Author Topic: Collection Inventory / Catalog  (Read 2872 times)

Offline Ryan

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Collection Inventory / Catalog
« on: February 4, 2022, 04:56 PM »
As I have been more seriously ramping back up into collecting (and am getting older :-X ) I have realized that I can no longer solely rely on my memory to keep track of what I have in my collection and what I need. With 90% of my collection still boxed up in storage, I've realized that I have accidentally purchased some unintended doubles lately, luckily it hasn't been anything expensive or that I can't use for custom fodder, but I'd still rather not do that if I can help it.

I decided it is time to really do a full inventory and create some sort of spreadsheet/catalog for myself to make it easier to keep track of all this stuff I have. I've been using Jeff's checklists here on JD and various other image databases and checklists to make my spreadsheet. So far I have just made it through The Vintage Collection basic figures and exclusives. I have been trying to include all loose and carded variations, repack/repaint/retool notes on each release, etc. My plan is to repeat this for each of the main Hasbro lines, and then do a more limited version for all of the other non Hasbro and non-SW lines that I collect.

This is something I figure will take awhile to really complete but I think it is really going to help me. Aside from just buying doubles the other motivation for me is somewhat estate-planning and insurance based. If something were to happen to me, I'd hate for my wife to get stuck with my collection and have no idea what to do with it. I'd want her (or whomever ends up with this stuff one day) to have a full list of items, quantities, and approximate values to be able to decide how to sell it all or what to keep.

My wife works in art restoration and deals frequently with insurance loses after fires and floods. Most homeowners tend to get screwed on their art or other home items because insurance companies require that you list everything you owned from memory after a total loss in a fire or flood. Homeowners that have everything cataloged tend to get the most money back in an insurance loss and have the most things covered. Collectibles are often NOT covered in a home insurance policy, I know my insurance unfortunately doesn't cover it, but that is another topic altogether.

I have a few questions, has anyone built out a spreadsheet or catalog of your own? What kind of organizational strategies did you use (or wish you had used)? Do you find it helpful to managing your purchases/preorders/trades/etc, or is it too burdensome to keep up with?
« Last Edit: February 7, 2022, 12:49 AM by Ryan »
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Offline Dave

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Re: Collection Inventory / Catalog
« Reply #1 on: February 4, 2022, 05:43 PM »
Your brain is a lot sharper than mine.  I think I ran out of brain space back in 1998 and started cataloging everything to make sure I wasn't buying multiples.

I've got two tracking tools:
- Basic spreadsheet list for pipeline reveals and preorders
- Custom MS Access database to track virtually everything Star Wars that I own (6000+ items which are mostly Hasbro and comics)

I track about 35 different attributes, although not all apply to all items, with customized query views for figures, toys, comics, books, etc.  Those attributes don't even cover variant attributes like you mention - repack, repaint, etc.  I probably started with about only 15 attributes and keep adding them as I find a need.

To me the most valuable attributes are what box it is stored in (I've numbered all my boxes - about 125) and what shelf the box is on.  Now that I'm in the process of opening and displaying everything I'm also working to catalog what display shelf the item is displayed on.  Its been invaluable to know exactly where to find stored items I want to display and duplicates that I want to sell.

Good luck with your cataloguing project.  Its a ton of work, but totally worth it.

Online Nicklab

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Re: Collection Inventory / Catalog
« Reply #2 on: February 5, 2022, 07:18 AM »
After being in this (during the modern era) since about 1998, I can say without a doubt that keeping track of everything is extremely challenging!  An inventory is on my list of things to do, but it's further down the list than some other things.

What I am doing is tracking my orders with spreadsheets - one dedicated to The Vintage Collection, and another dedicated to The Black Series.  The order spreadsheets are laid out with some specific bits of data.
-ITEM NAME & QUANTITY
-ORDER DATE
-ORDER NUMBER
-PRICE
-EXCLUSIVE (If so what retailer)
-RETAILER
-PAYMENT METHOD
-ESTIMATED DELIVERY DATE
-SHIPPING CARRIER
-TRACKING NUMBER
-MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

***In the event that I order a case, the case is listed first.  Every figure in that case gets an individual line item below the case, as that helps to track quantities.

And I've actually made an inventory of my carded Vintage Collection figures.  I've broken those down into categories in order to manage the case boxes.  Those have been chosen very specifically - I use boxes that measure 12" x 12" x 6".  Those boxes are easy to get and are closest in size to the old Hasbro 3.75" figure cases before TVC went to their 8 figure cases (which also feel a bit flimsy).  Every box is labeled with the contents.  I use note pad sheets & a sharpie for visibility.  As for my categories?

