Stonetop's Fading Covers
Some Stonetop books are losing their cover art. Here's what's happening, and one simple way to protect them.
One of my players left his Stonetop books with me so I could compare them to the versions I'd printed myself. While I had them, reports started showing up of the cover art rubbing off, and some of the photos people shared were pretty bad.
The foil artwork on some copies is wearing away with normal handling. In the worst examples, large parts of the illustration have almost completely disappeared.
This doesn't seem to affect every book. Lampblack & Brimstone has said the problem happened toward the end of some foiling runs when the sealant was running low. It can also affect one book in a set and not the other.
What If It's Happening to Your Books?
The publisher has acknowledged the problem and set up a process for affected books.
If your books are affected, take some photos before trying to fix or protect them. You can either keep the books and receive a partial refund or request replacement copies. If your books look fine, I wouldn't rub the artwork to test it. Just keep an eye on them during normal use.
Protecting a Good Copy
My player's books weren't showing any problems, so we wanted to keep them that way.
There was some discussion about spraying the covers with matte acrylic varnish. Someone tried it and reported good results, but we weren't crazy about the idea of spraying anything directly onto the books.
Instead, we tried the ClearBags BC9 Slip-On Book Covers, sized 9 × 15½ inches. They come in a pack of 25 for $17.61, which works out to about 70¢ per book.
They're clear plastic covers that wrap around the book, with the front and back covers slipping into pockets on either end. There's no adhesive touching the book and nothing permanent to apply. If you don't like them, you can just take them off.
They fit the Stonetop books surprisingly well. You can see the plastic when light hits it, but otherwise it's pretty unobtrusive. More importantly, you're handling the plastic instead of constantly touching the foil.
Do They Still Fit in the Slipcase?
This was the thing we were most worried about. The covers add a little thickness to each book, but both still fit in the original slipcase.
It's a little tighter, but not enough to cause a problem.
Worth Doing?
If the artwork is already coming off your books, I'd use the publisher's replacement process first.
If your books are fine and you just want to keep them that way, I like the ClearBags solution. It's inexpensive, removable, doesn't put anything directly on the books, and they still fit in the slipcase.
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