Etsy is one of my favorite web sites. If you’re not familiar with the site it’s a place that brings people who make things together with the people who want to buy them. A few weeks ago while browsing it I came across the “store” Vintage Covers. They turn vintage comic books (40-50 years old) into cases for the iPad (and other devices as well.) Here’s how the store’s proprietor, Randy, describes it.
For those who want to go high tech but still stay classic, I am making covers from vintage books, comics and magazines, for the iPad, Kindle, Kobo, Sony, Nook and more.
The reader is held securely inside with elastic straps. It looks like a regular “old school” book, which makes it easy to identify, store and truly unique!
Some of the covers are made from vintage books and some I use traditional book binding methods to construct the cover to the highest standards and quality. The images I use on the covers are the original material and not photocopies.
The best part of these is that you can choose the book cover!These would make an excellent gift for avid readers, collectors or someone who just really digs cool stuff or unique conversation pieces.
Vintage Covers has taken The Honest Vintage Pledge: Everything that I have tagged as vintage in my shop is at least twenty years old or older. I stake my reputation on it. I will never knowingly sell a fake or a repro knockoff to my customers. EVER.
I’m a HUGE Green Lantern fan so I dropped Randy a note inquiring if he had any vintage Green Lantern comics which he could use to make into an iPad case for me. Sure enough he responded back with two! After I’d picked one (the image on the right below) he e-mailed me a short time later to let me know he’d found an additional one (last image.) I liked the last one the best and told him it was sold!
It took about two weeks for my case to be made. Each case is hand made and Randy uses the traditional bookbinding method to do so. Since the pages uses from the comic book are between 40-50 years old they do show some wear and tear but Randy coats each page with an acid free coating to help protect them. The case has four elastic straps secured with rivets to hold the iPad in place and an elastic snap closure to secure the cover shut. There’s also an additional snap which allows you to secure the strap and create a stand for typing or watching videos.
Check out my very own, vintage, Green Lantern iPad case.
Each of these handmade vintage comic book cases gets the comic’s cover on the front, an ad from the comic on the back and a page from the comic on the inside front. What the case lacks in feel it makes up for in cool factor and old school charm. True it’s not the traditional soft leather, hard plastic or rubbery silicone many cases are made from. But what it has is a vintage look and feel that is nostalgic and that just about makes up for it.
The iPad cases sell for $50 and you can learn more by visiting the Vintage Covers store front on Etsy.com.
Every time I catch a glance of the case I’m reminded of when I was a child with stacks of comic books at the ready!
Are you a comic fan? Who’s your favorite? Leave me a comment below.