PlayingCardForum.com - A Discourse For Playing Cards

Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ => Playing Card Plethora => Topic started by: pmkane on February 06, 2014, 12:06:21 PM

Title: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: pmkane on February 06, 2014, 12:06:21 PM
Was just curious to see how you all keep track of your collections . . . as mine grows, I've adapted my book collection software to my card collection.

Have a look.

(http://www.pmkane.com/cards_screen.jpg)

Anyone else have a piece of software they use?

-pmk
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: badpete69 on February 06, 2014, 12:11:48 PM
I just use a spreadsheet to track my 800+ plus decks. Each deck is tracked with the box number it is stored in 
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: pmkane on February 06, 2014, 12:14:51 PM
800+ . . . wow!! I'd love a look at that!!!
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: Anthony on February 06, 2014, 12:37:27 PM
That's pretty sharp Paul, didn't even dawn on me to use a Book Collection program. Looks like it lends itself well to Playing Cards. I have a custom spread sheet I use, it's not bad, but it's not great, lol. I might need to give your Book idea a look  ;)
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: pmkane on February 06, 2014, 12:47:11 PM
The program I use is called Collectorz . . . my version is 9.0, but I think they are to 11 now . . . really great piece of software that allows me to sync my collection up with my iPhone - which is useful for when I am out and about and see something I may or may not have.

-pmk
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: Anthony on February 06, 2014, 12:53:20 PM
The program I use is called Collectorz . . . my version is 9.0, but I think they are to 11 now . . . really great piece of software that allows me to sync my collection up with my iPhone - which is useful for when I am out and about and see something I may or may not have.

-pmk

I'll have to check it out Paul, thanks!
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: Knobz1 on February 06, 2014, 12:54:51 PM
I personally don't use software but I do use a spreadsheet on excel to keep track of my collection of over 1,100 decks.  :)
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: pmkane on February 06, 2014, 01:07:22 PM
1,100?? I've seriously gotta step up my game!
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: Knobz1 on February 06, 2014, 01:17:31 PM
1,100?? I've seriously gotta step up my game!
lol It takes time. I remember feeling the same way when I only had a handful of decks and everybody else had hundreds. In the end though it doesn't matter how many you have. All that matters is that you have a collection of playing cards that you love and adore. Every deck tells a story.
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: jupiter3 on February 06, 2014, 01:52:57 PM
I've started porting my Excel spreadsheet into Access.  The spreadsheet got so big that it took too long to scrool down to the bottom, but I also lost the "big picture" and could no longer see any trends or commonalities across the sheet.

Jim
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: HandSkillz on February 06, 2014, 02:50:14 PM
1,100?? I've seriously gotta step up my game!

On a recent thread Bill Kalush noted he believes he has somewhere in the ballpark of 25,000 decks :)
Remember though, it's not the size of the collection that counts, it's how you use it.
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: CBJ on February 06, 2014, 07:10:14 PM
I don't know how to use html code... but I would love to have a blogger site like this to track my decks

http://bottlecaptors.blogspot.ca/

I really like the way the pictures flip when you point at them (I'd have the back of the decks on the flipside obviously)


Anyone willing to help me figure this out??
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: bhong on February 06, 2014, 07:20:33 PM
I don't know how to use html code... but I would love to have a blogger site like this to track my decks

http://bottlecaptors.blogspot.ca/

I really like the way the pictures flip when you point at them (I'd have the back of the decks on the flipside obviously)


Anyone willing to help me figure this out??

CBJ

That's actually one of the templates for Blogger. If you've got a blogger account, just go to design when you're on your actually blog and that design is one of the dynamic views layout. So even though I didn't have to design it from scratch, do I still get paid?  :D
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: DarkDerp on February 06, 2014, 08:23:06 PM
For mac Delicious is a useful tool for organizing and cataloging about any and everything you want.

http://delicious-monster.com/ (http://delicious-monster.com/)


Ive also heard good things about StuffSafe. Its cloud based so you can access your collection anywhere. http://www.stuffsafe.com/ (http://www.stuffsafe.com/)
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: Curt on February 06, 2014, 08:59:51 PM
For mac Delicious is a useful tool for organizing and cataloging about any and everything you want.

http://delicious-monster.com/ (http://delicious-monster.com/)

Looks interesting, might be a pretty cool option. I'll check it out when I get some free time. Thanks!
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: Sher143 on February 06, 2014, 09:54:27 PM
For mac Delicious is a useful tool for organizing and cataloging about any and everything you want.

http://delicious-monster.com/ (http://delicious-monster.com/)


Ive also heard good things about StuffSafe. Its cloud based so you can access your collection anywhere. http://www.stuffsafe.com/ (http://www.stuffsafe.com/)

I have a mac,  so thanks for these.  I'll check them out.  Right now I'm using a spreadsheet.  I haven't updated it in a while,  though...
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: jwats01 on February 06, 2014, 10:15:32 PM
Some interesting ideas here. I've been using a spreadsheet, and I believe the 52 Plus Joker group also offers a spreadsheet you can download.

I like the idea of an app that syns with a website, very similar to my movie collection software.
The matching app to this website works very well:   http://c.mymovies.dk/jwats01

Hmmm.... time to do a little research!

