Manga Worth Reading

Due to the kindness of a retailer friend, I was given two cases (5 boxes in each package) of the manga-sized storage boxes Diamond sold a few years back. I think they’ve since stopped offering them, since their associated storage product company, E. Gerber Products, no longer lists that size of boxes.

It wouldn’t surprise me, since I suspect there was little to no audience for them. For one thing, the idea of keeping manga in acid-free boxes doesn’t make sense to many readers. Manga books are sturdier than comics, and the collector impulse doesn’t really apply. For another, not many manga readers shop in comic stores, so they wouldn’t have seen the boxes. Most significantly, though, putting the boxes together is a pain in the ass. It took the two of us five tries to get one assembled properly.

The boxes shipped flat, in three pieces — box, lid, and internal divider. But no instructions. We figured out how to put one together by looking at a completed version.

To assemble it, you folded the divider piece in half, folded out little lips on the edges, and then tried to hold it in place while you folded the sides up and the end flaps over to hold the whole box together. Note that you can see in this picture two of the problems with this process: 1) it requires one person to hold it all together while another wrapped the edges over, and 2) the pieces end up getting bent during all of this effort. It doesn’t seem to hurt the eventual box, though, or disturb the stability.

Once folded together, you wind up with a box slightly shorter than a standard comic shortbox, but with two internal channels. You can get about 14-16 books in one side of the box, depending on thickness (paper stock, page count, etc.). They are sturdy, and I find them a good way to store completed series that I don’t want to get rid of but no longer fit on the shelves.

In the boxes, I can stack them in a closet. When I want to find something, they’re easier to move around and search through than top flap traditional brown boxes. Plus, you can mark the white cardboard with marker or sticky note to identify what’s inside. Overall, I like using them, but I wouldn’t have paid for them. As a gift, though, they’ve come in handy.

Similar Posts: Today’s Comic Store Story § More on Tokyopop’s Online OEL Manga and Print on Demand Plans § Vote for Rising Stars of Manga § Diamond’s Market Stranglehold § Much Viz Backlist No Longer Available Through Diamond