Comic Book Short Box Drawer
Photo CREDIT: Bob Bretall
I've had a block of 15 brusque DrawerBoxes in the cupboard of my comics room for years. I beloved them, they provide excellent & piece of cake admission to the comics within and are extremely sturdy. For me, I like this kind of storage for comics that I want to get at on a more regular basis and are not needed (for me) for the long-term storage of the bulk of my drove. That said, for cardinal parts of my collection (like the 1st 100 issues of Astonishing Spider-Man, Justice League, or Fantastic Four), I really like to be able to go at them more hands so these kinds of boxes that slide open and closed are an platonic solution. Recently I became enlightened of an alternate to the DrawerBox called a "Comic House" from BCW and this review will compare the ii storage solutions.
Photo CREDIT: Bob Bretall
In the spirit of full disclosure, a marketing person from BCW saw my Weblog near storing your comics (Numberless, Boards, & Boxes) and offered to send me a cake of BCW's Comic Houses for review purposes. I'd wanted to expand my upstairs comic storage for a while, so I was game. "Send them on over!" I told him! I'll practice my best to requite an objective review of the product hither, comparing them to their chief competition that I'm aware of, the DrawerBox from Collection Drawer Co. The commencement matter I had to do was move the bookcases OUT of the upstairs closet to brand room for more comics boxes. The moving picture above is mid-way through that process. I've cleared the books off nearly of the bookshelves and started to take the drawers out of the existing Drawer Boxes so I can move that cake out of the way & get the bookcases out of the closet (the accordion doors on the closet prevent me from just sliding the bookcases straight out).
I am only reviewing short boxes here. California closets are plain shallower than their mid-west counterparts. A long box will not fit length-wise in my closet and still allow me to shut the closet doors, then I'm left with the brusk box variety as my primary selection at this fourth dimension, since I don't desire to brand the "fashion statement" of having a block of these things out in the open, I'd prefer to keep them in a closet.
Photo CREDIT: Bob Bretall
The BCW Comic House comes in 3 pieces: the outer shell (which is technically the "house"), an insert that makes the sliding of the inner box operate more smoothly and also serves to reinforce and make the crush sturdier, and the curt box that serves equally a drawer. The Comic House shell and brusk box are sold separately or tin can be bought every bit a combined packet. The combined bundle is what I'thousand reviewing here. Actually, this too comes with a chapeau for the short box, simply since I'thousand not using those in this build, they're not pictured here and I concluded up not using them.
The BCW Comic Houses get together very easily, I was able to assemble a single unit in under 5 minutes (assembly got quicker the more I congenital, I was down to three minutes by the 15th box). This is a like build time to what I call up from edifice my DrawerBoxes years ago.
BCW has a video on YouTube detailing the Comic House assembly process for interested consumers. I watched this before assembling my 1st box and was able to hands assemble them after that. You can see some skilful contrasts between the two products by watching this fan-fabricated YouTube video detailing a short DrawerBox build. You get a experience watching the build for the two different units virtually just what the differences are betwixt them.
Photo CREDIT: Bob Bretall
So, how do they compare? The starting time thing I noticed was that the brusk Comic House is slightly smaller than the short DrawerBox. It'southward non as tall and likewise not as long/deep. A lot of the size deviation has to exercise (as far as I can tell) from the DrawerBox having an inner drawer with double-thickness (4 layers of paper-thin) at front and back while the Comic House has just 2 layers. The inner back up sleeve on the drawer box goes all the manner around (top, bottom, and both sidewalls) while the Comic House inner sleeve covers the dorsum and both sides. The actual storage space withing the ii different units is pretty much the same, the short DrawerBox holds five or vi more comics than the Comic Business firm brusque box, nigh the size of one standard trade paperback. The height difference is 1/2″, the Comic House measuring 12 5/eight″ and the DrawerBox 13 1/8″. This was actually an advantage for me, every bit I am able to fit an additional sixth vertical row of Comic Houses in my closet, which volition permit me store more than comics (run across picture to a higher place).
