Where are you living climate-wise that this is happening? I'll admit that I live in exceedingly temperate California so I have rarely had problems with binding glue melting from heat, shattering from cold, or dissolving from humidity, but I know these can be problems other places. (My own books are mostly fine after years of use, though I have repaired other books before.)
PLEASE what do I do!!! Where can I get them re-bonded or fixed?
If you purchased your books at a game store and have a good relationship with the owner, sometimes he/she will let you trade in a book with a bad binding.
Another alternative is to contact Paizo customer support and explain the issues. I've had similar problems before (not with Paizo books, but with other RPG books and companies), and every time I've asked for replacements I have gotten them -- sometimes I've paid the shipping for the new books, sometimes not.
Given how wonderfully responsive Paizo customer support has always been, I do not doubt that they will get back in touch with you with some solutions.
Good luck!
Having been a librarian for 6+ years, I can say some some authority that even well bound books fall apart in no time if not handled properly.
Things to consider is how much these books are being used and shared? How are they being handled and transported? Are they getting book sleeves or covers? Are you pressing down on the book's spine while using them with more force than you should?
Another thing to consider is that large/heavy books are fragile. As the weight of a book goes up, the care with which it is handled must also go up. The amount of wear and tear a book can potentially undergo increases the heavier it gets.
I live in New England and we have a wide margin of temperature fluctuation. I own hardcover copies of the Core Rules Book and the Inner Sear World Guide. Both are still in near-mint condition despite being almost a year old. I use them both frequently on a weekly basis. They don't travel farther than my bookshelf to my table.
Also are these books traveling to games? Backpacks, notoriously good at destroying books over time.
A friend of mine also owns a Core Rules Book. It was in pristine condition He lent it out to another friend for about a month. After a month the book was returned nearly in tatters. Why? The book was mishandled. Mostly due to being carried around in a backpack everywhere. The jostling that happens when you walk with a backpack full of books can induce a shear force to the book's spine, loosening the binding over time.
Just a few thoughts.
Regluing a bound book isn't especially hard and doesn't really require any special tools. Here are two guides to doing just that: One and Two.
Just FYI, one of them calls for a book press. In lieu of that, place the book you just reglued between two books of the same size or slightly lager and either rubber band them all together tightly or place on a hard surface with a heavy weight (cinder blocks do well here) on top. The goal is to have even pressure all across the book you repaired.
I have several PFRPG hardcovers, and the only one with a binding issue was due to my dropping it, and the front cover caught in the moulding by the floor. The cover partially tore between the outer cover and the inner binding sheet. All of my other books are on great shape.
I haven't had any issues with my books. I do use them a lot but I also tend to use the PRD and other online resources quite a bit so maybe I'm just not putting as much wear and tear on my books as others.
My core rulebook is an embarrassment. I will eventually purchase another. But truthfully, the best gaming books I have ever had were my first. AD&D players guide and dungeon master's guide, both bought in 1980 about three months apart. Darn good books those.
I live in Florida, and my books are in the car alot...often spending the night and day. Heat and humidity really play a great detriment to modern book bindings. I should probably take even better care of my first two, yet, they have never seemed to be damaged other than worn corners and a well handled feeling to the pages and covers.
Anywho, I blame me for my Corebook's condition.
That said, a good friend of mine is having issues with his core book becoming loose. He takes superb care of his books. He is quite disgruntled by it, and lurks on threads like these often.
Greg
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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After about 5 Sessions and 5 people using the book to create characters the book fell apart (3 months of ownership).
Well that's what happens when you loan your books to others! They don't respect the precious. Besides possibly tossing it into Mount Doom, you don't know what they may have done to it. Crushing it onto the photocopier scan plate tends to destroy the binding. Using it to dish out corporal punishment is detrimental to the book of course. I cringe when I see people pick them up by just one of the covers or just a few pages.
My first edition printing fell apart due to heavy usage, but that took almost 2 years.
Another fast wearing action on books
Do you press the pages flat when opening the books? or lean on them flat against the table? - this fractures the binding over time.
Ask my players, this is my biggest get angry peeve when they do this.
Alternatively, you could say to your friends "Stump up your share of wear and tear" or even "Isn't it about time we got some extra books?" - I would imagine new campaigns character generation must be a nightmare with only 1 book available.
More sales for Paizo will mean they can produce even more awesome to buy and enjoy.
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We have one core that is now cover-less, another we had to throw out due to a pig related incident and another we reinforced with tape as a precaution. Only cores ever have in issue as far as hardbacks. A couple of the older softcovers have seen better days.
I know you've fixed your issue, but I'll throw another "solution" out there: Have you thought about buying PDFs? You can print those out on regular paper a few bits at a time as they're needed and use them as handouts so you don't have to pass the book around and get it destroyed again.
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Ive found that the only RPG books that were made to truly last were the early printing 1E AD&D books, the bindings and the pages on those are incredible, most books printed these days cant stand up to its quality. This didn't last long though as even the latter 1E books (and into 2E and on) suffered from poor quality (I'm looking at you UA).
