By Kevin Winter
Today is a special post. I will not talk about a specific series or comics. I will not review the trends or comment on DC's new relaunch that we are well into. Today I shall talk about what to do with your comics when you no longer have room. Everyone will face this fact, after all, you can store only so many comics where you live. The question becomes...
What do I do with my old comics?
With many stores not buying comics, and very few comics worth a any money on eBay -- unless, say, we’re talking about Chew number 1 or Action Comics number 1 -- what do you do with them? Hold a yard sale and sell them for 25 cents each?
Think About Future GenerationsI would like to say that I would do something else with them. Around the country there are several special collections of just comic books
and they are looking for donors just like you that are willing to part with their comics so they can be added to the collection for a future generation of people.
Now this is not for everyone, and I stress, do your research and contact the different institutions with what you are willing to donates. Found out if they have those issues already, and whether they want your comic books. Libraries rely on donations -- for example, the newest issue of Fantastic Four -- for the new comics, since they do not get funds to buy individual comics.
Organizations That Appreciate Old Comic Books
The biggest one in the country is Michigan State University. MSU’s comic book collection boasts around 200,000 individual American comics, along with about 50,000 foreign language comics. Their website is a bit bare bones, and it can be difficult to navigate the site to see what they have already, so you’ll need to call or email them.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has a large collection, around 40,000 individual issues along with a large collection of manga, original art and more. They are also the official home for the Eisner award nominees and winners. They are looking for newer runs of currently running comics. They also have a big Golden Age selection. As a personal note, this is where I send a lot of my comics and manga.
Northern Illinois and Bowling Green are two colleges that have smaller collections. They might be willing to take donations, but be forewarned unlike MSU and VCU they do not have dedicated staff just for comics. Also Bowling Green is more focused on original artwork.
UC Riverside has a small collection. It is mainly to complement their science fiction/fantasy book special collection that they have. They do not have a special website for comics, and it is all but impossible to search their collection online.
So if you want to donate your comics think of these libraries. There are a few more than I mentioned. Again, do your research, email the people at the libraries. A 20 pound box of comics can cost about $9 dollars to ship via the cheapest way possible (which is the way I send it!) and that can hold quite a few comics.
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About The Author
Kevin Winter is someone with an opinion about almost everything. A comic fan of several years, he can be seen around Empire's Comics Vault on Wednesdays, and generally spouting an opinion (if anyone wants to hear it or not)... also trying not to get on Ben's bad side.
Today is a special post. I will not talk about a specific series or comics. I will not review the trends or comment on DC's new relaunch that we are well into. Today I shall talk about what to do with your comics when you no longer have room. Everyone will face this fact, after all, you can store only so many comics where you live. The question becomes...
What do I do with my old comics?
With many stores not buying comics, and very few comics worth a any money on eBay -- unless, say, we’re talking about Chew number 1 or Action Comics number 1 -- what do you do with them? Hold a yard sale and sell them for 25 cents each?
and they are looking for donors just like you that are willing to part with their comics so they can be added to the collection for a future generation of people.
Now this is not for everyone, and I stress, do your research and contact the different institutions with what you are willing to donates. Found out if they have those issues already, and whether they want your comic books. Libraries rely on donations -- for example, the newest issue of Fantastic Four -- for the new comics, since they do not get funds to buy individual comics.
Organizations That Appreciate Old Comic Books
The biggest one in the country is Michigan State University. MSU’s comic book collection boasts around 200,000 individual American comics, along with about 50,000 foreign language comics. Their website is a bit bare bones, and it can be difficult to navigate the site to see what they have already, so you’ll need to call or email them.
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has a large collection, around 40,000 individual issues along with a large collection of manga, original art and more. They are also the official home for the Eisner award nominees and winners. They are looking for newer runs of currently running comics. They also have a big Golden Age selection. As a personal note, this is where I send a lot of my comics and manga.
Northern Illinois and Bowling Green are two colleges that have smaller collections. They might be willing to take donations, but be forewarned unlike MSU and VCU they do not have dedicated staff just for comics. Also Bowling Green is more focused on original artwork.
UC Riverside has a small collection. It is mainly to complement their science fiction/fantasy book special collection that they have. They do not have a special website for comics, and it is all but impossible to search their collection online.
So if you want to donate your comics think of these libraries. There are a few more than I mentioned. Again, do your research, email the people at the libraries. A 20 pound box of comics can cost about $9 dollars to ship via the cheapest way possible (which is the way I send it!) and that can hold quite a few comics.
###
About The Author
Kevin Winter is someone with an opinion about almost everything. A comic fan of several years, he can be seen around Empire's Comics Vault on Wednesdays, and generally spouting an opinion (if anyone wants to hear it or not)... also trying not to get on Ben's bad side.
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