Single issues vs trades, the coffee table test settled it for me

Last Sunday my buddy Mike came over and I had my long boxes out doing a re-read of some mid-90s X-Men runs. He asked why I bother with floppy singles when the trades are cheaper and easier to store. So I handed him a beat-up Uncanny X-Men #304 and told him to read it on the couch with his coffee. He dropped the mug about ten pages in because the comic bent back in his hand and the coffee went everywhere. Then I gave him the trade of the same arc and he read it fine with one hand while holding a plate of nachos. The singles are for the reading experience, the trades are for actual living. Now my whole collection is sorted into a reading shelf of trades and a plastic bin of singles that never leave the desk. Anyone else split their collection like that or am I the only one who learned this from a stained rug?

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elliot_gibson271mo ago

My buddy Dave tried the same thing with a cup of tea and a Sandman issue. He had this whole ritual going, blanket on the lap, everything. The book flopped back and he caught it but sloshed tea all over his favorite shirt. He still buys singles for the wall art and the feel of them, but he reads everything in trades now too. The coffee table test is real, nobody talks about how floppies are basically two-handed reading with a death grip lol.