, inserts and chase cards are going to have problems down the line, perhaps even using supplies that are usually fine. You are not going to know it until collectors start to report similar issues with the same cards. You can only do so much to protect your stuff and then you have to stop worrying about it. I figure that after 100 years most of my cards will be looking a lot better than me no matter how they are stored.