Comicdonna,

Thank you for sharing your experience.  I'm sure it must have been a very difficult time for you and your family. I'm glad you are all safe.

I didn't go through anything close to what you did and I'm still very stressed out/tired/worried...     

Learning from this experience I know I need to be more prepared next time. 

I've just saw on the news this morning there are more fires in CA now... and there are 2 hurricanes (Marco & Laura) heading to the US Gulf Coast.

2 hours ago, Robot Man said:

Oh man, that's horrible.It is that time of year again in CA. Not that Corona virus isn't enough. Where do you live? I live near the beach. We don't have those open spaces but we don't have to deal with this at least.

Yes, many years ago, I suffered a house fire. Luckily, most of my comic collection was stored some where else. I had about 15 minutes to get my wife, daughter and dog out of the house. Went back in and grabbed some papers (all stored together in a box), some photos, my computer, a couple of guitars and a box or two of comics. Between the fire and the water they poured on it most everything else went. Insurance covered the "money part" mostly but it was the other part that was hard to deal with for a while. We were all safe which is all that really mattered.

I keep my comics that are not stored at the bank in comic boxes. I could get them all out easily in an hour as well as a lot of other stuff. Much of it would go though. A lifetime of finds and memories. But, I could make new ones. It's kind of funny, when you think about what really matters. Stuff is just stuff but your life and the ones you love are priceless.

Looks like you might have come out alright I hope and dodged the bullet. Might be time to think of moving...

Sorry to hear about your house fire.

The fires are all over California now... Los Angeles, San Jose, Napa, etc...

Another lesson from this that I should have mentioned in the video was no access to Storage Units...  Once the mandatory evacuation started there were street closures, bumper-to-bumper traffic and all 3 storage unit places nearby were closed. 

So if the fire had reached the storage units, the collection would just burn....   Banks are probably much safer.

Rough week... not the comic room tour I was planning...  😟 Lightning sparked a series of wildfires in California this week.

Evacuation warnings quickly turned into mandatory evacuations and we didn't have much time to save my comic book collection. I have many rare silver-age comic books (almost all CGC Graded) that are irreplaceable to me... so I tried to save them as fast as I could... The pics/video shows how quickly the fire moved closer... 😱

I clearly was not as prepared I a should have been..., so I decided to make this quick video to remind all of us who live in "disaster" areas to take the time to prepare for them before something really bad happen. 

Picture show view from my comic book room windows as fire got closer and we had to evacuate... 

Have you ever had to evacuate your house and grab your collection quickly?  Any suggestions, better boxes??

Let me know if you have any advice on how to prepare for the next time. 

Thanks !

I was thinking...

Chinese Guaranty Company, LLC  

I agree with the comments above... I've seen the "template" used all the time so my main concern is to just make sure you check the seller reputation 

Marvel Celebrates Stan Lee CGC 9.8

Celebrating Marvel’s Stan Lee, aired December 20, 2019... the live audience at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York City received this book.  Not a regular comic book, but a really cool collectible 

This is my only Gem Mint CGC 10... 

I'm a big Spider-Man fan so this is a cool one to have in 10. 

Finally done !

CUSTOM LIZARD STATUE BASE (Original XM Studios Lizard Statue).  In this Final Part 3 I show how it was painted 

I'm a big Spider-Man fan and the Lizard is one of my favorite characters so all the work was worth it !

You can also see how it looks next to other statues in my statue display  I'm sure not everyone will like it , but I hope you enjoy watching the Epic Conclusion of this project ! 

This is how it looked before (picture)... It was already a pretty cool statue 

It looks even more awesome now 

8 minutes ago, davebo357 said:

Just spitballing an idea of displaying slabs.  If someone were to make something tailor-made for displaying slabs, you know those poster displays some comic book stores have that hold say 20 posters vertically in cases and you flip through them, and if you leave it open to one poster it just stays that way until someone moves it again?  It'd be cool to have something like that for slabs that maybe held two across and four or 6 vertically, so you could leave it open and easily change the ones visible.

Funny you mentioned it...  

I was going to do this but instead of the "poster hanger" there are "blueprint hangers" that I found while searching for the "blueprint" cabinets I bought.

They are similar to the poster hangers, but a lot stronger and more expensive.

I gave up on that idea/project because the cabinets are a more "solid" solution that is ready for the comics without any modification.  I also like that the cabinets can be locked, so if you have kids it may be a better option.

After I got the cabinets I did make a custom comic book frame to display 6 comics on the wall...  they are easy to make and probably cost me about $30 w/ home depot parts.

 I think the video link is already here (if not, just check my channel).

3 hours ago, Poekaymon said:

Couldn't find anything decent around here.  There were a few that had been neglected in some warehouse and looked all rusty and chewed up and they still wanted like $500.  Someone probably needs to make something like this more tailored to slabs.

Keep checking craigslist and FB marketplace.

It took me a year to find a good one for a reasonable price.  $500 is a bit too much if it is rusted. 

I'd pay $500 in very good condition or $400 if it needs to be repainted.

Good luck 

Very cool 

I had to pass on the 5-drawer ones, but that's still a great cabinet.

As you've seen on my video, it was pretty easy to paint them.  The handles can also be replaced with no problems.

2 hours ago, srezvan said:

Is $42.50 a good price for one? Estate sale find today!

Awesome deal !  $42.50 is really cheap.  I'd get it, especially if it is a SAFCO w/ 10 drawers ! 

The cheapest I ever seen was $200 in not very good shape. 

I didn't get it because seller was in adifferent state and shipping was very expensive.

XM Studios Carnage Statue.  That face looks super cool  

My only complaint is the hair should have been red, it looks more brown than red 

This one is of my favorite statues, but I thought the base needed some improvements.

