One box method of collecting: Who does this? 0

[revat]

5 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

38 minutes ago, bc said:

I limit myself to 5 short boxes because that is all that can fit in the bottom of the bedroom closet next to the guns and ammo (4 boxes of CGC slabs, 1 box of raw books).

Recently sold a handful of SA slabs to make room for a new GA pickup. Probably got room for 3 or 4 more slabs before something has to go.

Used to have over 25 long boxes but sold most before an out of state move back in 2001. Actually glad I whittled the collection down to something that is "semi-portable".

 

Oh, so if someone breaks into your house they get the comics AND the guns???

My guess the person breaking probably gets two or three used bullets.

[NoMan]

40 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

But with comics isn't it potentially a little different?  My dad introduced me to comics and handed his comics to me for safekeeping.  I can't imagine many are worth anything, but they're significant to me because of the personal connection.  I hope to one day spread the same love for comics to my son/daughter and to similarly pass my collection to him/her.  And I would hope they would see the books with the same sentimental value.  (But then again, i don't have the massive collection you guys have so I'm not really running into the same issue of space that some other boardies are.)

You’re assuming your heirs want it and care about what you cared about. If they do, great! Otherwise it’s boxes of junk they gotta lug around. 

[newshane]

3 hours ago, DJones said:

Sounds like a terrible way to collect comics imho

Quality > quantity for me any day. 

[the blob]

42 minutes ago, newshane said:

Quality > quantity for me any day. 

Does not leave much room for books with potential you may want to hang on to, but I do see the appeal. Easier to grab if your house is on fire, need to flee the country, etc.

[lizards2]

2 minutes ago, the blob said:

47 minutes ago, newshane said:

Quality > quantity for me any day. 

Does not leave much room for books with potential you may want to hang on to, but I do see the appeal. Easier to grab if your house is on fire, need to flee the country, etc.

That reminds me, I need to dig out my newsstand purchased Ms. Marvels before the movie is released....,  

[lizards2]

2 hours ago, ExNihilo said:

2 hours ago, NoMan said:

I know that many people around here are of the school-of-thought, "After I die, I'll be dead why not do what I want while I'm alive and collect enough junk to fill twenty country barns?! Let someone else deal with it once I'm dead."

I'm kinda the opposite and don't want someone burdened with having to dispose of my collection once I've left the CGC boards for good. Keep it to a minimum. Short and sweet. Quality over quantity. You ever had to deal with someone's estate? How about a hoarder's estate? Sure everyone knows X-Men #1 is money but now how about the other 400 long boxes worth of stuff?

But with comics isn't it potentially a little different?  My dad introduced me to comics and handed his comics to me for safekeeping.  I can't imagine many are worth anything, but they're significant to me because of the personal connection.  I hope to one day spread the same love for comics to my son/daughter and to similarly pass my collection to him/her.  And I would hope they would see the books with the same sentimental value.  (But then again, i don't have the massive collection you guys have so I'm not really running into the same issue of space that some other boardies are.)

Actually, I think it's kind of like the quantity you collect sucks and the quantity I collect rocks!

[ExNihilo]

Just now, lizards2 said:

Actually, I think it's kind of like the quantity you collect sucks and the quantity I collect rocks!

Yeah, I could see how my kids would look at my collection of $0.25 books (hell, that's probably being too generous as far as value goes) and think to themselves "how do we tell dad we don't want his worthless books?" 

[GACollectibles]

6 hours ago, lizards2 said:

I've put a cap on my collection of 400 short boxes.  Trouble is, I don't really know how many shortboxes I have.

I put a strict cap of ten shortboxes for my collection.  I get around that by storing them in longboxes.

[lizards2]

Just now, GACollectibles said:

6 hours ago, lizards2 said:

I've put a cap on my collection of 400 short boxes.  Trouble is, I don't really know how many shortboxes I have.

I put a strict cap of ten shortboxes for my collection.  I get around that by storing them in longboxes.

I have only 4 long boxes left, which store my "for sale" comics.  Long boxes tend to be tough on old guys backs..., 

[GACollectibles]

1 minute ago, lizards2 said:

3 minutes ago, GACollectibles said:

6 hours ago, lizards2 said:

I've put a cap on my collection of 400 short boxes.  Trouble is, I don't really know how many shortboxes I have.

I put a strict cap of ten shortboxes for my collection.  I get around that by storing them in longboxes.

I have only 4 long boxes left, which store my "for sale" comics.  Long boxes tend to be tough on old guys backs..., 

Are you sure it's only four?  Or is that just as high as you can count?

[WolverineX]

Good in theory, hard to implement in real life.  Believe me, I've tried.

[lizards2]

4 minutes ago, GACollectibles said:

6 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

8 minutes ago, GACollectibles said:

6 hours ago, lizards2 said:

I've put a cap on my collection of 400 short boxes.  Trouble is, I don't really know how many shortboxes I have.

I put a strict cap of ten shortboxes for my collection.  I get around that by storing them in longboxes.

I have only 4 long boxes left, which store my "for sale" comics.  Long boxes tend to be tough on old guys backs..., 

Are you sure it's only four?  Or is that just as high as you can count?

 

[GACollectibles]

5 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

10 minutes ago, GACollectibles said:

12 minutes ago, lizards2 said:

14 minutes ago, GACollectibles said:

6 hours ago, lizards2 said:

I've put a cap on my collection of 400 short boxes.  Trouble is, I don't really know how many shortboxes I have.