Photo CREDIT: Bob Bretall
One thing I immediately noticed most the normal short box inside the Comic Firm is that the ends don't stay upward very practiced. Normal boxes try their all-time past providing a handle flap that folds in merely that really doesn't cut it for me. You lot can run across from the picture above that the DrawerBox (on the right) solves this with some nice inner box construction that provides a very clean handle area. This is a solvable problem for the Comic House inner short box.
Photograph CREDIT: Bob Bretall
Photograph CREDIT: Bob Bretall
A quick trip to the local art & crafts store (Michael'due south, in my case, armed with a 40% off coupon) and I had some double-sided foam mounting tape. A couple of brusk strips of this does an admirable chore of holding the terminate flaps of the inner boxes in place. This is definitely not something y'all demand to exercise, if you load the box with comics they'll hold the ends in place but fine, but it was a nice addition in my opinion and makes sure that the end flaps stay in place to give some actress handhold forcefulness even if the box is not full.
Now to the adjacent large difference: DrawerBoxes provide "BoxLox" (at an additional toll) that provide stability to the entire mass of boxes. This makes them a unit of connected drawers instead of a bunch of single boxes stacked nearly one another. As I was putting my new Comic Houses together and started filling them, I was noticing the problem that is solved by BoxLox. Every bit I'd get to pull a drawer out of the Comic House there would exist a tendency for the outer vanquish to shift effectually, sometimes pulling out and away from it'southward neighbors. For me this is a big problem, but again, something that's solvable.
Photo CREDIT: Bob Bretall
You have two choices. (ane) Buy BoxLox from the Collection Drawer Co, drill holes in the sides of your Comic Houses, and secure them the same exact way you would with Drawer Boxes; (2) Simulate the operation of the BoxLox through other means. I wanted to get the block of boxes built and had the double-sided cream tape that I used to secure the end-flaps in the short boxes, so I used that record to secure the boxes to one some other. This is no doubtfulness less structurally audio than using the BoxLox, just it seems to piece of work pretty well. Information technology'southward made my block of boxes a lot more solid and I can slide the drawers in and out more hands without the box I'thousand operating sliding effectually in relation to its neighbors.
I also noticed that the drawer in the ComicHouse doesn't fit quite every bit snugly as the drawer in the DrawerBox. The representative from BCW tells me that this is by design, every bit the shell has been constructed to firm a box with the chapeau on information technology, for those that decide to use the chapeau (either as a top lid, or tucked nether the brusque box for added support). An interesting choice equally I'd ideally want to pull a drawer out part-way and access the comics, not possible if the lid was in place, you lot would need to remove the box completely from the crush to remove the lid and and so admission the comics. Leaving the lid on the box in the shell is kind of a weird use case for me. I purchase a sliding drawer box so I can open it and have immediate access to the comics. With the hat in place I'd be using the shell as kind of a racking organisation. An interesting notion, not something I had considered and non something I'd find very useful for my current usage. I'll have to try out the "stick the lid under the box for added support" option, though,
Equally congenital, without the lid and because of the looser fit, the ComicHouse drawer is less stable when you pull it out to look through comics. I tin pull a drawer 3/4 of the way out of a DrawerBox and just leave it like that and it's pretty stable, there's something on the back edge of the drawer that keeps it in place within the DrawerBox shell. If I pull a full ComicHouse drawer out 3/4 of the fashion it seems kind of unstable and in danger of falling out. The unabridged cake of DrawerBoxes seems a fleck more stable as a unit than the ComicHouses, I'll credit the DrawerBox BoxLox for this, as compared to my home-brewed foam tape solution used on the ComicHouses (though my block is manner more than stable than it was before I used the record and they were just stacked adjacent to one some other).
