That’s My Bag (And Board)

As I frequently do, I was spending my Saturday night putting backing boards into bags, because I know how to party.

While doing so, I thought about everything that’s involved with collecting comics in terms of storing them and trying to keep them organized, and while I’m hardly any sort of paragon in that regard, I decided I should write up a post about which products I use.

I am not sponsored by any of the companies whose products I’ll be mentioning, nor are any of the links I post affiliate links that will lead to me getting any money if you click them. I’m just telling you what I use.

Let’s start with bags and boards.

I tend to favor bags and boards from BCW.

There isn’t anything that I’ve found to be inherently superior compared to other brands, it’s just that I’ve bought them from Amazon in the past so they’re always there as a “Buy again” option.

I would prefer to buy bags and boards from my comic shop, but they don’t carry resealable bags, and I’ve come to prefer those over bags that need to be taped.

The bags and boards come in various sizes corresponding to the “Ages” of comics (Golden, Silver Current), and include Treasury Edition size, and Magazine size.

The majority of what I buy is, of course, Current size, though I do also have some of the other sizes.

I don’t often buy mylar bags, but they sell those as well. I think, however, that the mylar bags I do have were purchased from another seller – I don’t recall who – because they had a better price. Sadly, those don’t come in a resealable variety.

In case it isn’t obvious, the reason for putting comics in sealed bags with backing boards is to protect them from the environment and to slow down their inevitable decay.

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For the actual storage of bagged and boarded comics, I primarily use Drawer Boxes.

I currently have 25 of them and would buy more, but I can’t really fit any more in with the ones I have in the space available.

They don’t fit quite as many comics as a more conventional long box, but the ability to clip them together and have the comics remain easily accessible when the boxes are stacked on top of each other more than make up for that. When clipped together, a drawer in an upper row can be left open as the other boxes support its weight and keep the whole thing from toppling over.

For the overflow, and in particular to set some comics aside, whether to give them their own private space – as with my collection of Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane comics – or because I plan to sell them eventually, I also use some of the plastic bins sold by BCW.

I also have some magazine-size bins for comics from DSTLRY, the current Savage Sword of Conan and some older magazine-size comics and regular magazines.

I recently picked up a bunch of fabric boxes from Lincia for the overflow as well. They’re much more convenient than the plastic bins, as they don’t really require assembly.

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Of course, keeping the comics physically organized is only part of the process of keeping a collection organized.

To keep track of my comics, I use the CLZ Comics database software.

I’m subscribed to both the mobile and web versions, and I can tell you that having access to the mobile version has saved me from buying comics I already own on more than one occasion.

…eventually.

It did take me a while to start remembering to check it before impulsively buying a comic that I didn’t realize I already owned, but, you know, since then it’s been extremely helpful.

The info you see about comics in my Unbagging, Short Box, and Pull List posts, including the cover images, is copied from the CLZ database.

The contents of my CLZ are available to view online if you ever want to take a look at what I have.

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Anyway, I thought I should just throw this post together in case anyone might find it interesting or helpful. I’m not saying that my choices are the best choices, but I did at least want to let people know what choice I have made. If nothing else this might be a starting point for you to make some choices of your own for protecting, storing, and organizing your comics.

If you have some favorite products you use, feel free to share them in the comments.

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