Bagged, Boarded and Boxed

monkey010101

Just wondering how do you store your comics? Do you bag and board them all? Or just some of them. Do you use comic boxes or some other storage?
Where in the house do you store them and what does your other half/ other housemates think of the space they take up?

Sorry for the loads of questions, I'm just really interested.

kfreeman

Mylite 2s, double-thick acid-free boards (Full Backs) with double-sided tape, and corrugated plastic short boxes. I store them in the closet of my man room. This is a lot more expensive than standard bagging, boarding, and boxing, but I never have to worry about switching out old bags again. Granted, I am down to about 10 long boxes (plus four short boxes of magazine-sized stuff, bagged boarded and boxed the same). Most of the floppies I still have are pre-1985. Virtually everything newer that I had has been exchanged for trades/hardcovers or digital copies.

My trades and hardcovers are on the built-in shelving scattered around said man room.

My favorite original art is framed and on the walls, while other stuff I keep in portfolios on my bookshelf.

The spousal unit is fine with it. Her stuff takes up way more space in the house than mine, so she knows better than to get on me about it ;)

demonbear

@kfreeman wow... mine are bagged and boarded, with what my LCS gives me. and i place em in long/short boxes. and they're stored in an unused room in the house.

oh. and none are hermetically sealed. haha!

Trev

I bag and board everything. Any book worth more than $20 goes into a mylite 2 with fullback boards. My books are divided into 2 areas. Modern books I've bought off the rack go into my office closet, which holds 16 short drawer boxes. These are in poly bags with cheaper boards until they prove their value.

What I call 'the collection' essentially everything before 1992 or so - gold silver bronze copper -- goes into cabinets that are part of custom bookshelves along a wall of my office. This holds 18 short boxes.

I also keep 2 long boxes off to the side that hold books I intend to get rid of over the next 6 months or so.

There's one GA short box that sits on the 2 long boxes because I don't have a better place right now.

Trades, art, and reference books line the uppers of the bookcases. Magazines are in those vertical file boxes.

Art is either on the walls or in a portfolio.

Artist edition and other oversize are stacked on a side table.

I have committed to my wife that my books won't go beyond the office. This means I am constantly pruning and looking for more efficient storage options because I still work in my office 20-30 hrs a week and it needs to be presentable. Though art may eventually be displayed elsewhere in the house if it makes sense.

WetRats

Big teetering stacks on whatever flat surface is available.

Eventually, I'll shove 'em in a longbox in no particular order, neither bagged nor boarded.

nweathington

I used to bag and board everything, but I stopped about twelve years ago. Now I only bag reader copies of old books I get on the cheap, and only then if they have so much wear that they're starting to fall apart. I've got 26 long boxes, 12 short boxes, and 8 magazine boxes. My son also has three long boxes he keeps in his bedroom. I don't want to even think about how much it would cost and how long it would take to bag and board all of that. Though sometimes I will get a pack of Silver Age size bags and bag a story arc (up to five issues) in one bag. It helps keep them stiffer in the boxes.

I keep the boxes in my office, and my wife has no problem with it because a couple of the boxes are hers. I am trying to get rid of four or five boxes of stuff I know I will never reread.

Marty_Devine

WetRats said:

Big teetering stacks on whatever flat surface is available.

Eventually, I'll shove 'em in a longbox in no particular order, neither bagged nor boarded.

I subscribe to this archive method exactly.
#oldguything

Chuck_Melville

I'll box them all in alphabetical/continuity order.

That is, as an example, I'll file books alphabetically according to the main title, but then I'll place them in continuity order. Spider-Man goes before Superman; but Spider-Man will contain all of the main Spider-Man titles (Amazing, Spectacular, Web, Marvel Team-Up) and cross-overs, and Superman will contain all of the Superman titles (Action, Superman, Adventures Of, Man Of Tomorrow, etc) plus cross-overs.

Greg

Everything is in logboxes shoved into my bedroom closet. I have been trying to get everything into short boxes, cull the collection and move it into the mancave but my work schedule has not been kind.

All of my comics from 1986 going back are in bags and boards and organized by cover date.

Everything from 1987 to to when I stopped collecting around '98/'99 is in bags and boards and are divided in alphabetical order by publisher then title.

Everything from 2010 on, I don't go out of my way to bag and board unless it was something I really enjoyed and want to keep or pass down to the kids and are in alphabetical order by title.

My wife wants them out of the way, not gone, just not in her space.

John_Steed

I let them breathe and circulate. And some are broken down into bits and bytes. Anything else comic: bound in leather with slipcases and on my shelves

luke52

All my trades are in a bookshelf. Ordered by company, then alphabetically by character.

The place I get my floppys from send them bagged and boarded. These go alphabetically by title. I've got several boxes dotted around our apartment. The girlfriend isn't happy about this. Which is why I'm moving to trades more. Although ill continue to get floppys. If she can have her bags and shoes everywhere, then I'll have my comics. Good compromise I think.

Flagwaver

Bagged, boarded and stored in short boxes on shelves, in alphabetical order

larry

@Flagwaver Bravo! That is what I want in my mancave. Where did you get those shelves? Do you have a model #?

CaptShazam

Bagged with mylites, half back boards in drawer boxes. I only have floppies for a few runs now. Some choice comics are bagged/boarded and framed hanging on the wall. Trades are stored on bookcases in the living room.

