When downsizing the collection: How do you determine what stays and what goes?

[James Harvey]

Basically as the subject line says, how do you determine what you keep when downsizing the collection?

[SJNeal]

If I have the material in a superior format (floppy > trade > hardcover > deluxe > absolute), I'll usually throw it on eBay.

Or in the case of upgrading from trade to hardcover, I'll take the trades to a LCS and get store credit.

[victorxd1999]

I determine the reread value for me. If I feel like I'll never reread anything again, I'll sell it immediately. If I'm not sure, I'll wait a while and reread it, or at least the first few issues, and then determine for sure whether I'll read it again one day or want other people to read it.

[Dark-Flux]

OHC over trades when upgrading.

Otherwise as Victorxd mentioned, wether or not i feel id want to reread.

[MRP]

Basically as the subject line says, how do you determine what you keep when downsizing the collection?

It starts with asking yourself why do you own it? Is it because it is something you enjoy having, will continue to get value form by reading, looking at, etc. or is it because you bought it to complete something and haven't looked at it or thought about it since you bought it. If the only reason to have something is to complete something, then ask yourself how important is it to have the complete thing? If you only enjoy parts of something, keep the parts you enjoy and get rid of the rest. If you have it and continue to enjoy it, keep it. If you have it, just to have it and for no other reason, get rid of it.

If you are having trouble deciding, take a hard route. Decide how much you want to keep (not what, but how much)-10 long boxes? 5? 2 shelves of trades? 4?

Once you know how much you are keeping, start prioritizing what you have. Pick out the stuff you absolutely want to have/keep. When you fill your allotted space, it's time to get rid of the rest. If you truly want to downsize, you have to be hard, not sentimental and it requires some tough decisions. If you don't set what the maximum you want to keep is, you will always rationalize keeping something else, again and again, and you won't downsize at all.

Also consider why you are downsizing. Are you out of space? Are you moving and don't want to deal with moving it all? Are there things you just don't enjoy anymore? Do you need to turn stuff into money or credit?

So deciding what to keep and what to get rid of comes down to answering a few questions before sorting what goes and what stays-
1) why are you downsizing?
2) how much do you want to keep?

and then figure out what of the stuff you have will bring you the most enjoyment if you keep it within the parameters of your first 2 answers. There will still be tough choices, but those choices will come down to your preferences and tastes, and none of us can help you with that.


-M

[Hellboydce]

i can normally tell within a dozen or so pages if i'm going to like it, if not, it gets read (i pretty much always finish a book) and then it goes on eBay, putting a load up over the next few weeks, mostly Marvel stuff as i have decided most of it won't get another glance.

[The Whovian]

Basically as the subject line says, how do you determine what you keep when downsizing the collection?

Last summer I had 42 long boxes and about 6 short boxes. I just ran out of room in the basement and was starting to put them in my bedroom, which my wife does not like. So basically it came time to downsize. I decided anyway that I was going to start converting my floppies into collected editions. I already had about 20 bound books, 20 omnis, tons of HC's and whatnot. My goal was to reduce my collection to half.

So here's what I did:
-I divided my comics into two piles originally. One pile for what I felt I would read over and over and what comics I liked but may never read again. That got me down to about 2/3 of my collection.
-I then separated my collection into two more piles. One pile was a 'MUST KEEP!' and the other was 'I really like them, but I could live without them'. That got my collection to about half, which is what my goal was.

I now have about 20 boxes, which is still too much but I'm currently in the process of taking most of the floppies I have left and prepping them to get bound. That will give me even more space.

[Bad Wolf]

I just consider how attached I am. Does it have sentimental value, am I going to reread (or at least look through) it again?

Sometimes I make the wrong decision. At one point I sold off most of my comics from when I was a kid because I thought I'd outgrown them, and I had, but now 15 years later I'm going through a bout of nostalgia and trying to reacquire a lot of stuff. But I guess that's just how it goes. I think you actually have to let things go in order to become nostalgic about them.

[ROM Spaceknight]

Well, I don't have enough room for what I do have & am still getting new collected editions on a semi-regular basis. So, here are the steps I've taken to down-size:

1) I stopped collecting floppies over a year ago and won't get any more, period. They take up too much room with the bags & boards. I don't collect new comics anyway, but if I ever wanted to, I'll just wait until they get collected in a Trade/HC.

2) If I get newer collected editions that are superior to other versions I have of the same material (floppies, Trades, etc.), I'll unload the inferior corresponding floppies, Trades, etc. - even if I want to keep them.

3) I avoid buying collected editions that collect less than 12+ issues, since these smaller volumes still take up space but you're not getting many issues per volume. This is pointless to me, even if I really want these issues. Also, if these are collected in the Trade format the binding is weak, and will therefore be more likely to bend than a HC.

The Marvel MPH line was notorious for collecting 3-5 issues in one volume (though those were all HC, and were durable as a result). Thankfully the MPH line pretty much got cancelled a while back.

So, these days I typically just collect some DC Trades, HC's, and some Omnis. My favorite Marvel collected editions are Epics (which collect quite a few issues), as well as a small amount of Marvel Masterworks (which collect 10+ issues) & my favorite Marvel format - the Omnis.

[Pat Thomas]

Sell other stuff and buy a bigger house.
If you can't do that, then you have to decide the maximum amount you want to keep, and then pull out everything you know there is no chance you will get rid of.
If you have to think about it at all, it doesn't go with these comics. After you get these books separated, you need to start making tough decisions about your 2nd tier
books, and pull out the ones you feel the strongest about. You'll just have to keep doing that until you get to your goal. If that's too much at first, take a batch of your
books you care the least about and get rid of them, just to get the ball rolling.
Personally, I would look at all my options of keeping them all (especially if you're having a hard time getting rid of any) or getting rid of them all. If you're still collecting,
there's a good possibility that you'll just go back and reacquire everything you sell eventually. Of course, even if you get rid of them all, there's no guarantee you won't
do that anyway.

[SJNeal]

Sell other stuff and buy a bigger house.

That would be my ideal option!

Unfortunately I can't afford a house because I spend all my money on comics! It's a vicious cycle...

[mtop2036]

I couldn't part with any of my books. When I was younger I sold many games/books(not comics) that I thought id grown tired of and never wanted to play/read again. About 7 years later I wished to god I had kept all of them. I know 7 years is a long time, but it taught me just because I don't feel that I would ever want a particular item at the time dosn't mean I wouldnt want it later. Of course you can't be like that with all of your possessions in life or youd become a hoarder, but when it comes to book,games,movies etc I couldnt give them up.

[awayne83]

^I'm kind of the opposite. I lugged around comic boxes for years thinking I would regret getting rid of them. When I finally did it was almost a relief. I actually wish I could get rid of the ones I have left, but they're long runs that are pain to break up and/or ship.

[James Harvey]

For those breaking up numbered trades and hardcover collections, is it bothersome that your collection may jump from Vol. 1 to Vol. 4, for example? That must be aggravating!

I have unloaded some of my floppies and upgraded to collections, so they could be more accessible.

[BlitzMah]

How many do I have to own before considering to downsize?