TVC BASIC FIGURES - numbered sequentially (I only pack these 1 or 2 per case depending on how many I have.  Anything beyond that goes into an EXTRAS case for possible trades, sales, eventual army building openers, etc)
TVC FOIL CARDS - pretty self explanatory - those figures from TVC 1.0 with the foil cards
TVC EXTRAS - As mentioned above - any figure that I have in a quantity greater than 2 goes in these boxes
TVC REISSUES - I don't intermingle the original releases and the reissues - keeping the reissues separate helps to manage them a bit more easily.
TVC SPECIAL RELEASES - These are the ones that aren't numbered.  I keep the first wave of Carbonize figures in their own box (probably selling those)


I've considered using an app to track everything, but it seems like it might be even more work than I'm currently putting into my own method.    I've heard some people talk about using the app My Toy Box to track their collections.  I've actually downloaded it but I have not used it.
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Offline Ryan

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Re: Collection Inventory / Catalog
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2022, 01:54 AM »
Your brain is a lot sharper than mine.  I think I ran out of brain space back in 1998 and started cataloging everything to make sure I wasn't buying multiples.

I've got two tracking tools:
- Basic spreadsheet list for pipeline reveals and preorders
- Custom MS Access database to track virtually everything Star Wars that I own (6000+ items which are mostly Hasbro and comics)

I track about 35 different attributes, although not all apply to all items, with customized query views for figures, toys, comics, books, etc.  Those attributes don't even cover variant attributes like you mention - repack, repaint, etc.  I probably started with about only 15 attributes and keep adding them as I find a need.

To me the most valuable attributes are what box it is stored in (I've numbered all my boxes - about 125) and what shelf the box is on.  Now that I'm in the process of opening and displaying everything I'm also working to catalog what display shelf the item is displayed on.  Its been invaluable to know exactly where to find stored items I want to display and duplicates that I want to sell.

Good luck with your cataloguing project.  Its a ton of work, but totally worth it.

Yeah I definitely felt like the categories would start growing organically as I get this built up more. I already added a few. I stole your idea for box/shelf location, that's a great tip.

The more I've been messing around with a spreadsheet the more I want to make this into a relational database like you've got. I want to be able to just search "Stormtrooper" and see all of the "stormtrooper" items I have in the collection. It seems like it would be a much better way to keep track or repaints/retools/repacks/packaging variants as well. I wonder how many collectors would be willing to pay for a subscription service based collection management tool? Especially if you could purchase a complete checklist/database and all you didn't have to fully build your own. Seems like there could be a nice little niche for something like that. I'd definitely be down. I might have to check out the My Toy Box app Nick suggested.

After being in this (during the modern era) since about 1998, I can say without a doubt that keeping track of everything is extremely challenging!  An inventory is on my list of things to do, but it's further down the list than some other things.

What I am doing is tracking my orders with spreadsheets - one dedicated to The Vintage Collection, and another dedicated to The Black Series.  The order spreadsheets are laid out with some specific bits of data.
-ITEM NAME & QUANTITY
-ORDER DATE
-ORDER NUMBER
-PRICE
-EXCLUSIVE (If so what retailer)
-RETAILER
-PAYMENT METHOD
-ESTIMATED DELIVERY DATE
-SHIPPING CARRIER
-TRACKING NUMBER
-MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

***In the event that I order a case, the case is listed first.  Every figure in that case gets an individual line item below the case, as that helps to track quantities.

And I've actually made an inventory of my carded Vintage Collection figures.  I've broken those down into categories in order to manage the case boxes.  Those have been chosen very specifically - I use boxes that measure 12" x 12" x 6".  Those boxes are easy to get and are closest in size to the old Hasbro 3.75" figure cases before TVC went to their 8 figure cases (which also feel a bit flimsy).  Every box is labeled with the contents.  I use note pad sheets & a sharpie for visibility.  As for my categories?

TVC BASIC FIGURES - numbered sequentially (I only pack these 1 or 2 per case depending on how many I have.  Anything beyond that goes into an EXTRAS case for possible trades, sales, eventual army building openers, etc)
TVC FOIL CARDS - pretty self explanatory - those figures from TVC 1.0 with the foil cards
TVC EXTRAS - As mentioned above - any figure that I have in a quantity greater than 2 goes in these boxes
TVC REISSUES - I don't intermingle the original releases and the reissues - keeping the reissues separate helps to manage them a bit more easily.
TVC SPECIAL RELEASES - These are the ones that aren't numbered.  I keep the first wave of Carbonize figures in their own box (probably selling those)

I've considered using an app to track everything, but it seems like it might be even more work than I'm currently putting into my own method.    I've heard some people talk about using the app My Toy Box to track their collections.  I've actually downloaded it but I have not used it.

My preorder sheet has started off looking pretty similar.

As for my physical storage... It's all over the place. I sold a bunch of my carded POTF-TLC and extra loose figures about 12 years ago. After the garage sale (which I did really well on at the time, neighborhood kids bought it all, mostly at retail price) I put everything I had left into plastic totes and tucked it away in storage. It was mostly labeled, but I've move it three times since then and occasionally went looking for something and ended up moving things from tote to tote. Whenever i get around to unpacking it, it's going to be fun to see just how spread out it all got.
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