The Blob is Coming!...or maybe it's just your comics!

Hi fellow collectors of all things pop! I have been on a hiatus for the past few weeks fueled largely by work, the Yankee collapse and the flu. But (perhaps to your horror) I’m BACK now! So let’s talk living space, or lack thereof.

If you collect comics long enough, you WILL reach critical mass in terms of storage. There is no getting around this simple fact. At some point your collection will threaten to dispossess you, your wife and children…and the dog. It is not unlike the 1950’s horror movie, The Blob, in which a growing bowl of cherry Jello tries to eat an entire town. Even Steve McQueen was hard pressed to stop the jiggling dessert from gulping down the whole municipality…and he is not available to save you from your comic collection!

Rest assured, left unchecked, your entire living space could fall victim to the next Marvel or DC 17,000 issue cross over event!

So what to do about the creeping comics of death? Is this a hopeless cause? A Kobayashi Maru scenario??? ( I had to get a Trek reference in here somewhere!)

No…or even HELL no! There are steps you can take to control your ever growing collection of multi color goodness.

First, maximize your storage space and efficiency. If you don’t already have your comics stored (bagged and boarded) in acid free comic boxes, do it NOW. Not only are these boxes designed to hold 250+ bagged and boarded comics, they also help protect them from the ravages of time and silverfish as well. These boxes are stackable to four high before they begin to buckle (so don’t go higher than that). IF you need to go UP though, there are comic box filing towers that can be purchased (though they cost more) for this purpose. I even know some collectors who have constructed wooden cabinets deep enough to hold comic boxes on sliding shelves.

In short…BOX your books!

However, no matter how efficient you are eventually you WILL run out of room. At some point you ARE going to have to bite the bullet and part with some of your books. This is not as bad as it sounds when you realize that when you pass, say the 10,000 book mark, it is highly unlikely that you will ever actually READ those books again. And when you can actually find a place to SIT again, you will be glad you made the hard choice.

How to liquidate? There are many ways to ship your excess books but first you need to take stock. Split out your truly valuable books, your cheap “can’t sell for a penny” books , and your sentimental “I am going to be buried with these books”… books.

Before you do ANYTHING else, find a good place for your sentimental favorites. Even if they are of low value you would regret parting with them, so KEEP ‘em!

Sell your more valuable books online or to a comic shop for cash or store credit (for MORE books! It NEVER ends!).

For your low value books (see ROM/Transformers etc) consider donating them to a non profit organization and taking a tax write off that you can use for…more BOOKS !
Trust me, when you see the smiling faces of your family, lost for years among your Howard The Duck collection, you will know it’s all been worth it!

That’s 30!

Mitch