miked
Fearless Defender
Posts: 48
|
Post by miked on Jan 24, 2014 23:03:40 GMT -5
my comics are currently a total mess. i keep the titles i'm keeping up with in short boxes on the bottom shelf of a small bookcase, but my books have long since outgrown this arrangement. i'm thinking about building myself a bookcase that will accommodate more short boxes since i haven't been able to find anything similar to buy. i like short boxes because they are easier to carry and move around.
does anyone have a good solution for comic storage? i have yet to find anything that's reasonably inexpensive as well as functional. i'm open to ideas!
|
|
|
Post by Raider30 on Jan 25, 2014 0:41:26 GMT -5
my comics are currently a total mess. i keep the titles i'm keeping up with in short boxes on the bottom shelf of a small bookcase, but my books have long since outgrown this arrangement. i'm thinking about building myself a bookcase that will accommodate more short boxes since i haven't been able to find anything similar to buy. i like short boxes because they are easier to carry and move around. does anyone have a good solution for comic storage? i have yet to find anything that's reasonably inexpensive as well as functional. i'm open to ideas! Heyo, This is a great topic. One that also happens to be currently close to my heart as I've got comics spread out all over the floor right now. I also am struggling to find a way to store(easy access would be a plus!) and also display my comics. A month ago I decided I was going to make my collection a bit more organized. Now I've only got around 2500 comics so it's not like its completely out of control or anything. All currently stored in a variety of short and long boxes. So here's what I've looked into so far. Maybe some of it will help you. First thing I did was pick up some plastic divider boards at my LCS. Next was a stop at Office Max to snag a label maker. The intent was to be able to label my comics for easier browsing. Next I looked at storage systems. Like you, and likely most everyone else, my stuff was stored in a variety of long and short boxes. However, I did run across a product called Drawerbox at a LCS in another town over Thanksgiving. They are about twice as expensive as a normal box, $9.95 for the short box variety which was all this particular LCS carried. It's definitely a solid product with double thick cardboard throughout. It functions more like a drawer with a pull out portion rather than a traditional box. You can supposedly stack them 5 or 6 high, though I'll probably stick to 3 high. I've got 6 of them so far and I really like them. They look much nicer when stacked up than regular boxes. Access is very easy, though a negative is the back 15 comics or so are sort of hidden by the fact that the drawer doesn't pull out all the way. Not a deal breaker, but something to mention. I also considered a filing cabinet system. One of my LCS's has a beautiful system set up. They are wide cabinets in which each drawer holds about 3 comics side by side by side with a divider between them. They are also 3 drawers high. I have not priced these yet, mainly because I'm afraid they are going to be really expensive, and also I'm not entirely sure where they would fit in with the motif I've got going on. Still they are really cool.... Finally, and the thing I'm struggling with the most, is how to organize them. I think I'm going to go with the old standby of separating by company, ie. Marvel, DC, Other. Then alphabetically. I'm definitely open to other suggestions about this aspect. As for building a bookshelf to hold your boxes, I'm sure you could find plans for something relatively simple out there on the net. I think though for ease of access I wouldn't want a shelf that would be anything more than 2 boxes high for each level of shelf. With 2 boxes you can get to the bottom box relatively easily, but 3 really starts to become a pain, especially if you build the bookshelf to any kind of height. Just something to think about. I look forward to hearing how others store their books as this seems to be an eternal question among comic fans. - Beau
|
|
|
Post by procrastronaut on Jan 27, 2014 8:28:34 GMT -5
I have some extremely heavy duty metal shelves in the garage which comfortably fit three boxes per shelf. It keeps them nicely off the ground and allows reasonably good access to the lids. I've got a little room to expand but might need a new shelf unit in a year or so. A couple of summers ago I organised my boxes purely alphabetically (all publishers together) and invested in some comic database software to keep track of everything. It makes it easy to input new stuff (you can even get a barcode scanner) and has an app on my phone so I can flip through lists and see what I have in my collection if I'm at a comic shop or convention. I'm possibly a little obsessed
|
|
miked
Fearless Defender
Posts: 48
|
Post by miked on Jan 29, 2014 1:50:20 GMT -5
I have some extremely heavy duty metal shelves in the garage which comfortably fit three boxes per shelf. It keeps them nicely off the ground and allows reasonably good access to the lids. I've got a little room to expand but might need a new shelf unit in a year or so. A couple of summers ago I organised my boxes purely alphabetically (all publishers together) and invested in some comic database software to keep track of everything. It makes it easy to input new stuff (you can even get a barcode scanner) and has an app on my phone so I can flip through lists and see what I have in my collection if I'm at a comic shop or convention. I'm possibly a little obsessed i got an app also that works on my phone and my computer, and paid to have it all link to the cloud. i believe it's called CLZ comic collector. the nice thing about it is that it can use the phone's camera as the barcode scanner. the bad thing is that i got behind on scanning my comics and now i have a huge backlog.
