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Ifthir
Learned Scribe
USA
111 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Jan 2009 : 23:21:41
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Has anyone come up with an effective, protective method for storing old box sets? I just can't bear the thought of leaning a bunch of boxes together on a shelf, and I shudder at the thought of stacking Ruins of Zhentil Keep and Ruins of Myth Drannor on my Gray Box Campaign Setting.
Does anyone have any storage recommendations? I actually use my books, I might add. Thanks for any help!
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Nerfed2Hell
Senior Scribe
USA
387 Posts |
Posted - 06 Jan 2009 : 23:32:23
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| I stack the boxed sets flat on top of the bookshelf... nothing heavy goes on them to bend them out of shape. |
Some people are like a slinky... not good for much, but when you push them down the stairs, it makes you smile. |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6662 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2009 : 01:08:23
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Mine are stacked vertically on my bookshelf and have done just fine over the last 20 years.
-- George Krashos
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"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36793 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2009 : 01:51:44
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Take the contents out of the box, store them separately, and then put the empty boxes someplace safe. It's not the best solution, but it will work... It's what I've done for the sets that I have the boxes for (I don't have all of the boxes, though I do have their contents).
Between having lost some of the boxes the first time around, and not having all of the boxes the second time around, I don't care about the boxes that much. The ones I have, I don't want them to get damaged, but it's the contents that I am far more concerned about. A mangled box with good contents is acceptable to me. |
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2009 : 02:11:42
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shrink wrapped, placed carefully in plastic tubs and placed in the closet at room temperature. Then purchase PDF versions on the cheap for my viewing pleasure.
I have mine going back to OD&D red box. those are a bit worn from tons of use, but as I got older, I started to do what wooley indicated, put the empty boxes away in a safe location. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31716 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2009 : 02:12:37
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quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos
Mine are stacked vertically on my bookshelf and have done just fine over the last 20 years.
-- George Krashos
That's the same for me as well. I've got a whole series of bookshelves devoted just to boxed sets from various publishers and campaign settings that have been released over the last two decades.
One or two I've taken out of the boxes though, much like Wooly above. The Fury of Shadow boxed set for the MIDNIGHT setting being a prime example. The campaign guide is just way cool and it's something I like to read even when I'm not running any games in Eredane.
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3243 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2009 : 02:58:49
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I'm about to cause some heart attacks and high blood pressure.
I was a young lad when I got the grey box and other box sets. At the time, I had also began painting my own miniatures and liked the efficiency of spray on primers (some of you can see where this is going).
Let's just say the grey box is grey on the inside as well... |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2009 : 14:53:56
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quote:
Originally posted by Ashe Ravenheart
I'm about to cause some heart attacks and high blood pressure.
I was a young lad when I got the grey box and other box sets. At the time, I had also began painting my own miniatures and liked the efficiency of spray on primers (some of you can see where this is going).
Let's just say the grey box is grey on the inside as well...
Anyways - I store mine vertically on the bookshelf. I made the mistake of lending Ruins of Undermountain to a friend...he stored it horizontally and stacked a few things on it  The box isn't the same as it used to be  |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author
USA
1714 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2009 : 16:15:48
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quote:
Originally posted by scererar
shrink wrapped, placed carefully in plastic tubs and placed in the closet at room temperature. Then purchase PDF versions on the cheap for my viewing pleasure.
I have mine going back to OD&D red box. those are a bit worn from tons of use, but as I got older, I started to do what wooley indicated, put the empty boxes away in a safe location.
Fair warning (and I speak from experience here): Cut a slit along the top of that shrink wrap, as it keeps shrinking over time.
Steven
who had a fair amount of TSR boxed sets in shrink wrap that got slightly crunked (more than crimped, less than crushed) due to shrink wrap pressure alone
PS: Standing them on edge along with books has worked fine otherwise. I store my FR stuff in mostly chronological order by publication, so the grey box comes first, etc. |
For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36793 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2009 : 16:49:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
PS: Standing them on edge along with books has worked fine otherwise. I store my FR stuff in mostly chronological order by publication, so the grey box comes first, etc.
My books are all stored on edge, in magazine bags. All the hardcover books are together, and all of the FOR and FR series stuff is together. Outside of those groups, I tend to store by general category: broad regional stuff, more focused regional stuff, city-level stuff, stuff on deities, stuff on organizations, etc.
