So, How do you guys organize your comics, and how many series do you collect?

[kowings]

I'm working on organizing my stuff. I've got four long boxes mostly full, and one short box half full.Right now, I have them grouped by main character. for example, Superman and Action comics are together, as well as Batman and detective comics, but I'm not sure if that's the most efficient way to do it.

 

How do you guys keep your stuff organzed, and how do you keep track of what you have. Also, How many different series, or characters or whatever, do you work on collecting at one time?

 

 

[BarryAllen]

I keep mine in boxes, no particular order. It is more fun going through them a couple months later and finding gems.

 

[kav]

I have SA Curt Swan books in 2 boxes, Kirby/Smith books in two boxes, CA books in other boxes and GNs in other boxes.

[Shadow]

Old school. About 4500 comics in alphabetical order in short boxes. Virtually all bagged and boarded.

[Junkdrawer]

I do the same. I keep Batman followed by Detective followed by Misc Batman.

[ttfitz]

I'm working on organizing my stuff. I've got four long boxes mostly full, and one short box half full.Right now, I have them grouped by main character. for example, Superman and Action comics are together, as well as Batman and detective comics, but I'm not sure if that's the most efficient way to do it.

 

How do you guys keep your stuff organzed, and how do you keep track of what you have. Also, How many different series, or characters or whatever, do you work on collecting at one time?

 

 

When I had 4 long boxes of stuff, I did like you are, with characters grouped together. Sometimes it was tough, deciding where to put something - does World's Finest go with Superman or Batman? Finally ended up between them.

 

But with over 20,000 books these days, that doesn't really cut it, so I'm alphabetical, but separated by company.

 

As for keeping track, I once had a database program I wrote to keep my owned list and wanted list, but I stopped keeping that up-to-date on the "owned" side a long time ago (still use if for my want list, though, mostly because it prints out nice and compact and I haven't had time to rework it in more modern software). Until I get the chance to build an Access database with everything, I keep my list on stashmycomics.com, which does a decent job of keeping track of everything.

 

I don't really concentrate on particular titles, just characters and creators that interest me. Looking at my list on stashmycomics, I have books from over 1,000 different titles (keep in mind that includes mini-series, titles that ended with only a few books, things like Action or Superman that have had restarts over the years). My current wantlist has about 20 titles on it, mostly DC (I've finished most of the Marvel titles I collect).

[paul747]

I just put them in marked boxes and track them on a spread sheet by box location. This way you know where every book is and order does not matter. If I am reading a title they stay in separate boxes until I have them caught up.

[thunsicker]

I have my slabs grouped by collecting focus, then alphabetically within focus. So Schomburgs are grouped and alphabetical. Early Marvels are grouped and alphabetical. Spirit sections are grouped and ordered by date. Sterankos are grouped and alphabetical.

[mystrymachine]

I have my old collection that is alphabetized and in numbered boxes. I was always updating the letters on the boxes so I gave that up. I started buying new books about three years ago and keep them in their own collection just because I don't think of them as important as my old collection. I guess that might be a little weird to some people.

[Firespitter]

I'm currently only collecting 6 current titles (plus anything with Hellboy).

Then there are miscellaneous back issues that I collect (Maybe another 6). I use excel spread sheets. I line-item each cover and variant by name. I notate how much I paid, when I bought it (but not where) It's mainly to keep track of missing issues/variants. I'm a completest and a bit OCD.

 

I prefer short boxes as they tend to hold either a complete title runs that I collect or possibly multiples with dividers. I keep all of my books in resealable poly bags (I hate tape on polys) or mylite 2s or 4s (with tape).

I also like the short boxes because they are also easy to move around without straining my back. Boxes are labeled with title text. And I like their footprint better than a long box.

 

Boxes also have dividers if they hold multiple titles.

 

When organizing comic consider the size of your runs that you're collecting (including variants or multiples).

Short boxes hold about 130-140 comic books if they are individually bagged and boarded. Long boxes hold about 300. But some people put 2 comics in a bag with a board separating them. That way they can get even more comics in the same sized box and don't have to spend hundreds on bags and boards.

The bags I use are too snug to put 2 per bag. So consider the bags your buying, no matter which route you go.

 

 

[01TheDude]

I used to be alphabetical and still am for the lesser looked at books. But I kind of grouped my books by superhero, monster, western, DC, and then other. It sort of reflects how I track them with my online inventory system. All boxes are labelled, all books in a series are together in order, bagged and boarded. I don't use long boxes-- just short ones as I find them easier to work with and I don't take more than a handful my books anywhere (short of moving to a new house). They occupy the top shelves of several closets. Close to one fifth of my collection is a single character (Thor) and there are a couple of others that I focused on as a kid and sort of picked up that habit again as an adult.