I put a strict cap of ten shortboxes for my collection.  I get around that by storing them in longboxes.

I have only 4 long boxes left, which store my "for sale" comics.  Long boxes tend to be tough on old guys backs..., 

Are you sure it's only four?  Or is that just as high as you can count?

 

[F For Fake]

I've been trying to whittle my collection down to just what I can comfortably fit on the shelves in my home office. I also keep eBay store items in my laundry room, but over the last couple of years my personal collection filled up the shelves (and shelf tops) in my office and spilled over into the sale stock. So, I finally got my personal books back into my office, and am now trying to get rid of maybe 10 or more shorts so it doesn't look like a fire sale in there. Since I don't have a set deadline to accomplish the task, I'm not GIVING the books away, and am instead trying to squeeze the most that I can out of them. So, it's taking some time. But, i don't really mind. It's fun. 

Ultimately, my final goal is to not own more than I can keep organized in a manner that I find aesthetically pleasing. I don't want overstuffed shelves or books stacked up around the basement. I'm getting there. Once I arrive, we'll see how long it lasts. I bought a collection last year, only about 3000 books but it took an emotional toll. I just got tired of having the stuff sit around. That's what kicked off my desire to curb the whole thing. I'm much happier as the boxes leave the house. There's a 50 cent sale at the LCS sale this weekend, and while I'd normally be the first in line, right now I'm not sure that I even want to go. I love cheap books, but I am really into clearing out space these days.

I did try to whittle my movie collection down to only 100 essential titles, but that ultimately backfired, and now I have around 500 Blus and I also started buying laserdiscs again.   I'm an insufficiently_thoughtful_person.

 

[lonetree]

I have been collecting a long time.  I had about 9500 books with 600 of them being CGC graded.  A couple of years ago, I lost the drive to collect and wanted to focus my time on other things like my boys, my wife and friends.  I started an LLC and began selling my collection.  It is going quite well.  I am down to 8300 books and 200 CGC books.  With the proceeds I purchased a new 2016 Audi Q5.  Last payment is due next month.  My oldest son went off to college this year.  My youngest will be off to college in 2 more years.  In 6 years, the wife and I want to downsize so my goal is to get the collection down to my keepers.  I am estimating my keepers to be 2 long boxes of raws and maybe 20 CGC books.  Once I am down to my keepers, I like the idea of having to sell a book to acquire a new one.

[newshane]

After years spent building insanely tough runs and accumulating almost 500 slabs, I am definitely trying out the "one-box" approach. Since I am focused on Golden and Atomic age books and work with a finite amount of cash, it's actually quite easy. I much prefer a few dozen rare, old, and valuable books over a room full of "lesser" issues. It's much easier to breathe now, and my collection consists of books I am truly passionate about. Run collecting requires you to acquire books that you don't really like, simply to fill a hole in the registry or a spreadsheet. 

I recently sold two super cool and fairly expensive books to acquire a grail. So I'm liking the idea of acquiring awesome books and selling them to nab even AWESOMER books!

I like the discipline to this approach, because it forces you to be ultra-selective,,.it also frees you up to go grail hunting. I love the idea, and I love the space savings...and as mentioned by another poster, it's much easier to track and maintain your books. I can get my books out of the house in less than a minute if necessary...I can keep a better eye on them...easier to share and enjoy. 

A truly massive slab collection can be....anxiety provoking, in my experience. 

 

[Karl Liebl]

Think of all the books destroyed in the California wild fires.  6700 structures destroyed, a WHOLE town.

One short box is enough for me.  Quality over quantity.

[WolverineX]

2 hours ago, lonetree said:

I have been collecting a long time.  I had about 9500 books with 600 of them being CGC graded.  A couple of years ago, I lost the drive to collect and wanted to focus my time on other things like my boys, my wife and friends.  I started an LLC and began selling my collection.  It is going quite well.  I am down to 8300 books and 200 CGC books.  With the proceeds I purchased a new 2016 Audi Q5.  Last payment is due next month.  My oldest son went off to college this year.  My youngest will be off to college in 2 more years.  In 6 years, the wife and I want to downsize so my goal is to get the collection down to my keepers.  I am estimating my keepers to be 2 long boxes of raws and maybe 20 CGC books.  Once I am down to my keepers, I like the idea of having to sell a book to acquire a new one.

Nice car

[nepatkm]

With my series run goals, there's No way I could do just 1 box.. Especially graded.. 

[Westy Steve]

23 minutes ago, MyCameo said:

So how does ones' weekly comics fit into this type of collecting? You can't sell them individually because they aren't worth anything. Do you give them away? Try to sell them as a large lot? I'm sure nobody just throws them away 

That's a fair question.  IMHO, I guess one would be required to "cheat" to do this, where you have a separate reservoir of books that are read and traded or sold.  Philosophically, I have paperback books that I want to read, but I don't consider those part of my collection.  I don't subscribe to magazines, but if I did, I wouldn't consider those part of my collection either, nor would I try to collect my hypothetical copies of Hot Rod/Field & Stream/Penthouse.   

FWIW, I have about 100 issues of Savage Sword of Conan that I keep saying I'll find the time to read, but I will jettison them when I'm done.  But I do see how this would cause trouble for the voracious readers who don't want the trouble of selling their just-read books.  Still...there might be some kind of arrangement one could make with the local shop or other collectors.