Organising your collection

peepholism · Post by **peepholism** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 4:22:49 am

So I have found myself with some time to organise my comics - and they definitely need it.

My Valiant books are by far the largest "component" of my collection to this point, but I am torn on how to divide them up.

I have the vast majority of all eras, though have honestly not read too much of the original Valiant era, or the Acclaim era.
So whilst it is obviously logical to split it into the three different "periods", I then hit a brick wall.

Do people separate Pre-Unity from the rest of those series (e.g. Pre-Unity > Unity > remainder of each series in # order) or do you just go alphabetically by series.

I am also interested whether people keep their "reading copies" separate from other issues or just group them all together in the most logical order.

Interested in thoughts. If this has been covered at length recently, or needs to be moved - do as you will.

Thanks!

mkb28 · Post by **mkb28** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 6:39:24 am

I have my VH1 collection in a few long boxes and they start in alphabetical order with Archer and Armstrong and go all the way to X-O Manowar. I have the books in order starting with #0 to issue #X, so the Pre-Unity books are at the beginning of each title. My plan is to someday bind each title into HC books that will be displayed on my book shelf. Growing kind of tired of having long and short boxes in my office.

As for VEI, I only collect #1 issues and the variants, so I have them listed in order in a short box. The trades and HC's are displayed on my office shelf.

Finally, my slabs are in a short box until I can come up with a better option.

Good luck with your collection!

Michael

kjjohanson · Post by **kjjohanson** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:15:50 am

I don't separate pre-Unity from the rest of the run. Not sure why someone would. I have them separated into the three eras, and I also have my Gold Key, Dark Horse, and now Dynamite series of the GK3 adjacent to these as well.

The biggest question for me is whether to file The Second Life of Doctor Mirage under "D" or "S" and whether to file H.A.R.D.Corps before or after Harbinger, because of the period.

Phoenix8008 · Post by **Phoenix8008** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:32:10 am

I separate VH1 from VEI, to start off with. Different universes = different collection to me. I didn't collect any of the Acclaim volume 2 or 3 versions after VH1, but if I had I would keep them separate from each other for the same reason I separate my VH1 and VEI collections.

Within each collection, I pretty much do it alphabetical by title... except for the 4001 titles. Those, I have merged together chronologically all in one bunch (Magnus, Rai, and Psi-Lords). These are in the order that I would bind them in if I ever get around to binding any of my books like I want to. They flow very well that way especially with all the crossover between Magnus and Rai during the Malev War and then later the Magnus title kind of has all the characters mashed up in one title anyway. Come to think of it, I also may have kept the Geomancer books lumped in with the Eternal Warrior books where they fit chronologically - for the same reasons.

Chris Campbell · Post by **Chris Campbell** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 9:37:33 am

I keep my CGC books in acrylic magazine holders on the top shelf of my comic bookcase wall.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 9:50:14 am

Every comic I have is filed in alphabetical/chronological order, ignoring articles (A, An, and The). So, titles are sorted alphabetical. Multiple series with the same title are sorted chronologically (oldest first, newest last). Then the issues of each series are sorted chronologically. So, instead of 1/2, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., I put the #0 or #1/2 or #1,000,000 or whatever weirdness publishers come up with in the order the books were released.

I don't separate by publisher, era, or anything like that. Just straight alphabetical.

kjjohanson · Post by **kjjohanson** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 12:50:36 pm

Heath wrote:Every comic I have is filed in alphabetical/chronological order, ignoring articles (A, An, and The). So, titles are sorted alphabetical. Multiple series with the same title are sorted chronologically (oldest first, newest last). Then the issues of each series are sorted chronologically. So, instead of 1/2, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., I put the #0 or #1/2 or #1,000,000 or whatever weirdness publishers come up with in the order the books were released.

I don't separate by publisher, era, or anything like that. Just straight alphabetical.