I've always stored the books in one spot, and all the maps in another spot close by. And it's because of that odd habit that I didn't lose any of my FR maps in the fire, though I lost all the other FR stuff.
My habit of storing stuff outside of the boxed sets dates back to when I was a teenager, and my dad was married to his second wife (of 4! -- he collects ex-wives, I often joke). She was very anti-D&D, and didn't really like any fantasy stuff. I found that I could take the books and maps and store them inside regular folders, and she'd never notice them. Ditto with the hardcovers -- if I put a plain brown paper cover on them, like we had to do with textbooks, then she didn't pay any attention to them. Even in the summer, when school was out, she simply didn't see folders and covered books. |
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Ifthir
Learned Scribe
USA
111 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jan 2009 : 23:56:44
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quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
PS: Standing them on edge along with books has worked fine otherwise. I store my FR stuff in mostly chronological order by publication, so the grey box comes first, etc.
This is what I do also, I guess I will be going to buy a new bookshelf for my boxed sets, since both you and George seem to have had good results, along with a few others. Thanks everyone. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jan 2009 : 00:16:23
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Most of my boxes disintegrated years ago (I still have the flattened cardboard though, for posterity, I suppose).
This was because I stacked them high next to my desk, ad would constantly be going in and out of them. Because of the stacking, the bottom ones usually got squished (mostly Spelljammer and Ravenloft - heavily referenced stuff like FR always stayed near the top, and did much better).
The dozen or so boxes I still maintain are pretty badly taped-up... and they are STILL stacked next to my desk, where I can reference them easily. 
Sourcebooks are all in a shelf to the other side of me, also within reach, except for the ones I barely use, which I keep in three large cases adapted for the purpose (they look like very fat briefcases).
Most of my stuff is pretty worse for wear, and recently I have taken to highliting stuff in the K-T sources (I started doing that in the GHotR, and it worked out so well I'm doing to older stuff now).
I guess if I ever went to sell it, I'd have to put "Quality: poor", but I never intend to sell anything, so I guess it doesn't really matter.
AS for the maps... I've had to tape quite a few of those, because I use them the most, and all the K-T ones have fallen apart along the fold-lines. The only ones that I have kept 'pristine' are the ones from the Old Grey Box (those I treat like museum pieces).
I'd say the best boxes I have are the planescape ones - most of them are stil shrinkwrapped! |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 08 Jan 2009 00:18:42 |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jan 2009 : 02:23:03
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quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend
quote:
Originally posted by scererar
shrink wrapped, placed carefully in plastic tubs and placed in the closet at room temperature. Then purchase PDF versions on the cheap for my viewing pleasure.
I have mine going back to OD&D red box. those are a bit worn from tons of use, but as I got older, I started to do what wooley indicated, put the empty boxes away in a safe location.
Fair warning (and I speak from experience here): Cut a slit along the top of that shrink wrap, as it keeps shrinking over time.
Steven
who had a fair amount of TSR boxed sets in shrink wrap that got slightly crunked (more than crimped, less than crushed) due to shrink wrap pressure alone
PS: Standing them on edge along with books has worked fine otherwise. I store my FR stuff in mostly chronological order by publication, so the grey box comes first, etc.
Good to know. I had not thought of that before. |
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Green Giant
Seeker
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 08 Jan 2009 : 04:22:22
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| I've got two bookshelves and the shelf that comes with my computer station. One bookshelf contains all my boxed sets and my 2e material that I can still use fluff. I've got some of my FR boxed sets and the Planescape boxed sets stacked but since there's a limit to how many fit on a shelf there hasn't been much bending. My other bookshelf contains my 3e stuff (Dragon, Dungeon, Pathfinder, DL, RL, third party, generic D&D). The shelf on my computer station contains 3e FR and Eberron as well as the 4E FR and core books. |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jan 2009 : 13:51:31
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| To add to my earlier post, my books and the boxes are stored together, in order of Location in the realms (so all the adventures and sourcebooks that deal with Cormyr are together, the Waterdeep and Undermountain stuff is together, etc...) - the only exception are certain adventure trilogies taht take place in multiple locations (i.e. Avatar Trilogy, and the last 3.5 adventures Cormyr/Shadowdale/Anauroch). |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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Storing old AD&D Box Sets