|
|
miked
Fearless Defender
Posts: 48
|
Post by miked on Jan 29, 2014 1:59:33 GMT -5
my comics are currently a total mess. i keep the titles i'm keeping up with in short boxes on the bottom shelf of a small bookcase, but my books have long since outgrown this arrangement. i'm thinking about building myself a bookcase that will accommodate more short boxes since i haven't been able to find anything similar to buy. i like short boxes because they are easier to carry and move around. does anyone have a good solution for comic storage? i have yet to find anything that's reasonably inexpensive as well as functional. i'm open to ideas! Heyo, This is a great topic. One that also happens to be currently close to my heart as I've got comics spread out all over the floor right now. I also am struggling to find a way to store(easy access would be a plus!) and also display my comics. A month ago I decided I was going to make my collection a bit more organized. Now I've only got around 2500 comics so it's not like its completely out of control or anything. All currently stored in a variety of short and long boxes. So here's what I've looked into so far. Maybe some of it will help you. First thing I did was pick up some plastic divider boards at my LCS. Next was a stop at Office Max to snag a label maker. The intent was to be able to label my comics for easier browsing. Next I looked at storage systems. Like you, and likely most everyone else, my stuff was stored in a variety of long and short boxes. However, I did run across a product called Drawerbox at a LCS in another town over Thanksgiving. They are about twice as expensive as a normal box, $9.95 for the short box variety which was all this particular LCS carried. It's definitely a solid product with double thick cardboard throughout. It functions more like a drawer with a pull out portion rather than a traditional box. You can supposedly stack them 5 or 6 high, though I'll probably stick to 3 high. I've got 6 of them so far and I really like them. They look much nicer when stacked up than regular boxes. Access is very easy, though a negative is the back 15 comics or so are sort of hidden by the fact that the drawer doesn't pull out all the way. Not a deal breaker, but something to mention. I also considered a filing cabinet system. One of my LCS's has a beautiful system set up. They are wide cabinets in which each drawer holds about 3 comics side by side by side with a divider between them. They are also 3 drawers high. I have not priced these yet, mainly because I'm afraid they are going to be really expensive, and also I'm not entirely sure where they would fit in with the motif I've got going on. Still they are really cool.... Finally, and the thing I'm struggling with the most, is how to organize them. I think I'm going to go with the old standby of separating by company, ie. Marvel, DC, Other. Then alphabetically. I'm definitely open to other suggestions about this aspect. As for building a bookshelf to hold your boxes, I'm sure you could find plans for something relatively simple out there on the net. I think though for ease of access I wouldn't want a shelf that would be anything more than 2 boxes high for each level of shelf. With 2 boxes you can get to the bottom box relatively easily, but 3 really starts to become a pain, especially if you build the bookshelf to any kind of height. Just something to think about. I look forward to hearing how others store their books as this seems to be an eternal question among comic fans. - Beau I also saw the drawer boxes, but i felt like they were too expensive for what they are. i'd like something that looks and functions a little better than cardboard. what i'm planning right now is a set of shelves that will fit short boxes three-by-three. from what i've been able to find, i can build a unit like this for about the same material cost as the drawer boxes in the same configuration. the idea, then, is that when a box fills up i can pull it and replace it with an empty one. now i just need the time to build it....