Outside of Valiant, I've got my collection broken down by publisher, mostly. I do have a separate section where I have any and all licensed properties together, since they can jump around to different publishers. So any comics based on movies, television show, novels, pulp heroes, etc. are all together. Within Marvel and DC I have all of the books from their main continuities together, and anything that isn't part of the superhero universes separate. With the few New 52 books I've purchased, I started a new section. Same thing with New U, 2099, Ultimates, etc. Some of the old Charlton Blue Beetle and Captain Atom comics I have are filed with their DC counterparts in my DC boxes. With Image I have all books of specific imprints together (all Skybound, all Shadowline, etc.) in alphabetical order, and a separate alphabetical grouping for anything that isn't with a specific imprint.

Mostly my Marvels and DCs are in alphabetical order, but I do have all my Batman family books together under "B" and all my mutant books together under "X"

bobby97801 · Post by **bobby97801** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 2:26:06 pm

I have my Valiant books organized just like the collection page on this site. As far as other publishers, I haven't organized them in 20 years.

They are just in boxes in my filing cabinets. One of these days, I will work on it.

kjjohanson · Post by **kjjohanson** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 2:33:36 pm

bobby97801 wrote:I have my Valiant books organized just like the collection page on this site. As far as other publishers, I haven't organized them in 20 years. They are just in boxes in my filing cabinets. One of these days, I will work on it.

I'm in the midst of the long, long process of organizing and (gasp) grading everything.

mkb28 · Post by **mkb28** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:04:41 pm

kjjohanson wrote:I don't separate pre-Unity from the rest of the run. Not sure why someone would. I have them separated into the three eras, and I also have my Gold Key, Dark Horse, and now Dynamite series of the GK3 adjacent to these as well.

The biggest question for me is whether to file The Second Life of Doctor Mirage under "D" or "S" and whether to file H.A.R.D.Corps before or after Harbinger, because of the period.

I use this page as my guide in how I organize my books:

http://www.valiantfan.com/valiant/library.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also printed out every page of all the covers and I carry them in a binder with me when I am out looking for comics. I consider it my "Valiant Bible."

Helps me identify if I have found the right book and if I am paying a fair price for it.

Mkb28

DirtbagSailor · Post by **DirtbagSailor** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:55:00 pm

My books are organized:

Pre-Unity
Post-Unity
Acclaim ***EMPTY***
VEI

DBS

peepholism · Post by **peepholism** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 5:37:14 am

Thanks for all your ideas. I pretty much plan to follow the issue list etc. how it is set out here, albeit first dividing by era.

Still torn on doing the Pre-Unity / Unity / Post-Unity split.

I just think it will make most sense to me in terms of reading the books and finding what I am looking for in that respect.

HM!

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 8:13:24 am

kjjohanson wrote:Outside of Valiant, I've got my collection broken down by publisher, mostly. I do have a separate section where I have any and all licensed properties together, since they can jump around to different publishers. So any comics based on movies, television show, novels, pulp heroes, etc. are all together. Within Marvel and DC I have all of the books from their main continuities together, and anything that isn't part of the superhero universes separate. With the few New 52 books I've purchased, I started a new section. Same thing with New U, 2099, Ultimates, etc. Some of the old Charlton Blue Beetle and Captain Atom comics I have are filed with their DC counterparts in my DC boxes. With Image I have all books of specific imprints together (all Skybound, all Shadowline, etc.) in alphabetical order, and a separate alphabetical grouping for anything that isn't with a specific imprint.

Mostly my Marvels and DCs are in alphabetical order, but I do have all my Batman family books together under "B" and all my mutant books together under "X"

That's just too complicated!

I prefer the simplicity of straight alphabetical/chronological. It makes it much easier when a title changes publishers or imprints (Red Circle, GI Joe), company crossovers (Deathmate, Marvel vs DC, Batman/Spawn, etc). Instead of maintaining 6 different collections with your way, I just have one comprehensive comic collection where it's easy to find and file anything. I only have 2 rules to follow (alphabetical order first, then if another series of the same title exists use chronological order) instead of a complicated set of rules with publishers, imprints, eras, licensed properties, and the inevitable exceptions to those rules.