SUMMARY:
Price: Tie (advantage to Comic House if you re-use your existing boxes)
Ownership 2 equivalent "blocks" of 15 boxes would price about the aforementioned (at prices from shopping carts on each web-site every bit of January 2015):
15 Curt DrawerBoxes: $138.75 (3*v-packs at $46.25 = $9.25 each)
15 Short Comic Houses w/Boxes: $223.68 (xv*9.45 = $9.45 each)
15 Short Comic Houses (shell only): $108.47 (15*3.59)
–> If reusing your existing boxes and just ownership the shell, the Comic House become an even more attractive solution, to the point of winning the competition hands-downwards (if yous can get them without shipping costs).
Annotation: Shipping is a HUGE part of the expense of these. Collection Drawer Co. is in Colorado and BCW is in Indiana, then shipping to your location may be different from what information technology is to my place in California. Also, getting these from a local shop will remove the shipping toll entirely, so please do your own price comparing for your locale.
For added stability:
BoxLox (used with DrawerBox): $1.25 * 10 = $12.fifty
Foam Core Record (used with Comic Business firm): $five * two = $10
Based on web-site prices from each company plus shipping, DrawerBoxes are really cheaper. This surprised me! That said, they are approximately the aforementioned if you're buying a block of 15 and purchase the Comic Houses on Amazon.
Price comparison may come up out differently if you're buying them at a local store that stocks them (or if yous apply your existing boxes inside the Comic Business firm trounce Comic Houses will actually be a lot cheaper and may cause them to win this factor easily-down).
The real killer on the cost of any of these is the shipping cost.
Sturdiness: DrawerBoxes win
DrawerBox: 10/10
ComicHouse: 8/10
I'd rate the DrawerBox with an edge on sturdiness considering of the extra layers of cardboard on the front and back of the drawers as well as the extra cardboard on the inner support sleeve. The DrawerBox also but feels sturdier as I am pulling the drawers in & out.
Notation: If you are using Long Boxes, I'd personally be very concerned nearly handle force pulling a regular long box in/out when it is full. For long boxes, the reinforced handle on a DrawerBox would exist a huge advantage, in my mind.
Functionality: DrawerBoxes win
DrawerBox: 9/ten
ComicHouse: vii/x
Once once more, I have to give the edge to the DrawerBox. The drawers slide in and out more smoothly and likewise let me to leave them in an open position without the feeling that they're going to fall out of the vanquish. The entire cake is too more stable equally a whole thanks to the BoxLox.
Looking at both these products, if I was ownership both from scratch, I'd give my endorsement to the DrawerBox. These are not a cheap storage solution, but they are high quality storage solution that makes your collection easily accessible. I'd likewise suggest using the Store Locator link on the Collection Drawer Co. site to try to find a local retailer selling the boxes to save on the shipping.
To exist clear, the Comic Business firm is non a bad solution. It works only fine just is a bit less sturdy/functional than the DrawerBox. If you re-use your existing boxes & just purchase the shells it can be a much cheaper solution which may hands swing your personal comparison in favor of the Comic Firm. In fact, I need to add some additional long box storage in my garage and I'chiliad strongly considering Comic Firm shells to house my existing long boxes. This would be a significantly less costly solution than buying sixty long DrawerBoxes from scratch and the toll savings would easily offset the slightly lower sturdiness/functionality. That said, I would build a raised platform to concord the entire block upward off the ground.
Notation: I was asked how regular boxes (Long or short) cistron into this comparing.
In my opinion they are not a like solution. If you stack regular boxes more than 3 or 4 high without using some sort of racking arrangement you take a chance the bottom boxes crushing under the weight. You besides have to do a lot of physical moving of boxes to get at annihilation that is not on top. Personally, I accept 350+ regular long boxes, so I know what I'yard talking about here. I had to build custom racking systems to hold the boxes so that I could ensure all the boxes were readily accessible.
That said, regular boxes (if you lot practice not gene in the racking solution) are mode cheaper.
Bob Bretall: bob@comicspectrum.com
https://comicspectrum.com/ Roofing the full spectrum of comics culture
Follow ComicSpectrum: 
Source: https://comicspectrumblog.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/review-comic-houses-vs-drawerboxes/