 

The weird part for me is that finding missing books used to be a lot tougher in the 1970s. Now it is a matter of finding the best book for the best price I can justify to myself (no wife to placate). So I have filled out my runs for the most part of Thor in less than a year. I still need more books to finish the JIM portion but I am taking that very slow as it is very pricey. I was going nuts over Kirby 4th world for a time as well but finished up what parts I wanted to collect. So I look a little for the handful of Thor's I need and some Daredevil now. I cannot bring myself to go after more titles than one or two at a time.

 

 

edit (additional info after reading some other replies):

I don't use separators inside the boxes but use small post it notes to tell me what # in the run is in that part of the box (makes it quicker to find a specific book) or if there is a new title.

In my database, I keep track of what I paid for the books (not just the sale price but break out the shipping so I know net cost), where and when I got them and any notable condition issues along with their grading. It helps me remember which parts I owned pre-1980 versus acquired later. That makes filling holes in runs more fun and gives you a bit of a sense of accomplishment finally having a part of a run done.

[Lavaman-migration]

In short boxes, E.Gerber Mylites and Half Backs and mostly catalogued using a great site call comicbookrealm.com.

 

My lesser comics not worthy of expensive mylites and boards are in standard poly bags with cheaper boards in printer paper boxes. I need to sell them...

 

The ones not even worthy of that treatment I give to my pals little lad who takes great pleasure ripping them to shreds!

[oakman29]

I wish I had comics to organize.

[kowings]

Yeah. I heard you gave 'em all away.

[ChicksCosmiComics]

I have them grouped by Title i have most marvel Runs fairly complete. Couple boxes of random DC, Modern boxes a few Miscelanous Boxes with Charlton, Gold Keys and Classic Illustrateds. The I have a pile here and a pile there If there is a flat surface in my comic room/office it has a pile of books on it

[oakman29]

Yeah. I heard you gave 'em all away.

 

 

Smart azz,I like that!

[CheeseFrog]

Loooooooots of short boxes kept up high from the 7 and 5 year olds.

 

I've never liked long boxes. Harder to store, and I don't like how the books sit in them.

 

MyLite 2's with full backs all around, because Mylar is nice and squeaky.

[makeminemego]

For storage, raws are in Mylite 2's with double fullbacks and chamber paper.

Slabs are in Mylite 2's as well.

 

Whatever collection I'm working on, I go chronologically, by title. Right now, I'm working on the first 20 issues of ASM, Avengers, FF, Incredible Hulk 1-6, JIM 83-103, ST 101-120, TOS 39-59, TTA 35-49. I always start chronologically, either forwards or backwards. I work across the titles kind of back and forth and keep track of what % I'm at in each title. I try to keep all the % moving up at kind of an even rate, so I don't have one title 80% complete and another 20% complete. (right now I'm at @65% overall).

 

I use the floppy plastic dividers to separate the titles in short boxes, with a checklist of issues in each title on the back of the divider.

[ChiSoxFan]

My entire collection is sorted alphabetically, even when put in different groups. I separated regular titles from mini-series and one-shots. I have my SA and very early BA (20 centers and earlier) separated from the main collection, and a box of strictly "keys" separated from that (again, though, all alphabetically and numerically sorted). I have in the neighborhood of 120 long boxes, but if I need to find any particular issue, it's real easy for me to do so.

 

To keep track, I have a binder with every title I collect listed with every possible issue represented (I used Excel to format it). Each issue box for a title has enough room for me to mark it with a highlighter when I get the issue, and to make a notation of a grade above the issue number. It's a lot of pages to flip through, but again, I've rarely bought an issue I already had unless it was to upgrade.

 

I started my collecting with an ASM run (I'm 6 issues and 2 annuals away from completing it), but it didn't take me long to branch off to just about everything else. If Marvel or DC put it out, I'm probably putting a run together of it. My Cap run (SA-present) is one major run I'm done with, I'm real close on Iron Man, and I've been working away at a bunch of other titles, Marvel and DC. To say I've had trouble focusing would be an understatement.

[Unca Ben]

Some titles need their own box(es). For example titles like ASM, FF, Avengers and X-Men have multiple boxes each.

 

Smaller runs by publisher, then alphabetically within the publisher.

Silver age Charlton and Gold Keys have their own box(es), for example.