Captain Craig · Post by **Captain Craig** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:34:39 am

I also do not complicate it.
I have a VU(Voyager Comm) 1.0 with each title listed alphabetically and sequential by number.
I repeat this with VU 2.0(Acclaim years).
And again with VU 3.0 (VEI).

Broken down by Valiant Era with tabbed divider sections at the start of each title. Mine are all "reader" copies and range from Fine to NearMint.
I may or may not get some slabbed copies with certified high grades of certain issues but that's not pressing or holds much interest with me at this time.

I'm working on completing a few runs from the first two eras still.

nycjadie · Post by **nycjadie** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 12:42:53 pm

I organize by publisher, then alphabetical. However, I do put universes together, so all the Valiant is together with Gold Key and Acclaim. Gold Key, V1, Acclaim and VEI, respectfully.

IMJ · Post by **IMJ** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 5:47:00 pm

My collection is basically organized like a comic store with boxes on steel shelving. And it's out of control. 21 Longboxes, 18 drawer boxes, 7 standard short boxes, a stack that's waiting for homes that will basically fill another two longboxes, and a couple totes of CGC's. Seriously, it's nuts.

I need to get rid of some of it to be honest, but I'm in so deep that I couldn't possibly sell it in bulk - I'd have to parse it out. It's mostly comprised of full runs and keys. There's junk there too, but most of it is part of unbroken runs or full volumes.

When I sell, I'll sell the keys with the runs, so for example whoever buys my X-Factor run someday will get high grade copies of the 1st Archangel, Apocalypse, issue #1 and the short print final five. Whoever buys my Batman Animated run will land my VF 1st Harley and so on. I'll probably even someday list stuff like the full Maxx run with the Comico Primer issue and some of the ashcans in one listing! My Silver and Bronze keys will likely be the only ones I move individually. It's the only way I can unload the stuff someday without becoming a convention guy, which I want nothing to do with.

Dr Noel · Post by **Dr Noel** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 8:32:13 pm

Completely alphabetical. It's the only way that makes sense.

kjjohanson · Post by **kjjohanson** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 8:46:05 pm

Heath wrote:
kjjohanson wrote:Outside of Valiant, I've got my collection broken down by publisher, mostly. I do have a separate section where I have any and all licensed properties together, since they can jump around to different publishers. So any comics based on movies, television show, novels, pulp heroes, etc. are all together. Within Marvel and DC I have all of the books from their main continuities together, and anything that isn't part of the superhero universes separate. With the few New 52 books I've purchased, I started a new section. Same thing with New U, 2099, Ultimates, etc. Some of the old Charlton Blue Beetle and Captain Atom comics I have are filed with their DC counterparts in my DC boxes. With Image I have all books of specific imprints together (all Skybound, all Shadowline, etc.) in alphabetical order, and a separate alphabetical grouping for anything that isn't with a specific imprint.

Mostly my Marvels and DCs are in alphabetical order, but I do have all my Batman family books together under "B" and all my mutant books together under "X"
That's just too complicated!

I prefer the simplicity of straight alphabetical/chronological. It makes it much easier when a title changes publishers or imprints (Red Circle, GI Joe), company crossovers (Deathmate, Marvel vs DC, Batman/Spawn, etc). Instead of maintaining 6 different collections with your way, I just have one comprehensive comic collection where it's easy to find and file anything. I only have 2 rules to follow (alphabetical order first, then if another series of the same title exists use chronological order) instead of a complicated set of rules with publishers, imprints, eras, licensed properties, and the inevitable exceptions to those rules.

It works for me. Especially since if I want to reread some old storylines that cross over multiple titles, chances are they're all grouped near enough to each other that I don't need to dig through piles of boxes to find all of the issues I want.

IMJ · Post by **IMJ** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 11:37:05 am

Dr Noel wrote:Completely alphabetical. It's the only way that makes sense.

