jmoy

Well, I did the first one.  (I split the right side of the PVC sleeve open just by pulling and kept the sticker intact.)  Now just a couple dozen more to go!  I think the sleevecity sleeves don't look too bad.

2 hours ago, bungie said:

That might be one way to go.  Those pvc sleeves sometimes come undone easily at their seams, so cutting them may not be that big of a deal.  Might end up being a lot of work in the end.  I hated cutting my stickers, but it really wasn't that bad and they're still relatively unharmed short of the clean cuts. 

 

I got the idea after I purchased a complete set of Muse 7" singles from a guy in Ireland a couple years ago.   Muse had some picture discs from their Black Holes and Revelations LP packed just like the Bowie discs.  He took sliced the stickers at the top, put the records in a rounded inner, put the PVC sleeve in a sealable sleeve, and then put everything in a nice outer sleeve.  I've looked them over and they all appear to be fine all stored together.

Thanks for your comments.  I was looking all over the internet for info on how people had dealt with this problem, particularly with regard to the Bowie discs.  (I do wish they were not packaged this way!)

2 minutes ago, bungie said:

I just removed all of my Bowie 40th's a few weeks back and put them in poly lined sleeves with outers from sleevecity myself.  I have a complete collection of those Bowie 40's...all sealed for collecting purposes only...and I feel better about having done it now.  Tip:  get a new blade in an exacto knife, and carefully slice the seal.   Use one of the newer discs to practice on and work your way back through the older ones so you get comfy doing it.  By the time I made it to my Starman pic disc, it was cake.  Good luck.

I was thinking about keeping the sticker intact and cutting the whole right side of the plastic sleeve open instead.  (It seems sad to cut the sticker. )

2 hours ago, conedust said:

 

I understand why you wouldn't want to discard or cut up the PVC sleeves your picture discs came in, or risk trying to remove and transfer the stickers. Lots of collectors prefer to keep records in their original, "like new" condition. 

 

But the evidence that storage in PVC sleeves can damage vinyl records, while anecdotal, seems too strong to ignore. I've had it happen myself. 

 

Best solution I can think of would be to separate the sleeves & records for storage purposes. You'd have to come up with a good way to safely house the sleeveless vinyl afterward, so depending on the size of your collection, it could be quite a hassle. Maybe use generic die-cut 12" sleeves with something like a MoFi inner? You'd lose most of the look, but at least your vinyl would be well protected.

 

Too bad you can't easily get purpose-made "display sleeves" with a bigger hole cut out. Picture discs used to come in those occasionally, but I've never seen them for sale separately as generic blanks.

Thanks, folks, for your comments.  I just bought some of these:

When they arrive, I'll have to grit my teeth and remove my records from their original sleeves.  It'll be a painful process, I'm sure!

On 5/3/2019 at 8:44 AM, LeeB33 said:

Thanks for the reply zdkaiser but what about the original PVC sleeve that the picture disc comes in with the sticker on?  I don't want to be tearing open the sticker to remove the vinyl and storing it separately if I can help it.  Example below.....

Just wondering what you decided to do about your Bowie picture discs.  I collect them too and just learned of the possible dangers of the clear plastic (PVC) sleeves they come in.   I don't want to have to cut through the sticker or the sleeve itself, but I don't want the vinyl ruined either.