Review - BCW Comic Book Showcases

Review - BCW Comic Book Showcases



One of the biggest challenges in comic collecting is finding not only the right supplies to protect and store your comics, but also to find the best products out there for displaying your more treasured comic books. Whether it be a variant cover that you just think looks bad ass or a comic that you had signed by the creators, we all have those certain books we want to display. As comic book collectors, we all look at these books really as pieces of art and when you have an incredible art collection, you want to be able to showcase the best pieces right? It’s just in our blood to want to display these books and with so many different options out there, BCW Supplies was kind enough to send us over a few of their Comic Book Showcases for us to review and share with you guys so you could see first hand what they offer.
 

 BCW offers different models of Showcases for various styles of books. They offer Current and Silver / Standard sizes and also offer a UV protected version and standard non UV protected version. The versions I will be covering in this review are the Current size UV protected case, the current size non UV protected case, and the Silver age UV protected case.



 

To begin, we will start with the current age UV protected case as these are most likely what collectors are going to want to choose for long time protection and display of their comics. These cases come inside of a standard cardboard box and when you open them, inside is the actual showcase wrapped in a plastic bag which is there for protection of the plastic outer shell to prevent any kind of scratches which is nice because last thing you would want is to buy a frame to display your books and then open it and have it be subject to any kind of damage that would take away from the overall look. Once you remove the case, it comes together already assembled. The case is made up of two different pieces. You have a flat black back with a recessed area which is made to fit the exact size of your comic to keep it in there securely without having it slide around or cause any kind of damage to the book itself. The other piece is a hard clear plastic outer frame that snaps in place over the black backing frame. The overall design of these cases looks really sharp when it hangs on the wall and  really is a fantastic looking piece. The two pieces fit together tight and secure which is nice because you don’t have to worry about the two coming apart by any little movement or bump to your wall. The outter plastic has a very nice finish to it that is crystal clear and doesn’t take anything away or obscure the cover of the book in anyway. The black back piece has about an inch of a border that goes around the book which gives it a frame look that usually I am not a fan of but with it being covered by the clear piece, it gives it a more modern look that I really enjoy looking at. On the back of each case there is a v hook that makes it so you can easily hang them up on your wall. I highly recommend using a small framing nail because I tried using a thumbtack as well as a J-hook and both left too much distance between the frame and the wall, causing the frames to look down toward the ground versus sitting flat against the wall. The cases sit flush against the wall nicely and maybe only come off an inch or so. I hung several up on my own walls in my home and they create a very unique and professional look that blends well with any décor you may have. I’m very picky about my displays and I prefer them not to look tacky and these surpassed all of my expectations and have a very elegant aesthetic overall.

 Now since these specific cases have UV protection, I wanted to put them to the test and see just how well they actually protected against UV rays so I placed one of them in a temperature controlled environment that exposed it directly to sunlight for four weeks straight. I live in Florida, otherwise known as the sunshine state, so I had a great advantage to testing these out against one of the strongest sources of UV light in the world. BCW has always produced top quality products, so I knew this was going to perform well, but my expectations were actually blown out of the water because after four weeks straight, I removed the frame from the testing area and when I compared the book with the before photos I had taken, there was not one single defect or spot of color loss I could find anywhere on the books cover. If these frames can protect a books cover from four straight weeks in the sun, there should be absolutely no reason to ever worry about the everyday lights in your home so you can be confident in your purchase of the UV protected frames to keep your valued book safe from any kind of harmful UV lights. The other thing about these frames that makes them beat out any of their competitors is the pricing. These Showcases are the lowest priced frames of their kind you can get on the market. So not only do you get a product of incredible quality but you get a product that is affordable because chances are you have more than one book you want to display and you can do that easily with these BCW Showcases without having to worry about breaking the bank to do so.

LEFT - BEFORE     RIGHT -AFTER

The Silver age frames really aren’t much different from the current size frames other than the fact that the inside recessed area is bigger to fit the older books. As far as overall size and quality however, they all meet the same exact standards as the current size and hold up all the same.  There are also standard versions of these frames that you can pick up as well if you aren’t worried about UV light damage but if you are wanting to display a more valuable comic or a signed comic, I would highly suggest getting the UV Protected versions and they are only a few dollars more than the non UV protected versions.
 

Overall, I really can’t speak any more highly of these showcases. They not only look incredible but also offer advanced features for protecting your comics overtime so you can display them without ever having to worry about long term effects or damages. You also can’t find a comparable product that looks as nice and protects as well at anywhere close to the price BCW offers these at. Almost all comparable products on the market cost almost twice as much and many of which don’t offer the same protective qualities. These Showcases really are the best bang for your buck and I highly suggest anyone out there looking to display any of their comics head to the link at the bottom of this review to see the different options and prices available directly from BCW. These frames are also available at various comic book stores. 

https://www.bcwsupplies.com/catalogsearch/advanced/result/?sku=1-CBS


Overall score – 10/10

-Wes Greer