How Anal Are You About Comic Condition?

[ultimate jezebel]

Only if the damaged book had costed me a great sum of money. I'm not gonna cry for a crease in €10 paperback, but my Absolute Top Ten? Yes, I go mad if I find some little defect.

But really, I don't treat my comics very well. No plastic bags, no order... I just throw them at a pile.

Some of my best silver age copies were once owned by a single collector who bought his books from the newsagents in the mid 60s, carefully read them, then carefully packed them away in a cool, dry environment in boxes, without bags. And when I bought them over 40 years later, they were all in the region of VERY FINE.

I put them in mylite bags though, out of habit.

[quinnzel]

I only get upset if there is major damage to the books (which sometimes happens, since I get my books shipped).

Two months ago, the box showed up DESTROYED and not even taped back together. I reported it to my supplier, and tho they offered a replacement order (any good shop would), I declined, as the damage to the actual books was not too bad, just some dings and creases.

but my store has now switched to a MUCH sturdier box for shipping, and no problems since.

basically, I want a complete book.. tears on a book I'm paying over $3 for, DO bother me.

Oh man, that would've driven me INSANE. Glad to hear the books were in pretty good shape, though. I would've freaked out if the box looked that bad. It's great they offered to give you a refund, though.

I do bag or bag & board books to store them, but it makes it easier to flip through when looking for something, but I do 2 books to a bag/board (1 on each side) or sometimes complete arcs/minis inside a single bag, and I usually put a removable sticker on the bag with notes on it for future reference (last read date, notes on creators, cover dates etc.). However books may go weeks/months of sitting in a stack on a table, desk, shelf, or my drawing board before they are bagged up. If something gets a crease or ding after I buy it before I bag/board it, so be it.

-M

I hadn't thought about doing 2 books per bag and board before. That's actually a good idea. Makes things go a little bit further because bags and boards get SO expensive so quickly.

I'm the same way with taking a while to put stuff away. A lot of my books end up sitting around for a while before I get around to bagging and boarding them, usually because I need to buy more bags and boards and I just keep putting it off. I try to keep the books I've got in good condition, especially if they were pristine when I bought them, and I get mad at myself if having them lay around gets them dinged up, but I'm trying to get better about that, because when it all comes down to it, what I really care about is the stories themselves.

The books I am/was looking for(early Silver Marvel and now Gold Atlas/Marvel) are expensive so I am only looking for low grade reading copies.
I am only interested in completing my runs, my kids can worry about value after I am gone.
ALL books get read once then stored away in Mylites with Acid Free Boards in Comic Boxes out of the light.

I prefer lower-grade copies of older books too, because then I feel like I can actually read them without worrying about ruining an $800 book or something. I like to look at high-grade books and envy their prettiness, but I'd never be able to make myself buy one. If I buy a comic, I'm buying it to read, and if it was in SUCH good condition I'd be too afraid to even crack it open to read... that sort of ruins the whole experience for me (I guess I could get a lower grade reader copy but I can't make myself shell out hundreds for a single book anyway).

All my books get bagged and boarded too, but I only do it so they'll stay in good enough condition that I can keep reading them over and over through the years if I want to.

Thanks for the laugh. I made just over 1k on Spider-Gwen variants. And enjoyed the stories too.

That's awesome, but let's try to respect everyone's opinions here. Some think of comics as stories, some as investment material, some as both

[Paradox]

Nah, jez can laugh. She knows she and I are on entirely opposite ends of the spectrum. I take no personal offense at her disagreement, mocking or otherwise.

It's all about what makes one happy.

[zwixxx]

Hey I thought I was the only one who double booked each bag, doing so to lower the weight of the storage boxes. And using 2cm white circle stickers to hold down the flaps - selotape works fine at securing things but is a bitch when you come to open the darn thing. btw if a particular title has a 3parter or 5parter then I just single bag the last entry and start afresh with the new story arc.
As for the price of bags and boards, ordering from an online CBS will see them turn up bagged and boarded. If you then store your titles 2 books per bag you will build up a pile of bags and boards able to be used to protect your old unprotected collections, thus no need to buy them. QED. Of course if you only get a title or two per month then this will be a darn slow process.

[ultimate jezebel]

I prefer lower-grade copies of older books too, because then I feel like I can actually read them without worrying about ruining an $800 book or something. I like to look at high-grade books and envy their prettiness, but I'd never be able to make myself buy one.

As anal as I am, I read my books, very carefully. Sometimes after applying a coat of wet and wild to my nails. (Takes some skill, maybe it's a girl thing).

Here's something I've mentioned before. A friend of mine reads his comics by opening them on the carpet (he lies down on his bedroom floor). He read a book, then so did two of his reader-buddies. He then submitted the book to CGC and it came back 9.8

Even the prettiest, highest grade books are opened at least 3 times by 3 graders - so say it loud, comics are to be read, just do it carefully. That goes for all of my new books.

Although, I have about 500 reading copies of my NM books...

[Goggindowner]

What I find funny about being anal with your new purchases is that it actually destroys their long term value if the entire fanbase is doing it. The reason some of those old books are so valuable is because almost no one treated them well after they bought them. They were passed around, cut up, bent, folded and mangled in most cases, so the copies that survived are now worth more because its so rare to find them in really good condition.

So to all of you anal collectors, I say you're welcome. You need people like me, who fold the front cover back to the back cover to read singles, throws them in stacks and treats them like disposable entertainment, to drive up the price of your current books for later.

Well, that's all assuming that the publisher doesn't do three print runs, a digital copy and a collected edition of any and everything we are buying.

[GOLGO 13]

OTHER: I have given my collection to my nephew. I don't give a moment's thought as to where those thousands of $$$ in books have gone.

[ultimate jezebel]

So to all of you anal collectors, I say you're welcome. You need people like me, who fold the front cover back to the back cover to read singles, throws them in stacks and treats them like disposable entertainment, to drive up the price of your current books for later.

Much appreciated

[Lady Warp Spasm]

I buy these to read and many times I read them so much, they do get trashed. As long as I can get replacements cheap, I am not picky about condition.