Deciding on what to store, and what to keep

Because of work, I'll be relocating in a couple of months' time, to another country.

It's been my 3rd relocation, to different countries, in 6 years. One of the more difficult decisions I make, each time, is to determine which of my comic book collection to bring along with me, and which to leave back home.

I have about 20+ short boxes of raw books and TPB's/hardcovers, and 150+ CGC slabbed, back home. In my current location, have managed to accumulate 15 short boxes of raw/TPB/HC's and 50+ slabbed books, also.

In my experience, as I come from a tropical country with high humidity, its way better to keep books in semi-air tight plastic boxes, versus just storing them in acid-free boxes . Some of the stuff I'd kept back home, received extensive termite damage despite being kept away from wooden floors/shelves and inside acid free plastic sleeves(thankfully, just a few non-key reader's copies). Since I'd started keeping them in plastic containers, havent seen this problem recur, and every time I go home for the holidays and check, they are in pristine condition.

So I went with my wife to purchase lots of small-sized plastic boxes yesterday (approximately the size of a standard comic book short box - my wife uses these also as she's an avid book reader), and am beginning the painstaking task of sorting out which I will bring along with me to my new assignment, and which I will ship back home. Those trade paperbacks which I'm shipping back, am encasing in acid-free bags and boards as much as I can (usually Golden-Age size to accomodate size), and placing in containers. Slabbed books I'm enclosing in bubble wrap, individually.

I'll end up shipping most of my books, and ALL of my CGC's (* sniff sniff *), back home. I simply cannot bring too much stuff along with me. Will end up just bringing along a box or two (or three!) of reader's copies of books I really love and read over and over again (e.g. Kirkman's Walking Dead, Ennis'/Dillon's Preacher, Geoff John's Green Lantern run, classic Marvel and DC collected sets such as Secret Wars, Avengers Disassembled, Secret Invasion, Crisis, a handful of Absolutes, etc). Needless to say, I do feel sad to let go of a lot of the books I currently have on hand. Always nice to be able to actually physically see, reread and hold them, and for CGC's to scan and upload into the Registry. Kinda feels like starting a collection from scratch.

On the bright side, I do have a lot to look forward to, when I eventually settle back home in a few years' time. Reopening these boxes every time I go back home always feels like Christmas. And especially since I've not been able to register the majority of my CGC books to date (e.g. my all time favorite Turok Son of Stone set, which I have completed and am now upgrading, has yet to be completely registered), I DO look forward to cataloging, registering and scanning these books into the registry, someday. The place I'm headed also, has a much larger and wider network of comic book shops compared to where I am right now, which is a definite plus. Always a challenge here in Asia, where I'd seen interest in western books and titles (Marvel, DC, etc) wane in contrast with Japanese Manga (which I'm not really into).

In the meantime, I've likewise been blessed with a wonderful family, and fullfilling job which supports my hobby also. Can't really ask for anything more, no?

Happy collecting!