Where can I put them all?

Every time I drive back home from the comic book shop (which I hope will be once a week again), my comics sit in the passenger seat waiting for my attention. They receive it at the many stop lights I am forced to stop at. (I don?t need to spend my comic book allotted money on traffic violations.) I don?t read them at the stop lights (that would just be stupid?. I might drop them), but what I do is shuffle them into my reading order. I place my favorites to be read last, something I am pretty sure other comic book readers would read first.

The last book I read any given week it comes out is The New Mutants. Fortunately the other book I read last, Daredevil, comes out on different street dates. Once so far did the both of them street together and The new Mutants was chosen to be read last. I do have my favorites. I?m not saying the new Mutants are better written, because at the moment they are not. I think what Andy Diggle is doing a great job after taking over for Ed Brubaker. I love how Daredevil is walking alongside dangerous waters (sewer waters that is) and I love it. The simple reason why The New Mutants wins out every time is because they have a greater place in my heart.

After I read them I bag and board them; place them above their allotted boxes. After they accumulate a bit (sometimes at ten other times maybe thirty) I log the books into my computer data base (something I just started doing. I love this thing, it also has an iPhone app also able to be used with the iPod touch, which I hope helps me from purchasing doubles).

All my comics are in half boxes. I?m not old (unless you ask my kid), but those long boxes are getting heavier not to mention how much space they take up, which takes us to the point of the journal?s title. This started by getting rid of the majority of my comics. I try to refer them as comics rather than my collection because I hope it will hurt less. It doesn?t. I then purchases new bags and new boards for almost every single comic book I was left with. I also purchased half boxes since the large ones took up some much space. I separated my comics by company and title allowing room for growth but where was I going to put them. I live on the ground floor and let?s face it; if I get flooded I am in trouble. By the way it is something that almost happened twice.

I made my way to IKEA with the measurements of the boxes looking for the shelves that would be perfect for my needs. I looked at every book case and every shelving until when I found what would suit me. What was even better is that I could buy them piecemeal. I didn?t have to buy them all at once. I bought my first piece to see if it could work. It did. Over the next few months I purchased another and another until I ran out of all my extra funds, I did also have to buy other pieces of furniture as well. It?s a lot easier eating on a kitchen table then my lap. By the way this all occurred before I started to collect slabbed books. I might have had three at this point of time.

When I finally had enough money to purchase some more I found they were discontinued. I am most likely good for the next year, maybe six months more after that before I have to think about what to do next. This time line will be cut short by my craze on purchasing slabbed books not to mention the pile I am setting aside to get graded myself. The shelves can hold the CGC type box, however they do scrape the top as I slide them in. they are heavier than the other boxes but since they are grounded I have no doubt they will hold the weight.

What?s next though? I still have the same square footage, that won?t change till I move. So I have to decide how to hold my collection. I still have time to think but would rather think about this now rather than later. Thinking about things later just gets me in trouble. I plan on bagging and boarding all my books over again in a slightly larger half box so they can be protected the best I can afford for them. Of course I could always stop collecting?.yea right, like I am going to go through that again.

Thanks for reading

Tnerb