is there an optimal size for a comic collection? Do you have a limit?

[FutureFlash]

I'm at about 5,000 books, but thankfully I have an area I can store them nicely, and I could even double that number if needed. But I'm trying to keep my collection the size it is now. I just want to complete my DC War, Flash, Superman, GL, JL, GI Joe ARAH and a few others. The rest I'll just get slabbed keys and omnibuses for reading material. Marvel Unlimited has been a huge space saver, I can read all I want and not have to go out and buy a trade or hunt down the series. Wish DC did this too!

 

The biggest problem I have is buying new stuff, there is a lot of good books out right now, its hard to choose and I end up getting more than I want to have long term.

 

 

 

 

 

[Bill1]

 

 

Old picture, more now, about 31,000. I have the old Comic Collector software and can find any book within minutes. When this room is full (or falls into the garage), I will be done.

 

Wow! Impressive!

 

Although that one box with the scribbled out "8" is just pushing my OCD right over the edge.

 

 

 

I have since had to renumber my CGC boxes, from about 110-125 to 210-225, as I needed the box numbers for my regular comics to keep things in order on my shelves.

[RCheli]

The problem I've found is ease of access. If you can get to every box easily and know what you have, then nothing is too large. Once it starts getting overwhelming, then you're in trouble.

[entalmighty1]

The optimal size is what you can store and access easily. I don't think there's a number. I have about 8000 comics and growing. They currently reside in piled long boxes at my folks' place. I've moved into my own home, but I'm still planning out shelving space for short boxes in my spare bedroom. I don't think I'd be able to pare much down, it's here because I wanted it.

 

I'd rather have three Avengers 57 than a run of Avengers 51-60. Rather have multiple Captain Marvel 25-33s as opposed to a run of CM 1-50. Multiple FF 25/26 than a run of 20-35. Hopefully you get the gist.

 

That's a horde, not a collection. The enjoyment of the books isn't in the material itself, it's flipping through and thinking "ka-ching, ka-ching." Rather than being critical, I'll just say we're at different stages in our collecting focus.

 

I feel the same way. I don't collect multiples of keys, because I want one of everything. Even when I do get double of a bigger book, the lower grade issue goes out the door as quickly as I find somebody to buy it.

 

Shad, I definitely understand the investment mentality, that's just not what I do with my books. :thumbsup:

[the blob]

142 short boxes (bagged and boarded), 7 magazine boxes, and 10 short boxes (unbagged and unloved). Over 15,000 comics. And I'm listing them here on the for sale boards at a snails pace.

 

I am not entirely sure how many boxes will end up being sold off and how many will stay. My current estimate is 2/3rds will go and I'll keep the other 1/3rd.

 

Hmm, maybe i don't have as many comics as I thought, although i have a lot of stuff unbagged, it sounds like we may be similar hoard-wise

[wormboy]

I have one shelf for raw books (Marvel Bronze) and one shelf for CGC Books (Adams covers and Miller covers + anniversary books).

 

If it doesn't fit on one of the two shelves, it gets sold, or replaces something that gets sold.

[apollobuzz]

I have two long boxes of raw keepers and about 50 slabbed (mostly Bronze Marvel) in my personal collection. I also have the equivalent of about another one long box of sell/trade books as well as drek that I usually include as freebies for anything I sell. The sell/trade/drek was mostly stuff that came in as part of a lot with something I really wanted.

[rodan57]

 

 

Old picture, more now, about 31,000. I have the old Comic Collector software and can find any book within minutes. When this room is full (or falls into the garage), I will be done.

 

Wow! Impressive!

 

Although that one box with the scribbled out "8" is just pushing my OCD right over the edge.

 

 

 

I was thinking almost the exact same thing on both counts.

[rodan57]

60 slabs displayed in my office, all very early Marvel-mostly circle 12s.

 

4 short boxes that extend the displayed runs (ASM 18-39, FF 14-28, JIM 93-112, ST 111-120, TOS 49-59, TTA 45-60, raw early X Men and Avengers).

 

I think it's about 160 books, I can see it getting to @200.

 

 

This is roughly the same size as my collection but your's is of a far more impressive quality -- circle 12s -- well done.

[rodan57]

 

Right now I am in the process of Photographing and Detail Grading All of my Books.

Also keeping detailed list of what these books are actually selling for on eBay in the condition my books are in.