7 out 8 are groups core book all look like crap. They are just to big in my point of view. They should have been 2 book not 1. I said that when it when they came out I say that now. Of the 2 folk that we added lately We have all said not to buy dead tree verison but to buy EBook or to use the online stuff.
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This didn't last long though as even the latter 1E books (and into 2E and on) suffered from poor quality (I'm looking at you UA).
Curse you, 1E Unearthed Arcana!
But truthfully, the best gaming books I have ever had were my first. AD&D players guide and dungeon master's guide, both bought in 1980 about three months apart. Darn good books those.
Mine are all intact too. Some of my 2nd edition books on other hand...
My Pathfinder books are all pristine, but I'm.... I wouldn't even call it "A little obsessive", I'm ALOT obsessive about my book care. Our family are bibliophiles and we take -exceedingly- good care of our books. I have thousands of dollars in RPG books in my collection, The Pathfinder's stand up as well as any.
I will say I've had a bit of a quality control problem ORDERING them. Now, I'm not sure if it's a company thing, or an Amazon thing, or just the stack of Pathfinder books in the nearest Amazon hub got hit with a forklift or what, but when I bought the Bestiary 1 and 2, and the Advanced race guide, the Bestiary 1 came with really dented corners, 2 had a tear in the binding/spine, and the ARG had gouges and dents.
I'd gotten them in two shipments. One day apart. I called Amazon about the first, they immediately shipped me replacements, and then the second and they shipped me replacement for it too. I had to 'return' the books with in a month or they'd charge me. No big deal.
The SECOND set of Bestiary's showed up with water damage to the books (The boxes were bone dry), and the second Advanced Race guide looked like it'd been dropped and kicked across the ground. (Again, box was spotless and intact)
I called AGAIN and they were a bit less happy about replacing them twice in a row, but the books really were damaged. So they sent out a THIRD shipment on the books, and in the end when the new one's showed up I had 9 pathfinder books (three copies of all 3) Sitting on the table. My wife was hot, it was her that repacked and reshipped the damaged books out. lol
So again, I'm not sure if that was a company problem, or a distributor, or what. We get 2 or 3 physical books from Amazon a week (( Gotta love Amazon prime! Free 2 day shipping!!) And I probably pick up 1 or 2 RPG's from Amazon a month. So while Amazon could have messed up the books I mention above, it'd be the first time they did so --to me--.
As someone who purchased CRB hot of the shelf in August of 2009, and played with a group who all did the same: I can say that the first print run of the the book was absolutely horrible. Every sinlge book at our table fell apart. Pages came out, binding gave way, corners frayed. These are books that only got taken from a shelf to a game and then back to the shelf. The discussion forum for the CRB has dozens of similar stories and while the paizo staff deny knowledge of any systemic issues, they did change printers after the second print run. All the books printed I own that were printed by the original printer (A first print CRB, 2 second print CRB's and a first print Bestiary) have completely come apart while all books purchased since have had no issue. I own a fifth print as well, but have had no problems with it.
PLEASE what do I do!!! Where can I get them re-bonded or fixed?
I haven't had to do this with any Paizo products yet, but back in the day I had quite a few GURPS 3E books that were falling apart after light use. I binder-ized them:
- Gently pull the pages out of the glue, being careful not to rip them. (Keep them in page order.)
- Place each page into a top loading sheet protector.
- Place all of the sheet protected pages into the most durable heavy-duty three-ring binders that you can find.
The GURPS 3E books had thin covers like cereal boxes, so I was able to snug them into the view covers of the binders.
Paizo hardcover books are a little thicker, so they probably won't fit into the view covers of the binder.
Printing the covers from the PDF might work though.
Positives:
- The book will lay flat on the table and make an excellent die rolling surface.
- The book will be practically immune to spills and stains, both food and liquid.
- The book will be extremely durable.
- You can store errata sheets in additional sheet protectors at the front of the book.
- You can store page-specific errata notes in the sheet protector with the page itself.
- Damaged sheet protectors are easy to replace by moving the page to another sheet protector.
Negatives:
- The book will have additional weight and bulk.
- Good binders and sheet protectors can be expensive.
It worked well for me.
This thread gives me nightmares.
Seriously, I had a dream one of my books came apart in my hands. Saddest day of my life.
I think Cthulhu was there....
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Well anyone can get a "bad book" and have it happen. Can happen to any of us.
Thing is, I've played RPG's for 20 years now. ((Ugg I feel old)) and of the 100s of people I've played with, I'd say fully 70.. 80% of them treated the books like they were indestructible/disposable. I.E. HORRIBLY. Tossing, shoving, Slamming, squishing, wedging, dropping, spilling, ect. And of those 70-80%, I'd say probably 70 to 80% of those same people would claim that they treat their books well. I ran security for some RPG conventions in NC and was just appalled at how people were treating their books.
As I've professed above, I'm pretty obsessive about mine. Very obsessive even. Just in my close friends, I'd never dream of letting 90% of them barrow a book or take one out of my sight. And I LIKE those people. lol.
I'm not sure if it's universal or just RPG people, but a majority, (In my own limited interactions with a few 100 of them) are very very hard on their books, and most of them will lie straight to your face and say they aren't. lol
(( and I know. You could apply the same to me, but my books don't fall apart. :) ))