How do you catalog comics without grading every issue?

How do you catalog comics without grading every issue?

Grading is a separate job, with a slab and a fee. Cataloging is knowing which issues you own and where the longbox lives. Open Add in samla.ai, the AI app for cataloging collections, and photograph the cover. Add a second shot of the issue number and the barcode or the indicia on the inside cover when the number is easy to miss. The AI names the title and the number when the type is clear.

Set the place as the longbox or the bag-and-board drawer. Add a note for condition in your own words: "small spine roll", "subscription crease", "unread, bagged". You can still send a key issue to a grader later. The catalog is the list you search on a Tuesday night.

What gets its own item, and what can be a run?

• Key issues, first appearances and anything you would insure on its own
• Short runs you are completing, issue by issue
• A longbox of reading copies of one title, as one item with a quantity and a photo of the box
• Variants and retailer exclusives, with a note on which cover

A later estimate can tell you which issues are worth a closer look. Those values stay estimates for informational purposes, never professional appraisals. A famous key in high grade is a grader's job, not a phone camera's.

How do you check a back-issue bin?

Open Look up mode, photograph the cover and the number, and wait. Nothing is added to your collection. You get a name and a market estimate next to comparable listings. Look up is on the free plan. If you buy the issue, keep it from the Look up box and file it to the right longbox when you get home.