|
|
|
Post by drocat on Jan 29, 2014 23:31:48 GMT -5
I have been keeping them in long boxes, but I am soon going to run out of space in them and don't want to buy another one (sometimes it ends up being like 30 bucks for a couple pieces of cardboard... seriously?)
I was thinking about getting a filing cabinet and ordering them alphabetically... but I don't know if the size of the drawers would work. they might be too shallow or to narrow. But if they work, it's a good way to keep them off the ground and safe from the elements. My dad had about 4000 comics and lost about half of his collection (including some of my childhood stuff) to a flooding in the basement. I really don't want this to happen so I'm concerned about keeping them in long boxes.
Anyone have any experience keeping their books in a filing cabinet?
|
|
|
Post by Don Garvey on Jan 30, 2014 8:21:16 GMT -5
They aren't elegant but they will allow you to stack your boxes floor to ceiling - plastic/rubberized Rubbermaid storage shelves, available at most Home Depot and Loews type stores. I think they go for around $100 and they're sturdy as all get out. I have one right now that is holding 14 comic boxes (combination of long and short) with no signs of structural breakdown. Now, this is in my basement so the long boxes stick out about six inches in the front or back and it doesn't matter if it doesn't look really nice (for my money it looks well kept and organized), but short boxes fit nicely with room to spare.
|
|
|
Post by edthehyena on Jan 31, 2014 20:19:59 GMT -5
I went to IKEA and bought a bookcase. The fabric boxes they make for the cubbies look good, and our primary concern was that traditional boxes are ugly. It's been a pretty decent system, but the boxes are so wide you could almost fit 2 comics next to each other. I've put foam padding on the sides, but it still looks a little crude. I also found out that the bottom is a little flimsy for comics, so I plan on reinforcing the box with some wood. All in all, it'll cost enough to undo the money I saved by going to IKEA.
We also collect our issues 6 to a bag, which has done wonders for both space and loaning arcs to friends. (Stole that idea from an episode of the podcast).
I've heard of custom-made furniture with built-in comic storage. It sounds perfect for our decorating style, but I assume it's stupid expensive.
|
|
|
Post by Don Garvey on Feb 1, 2014 12:32:00 GMT -5
How do you do six to a bag, use silver age or magazine bags?
|
|
|
Post by drocat on Feb 2, 2014 14:27:26 GMT -5
How do you do six to a bag, use silver age or magazine bags? I second this... How do you keep it from messing up all the issues? It seems like a problem to me... I'm SUPER picky about the quality of my issues.
|
|
|
Post by edthehyena on Feb 3, 2014 13:17:24 GMT -5
Silver age bags. Once in a while I need to leave out the board or only do 5.
|
|
|
Post by bookend57 on Feb 3, 2014 16:20:16 GMT -5
I really want to pick up a long box or two, but I don't want to pay more than $5. They're just cardboard boxes, I'm not paying more than that.
|
|
|
Post by dwilliams on Feb 4, 2014 13:52:41 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Nick on Feb 4, 2014 22:36:38 GMT -5
The problem with comic storage is nothing is ever enough. You're always going to out grow your storage. I love collecting comics but I hate the accumulation. I got back into collecting almost a year ago now and I already get stressed out when I see all the comics and boxes accumulating. I need to get rid of some to make room for more. I see why people like digital comics, they're just not the same to me.
|
|
|
Post by procrastronaut on Feb 5, 2014 7:39:09 GMT -5
That's beautiful - especially like the idea of a card catalogue, but I'm a filing geek anyway
|
|