Question about Databasing Rebooted Series' Volumes

[jebsib]

Having collecting dozens of series (primarily Marvels) over the decades, I am finally getting around to cataloguing them in database format in an effort to ultimately get them appraised.

Due to the constant renumberings, reboots, series title variations and overall confusion, I have decided that sticking to the traditional method of Volume 1, volume 2, etc. is no longer effective or even accurate.

I have also noticed that on various websites (particularly Marvel, Mile High Comics, etc) series have - in the last ten years - been listed with the start year next to the title (eg: Avengers (1963); Avengers (1996).)
Is this now the definitive, official way to classify series?

Is that year in the parentheses the year that the title was on sale, or the year indicated in the indicia? (i.e. if the cover date of a first issue is Jan 1980, but it actually went on sale back in Sept 1979, I presume the year referred to is still 1980?)

Thanks

[Gotham Thrasher]

Having collecting dozens of series (primarily Marvels) over the decades, I am finally getting around to cataloguing them in database format in an effort to ultimately get them appraised.

Due to the constant renumberings, reboots, series title variations and overall confusion, I have decided that sticking to the traditional method of Volume 1, volume 2, etc. is no longer effective or even accurate.

I have also noticed that on various websites (particularly Marvel, Mile High Comics, etc) series have - in the last ten years - been listed with the start year next to the title (eg: Avengers (1963); Avengers (1996).)
Is this now the definitive, official way to classify series?

Is that year in the parentheses the year that the title was on sale, or the year indicated in the indicia? (i.e. if the cover date of a first issue is Jan 1980, but it actually went on sale back in Sept 1979, I presume the year referred to is still 1980?)

Thanks

In the case you mentioned there the publisher would collect the series as (1979) not (1980). Where the confusion is coming now is on sites online are incorrectly listing the series by its cover date. Another example , a series that just started in December 2017 with a cover date of February 2018 will be collected in trade as (2017) not 2018.

[jebsib]

Interesting - thanks!

What a mess. Seems it would have been better / less confusing to stick with the Volume # system.

[Rob Allen]

The Grand Comics Database at www.comics.org uses the starting year according to the cover date, not the on-sale date.