Comic Book Buyer’s Guide #4 - Packing a Large TPB Collection
Jan 20, 2009 Comic Book Buyer's Guide
The length of today’s entry may be a tad short as I’m a bit wiped out after an afternoon of packing my comics collection in preparation for an impending move. As I have mentioned in the past, the vast majority of my collection are trade paperbacks and hardcovers which I appreciate for their functionality as I can grab one off the shelf any time I want and flip through it. This saves me having to sort through long boxes of single issues to find a specific story arc I want to revisit. While it is ideal to have my collected editions at my fingertips at any one time, the sheer volume of books can be a scary thought when it comes time to box them up and transport them.
Most of these books came through my door one or two at a time over the course of a few years, steadily accumulating over time. Fast forward to now when there are over 450 books to now get from point A to point B. Ugh. I have listed a few ways that have worked for me in the past that Ibelieve will help you when it’s your turn to “pack ‘em up and move ‘em out!”
“So, um… Do You Have Any Boxes?”
The answer to this question will be a resounding “YES”! Walk into your local comic shop and ask whoever is behind the counter if they have any boxes lying around from this weeks books and they will be more than happy to have you take them off their hands. You happily carting away one of their weekly piles of cardboard saves them having to break them down and (hopefully) recycle the boxes themselves. One tip is to be sure you stop by on a Wednesday (new comic book day) as any other day may result in the precious cargo holders having already been dumped. Also, depending on the size of your local comic shop and how many books they get in a week, you may need to collect boxes over the course of a numebr of weeks until you have enough to hold your collection.
“Sweet! This is Just Like Tetris! Only Not Fun…”
For about 80% of your collection, the standard sized comic boxes that comics are shipped in will do the job perfectly. They are a small box that will hold roughly 30 standard trade paperbacks. You will be able to fill these boxes with most trade paperbacks as they will fit nice and snug with little room to slide around. BUT, what about those over-sized hardcovers, smaller digest sized collections and everything in between? This is when you need to get creative. Along with the smaller sized boxes, comics distributers obviously also ship merchandise in larger boxes as those over-sized books have to get to the comic shops somehow. You’ll want to make sure you get a few of the larger size boxes to accommodate your larger books and then you can fill in the spaces “tetris style”. Drop in your largest books first and then fill in the gaps with the decending sized and shaped books. There’s not a whole lot of advice here. Just stick what fits where and you can sort it out when you get to your final destination. Some paper towel or newspaper can be used to ensure a tight fit.
Try Not to Read EVERY Book…
If you are anything like me you will notice all the incredibly interesting books going from your shelf to your box and will want to open them up and have a “quick look”. These quick looks typically lead to 14 hour packing days as you read much more than you pack… This is more of a suggestion that a hard rule since its really up to you if you want to take 5 days to pack your collection. My SUGGESTION would be to just pack these books as if they were an item like silverware or clothes. They are objects that need to be moved, just like everything else, so pick them up and put them down as quickly as possible. This will leave you with more time to UN-pack the books later. The perfect opportunity to take your time and read a book or two at your leisure.
Label EVERYTHING!
Be sure to clearly label every box as soon as you close it and tape it up. There are likely going to be a LOT of boxes laying around and they can get mixed up very quickly if you’re not careful. During one move I actually ended up with a couple of mislabeled comics boxes ending up in the kitchen. Not a great place for the collection as I like French Toast, NOT French Superman… Situations like this can easily be avoided by labeling the boxes according to however you have your collection sorted. My books are sorted alphabetically, so my boxes were labeled accordingly. For example: A - Ch, Ci - El, Em - Gh, etc. This was a HUGE help when it came to unpacking. I just cracked open the boxes in the order that was noted in magic marker and put them back on the shelf. Easy as can be and none of my comics ended up in the refrigerator… Always a good thing.
These helpful hints should make your next move a piece of cake. With a little planning and a little effort, you should be able to efficiently box up your collection and get them to your new place with little to no problems at all. Happy packing!
That is where I will wrap up for today. I will be continuing this series soon with Comic Book Buyer’s Guide #5. Keeps your eyes open for it!
Tags: buyer's guide, Comic, comic books, graphic novel, hard cover, trade paperback
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