Pro tip: I stopped bagging and boarding every single comic and switched to just my top 20 keys
I used to spend about 2 hours every Sunday bagging, boarding, and sorting my whole 1,400 book collection into long boxes with dividers, and I would still lose track of which issues mattered. Then a guy at my local shop in Sacramento told me to pull my top 20 keys into a single short box with fresh mylar bags and just leave the rest in plain poly bags, and honestly my pulls for reading got way faster. Has anyone else split their collection like this, or do you keep everything uniform so nothing gets mixed up when you sell?
Switched to the same setup last year, but the part about poly bags being fine for the rest is only half true. Poly bags and cheap boards can break down over time and actually harm the books you are not watching, so the ones sitting in long boxes still need a fresh bag and board every few years if you care about them holding value. Mylar is great for your top 20 (that part is spot on), but saying the leftovers are safe in plain poly forever is how people end up with wavy covers and yellowed pages. Selling is where it really bites you, because a buyer will notice a book that sat in an old bag for a decade and ding you on price. I do keep everything uniform for that reason, but I get why splitting saves you time (2 hours every Sunday is a lot). Just do not treat the long boxes like a junk drawer you never open again.