The Sorting. The Fucking Sorting.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Ha! Here's a fun story! After a week of logging books I got to the "S"s. I'm putting in Slingers issues and I have these oneshots for Hornet and Prodigy oneshots that I've had with the Slinger books. But I can't find them in the database. Turns out, they're actually issues of the various Spidey titles from some 90s event. And the Hornet issue is actually the LAST ISSUE of Sensational Spidey I've been looking for. I've had the goddamn issue for a year and didn't realize it.

Another reason to hate the 90s. Bastards.
But now I don't know if the issue of Amazing I have is the Ricochet cover or the Spidey cover. It's over in storage.

[vynsane]

Ha! Here's a fun story! After a week of logging books I got to the "S"s. I'm putting in Slingers issues and I have these oneshots for Hornet and Prodigy oneshots that I've had with the Slinger books. But I can't find them in the database. Turns out, they're actually issues of the various Spidey titles from some 90s event. And the Hornet issue is actually the LAST ISSUE of Sensational Spidey I've been looking for. I've had the goddamn issue for a year and didn't realize it.

so, i take it, you've not actually lifted the cover of any of these books, otherwise you would have noticed the 'alternate/real' spidey cover on the inside. these had newsstand covers with just spidey in the same pose, and a 'direct' edition with the 'slinger' version as a wrap-around on top of that one.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Hey man! If I stopped and opened every comic book I owned to read it, I wouldn't have any time to alphabetize the damn things!!


Heh. I'm way behind on my reading.

[jjreason]

That's the sad truth of every comic collector I think.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

Yeah, but my "unread" pile is probably 10x larger than other people's entire collections.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

FINISHED!! Behold. Be Amazed. Be Scared.


Rollo's Unwieldy yet Impressive Collection of Funny Books.

Just shy of 40k. I think the list of Titles I own is probably larger than most people's entire collections.

As I said before, I left out all the Marvel NOW! and DC's Flashpoint/New 52 stuff.
Also left out many current ongoing books like all the TF titles and GIJoe:ARAH and Game of Thrones.
Also the recent Marvel books Hawkeye, Daredevil, Scarlet Spider, and Avenging Spidey.
And there's a small stack of flotsam that I've got at FCBD the last few years that's not been written down. I'm sporadic about that.
And there's some "kiddie" issues I've bought for the kids like Teen Titans GO! and Marvel Adventures and DC Kids that aren't in there.

Hmmm...so maybe I am over 40k.

[jjreason]

I think Mile High and Mycomicshop might still have more. Might. That is fucking insane.

[Diabolical]

So I'm trying to organize and sort, but I feel stuck, so I'd like some opinions.


Should I generally file everything alphabetical or group similar titles?
In the case of the Punisher, I have it all together and in chronological order (separated by 616 and Max). X-Men and Batman titles are grouped together also. But what I'm not sure about is what to do with similar, yet different titles, like the Brubaker/Phillips stuff: Criminal, Incognito and Fatale? Should I keep those three together or separate them?

Should I keep specific Batman titles together (Batman and Robin #1-26, New 52 #1 - current), and treat is as a straight relaunch, or separate all Batman titles by pre/post New 52?

Should a contained, completed series (like IZombie and The Boys) or a mini-series (like Marvel Zombies and Powerless) be kept in the same boxes as ongoings, or should I have a specific box for a completed series and one for minis?

Where should I put Marvel Universe vs. Punisher/Wolverine/Avengers minis? In a Punisher box, or a Marvel box or a mini-series box?

Do you separate by publisher?

Do you use some kind of divider in your boxes, like they have in comic shops, to make finding things easier?

[RoIIo Tomassi]

So I'm trying to organize and sort, but I feel stuck, so I'd like some opinions.

We've all been there, bro. Well JJ and I have been there. I can't speak for the rest of these jokers.

Should I generally file everything alphabetical or group similar titles?
In the case of the Punisher, I have it all together and in chronological order (separated by 616 and Max). X-Men and Batman titles are grouped together also. But what I'm not sure about is what to do with similar, yet different titles, like the Brubaker/Phillips stuff: Criminal, Incognito and Fatale? Should I keep those three together or separate them?

