Categorizing & Inventorying Your Collection

[kdklown]

Do you keep a database on a spreadsheet?
Do you write in a my little pony composition book?
Do you pay a pilot to skywrite it outside your house every morning?
Do you not care what you have?

And if you do track your collection, what information do you include?

Just looking for some general thoughts and ideas.

[MrMollusk]

I don't.

I'm not too pedantic as to record all my decks on paper. I have them organized into a few categories: Ellusionist, Theory 11, Dan & Dave, Kickstarter, Bee casino decks, Misc. Red + Blue pairs, standard bees & Bikes, Misc. manufacturers & special decks, and an assload of cards I don't have enough room for.

I keep them organized in empty brick boxes sideways. Like books.
I need like 10 more boxes, though.

[Curt]

I have tried doing spreadsheets and more detailed ways but for me, the most effective and easiest way is just to keep a photo record on tumblr. It takes two minutes to take a picture once I receive the decks and looks clean and simple ( plus it can be show anywhere with an internet connection.

[Collector]

... what information do you include?

To young collectors:
I advise to record spent money. Summarize those costs in the end of each month. Than summarize them all in the end of each year (Christmas period). You will be able to compare those annual costs with prices of goods available at a discount during each Christmas period. It will help to be picky ...

[kdklown]

... what information do you include?

It will help to be picky much better than your posting about such necessity on forums 

Thanks for the input, Collector.  You will, however, have to translate this sentence into English for me. 

[phantom1412]

I use excel to keep informations eg. the deck's designers or releasers, released date, initial price, where did I buy, how much I paid for, marketing price. and how many decks I have, both sealed and opened numbers.

And I use another iphone app to track down my payment about decks, and magic.

[ruicorreia]

In my case, because I store my collection in brick boxes, I organize the decks by producer (T11, Ellusionist, Kickstarters...) and I have a spreadsheet that tells me which decks I have and in which box he's in.
Organizing that for the first time can take some time but I've liked it. But then it's rather easy to keep your collection organized.
As additional info, I keep a record if the deck is sealed, or signed or printed in Ohio.

[PrincessTrouble]

I track my collection on a Pinterest board.

[kdklown]

Great feedback gang!  I think I'm digging the Tumblr Idea from Curt. 

[Don Boyer]

... what information do you include?

It will help to be picky much better than your posting about such necessity on forums 

Thanks for the input, Collector.  You will, however, have to translate this sentence into English for me.

He's saying that if you're more picky about what you buy, there's less to track in the first place!  I'll be writing a book on "Collector-to-English" soon, so I know these things... 

I've tried a spreadsheet.  Never got far.  Now I just keep them organized in a shelving unit for the open decks, and giant sports-card collector boxes for sealed decks.  Best guess is over 900 sealed, over 700 opened, and over 200 magic decks of different kinds (over 50 are stripper decks).

[verloren]

Excel for now.

I might end up doing something with Microsoft Access later this month.

[Collector]

Thanks for the input, Collector.  You will, however, have to translate this sentence into English for me.

Easily. Be picky instead of saying how picky you should be.

I use excel to keep informations eg. the deck's designers or releasers, released date, initial price, where did I buy, how much I paid for, marketing price. and how many decks I have, both sealed and opened numbers.

And I use another iphone app to track down my payment about decks, and magic.

This is a professional approach.

[Anthony]

Just curious how or if you categorize your collection?

Is it a Custom, Non-Custom, Standard type of thing or more of a Bicycle, T11, D&D kind of list? Do you think one would be better than the other? I have a database for my Zippo's and want to add the playing card info as well, I'm just going back and forth on how best to separate these entries......or maybe we go Alphabetical and call it a day, lol

Thanks for your input 

[Sovereign]

Just make a spreadsheet with fields for each option, then depending on your mood you could sort them alphabetically, date order, custom/semi/etc, or by manufacturer. Problem solved.

Phill

[Don Boyer]

I'd be interested in seeing that spreadsheet - I'm working on the issue of categorizing custom decks now.  There's many issues to take into account in terms of versions, print runs, etc. - I'm trying to strip it down to the minimum if possible.

[Anthony]

Maybe I asked the question the wrong way. The spreadsheet isn't the real issue, you can make that do whatever you like, the information on the sheet I guess is what I'm interested in. Like you said Don, there are a lot of things to consider, but it depends on what information is important to you. That's kind of where I'm kind of struggling.

