How do you track your collection?

[Ludodactylus]

I'm curious how people here organize and track what they have in their collections.

I'm still at the stage where I can look at my entire collection without having to turn my head, but I know down the road as my collection grows the chance of accidentally buying duplicate figures will increase.

I've started logging everything in a spreadsheet - I have columns for genus, manufacturer, year of release, date received, website it was purchased from and whether I bought it for myself or it was a gift.

Very curious to see how others keep track of their collections!

[Concavenator]

I highly recommend you take a look at dinotoycollector.com

There, there's a "Collection" section to which you can add the figures you have. There's also a "Wishlist" section to which you can add figures you're interested in getting.

It's also a very complete source of information regarding the figures: taxonomic and biogeographic info on the species, and info about manufacturer, line, sculptor, scale, year of release...

I'd say that's the best way to go right now.

[Crackington]

I use a spreadsheet too which you can use to track everything, even un-branded items. Sounds like you use similar info to me in the columns (I have a notes column too which can be handy for additional info).

@Concavenator's suggestion is great though and I like the Dinotoycollector site too as it has lots of info and (mostly) photos of models. You can peruse your collection without having to get up!

It doesn't list everything though, for instance some brands such as Panini, so I find keeping the spreadsheet helps me to keep tabs on my collection. Just have to remember to update it!

[Libraraptor]

I do not track anything at all. I know by heart which figures I have. Sometimes I forget where one figure is, since I do not collect with any kind of plan or system. 

[Jose S.M.]

I also just know what I have. But since I moved to my new apartment I left some figures at my parents house so sometimes I forget and go "where is "x" figure?" And search until I remember

[SBell]

I've been running a fairly comprehensive personal database for over 15 years. I've revamped it completely at least once.

It contains all kinds of data--companies, taxonomic, even at least one photo of each. It took a lot to build and is constantly maintained, but I got tired of not knowing what I had or where they stood.

The one thing I'm behind on is keeping updated on what is discontinued.

[EmperorDinobot]

I used to have spreadsheets, but...it all got out of control. Into my mind they go...

[bmathison1972]

I have an Excel file with tabs for major groups (Insects, Fish, Mammals, Dinosaurs, etc.). Then each tab has the following columns:
1. Latin name
2. common name
3. Clade 1 (usually order)
4. Clade 2 (usually family)
5. Manufacturer
6. Series/line
7. Year of production
8. scale

each tab is sorted in this order: Clade 1, Clade 2, Latin name, Manufacturer

[SBell]

I used to have spreadsheets, but...it all got out of control. Into my mind they go...

That's why I use a database. If I started today I'd use an Excel pivot table

[Ikessauro]

I do not track anything at all. I know by heart which figures I have. Sometimes I forget where one figure is, since I do not collect with any kind of plan or system. 

I'm mostly like that too. Not that I dislike organizing, quite te opposite, I want to do a complete inventory of what I have and don't have, but I find it hard to do it without the task turning into a huge endeavor. So everytime I try to catalog my collection, I start quite enthusiastically, but as time goes by and life gets in the way, I let it go and only rely on memory to track things down.

It works most of the time, but ocasionally I find myself questioning which CollectA figure I have and don't, since they have so many in their lines.

I do keep a pc database in the form of a folder with models organized by brand (a folder for each brand) and by year of release (a folder per year), each containing at least one picture of each model. But that is not a catalog of my collection and more for research purposes. I save pictures and information on each model to their respective folders so in the future I can check if I am missing any of the figures or variants. I tried to do that with my own collection, but failed miserably.

Can't do it, either I get distracted from the task or tired of doing it and abandon it all, just to start again a few months/years later. Never to finish   

[Cretaceous Crab]

I also use a spreadsheet. I have a master list that is categorized by genus x brand, and tallies total # of figures.

I have an additional sheet that lists all my "best of" figures; i.e. what I feel is the most accurate depiction of each genus. It includes what's already in my possession and my wishlist.

A third spreadsheet outlines all figures either in the process of being repainted or intended to be.

[Ludodactylus]

I highly recommend you take a look at dinotoycollector.com

There, there's a "Collection" section to which you can add the figures you have. There's also a "Wishlist" section to which you can add figures you're interested in getting.

It's also a very complete source of information regarding the figures: taxonomic and biogeographic info on the species, and info about manufacturer, line, sculptor, scale, year of release...

I'd say that's the best way to go right now.

I logged my entire collection last night in about 20 minutes. What a fantastic site. Thank you for the heads up!

[Bowhead Whale]

I am ashamed to admit I am totally disorganized. My toys are displayed in ugly piles in my drewers. But since I have less dinosaurs than marine mammals in my collection, I still know exactlt what I have as dinosaurs.

[Darko2300]

Track my collection... I guess I don't? I try to keep my figures to a minimum. If I can't remember which figures I own or if a lot of them find their way into storage, than it's time to purge things back down to a manageable level. I'm a collector by nature, but I've found I function better in a less-cluttered environment. It's a work in progress. Always.

[Halichoeres]

Google Sheets can do most of the things that an ordinary collector would need from a database program, like sorting and basic stats. I have mine set up so that you can sort by any one column with a single click.

All those 1s and 0s are just presence/absence indicators for each period of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic so I can quickly pull up everything that lived in the Devonian, for example. This is an old screenshot and some of these items aren't in my collection anymore, but you get the idea.

[ceratopsian]

I use Excel. This thread made me take stock of the fact that I have not been keeping it up to date and it is way behind, with only the name of most acquisitions listed (and sometimes not even that).  This thread has pushed me to start catching up with a vengeance. I record data such as name of model, company, basic phylogenetic placement, date of purchase, from whom purchased, price. More recently year of release. Anything it came with - card, model man, booklet etc. I suspect the reason I fell behind was my decision to add more columns: eg Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous, year bracket, formation, state/geographical area, modern country.

I also keep a set of lever arch files in which I alphabetically keep a slot for each model. It will have any paper/card items that came with each model and maybe a sheet with photos etc.

And another lever arch with invoices.

[Ludodactylus]

It's really interesting seeing the variety of responses here! Some of you track elements I would have never thought to track, which is part of the fun of being part of a community of collectors like this I think; seeing how others manage their collections, both on the acquisition end and the organizing end, gives me new ways to think about my own collection and collecting habits.   

[Ikessauro]

I also keep a set of lever arch files in which I alphabetically keep a slot for each model. It will have any paper/card items that came with each model and maybe a sheet with photos etc.

This is one of the reasons I don't like spreadsheets so much. I am a visual person and if I can't file my info with images, I get bored or tired of it quickly and stop doing the work.

[Bowhead Whale]

It's really interesting seeing the variety of responses here! Some of you track elements I would have never thought to track, which is part of the fun of being part of a community of collectors like this I think; seeing how others manage their collections, both on the acquisition end and the organizing end, gives me new ways to think about my own collection and collecting habits.   

I don't think you include my disorganisation in your response here...

[Halichoeres]

I also keep a set of lever arch files in which I alphabetically keep a slot for each model. It will have any paper/card items that came with each model and maybe a sheet with photos etc.

This is one of the reasons I don't like spreadsheets so much. I am a visual person and if I can't file my info with images, I get bored or tired of it quickly and stop doing the work.

Maybe you already know this, but most spreadsheet software will let you put an image in a cell or a pivot table, so it could be associated with any text-based entries.