The best thing I can say is what is instinctive? If you go back in five years to read Fatale, are you going to look in the 'B' for Brubaker? Or the 'F's for Fatale? Are you going to look for Uncanny X-Men in the 'U's or 'X's? I used to be straight up Alphabetical, but then I started grouping stuff like Action in with the other Superman titles.

Should I keep specific Batman titles together (Batman and Robin #1-26, New 52 #1 - current), and treat is as a straight relaunch, or separate all Batman titles by pre/post New 52?

Since I'm not getting the majority of Nu52, mine are still separate. But I think if I'd made the commitment to buy ongoings I would've just put them Alphabetical/Chronological like any other new ongoing. By Alpha/Chrono I mean that an older "Bat" title would be filed in front of a newer series, regardless of the actual Alphabet. Batman:Shadow of the Bat comes before Batman Inc simply because it's a 90s book bs a 2010 book. So in that regard, all the New52 stuff would be the last stuff in the box.

Should a contained, completed series (like IZombie and The Boys) or a mini-series (like Marvel Zombies and Powerless) be kept in the same boxes as ongoings, or should I have a specific box for a completed series and one for minis?

For me, that's more trouble than it's worth. You're going to be shifting stuff in boxes regardless, as you add issues to your ongoing books. I'd just put them Alphabetically and be done with it.

Where should I put Marvel Universe vs. Punisher/Wolverine/Avengers minis? In a Punisher box, or a Marvel box or a mini-series box?

When it was just the one series, I had it with the Punisher books. I haven't gotten the other two minis, but if I did might reassess and refile the entire thing in 'M'.

Do you separate by publisher?

Fuck no. Again, more trouble than it's worth.

Do you use some kind of divider in your boxes, like they have in comic shops, to make finding things easier?

I used to use those big heavy cardboard ones, but I discovered having one of those for every series takes up a lot of space in the box. I could squeeze 12-24 more issues in a box if I removed most of the dividers. That's like two years worth of a series(and in many cases that's the ENTIRE series!)
I think at some point in the nebulous future it'd be nice to get those thin plastic dividers that have the name, publisher and date of the series for when I ultimately sort the entire collection. But for now a couple dividers per box, just to orient me, is quite enough.

I also came up with a system where I take old backboards and put them in the very front of the longbox. Then I take a pen, and trace an oval thru the handhold hole. Then I pull the board out and write the first and last issue in that box in the oval and stick it back in the box. That way you're not constantly writing on the lid and/or box and then crossing it out as the box's contents shift to a different box as the collection grows. And at the point where the contents change enough, you can just use a new board and repeat the process. Or a sheet of paper if you don't have a plethora of excess boards laying around.

[Diabolical]

So I'm trying to organize and sort, but I feel stuck, so I'd like some opinions.

We've all been there, bro. Well JJ and I have been there. I can't speak for the rest of these jokers.

Well, my collection is a fraction of yours, so it won't be too bad. The eventual time-consuming cataloging is gonna suck.

Should I generally file everything alphabetical or group similar titles?
In the case of the Punisher, I have it all together and in chronological order (separated by 616 and Max). X-Men and Batman titles are grouped together also. But what I'm not sure about is what to do with similar, yet different titles, like the Brubaker/Phillips stuff: Criminal, Incognito and Fatale? Should I keep those three together or separate them?

The best thing I can say is what is instinctive? If you go back in five years to read Fatale, are you going to look in the 'B' for Brubaker? Or the 'F's for Fatale? Are you going to look for Uncanny X-Men in the 'U's or 'X's? I used to be straight up Alphabetical, but then I started grouping stuff like Action in with the other Superman titles.

I do keep like titles together (Batman, Punisher, X-Men, etc.) but with Criminal/Incoginto/Fatale they are not connected story wise, just by the creative team. I'm leaning toward leaving them together because I know I'll remember.

Should I keep specific Batman titles together (Batman and Robin #1-26, New 52 #1 - current), and treat is as a straight relaunch, or separate all Batman titles by pre/post New 52?

