Storing Graded with Raw 1 1

[Mr.Fantastic]

I like the continuity of keeping all my titles in the same boxes (numerically sorted). Currently I keep the graded books and the raw books separate from each other. Do any of you guys store your graded and raw in the same box? And if so, what, if any type of divider do you use? I suppose I could store all my graded for the title in the front or back of the box and have the raw books continue from there. Looking for suggestions and /or recommendations. Thanks !

[KCOComics]

It's a problem I've never seen a real solution for.  

When I collect runs, i keep them all raw because I like having my runs in a row in the same box.  

I store slabs separately on shelves.  Sorry I'm not much help. 

[MattTheDuck]

I don't enough slabs to have faced this yet and 2 of them aren't even part of "runs" yet. 

Actually, I'm "storing" them on a chair and table in the living room (under a Marvel Treasury Edition and some cardboard to protect them from light) until I figure out a more permanent solution.  I've been working up the courage to tell the spouse I need to take over one of the rooms in the house for an actual display.  Gawd, I'm in for it.

I expect to have the slabs on the wall rather than in boxes in the long run.

[Ryan.]

On 8/28/2021 at 7:47 PM, Mr.Fantastic said:

Do any of you guys store your graded and raw in the same box? 

No since I'm not a psychotic heathen. 

[MattTheDuck]

There's been some discussion that slabs should be stored with the comic spine-side down, which would make it difficult/impossible to store then with raw books it seems to me.

[KCOComics]

On 8/29/2021 at 1:00 PM, MattTheDuck said:

There's been some discussion that slabs should be stored with the comic spine-side down, which would make it difficult/impossible to store then with raw books it seems to me.

Yeah, I've seen the back and forth on this. 

I lay my flat and stack them on top of one another on shelves, no more than 5 or 6 high. 

[MattTheDuck]

On 8/29/2021 at 10:15 AM, KCOComics said:

Yeah, I've seen the back and forth on this. 

I lay my flat and stack them on top of one another on shelves, no more than 5 or 6 high. 

That's basically what I'm doing as well.  Where they are is not a long-term solution, but they seem to tolerate the stacking all right.  Plus the weight distributed across the entire back of the comic seems to be the best answer if you're worried about stresses developing.

[lostboys]

On 8/28/2021 at 7:47 PM, Mr.Fantastic said:

I like the continuity of keeping all my titles in the same boxes (numerically sorted). Currently I keep the graded books and the raw books separate from each other. Do any of you guys store your graded and raw in the same box? And if so, what, if any type of divider do you use? I suppose I could store all my graded for the title in the front or back of the box and have the raw books continue from there. Looking for suggestions and /or recommendations. Thanks !

I store raw books by themselves.

I store my slabs laid flat...no more than 4 to a stack.

 

I know most people have way too many slabs for that but I only own around 50 and I just dont feel comfortable having them standing up for the next 20 or whatever years. 

[shadroch]

If you store your raw books standing up in boxes, I'd love to hear why you think  storing a slabbed book flat is better.

I keep my raws and slabs seperated except for my golden age books that don't fit in normal comic boxes. Those I store with alongside their slabbed brethern in Hot Flip CGC boxes.

 

[rexinnih]

Short answer is "Keep'em separated." I have my slabs on a separate shelf from my raws and that would include breaking up runs. It comes down to preference so this is just me. 

[lostboys]

On 8/30/2021 at 11:32 AM, shadroch said:

If you store your raw books standing up in boxes, I'd love to hear why you think  storing a slabbed book flat is better.

I keep my raws and slabs seperated except for my golden age books that don't fit in normal comic boxes. Those I store with alongside their slabbed brethern in Hot Flip CGC boxes.

 

Gravity?

 

I don't really have a great answer, bro.

I just feel better when they lay flat.

A slabbed book has a bit more breathing room to collapse over the years.

Again, talking out of my  rear end here.

A bagged and boarded raw book has added stability because they are held up by the other 50-100 books in the box.

Imagine having one or two bagged raws standing alone?

That wouldn't work out.

 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by lostboys
Misspelled word

[Qalyar]

On 8/30/2021 at 10:32 AM, shadroch said:

If you store your raw books standing up in boxes, I'd love to hear why you think  storing a slabbed book flat is better.

I keep my raws and slabs seperated except for my golden age books that don't fit in normal comic boxes. Those I store with alongside their slabbed brethern in Hot Flip CGC boxes.

To some extent, storing raw books standing up is the only realistic option.

We all know that raw books shouldn't be stacked flat (or, if they must be stacked flat, interleaved so that the spines are on alternating sides) because the weight of the staples puts pressure on lower-book spines that can lead to spine rolls. That's less of a problem with bagged and boarded books, but it can still be a concern over long periods of time and big stacks of books. Meanwhile, storing raw books spine-down is... rarely practical. Standing your raw books does place some differential stress on the staples, but honestly the concern is minimal.

For slabs, while spine-down is almost certainly the lowest-stress position to store your books, stacking them flat is realistically fine as well. The slabs themselves distribute the pressure instead of placing it disproportionately on the spine. Standing your slabs is unquestionably the third-best option, because the concerns about differential stress are still legitimate -- and, in fact, the degree of freedom involved is often one that has some play inside the case. We don't want to encourage that. Obviously, no books should ever be stored spine-up, but no one is doing that anyway, right?