I'm sure not everyone will like it, but I'm actually pretty happy with it. 

The paint can be easily removed if I ever decide change it back to original paint

The video shows how I repainted, but it also includes side-by-side comparison pictures of the base before vs. after (last couple of minutes of the video)   The improvement is still more noticeable in person.

On 6/27/2020 at 5:12 PM, Poekaymon said:

I think I like that but I looked it up and it's $2k new.  Would want at least two so that's pretty rough.

Hi Poekaymon,

Yes... there are very expensive brand new 

I'm not sure if you watched the video, but I actually paid much less.  The first two I think I paid around $480 each

Then, I was able to find a beige one for around $300 and spent $100 on paint etc...  so I spent less than $500 for each cabinet on average. 

That's still a lot, but for 100 books, that's about $5 a book so not too bad   They are very well build, so if you can find them locally for $300 to $800 I'd get them.

Here's the update video about the cabinet ( the answer is; Yes , to me that's the best cabinet I could find for what I need; may not be the best option for everyone).

I just think it's so cool to open the drawer and see 10 awesome comic books all at the same time  

7 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

 

Late to the party, but is that an original ASM #1 9.6?!  (Like, not a Golden Record Reprint)  

 

Wow those fit absolutely perfectly.  If only I had the space (and 100 graded books ) for that.

Hi Ex,

Thanks ! 

No, not original ASM #1, it's a GRR.   

I really love that cabinet.  I didn't think I'd have more than 100 graded comics, but now I'm glad I have the cabinets.

I'm in the process of updating my comic room too.  There is a recent video that I show the cabinet in more detail. 

The last cabinet took me a long time ti find locally and I actually had to paint it to match the other two.

On 6/6/2020 at 12:20 PM, ADAMANTIUM said:

For the price paid, I'm glad that you feel comfortable to "make it your own!"  

I like both before and after, and while that is true, I do agree the beginning does look a "little plain" (on the base!)

Thanks !  

All the paint can be easily removed if I decide to change it back to the original look....  It was actually a fun project. 

That Carnage portrait is just awesome too... This is a great statue for any Carnage fan.

The next project will be much more complex...    It is one of my favorite Spider-Man villains... 

The Lizard !  

Another project done for my toy collection.

This is my XM Studios Carnage statue.  It looks great, but I thought the base needed some more color and highlights so I tried to make it better. 

I've just done the Kraven Statue base and it came out ok, so I was hoping to make this one look even nicer. 

If you are not familiar with this Carnage, I've included some Before vs. After pictures in the video that show the change a little better. 

Great one for any Carnage or Spider-man fan 

4 hours ago, Yorick said:

@BOLORINO so you split the figures and then repositioned for Kraven to be in front?  You are handy.

Thanks ! 

That's a really cool statue, but I always thought Kraven should in front of the lion so I a made a custom base to fix that.

I'm going to start working on one for the Lizard...  I'm a big Spider-man fan 

Still working on my Sinister Six collection...

I really like this Kraven Statue now with the Kraven action figure and ASM #15, #34 and #47  😁

6 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

I've only kind of browsed cabinets and only on eBay, it'd be nice to just have a couple of lockable file cabinets. Imo

That way I could just pick up a shortbox of slabs and set the whole box inside. I'd like to have room fro the box to avoid scuffs from the cabinet. I'd also enjoy the cabinet to have a little weight to it, so no one or thieves couldn't pick the whole thing up or out to open at another time....

$200-400 is what I see on eBay, but not enough are local pick up etc, I'm not paying for shipping a file cabinet hahaha

But I've only started to browse.... Safeco? I haven't heard of so I'll check locations, any others for such a thing?

It's SAFCO.  I think I mentioned it on the first video, but the ones I bought I got them on Cragslist because shipping is just too expensive.  On the first video from last year I also showed the lock.   The ones I bought did not have a lock, but you can easily buy the lock kit on ebay and install it yourself. 

If you search on craigslist/facebook/ebay, search "safco flat file" or "flat file cabinet"

There are other manufacturers, but I found SAFCO to be the best/most expensive... you can also check on amazon.

Good luck 👍

11 hours ago, oakman29 said:

Cool, but if you have hundreds of slabs the cabinet wouldn't be feasible. 

Good point 👍  Each cabinet can hold 100 CGC graded comic books, so I think it may still be a good idea if you have a few hundred books. They usually go used for $400-600.  It's about $4-6 a book, so it's not too bad if you some expensive books. 😬 You just need to find the space for it, 100 CGC slabs take a lot of space 😁

11 hours ago, ADAMANTIUM said:

True and waist level high to reach the back and see to pick slabs. Small problem but would need to be shorter.....

I agree it is neat and looks professional

It's got vibe! 

Safco sells a "high base" for that cabinet that can be used to raise the cabinet about 20".  That is the perfect height for it. 👍   I wouldn't stack more than 3 high because the top drawer would be a little too high.  I may build a 12-inch stand for them later so the bottom drawers are not so low 😬

Thanks !

4 hours ago, Krismusic said:

how heavy is that thing? looks really heavy.

It's very well-built and heavy with all drawers, but if you remove them it is easy to move.  

8 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

Where you find that cabinet that you store the comic books and what are the dimensions?  I saw some of your other videos.  That was pretty cool. 

Thanks ! 👍

A lot of people asked me about the comic book cabinet... It's a SAFCO cabinet that is usually used for blueprint, art prints, etc...  I bought the first two from a local art store and the last one I found on craigslist after months of search... It was not the color I wanted, so I had to paint it to match the other two 😬

There are 2 videos about the cabinet, you can see the latest one here:

The video description has a link to the "old" first video about the cabinet.