 

This is where I am at -- but I constantly find myself being defeated by the time/space continuum.*

 

 

 

 

 

*It's hard to find the the time and space to continue.

[the blob]

 

Right now I am in the process of Photographing and Detail Grading All of my Books.

Also keeping detailed list of what these books are actually selling for on eBay in the condition my books are in.

 

This is where I am at -- but I constantly find myself being defeated by the time/space continuum.*

 

 

 

 

 

*It's hard to find the the time and space to continue.

 

The inside of that phonebooth is about 2500 square feet on the show

[the blob]

and yes, dr. who is the only reason my son know's what a phone booth is

[Lavaman-migration]

In the 9 months or so I've been collecting comics I reckon I've got about 1000, maybe more. 6-700 of those are ASM & UXM, I aiming for the full sets on both those.

I've tried selling some, in order to raise extra cash for more, but I just can't part with them! It's only the low grade stuff that I can bear to sell, and for the prices they sell for I may as well just burn them.

My name is Dan and I'm a comicaholic....

[ttfitz]

The conversation going on about people misplacing books or buying the same book multiple times by mistake lead me to this thought.

 

Is there an optimal size/number of comics in a collection?

 

42.

[ninanina]

Been collecting for 35 years and have about 18,000 in my collection now along with 8 or 9 long boxes of duplicates. I mistakenly believed at first the only way to collect is to amass as many comics as possible. I collect runs and am in the process of trying to read them all eventually. I keep the collection organized by titles on shelves I set up in a room in the basement. Pretty much at my limit as I'll be lucky to have the time to read it all, but always looking for a deal on a modern run.

[makeminemego]

60 slabs displayed in my office, all very early Marvel-mostly circle 12s.

 

4 short boxes that extend the displayed runs (ASM 18-39, FF 14-28, JIM 93-112, ST 111-120, TOS 49-59, TTA 45-60, raw early X Men and Avengers).

 

I think it's about 160 books, I can see it getting to @200.

 

 

This is roughly the same size as my collection but your's is of a far more impressive quality -- circle 12s -- well done.

 

Thanks for the kind words. Truth be told, there's a lot of mediocrity there in the circle 12s and in the boxes too though......runs are only about 70% complete, and the average grade of the early stuff is 5.0, while big/somewhat big keys like ASM 1, FF 5, ST 110 and TTA 35 are in the 3.5-4.5 range.

 

I'm not a nosebleed guy......I get just as big of a kick out of a really clean (free of rust or stains) circle 12 in 5.0 as I would out of a high grade copy.

 

 

[Jaylam]

I have too many books now. Storage is a problem. I'd like to limit my collection to 100 high graded copies of books I care about and about 1000 of ungraded books that represent copies of my original collection from when I started as a kid. Most of my originals are long gone so I've been grazing to find Fine to Very Fine copies to complete limited runs from my earliest days of collecting (1966-1971). Below is a sampling of some recent nice ungraded pick-ups.

 

[vaillant]

The optimal size is what you can store and access easily. I don't think there's a number. I have about 8000 comics and growing. They currently reside in piled long boxes at my folks' place. I've moved into my own home, but I'm still planning out shelving space for short boxes in my spare bedroom. I don't think I'd be able to pare much down, it's here because I wanted it.

 

I'd rather have three Avengers 57 than a run of Avengers 51-60. Rather have multiple Captain Marvel 25-33s as opposed to a run of CM 1-50. Multiple FF 25/26 than a run of 20-35. Hopefully you get the gist.

 

That's a horde, not a collection. The enjoyment of the books isn't in the material itself, it's flipping through and thinking "ka-ching, ka-ching." Rather than being critical, I'll just say we're at different stages in our collecting focus.

 

I feel the same way. I don't collect multiples of keys, because I want one of everything. Even when I do get double of a bigger book, the lower grade issue goes out the door as quickly as I find somebody to buy it.

 

Shad, I definitely understand the investment mentality, that's just not what I do with my books. :thumbsup:

And aside from this, if everyone followed Shadrock’s approach, this would just result in a price increase around keys or the only issues perceived as being "of importance". That drives to a very detrimental mentality, although no one is immune from this "temptation".

[r100comics]

and yes, dr. who is the only reason my son know's what a phone booth is

 

It's not a phone booth...

[01TheDude]

and yes, dr. who is the only reason my son know's what a phone booth is

 

It's not a phone booth...

 

The tardis sort of reminds me of these