I store my slabs spine down because they fit my storage space better. I wouldn't fault anyone for stacking slabs, though. They're designed to be stackable, after all. This does mean that I can't really easily store raw books alongside the slabs in run order, but generally speaking, I'm either looking to slab entire runs or to not slab entire runs, so in the medium term it works out okay.

[lostboys]

On 8/30/2021 at 3:53 PM, Qalyar said:

To some extent, storing raw books standing up is the only realistic option.

We all know that raw books shouldn't be stacked flat (or, if they must be stacked flat, interleaved so that the spines are on alternating sides) because the weight of the staples puts pressure on lower-book spines that can lead to spine rolls. That's less of a problem with bagged and boarded books, but it can still be a concern over long periods of time and big stacks of books. Meanwhile, storing raw books spine-down is... rarely practical. Standing your raw books does place some differential stress on the staples, but honestly the concern is minimal.

For slabs, while spine-down is almost certainly the lowest-stress position to store your books, stacking them flat is realistically fine as well. The slabs themselves distribute the pressure instead of placing it disproportionately on the spine. Standing your slabs is unquestionably the third-best option, because the concerns about differential stress are still legitimate -- and, in fact, the degree of freedom involved is often one that has some play inside the case. We don't want to encourage that. Obviously, no books should ever be stored spine-up, but no one is doing that anyway, right?

I store my slabs spine down because they fit my storage space better. I wouldn't fault anyone for stacking slabs, though. They're designed to be stackable, after all. This does mean that I can't really easily store raw books alongside the slabs in run order, but generally speaking, I'm either looking to slab entire runs or to not slab entire runs, so in the medium term it works out okay.

You broke it down better than I could ever have.

I guess it boils down to storage space.

Like I said earlier, I only own around 50 slabs. I have 3 large, wooden file cabinets in my comic room. I can stack up to 15 slabs in 1 drawer. It works for me.

 

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by lostboys
Added a pic

[Pat Thomas]

I bought a display rack from my old lcs when they closed down, and I display my slabs on them. That way it feels like they have their own place dictated by me (instead of being a necessity). I've just learned to deal with the empty slot in the box.

[djzombi]

On 8/28/2021 at 7:47 PM, Mr.Fantastic said:

I like the continuity of keeping all my titles in the same boxes (numerically sorted). Currently I keep the graded books and the raw books separate from each other. Do any of you guys store your graded and raw in the same box? And if so, what, if any type of divider do you use? I suppose I could store all my graded for the title in the front or back of the box and have the raw books continue from there. Looking for suggestions and /or recommendations. Thanks !

I totally hear what you're saying here.  I also like the continuity.  What I do is keep the slabs separate, but in with the raws, where the slabbed book would be, I have a bagged board that has the issue written in sharpie on it with the CGC grade.  This way I know there isn't a "hole" in my collection and know where to find it.  

I should say I have thousands of books with many long runs, some mid-completion.  Only in the past year or so have I been pulling books to be graded by CGC.  

[Arkham]

Out of the choice of separating a single run in two different storage methods/places or keeping it together, then the easy choice for me is to haemorrhage cash through duplication.

• I have a run raw that I am building a competitive registry set for. My raw run is not of high-enough grade to bother grading the books, so I keep that ungraded and specifically hunt high-grade slabs of that title... It's The Joker (1975) and there are only 9 published books, so (if you don't consider the incredibly low number of high-grade books in the census) this is doable.
• I have a modern run that I am collecting in full. I am occasionally picking up covers I love from that in CGC SS. But, in that circumstance, I am very happy to duplicate. The completion of the title in full raw is the goal here. 

This means I can store my raw books and slabs separately. Because even considering having a single run separated in storage technique makes me twitch spasmodically. 

But, it's not like I'm collecting a run that has mega-keys. Duplication is probably off the cards there. 

FWIW, I used to keep my slabs spine down. These days they are in acid-free BCW Graded Comic Book Bins and I wouldn't go back. 

[djzombi]

On 9/1/2021 at 2:01 AM, Arkham said:

 

FWIW, I used to keep my slabs spine down. These days they are in acid-free BCW Graded Comic Book Bins and I wouldn't go back. 

I have my slabs in a special "graded comic" sized box and would be fine with that if it wasn't for all the posts warning of the possible danger of doing so.  
I know in reality the threat of damage is probably really low, but all I can hear in my head is: "YOU FOOL!  YOU'RE RUINING YOUR BOOKS!"

Edited September 1, 2021 by djzombi
clarity and typo

[Arkham]

On 9/2/2021 at 5:26 AM, djzombi said:

I have my slabs in a special graded comic sized box and would be fine with that if it wasn't for all the posts warning of the possible danger of doing so.  
I know in reality the threat of damage is probably really low, but all I an hear in my head is: "YOU FOOL!  YOU'RE RUINING YOUR BOOKS!"

Dammit. Now I need to go research all these posts!! 

[CHASEnBLUE]

Graded comics are stored in appropriately sized boxes, same with raws. Having a database helps as well, at least for me.

[grendelbo]

Since I have neither a lot of GA books or magazines or coffins ... er slabs, I store them all together in a short box.

Raw books are stored upright. Certified issues are stored on their side with spine down. I make sure the box is packed pretty tight so nothing slides around. 

It's a mix and match as are all my boxes. I have it in my head what is where and a photo catalog of my collection sorted by each box.