Since I'm not getting the majority of Nu52, mine are still separate. But I think if I'd made the commitment to buy ongoings I would've just put them Alphabetical/Chronological like any other new ongoing. By Alpha/Chrono I mean that an older "Bat" title would be filed in front of a newer series, regardless of the actual Alphabet. Batman:Shadow of the Bat comes before Batman Inc simply because it's a 90s book bs a 2010 book. So in that regard, all the New52 stuff would be the last stuff in the box.

Makes sense, especially with the Bat titles, since they seem to be ignoring most of the reboot nonsense and keeping a majority of the continuity.

Should a contained, completed series (like IZombie and The Boys) or a mini-series (like Marvel Zombies and Powerless) be kept in the same boxes as ongoings, or should I have a specific box for a completed series and one for minis?

For me, that's more trouble than it's worth. You're going to be shifting stuff in boxes regardless, as you add issues to your ongoing books. I'd just put them Alphabetically and be done with it.

I don't know; it almost seems like I'll be shifting less if the completed books are separate from the ongoing books, especially the minis.

Do you use some kind of divider in your boxes, like they have in comic shops, to make finding things easier?

I used to use those big heavy cardboard ones, but I discovered having one of those for every series takes up a lot of space in the box. I could squeeze 12-24 more issues in a box if I removed most of the dividers. That's like two years worth of a series(and in many cases that's the ENTIRE series!)
I think at some point in the nebulous future it'd be nice to get those thin plastic dividers that have the name, publisher and date of the series for when I ultimately sort the entire collection. But for now a couple dividers per box, just to orient me, is quite enough.

I used to have simple cardboard dividers that were just a bit taller than a backing board. It stuck out just a little where I could write the title, almost like an index card with a tab, and it could fold over no problem when I put the box lid on. Not sure where I got those though - it was years ago.

[Diabolical]

Also, what about what I call "One (or two or three) and dones"?
Something you tried it and didn't like it and its not really worth putting in with the rest.

Recently, I've had things like A+X, Iron Man and Wolverine Max, where I have 1-3 issues of each with no desire to read/buy any more of them. I don't feel like they belong with the rest.

[jjreason]

I sort by character/team. I have numerous X-men & Spidey boxes, a couple of Wolverine boxes, a DD box, an FF box, a Thor box, etc. Each of these would have ongoing series & annuals followed by limited series & one shots, followed by peripheral series featuring the character (eg Marvel Knights is in my DD box as it has DD in it - oddly enough Elektra is also in there as she originated in DD - makes sense to me).

I have GI Joe and Star Wars boxes that contain books from different publishers.

I also have a "creator owned" style box where things like Watchmen, Leave it to Chance, Astro City, Sin City & Miracleman would be located - regardless of publisher these are sorted by creator.

I have a DC box which has all my batman & superman, JLA & various other one off books I've gathered & decided to hold on to for whatever reason (Kingdom Come for example) & a vertigo box with Preacher and Sandman.

I also write checklists & reminder notes on my longboxes which I'm sure would drive some collectors nuts, but that's how I roll.

[Diabolical]

Been using CBDB for a few days, cataloging 4 long boxes and 2 short boxes.
Just shy of 1300 books right now (A mere weekend trip for Mr. Tomassi).
I've got 2 short boxes and at least 2 long boxes to go. Maybe a bit more.

Rocketboy

[Diabolical]

Up to 1678 with mostly 90s stuff, especially X-Men books to go.

Another problem I've discovered is that bags and boards are going to need to be replaced on most of my pre-2000 stuff. They haven't held up very well. The books themselves still seem to be in decent shape, but the bags/boards look like shit.

[RoIIo Tomassi]

I haven't checked, but I figured if the bags/boards on my stuff from the 80s/90s (roughly 60+ long boxes) didn't hold up, it would cost me $3-4,000 to rebag and board everything.

When I buy those older books at dealer shows, I'll come across poorly kept issues. Sometimes I'll find books that have bled the back cover onto the board like a mimeograph. Or the cover has seeped through the comic in front of it, so cover is on the next comic's backboard. The first thing I do is get rid of old bags that have gotten that filmy grey look to them. Or gotten that slimy fuzzy feel to them. I also get rid of boards only coated white on one side. Sometimes I find them with some kind of perspiration stain seeped in. It looks like grease on the board. Nasty.
But other than the pages being slightly more yellow, it usually doesn't affect the actual book. Thank goodness.