This is what I do, but it's alphabetical by publisher.

myron · Post by **myron** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:07:31 pm

IMJ wrote:
Dr Noel wrote:Completely alphabetical. It's the only way that makes sense.
This is what I do, but it's alphabetical by publisher.

+1

each publisher has their own boxes...

Baramos · Post by **Baramos** » Fri Mar 14, 2014 11:25:06 pm

kjjohanson wrote:I don't separate pre-Unity from the rest of the run. Not sure why someone would. I have them separated into the three eras, and I also have my Gold Key, Dark Horse, and now Dynamite series of the GK3 adjacent to these as well.

The biggest question for me is whether to file The Second Life of Doctor Mirage under "D" or "S" and whether to file H.A.R.D.Corps before or after Harbinger, because of the period.

Doctor Mirage under "D", H.A.R.D. Corps. after Harbinger. There you're decided!

EDIT: I don't really have justification for the second one, but think about it: if you had a collection of "The Adventures of Superman" comics, you wouldn't file it under "A", would you?

IMJ · Post by **IMJ** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 1:56:31 am

Baramos wrote:
kjjohanson wrote:I don't separate pre-Unity from the rest of the run. Not sure why someone would. I have them separated into the three eras, and I also have my Gold Key, Dark Horse, and now Dynamite series of the GK3 adjacent to these as well.

The biggest question for me is whether to file The Second Life of Doctor Mirage under "D" or "S" and whether to file H.A.R.D.Corps before or after Harbinger, because of the period.
Doctor Mirage under "D", H.A.R.D. Corps. after Harbinger. There you're decided!

EDIT: I don't really have justification for the second one, but think about it: if you had a collection of "The Adventures of Superman" comics, you wouldn't file it under "A", would you?

I would (and do, actually) file "Adventures of Superman" under "A", yes. This is because that character had several books whose titles and solicits relied on that specific title. I'd also file Dr. Mirage under "S" in my Valiant boxes because that title was really the full title of the book. However, I don't file "The Invincible Iron Man" under "In..." because really, throughout all of the volumes there has basically been one "Iron Man" book predominantly over the years, so those are filed under "Ir..." by volume. Spider-Man is the same as Superman with the number of titles he had, so it makes most sense that the "adjective" is included in the filing because "Amazing Spider-Man" is historically the name of that book before "Spider-Man".

I'd say that t's the difference between "archive filing" and "character filing". As a hobbyist, archive filing makes more sense in many ways, but that doesn't mean that filing all of your Superman books under "Superman" first is wrong if it makes ya happy.

Shadowman99 · Post by **Shadowman99** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:51:57 am

I just group my comics by character in numerical order.

Seeing as I buy 90% Valiant comics, all my Shadowman comics are together, VH1,VH2 and VEI, Bloodshot comics all together, etc...
Everything else just goes at the back of the box

Chiclo · Post by **Chiclo** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 8:10:33 am

Baramos wrote:EDIT: I don't really have justification for the second one, but think about it: if you had a collection of "The Adventures of Superman" comics, you wouldn't file it under "A", would you?

My wife would and does file Adventures of Superman under A. If a title has a name change, she will file it separately. X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, New X-Men and X-Men Legacy is one big charlie foxtrot in my backissue boxes.

IMJ · Post by **IMJ** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 9:41:13 am

Shadowman99 wrote:I just group my comics by character in numerical order.

Seeing as I buy 90% Valiant comics, all my Shadowman comics are together, VH1,VH2 and VEI, Bloodshot comics all together, etc...
Everything else just goes at the back of the box

Okay, see now when it comes to Valiant books, I basically just treat the Acclaim stuff as "Vol. 2" and the VE1 stuff as "Vol. 3" in my filings of Valiant boxes. And I put things like Trinity Angels alphabetically along inside the rest of the Valiant stuff.

ValiantFans.com Board - Since 2004

Organising your collection

Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection

Re: Organising your collection