Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Nerding 101: Cycle Counting

It's that time of year again! The time of year where the days are getting longer and hotter, and the kids are home from school. Over here in our household, that means only one thing- cycle counting time! I don't know how I did it, but I just managed to make that sound waaaaaay more exciting than it is.

Cycle counting is when you take alllllll of the comic books you own and go through each and every one. Since The Editor and I have our super spiffy database, we start by printing out a summary of all of the comics we own, and then try to make the summary match what is in the boxes.

We generally do the cycle twice a year. It takes close to five hours for us to do completely, but this time will vary depending on how many comics you own. The Editor and I have somewhere around 8-10k, I believe. Cycle counting is a perfect time to pull any comics that you don't want anymore. Some people have a hard time getting rid of comics, but if you have a series you didn't like as much as you thought you would, or some oddball numbered comics just hanging around, it's better to weed out the old to make room for the new. Nobody likes a hoarder.

After you've pulled out the comics that you would like to get rid of, you can put together a list of what you have and put it up for auction on Atomic Avenue to make a little cash, so you can buy MORE comics. ;-)

Cycle counting is also the perfect time to check the conditions of your bags and boards. If the comics are looking a little beaten, perhaps it's time to get some new protection for them. And if you're one of those people who has unprotected comics, you might as well just put them ALL on Atomic Avenue and start to collect digital comics, because Carly is disappointed in you (I'm sure you're soooooo heartbroken about that).

Anyhoo, that about sums it up. As a comic collector, cycle counting just makes life a little easier knowing what you have in stock. If you have any questions, or are totally lost on what I'm talking about, let me know in the comments! :-)

P.S. Since it's new comic book day, if you're interested in what I'm reading or if you'd like to see some of the new titles for the week, click HERE.

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