Chuck_Melville

@Flagwaver: I envy you that spinner rack.

dubbat138

Mine are in longboxes,but very few are bagged and boarded. I doubt I ever sell mine. And the few that have any decent resale value are bagged and boarded.

I got my longboxes stacked in the corner of my bedroom.Comic are divided up into Marvel,DC,Indy,Valiant. Then 2 longboxes for all the "Dead universes" I collect. Trades and hardcovers are on a shelf put in alphabetical order.

I also keep 2 shortboxes next to my bed.They are filled with stuff I haven't read yet.Then on top of one of them is huge stack of comics I bought this year and haven't read.

demonbear

@Flagwaver the spinner rack houses the most current pulls?

Flagwaver

@Larry I bought them at Lowes a year ago. Prior to that I had four folding utility tables that I had long boxes on. I had run out of room and decided to switch to short boxes to put on shelves. Here is the product page -

http://www.lowes.com/pd_71473-80752-184874B-DS_4294936608__?productId=3473483&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar
@demonbear No, that is an old picture and just the new releases at the time. Back in the prime of my collecting, I had all fifty slots filled with monthly titles. Now I'm down to about twenty.

@Chuck_Melville That is the best Christmas present my parents ever gave me. My first LCS, The Great Escape, had several of them that they would have their quarter books on. I don't know how my dad managed it, but he was able to score one. It was originally a creame color but I painted it black to make it pop more.

luke52

@Flagwaver that is an awesome room. I want my man cave just like that!

batlaw

Stockpile of long and short boxes stacked in a closet and on some shelves. Most everything is in standard bags and boards w/ single piece of tape but ive got loose books floating around naked or just bagged here and there. My Books are organized / separated by company and character. Trades, HCs, and most deluxe books are on a bookshelf.. Also organized by company and character. I've also got 3-4 generic boxes filled w/ singles for sale.

monkey010101

@Flagwaver loving that room!
Its about time I answered my own question. Compared with everyone here my collection is quite small. Its currently packed in 2 cardboard boxes and a plastic box up in our loft, in no particular order. Nearly all the comics are bagged and I've just started boarding the titles where I have long runs. Just started on Mike Grell's Green Arrow run. I've recently ordered a couple of long boxes so that I can start getting them in some sort of order and so that the will take up less of a footprint on the floor. Unfortunately I have a very unsympathic other half who doesn't understand the need to have all the issues I have, plus we have quite a small house so there's no chance of a man room anytime soon.
Does anyone use any cataloging software at all?

Chuck_Melville

Does anyone use any cataloging software at all?

In fact, I use two.

I started out years ago with a basic FilePro system that let me catalog my books and cross-reference issue numbers, publishers, writers, artists, story arcs, etc. More recently, I added Comicbase that does a lot of the same and more, but I haven't yet fallen out of the habit of using FilePro which, though far less exclusive, is a bit more flexible if I want to customize it to specific preferences.

Thor_El

My books are all bagged, boarded, and in long boxes. But as much as I wish I had (and envy) @Flagwaver's setup, I just don't have the room. I've got a den/Man-cave, yeah, but I've also got a 7-year old and a 4-year old. So, y'know... toys everywhere.

So, I'm forced to commit the most criminal of all comic storage acts...





...they're in the garage. :(

Greg

I use Comic Collector Live and Comicbook DB, I'm several months behind in updating either.

Marty_Devine

I have far too many comics sitting in long boxes in an environmentally challenged attic.
When I go up there I can hear their little moans as they slowly die.
It's exactly like Saw... except it's my attic... and funny books.
I am going to investigate database software and off-site storage when I'm gainfully employed again.

kfreeman

I have probably trimmed my comic book collection by 60% over the last few years, and have no regrets whatsoever. I have definitely become a 'quality over quantity' guy.

Marty_Devine

kfreeman said:

I have probably trimmed my comic book collection by 60% over the last few years, and have no regrets whatsoever. I have definitely become a 'quality over quantity' guy.

I've gotta do that myself. I had hoped downsizing my residence would take care of that.
Unfortunately, houses aren't being bought or sold around here at the moment.
Looks like I'm going to shed the less loved excess myself.
I'm sure it will feel great afterwards, it's the starting thing that's hard part.

Trev

I use comicbase for all my vintage books but I stopped cataloging new books. Takes too long and I rarely go shopping for new books at cons or shows. Plus no need to really catalog them for insurance because they are rarely worth anything.

LibraryBoy

Gave up on bagging and boarding for most of my books. Special ones (based on whatever criteria I happen to be using at that moment get bags and boards, but most of them just get put into the short boxes as is. Well, mostly these days they go on piles on top of the short boxes... just haven't had the time to put comics away or organize them more than once or twice a year (if that) since starting grad school. Once I'm finished, though, I really need to rethink things collection-wise.

Flagwaver

I started out using ComicBookDB but when their site seemed to be down more and more I decided to look for an alternative. I decided on ComicCollectorLive and have been pleased with their cataloging software and the ability to buy comics through their website. Just a couple weeks ago I started using Collectorz as well. I decided to use it because their app stores your collection and wishlist within the app itself, whereas CCL's app requires a wifi connection. To my chagrin, after purchasing the Collectorz app, I discovered that it does not work on my 2nd gen Touch. Maybe by the time I've finished cataloging my entire collection for a THIRD time, I will have upgraded to the latest Touch.

monkey010101

I tried the Collectorz software and was very impressed but just couldn't justify the expense. So I use a free comic cataloging website called Stashmycomics.com which suits my needs.