So while working at the comic store, I was picking up my issues for the day before I was getting ready to go. i took a bag and board for only 2 of my comics that I was actually collecting. Amazing Spider-man and Alpha Flight. Just then a customer said this: "Why only get two bags and boards for your entire stack? Why not for all of them?" he said with a bit of a condisending remark.  I smiled and replied, "Cause I like to enjoy the rest of the comics I have that im abesolutely not collecting."
 
  In other words what I said to the customer in the previous paragraph is that I do not bag and board all my comics. just only the ones I am going to stick into my collection, and so far I might end up with 4 collections now with flash and nightwing on the way :D. but i don't really care if I toss my comic into the long box without a bag and board, I try to take care of the box as best as i can and hope that the comics will last as long as they can. do i really care if they are not completely flat? no, im not anal like some people are when it comes to the dimensions of comics. (no offense).  Comics are meant to be read, not each individually wrapped containers with some person hoping that one of there issues might be worth something in the future... "oh man I have spawn #1"... yeah, no sorry bud not worth the millions you wished it was. 
 
  I use the bags and boards to preserve the series I really want to go back to in the future. the other series im reading right now and I enjoy them. does not mean I want to keep them all in my future archive of Spider-man,Flash,Nightwing, and Alpha flight. a man has only got so much space. if the comics get old then ill throw them out or donate them for kids to read and enjoy or until computers take over the kids altogether and have a real life attention span of 2 seconds.
 
  So I felt like getting that off my chest. But before I go, I want to know, do you bag and board? if so or not tell my why or why not. Id like to hear back from Ya'll.

@Trodorne:

I bag and board all my comics. I used to not do it and just stack them all on top of one another, once that stack outgrew my shelf on my bookshelf I bought a short box and found that they didn't fit as well un-bagged. Also, I collect all my comics so I want them in good condition, especially those with nice covers. If I ever stop a series I just reuse my bags and boards for other books. Like now I'm stopping Static since Rozum's off that book. One less Bag/board to buy.

Yes.

you'd be crazy NOT to bag and Board em

Yes.

I like to bag and board them because it makes it easier to carry them around without getting sweat around them or getting folded in my bag, I commute a lot (about four hours a day) so I read on the bus, the bags and boards give them protection =D

I don't....I wished I did though...I just stack them in a box

It's still neat and nice though... and pretty organized lol

I need to buy bags, boards and boxes.

I bag and board when i buy really old comics i find in thrift stores that are in good condition.

The shop I used to have a file at bagged and boarded all issues at no charge. Now the one I shop at only bags, so I buy my boards in 100 counts separately. Bagging and boarding are essential for me seeing as I throw all my weekly purchases into a messanger bag and carry them to work with me. I aint paying $3 to $4 a pop for blunted corners and creased pages!

@turoksonofstone said:

Yes.

lol this is why I like your answers, brief and to the point.

@The Stegman: or I have my long box standing upright thus the comics are laying flat...ish. as for dirt.. thats what the lid was for. i have no desire to keep the comics in pristine condition 24/7 while it may compel you or others to do it. it does not to me.

Bag but not board. Boards generally seem unnecessary to me, as long as the boxes are kept packed enough so the comics don't slip. I bag them to keep them in decent shape, not because I think they're going to be worth millions, because they're not, but because I like to respect the stuff I own. And, more importantly, when I'm thumbing through a box looking for something, it's easier if they're bagged than if they're loose.

I put them in folders. I don't bother boarding them as their shape is retained anyway. And the singles I get I get for $1 on sale, and getting the proper boards would cost more than that.

Trades ftw.

Yeah, I bag & board.  Two issues to every bag, so one issue either side of the board.  It saves a lot of room compared to 1 issue per bag.  And the board not only helps keep the shape, but prevents the transfer of inks between issues.

Yep always bagged and boarded all issues.

@xerox_kitty said:

Yeah, I bag & board. Two issues to every bag, so one issue either side of the board. It saves a lot of room compared to 1 issue per bag. And the board not only helps keep the shape, but prevents the transfer of inks between issues.

Why the hell haven't I thought about doing that sooner?

Why the hell haven't I thought about doing that sooner?

The annoyance of bagging and boarding is why I stopped messing with floppies. I didn't want to treat them like trash but I didn't want to have them all bagged and boxed up where I know I would NEVER go through them and casually read. With a trade paperback, however (or a digital download on my phone, yay DCnU!) I know that I'll casually pull out an old purchase and read through it. Trade Waiting can be painful though, and not every shop allows shelf reading (again, yay DC digital initiative!).

I bag and board everything I get...in all fairness I actually bag and board TPs as well and I have no shame in admitting it.

