The long or the short of it

[K'Nort]

I'm about to be packing up all my belongings into a U-Haul and moving across country. I've also been thinking for a while that I'd be happier with short boxes than long, and this seems like a good time to make the switch.

Short boxes will be more flexible to store, fit more easily on standardized shelving, and are more likely to hold the sorts of full runs I have.

But are there major advantages to long boxes that I am currently missing?


Thanks!

[scratchie]

I've never actually used long boxes myself, so perhaps a long-box supporter can correct me, but the only advantage I can think of is that they're longer. They hold more comics, so you need fewer boxes. They're a good size for comic book stores where you can put them on a rack and browse from the front of the box to the back.

At home, I never considered using anything but short boxes. As you point out, they fit on standard, pre-fab shelving units (or behind a door) and they're pretty easy to move around.

[Lone Ranger]

I bought a bunch of long boxes several years ago and thought it was pretty cool to store so many comics in one spot.

I have since found them to be a bit unwieldly and have been buying short boxes, as they are easier to lift, store and are better for organizing my collection, as I do it by title (if I've got enough to fill a box), or company or genre.

[MDG]

I could be wrong, but IIRC, long boxes were available for years before short boxes. I think long boxes became the initial standard because they were designed for dealers and made to fit on the tables at shows.

MDG

[Rob Imes]

Short boxes are better for storing comics. They fit into more places than long boxes will. Long boxes are a better buy for one's money, but sometimes it's better to be shorter and more handy than long and less handy.

I started out with mainly long boxes and now I'm slowly in the process of trying to replace them all with short boxes.

Also, I think that the short boxes might encourage me to cut back to the comics that I really want to keep. It's more noticable when you have a short box full of 1990s Iron Man that you never read, instead of having a long box full of Iron Man where you only read half of the box. Isolating the comics into smaller containers might make it easier to weed out the excess. (One can't collect everything, I've discovered. Or even if one can, one shouldn't want to -- it feels better to live simply with fewer possessions.)

Another drawback to the long boxes, I've found, is that they tend to bend the comics, even ones in boards, if the box isn't full and one side goes sliding down to the empty end of the box.

[Jesse Hamm]

Short boxes are also much easier to pick up and move around. If you're planning to move, spare your back and use short boxes.

Ultimately, the best storage solution is a broad filing cabinet. You can fit two rows of comics in each drawer, and the drawers roll out for easy perusal.

[Shellhead]

My original comic collection (before I sold 75% of my collection in '91 due to financial struggles) was stored in banker boxes, in two side by side rows per box. I think they held somewhat more than a standard short box, but they weren't as sturdy, so I could only stack them three high.

My current collection consists of 6 long boxes and 6 short boxes, but I've been thinking about replacing the long boxes with the short boxes, for easier storage and easier moving. Also, I'm bothered that there is some size variation in my long boxes, so they don't stack nicely. When one long box is longer than another in the stack, it puts stress on the boxes in the wrong places. And finally, I don't feel good about stacking my long boxes more than two high, while I think three high is fine for the short boxes, possibly even four high.

[shaxper]

I began with long boxes, but replaced them several years ago since it's nearly impossible to find a convenient way to store them in a home. They're more suited for a dealer's tables at a show or comic shop. I now have all of my shortboxes neatly displayed and easily accessible on industrial shelves in my attic. One long box holds more than two short boxes (so, if you have the depth of space available, go for it), but I don't see any advantages beyond that. Long boxes are more unweildy, heavier, and harder to store/transport.