See the nice little plastic sleeve my latest eBay score came in? What's the proper name in the trade for these protective plastic baggie thingies?? I want to get some, but in paperback size, not comic book size. This one is five inches by 10 inches.
Hi Wreybies, They're called polypropylene outer sleeves. The ones I have measure 5 x 7.5 inches. The only downside is that any book you put inside has to be less than about 300 pages. Otherwise it won't fit and might tear the sleeve or damage the book.
Many thanks, @AJC When I fully open the sleeve I have pictured above, it's the long side that's 10 inches. The short side is eight inches, making the long side the "envelope flap", so to speak. Is this typical of how they are made? Thanks for the headsup as to book length compared to sleeve width. Luckily the books I've got my eyes on are from the 50's and early 60's when sci-fi novels under 200 pages were by far the norm.
You don't want those sleeves, you want one of these. Hard cases are far more appropriate for a paperback book, you don't want a sleeve that will allow the binding of the book to bend.
It appears the manufacturer only makes those hard cases for comics. They don't have a size/thickness appropriate for paperbacks. They do make the sleeves for paperbacks, though. It's the same brand I found on eBay once I knew the correct words to punch in.
There are also ones that are in between the two and on the back have a strap that the top flap folds into to hold it into place. I'm not sure what they are called but they are for your semi-valuable comics. The card versions are called semi-rigid plastic sleeves.
Ok found them. They are "Mylar type D magazine sleeves." https://www.bagsunlimited.com/c-158-mylar-sleeves.aspx They are fairly rigid plastic and are reusable. They have a strap across the back and the top flap folds into it.
For the ones I have, the flap adds about 2 inches, so with the flap open, the dimensions are 5 x 9.375 inches. I've only seen the flap on the long side, so I think this is typically how they are made.