@xerox_kitty: I used to do that too! Right on :)

Absolutely not, it is basically for the same reasons, that I like to enjoy them.  There is no more reason to think that an issue of a modern comic will gain any value as opposed to say the most recent version of Vanity Fair which I have bought.

i bag and board each one individually. i think it looks the cleanest. 2 to a bag and board, i almost did that but it would take a long time to convert my collection and i like having one per. its just nice. it makes me feel like what im reading is really nice, and not just a crummy magazine.

yes i know thats completely in my head, but thats okay.

its cool if you dont bag and board, but to appeal to the original argument, theres a lot of comics i didnt know i would love so much until i did buy them so now im glad theyre bagged and boarded.

and yeah, the resale thing is there too. i know the spawn #1 argument is valid, but at the same time if someone asked me if i wanted to buy their collection, the odds of me buying it and the price i'd pay would go up immensely if i knew they had bagged and boarded every comic they bought from the day they bought them.

its just smart.

Yes. Not because I plan to sell them or anything (I don't), but to ensure they remain in good condition for as long as possible. I like to take care of my things and also future proof everything, as I never know what is going to happen or what I will want to do later on. I don't understand the point of "No, because I like to enjoy them" that some people are making. I can just take my comic out of the bag whenever I want to, and I know it will be in great condition because I protected it. I've also moved a lot in my life, and that can be rough on comics that don't have any backing to keep them from falling out of their covers and such; it's very obvious to tell which of my comics weren't properly sealed up with a board compared to those that were. I have a lot of comics that aren't protected yet that are in great condition, but there are some in my collection where their damage could have easily been avoided. It's a cheap, effective solution that avoids long-term problems.

My brother had to keep his stuff in storage once, and there were a lot of things that got messed up by bugs because they weren't properly protected. I do everything I can to avoid situations like that.

I bag and board my comics that way they do not get damaged. Some issues are not bag and board but when I organize my comics I bag and board those comics

depends on what comic it is...depends on the age and how much a cherish it...

I buy so many variants and old comics that they are already in the bagged and boarded when I get them.Most variants that I buy come in a more safe style of bag though so they don't need boards.

My LCS bags and boards all the comics they sell, so yes, I bag and board.

I personally don't bag and board. I understand why people, but I only tend to bag and board autographed books. I just know I'd never get around to actually bagging them ,so i keep them the way they are.

I bag them but I don't board them.

at the moment i only bag them with polyethylene bags and do not board them. i mainly bag tpbs (hcs and scs as well) because i mainly collect these but i started to collect single issues as well recently, so i will have to bag and board them, too.

nevertheless i have some questions/problems unsolved, so maybe some of you who bag & board 'professionally' could take a look in my topic. its in the same sub-forum.

My LCS gives a free bag and board for each new comics, so yes!

My LCS gives out free bags/boards for new comics and also has variants and back issues bagged and boarded already. The only reason why I wouldn't bag and board is the cost. And because there is none for new issues I always bag and board. I wait for sales and then buy up a ton of bags and boards packs for when I buy back issues or lots elsewhere.

I don't know if I'd consider myself more of a reader or a collector. While I do read every book I buy (and I'll re-read several if not all of them) I also love the idea of collecting. But I also collect a lot of other things so maybe that's just me. I like to have everything in mint condition because it's just nicer to look at and I know that when I want to pull them out later to read they're not going to be ruined or damaged in any way.

Also I almost always have really long nails and I find that when you bag and board them they're easier to flip through when you've put them in boxes. Maybe it's because the books create a small gap in between each issue with the depth of them, even though it's a small difference it still gives me a little bit of room to flick through. I also really love detail work and I find just as much enjoyment in bagging, boarding, cataloguing, organizing, all that boring stuff as I do in reading them.

I do, because otherwise my books will become unsightly, covers missing and pages everywhere. I learned that the hard way from my sensational Spider-Man book.

No I do not, but sometimes the comics I buy already are.

Only people who disagree with me... oh you mean comics, yes.

Every shop I have visited in the last 10 years already came pre bagged/boarded... So yeah, no reason not to do it.

You ain't "cool", unless you bag and board.

I get them for free at my LCS because I'm a subscriber.

@Renchamp: This, except that I don't have kids yet. When I do, I want them to be able to enjoy them in as good, shape as possible.

@blastaar said:

You ain't "cool", unless you bag and board.

lol man. I was never cool ;) @jrock85 said:

I get them for free at my LCS because I'm a subscriber.

That is actually cool. we normally sell them in packs of 100 for each and give a discount when people buy them together.

Sometimes. I had been putting them in bins now I longbox them when they pile up enough. I'm gonna pay someone to help me go though and catalog them one day.

@Trodorne: The owners of my LCS bag and board your comics for you if you're a subscriber.

@jrock85 said:

I get them for free at my LCS because I'm a subscriber.

@jrock85 said:

@Trodorne: The owners of my LCS bag and board your comics for you if you're a subscriber.

Both of these are very cool subscriber perks.