My longbox at Heroes Con taught me a storage lesson

Back in June at Heroes Con in Charlotte, I watched a guy pull a slabbed comic out of a flimsy cardboard box and it slid right out onto the concrete floor. That $300 book got a bent corner in about 2 seconds. After that I switched all my valuables to those plastic BCW bins with the snap lids, and now I buy them in packs of 10 for about 25 bucks each. Has anyone else had a close call like that at a show or is it just me?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_park261mo ago

Dodge that bullet, man! I swear those cardboard longboxes are just waiting to betray you when you least expect it. My buddy had a similar thing happen with a key issue, and now he treats his comics like they're made of glass and keeps them double bagged even in storage. Honestly, the way some folks carry their boxes around at shows, it's a miracle more books don't end up as floor art. Glad you made the switch before it was your wallet crying in the aisle.

amy_anderson1mo ago

See, I'm gonna push back on this a little. I've been hauling cardboard longboxes to shows for years and never had a single book slide out. The trick is keeping them packed tight so nothing shifts, and maybe taping the top flaps shut if you're really worried. Those plastic bins are heavy as hell, and when you're carrying 5 of them across a convention floor, you're gonna drop one eventually because your arms give out. Plus, cardboard boxes are cheap and easy to replace if they get beat up, but a cracked plastic lid is a total loss. I feel like this is less about the box and more about how you handle it, man.