Hi. My collection is getting rather sizable, and I'm having trouble keeping track of the figures I possess . How do you keep track of your collections once they get past a certain size? Do you use any cataloging software or database? Thanks for any suggestions.
I use Shmax.com. They have listings for practically all Transformers, and you can have your own detailed inventory on their site.
Thanks for the suggestion. Checking the site. Forgot to mention that I have significant amount of 3P and other figures to catalogue as well. Just saw another thread with a similar subject. Guess I failed a spot check.
keeping them on display and transforming them occasionally does it for me, plus my photo albums nowadays
May not have enough space to display everything, so would have to rotate in and out of storage. Also, want to catalogue, to avoid buying duplicates. (Happened a couple times)
I have every figure that I've bought since getting back in on display and I went through all of my boxes last winter and catalogued all of my figures. I just used Notes on my iPad, nothing fancy, though I'm going to check out that site that alldarker mentioned. I have organized it by Series(G1,G2,Etc), then by faction, alphabetically. Each character entry also gets two notes, one for missing parts and one for broken parts, if any. Combiners are listed as a single character, with unowned figures listed under missing parts. Even if I curate my collection online I'll still use this system as it helps me when I'm at a flea market or toy show. This way I know what I need and don't need to replace, it's right there on my iPhone.
I started a Microsoft Access database for mine years ago. Columns for series (G1, G2, Armada, etc.), faction, subgroup, "region" (to be able to easily separate European, Japanese, US versions), name, condition (new, loose, mib), if I had the packaging, paperwork, tech specs, if I had all parts, what was missing if I didn't have all the parts, when I got the figure, what I paid, "current" value (when I update that... as it probably would be useful for insurance purposes), and how many of the figure I had. I haven't been good about maintaining it the last year or so, but I'm back at it now.
I've got an Excel spreadsheet file. Three separate sheets in the one file. One for Autobots, one for Decepticons, and one for 'Other' (Maximals, Predacons, Shattered Glass, Rescue Bots, Crossovers, etc). Columns for figure name, size class, series/line/subline, and an extra column for special notes like if it's an exclusive to a certain place or something. Got a custom sort set up so all I have to do is add a figure to the bottom of the list then hit the sort so it organizes them by size class then name. Each sheet also has one cell that keeps an automatic count of the number of figures in that list.
I use google sheets which is very similar to an excel sheet that I can just access it from any device.
I rely completely on memory. It usually works but I have bought one or two figures twice when I forget I already have them.