Don if you told me, I want "This" information available in a spread sheet I could build it, I'm just not sure what information to use.

[Don Boyer]

Maybe I asked the question the wrong way. The spreadsheet isn't the real issue, you can make that do whatever you like, the information on the sheet I guess is what I'm interested in. Like you said Don, there are a lot of things to consider, but it depends on what information is important to you. That's kind of where I'm kind of struggling.

Don if you told me, I want "This" information available in a spread sheet I could build it, I'm just not sure what information to use.

Consider all the different, important features of a deck of playing cards.  Seals, tuck boxes, the cards themselves.  Finishes, stocks.  Embossing, debossing, foil.  Metallic ink, organic ink.  Level of customization.  Type of cellophane seal, or the absence of cellophane altogether.  Designer, printer, producer, year of manufacture, plant of manufacture, size of print run, number of print runs, number of versions and variants with descriptions.  Images of the box and cards.  Each one of these elements represents at least one if not several possible variables one would take into account for a complete listing of a single deck of custom playing cards - and you need to determine which are significant enough for you to take into account for your own collection, not to mention that a collector will want to list quantities and condition, opened or sealed (or opened but unused).  But if you were making a general reference containing information about custom decks in general, that's where insanity lies...

[Rob Wright]

I think categorizing could be as easy or hard as you want it to be. If you wanted to include all the parameters Don listed. Then you could have 1 deck that is on 15-20 different list. The easiest would be just a simple alphabetical order. That would work great if you just need a list so you don't by a duplicate, or have a small collection. It just depends on what you expect to get out of it. If you have a collection the size of Don's, then you would need something a little more detailed. I would imagine in Don's case. It's more about categorizing for storage/use purposes.
For someone starting out, I think a list of wanted decks may be more important- Decks I must have, Decks I would really like to have(but only if I can get a good deal), Decks that are readily available(will by when I have some extra $) and so on.

[kdklown]

Yup, you can put whatever you see fit.  Here are the columns on my spreadsheet...

Deck Name
Multiples
Production location
Date
Finish
Stock
Hyperlink to a review or Pictures of deck if no review is available
Maker/Designer
KickstarterDeck

I find this is enough info for me.  I could easily add a lot more or remove some if I wanted.  This is just what I find useful.

[Anthony]

Ya I knew there were things I hadn't thought of and after reading Don's post I had to go breath into a paper bag for a while, lol

But seriously....I was looking for some "Basics" to go by and you guys filled that request, I thank you. I think kd's list is pretty good for what I was thinking.

Thanks!

....when I have too much time, this is what happens (Ignore the info, it was just filler) 
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-yB8l5vlFQE0/Ul_QroQn34I/AAAAAAAAATc/ZJydWAmBZYo/w1305-h817-no/Card+Sheet.jpg

[Anthony]

So I came up with a spreadsheet thanks to the info you guys offered up. If anyone likes it and would like the file just shoot me a PM and I'll be more than happy to send it to you.

The sheet consist of the following information:
Deck Name
Finish
Stock
Production Date
Production Location
Printing (1st, 2nd, etc...)
Version
Print Run
Metallic Ink
Embossed/Debossed
Foil Stamping
Seal
Maker/Designer
Kickstarter
Price Per Deck
On Order
Open
Sealed
Total Decks
Links

Obviously you can edit the fields or formulas if you like, just thought I would share 

[jderouen]

I'm starting to build a pretty big collection, as was curious: is there some sort of database or spreadsheet out there to help you keep track of your collection? I've searched but can't find anything. Of course, I can put together a spreadsheet in Excel, but didn't want to duplicate effort if something already existed. Thank you!

[ecNate]

This has/had a lot of potential, but is still pretty much in beta and on/off development.  http://playingcarddb.com/

[Anthony]

I'm starting to build a pretty big collection, as was curious: is there some sort of database or spreadsheet out there to help you keep track of your collection? I've searched but can't find anything. Of course, I can put together a spreadsheet in Excel, but didn't want to duplicate effort if something already existed. Thank you!

I have a spreadsheet I use for  my collection, I would be more than happy to share it. I'll send it to you this eveing, i"m currentley at work 

[ecNate]

Sparkz, can you also send to me?

Better yet, maybe we can start a shared google doc and allow multiple people to edit to make it a community source that you can then import/reference in your own private sheet.  With your permission I'm willing to take the lead on that if you don't have the time and could maybe insert some controls, automation and process around it.