Thanks for bringing this up Paul!
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: DarkDerp on February 06, 2014, 10:42:48 PM
Delicious Library is hard to beat. It has a corresponding app for phone use and backs up to the cloud as well. The database is sql which is lite and fast. I advise staying away from Access at all cost. I know that delicious allows import of data without duplicates, so you can reimport the same excel or delimitated file over and over again and it will only update the changes not sure about stuff safe ive never used it.

Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: jwats01 on February 06, 2014, 10:57:54 PM
Was just curious to see how you all keep track of your collections . . . as mine grows, I've adapted my book collection software to my card collection.

Have a look.

(http://www.pmkane.com/cards_screen.jpg)

Anyone else have a piece of software they use?

-pmk

Paul,

Do you add the pictures of the decks manually, or are you using the mobile app and scanning the barcode when available?
LOL. I realized after I wrote the above that very few decks have bar codes. I guess you are scanning the decks in?

The more I think about this, the more I realize I definitely want two things:
1. Pictures of the decks. At least the tuck box.
2. Mobile capability + web presence.

I spent a couple hours looking at this last night. Not a lot of options purpose built for playing cards. What to do... what to do...

Thanks,
James
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: jwats01 on February 07, 2014, 05:39:56 AM
I don't know how to use html code... but I would love to have a blogger site like this to track my decks

http://bottlecaptors.blogspot.ca/

I really like the way the pictures flip when you point at them (I'd have the back of the decks on the flipside obviously)


Anyone willing to help me figure this out??

Or if you wanted to use a Wordpress blog, you could get this:
http://codecanyon.net/item/flipping-cards-3d-wordpress/full_screen_preview/4135044
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: pmkane on February 07, 2014, 03:20:22 PM
I took a shot of each deck with an iPhone . . . used plain copy paper as a backdrop and another piece to reflect light back to minimize shadows (the control-freak, photographer in me kicking in). I store the images in the same directory as the database. The software is pretty well suited for this type of collection, allowing you to store multiple images of the deck (or book). Some of the solutions I've been reading about in this thread look amazing, too . . . I've found something that works, but that doesn't mean its the best solution. Love the input we're getting . . . might have to fool around with that Wordpress one . . . all good!!

-pmk
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: jwats01 on February 07, 2014, 06:24:19 PM
I'm glad you started this thread Paul. I've been wondering about this topic but hadn't posted about it yet, (I had it on a mental list to search and see if anyone had previously discussed it, but never got around to it)

I'm excited about the ideas showing up here. I want to integrate the 52 Plus joker columns with whatever solution I choose in the end. If I can't find software with a mobile app, I'll likely go with one of the wordpress routes. Although... this gives me ideas to upgrade my site!

Exciting times ahead! Thanks again everyone!
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: Josh Blackmon on February 24, 2014, 09:27:36 PM
The Book Collector software has changed the way I keep up with my collection. Thank you!
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: PurpleIce on February 24, 2014, 11:23:32 PM
I'm glad you started this thread Paul. I've been wondering about this topic but hadn't posted about it yet, (I had it on a mental list to search and see if anyone had previously discussed it, but never got around to it)

OMG. I can't believe i didn't start this thread. I also kept having it in my mind to check this out but always seem to slip my mind at the end. Thanks Paul!!! Your thread ended up with so many good inputs and ideas. So many that i don't know which 1 i should try...but i probably go with the delicious monster 1st since i am using a mac as well.

Just curious, what kind of other information do you guys input in your list for each deck as well? Name distributor and quantity is the common one. But anything else we should be having? Also, can we start a thread to have all this information so that members can update their list?

What i mean is my current excel list have "Name of deck", "distributor", "designer", "brand", "availability" (quantity printed), "date of release".
I also have "card stock" "printing company" "printing finish" "quantity" "cost per deck" (subdivided into unit cost, discount, air freight, average cost, estimated retail price). I gave up on card stock and printing finish as either (a) information is hard to find, or (b) what is stated might not be what it actually is.
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: pmkane on February 25, 2014, 09:38:12 AM
Really glad everyone seems to be getting a lot out of this thread . . . haven't had a chance to check out the responses in a while as I am deep into production on Foto Grafis!

(https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/t1/1924530_10152283752188980_411000682_n.jpg)

Some of the things I list with my decks is if they are still sealed or opened. Purchase Price and a "Seen on eBay Price" - that last one is a range of prices - for instance, the Rarebit deck goes from between $75.00 and $150 - while that is just an asking price, it shows the potential value in the deck. Serial numbers if there are any (Fed 52, Part 2 for example) . . . in the notes section, I'll also list if any items came with the deck - coins, poker chips, post cards and the like.

what else do you guys list?

-pmk
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: Anthony on February 25, 2014, 11:33:40 AM
I currently have an elaborate spreadsheet, but I'm thinking of moving everything over to the Book Collector software when I have time......time being the biggest problem as always. But the nice thing I noticed on the Book Collector software is that you can edit a lot of the fields to work much better with Playing Cards and the criteria we normally associate with them.

Thanks again Paul for bringing it to everyone's attention  :)
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: superdarkdark on February 25, 2014, 09:37:47 PM
currently i am 13 decks strong so my organization is.. well.. stacked on the corner of my nightstand. i was thinking about picking up a few composition notebooks to keep track of the decks i've scooped up.

it's odd too because, i am very tech oriented; from iPhones to iPads to electric shavers. one time i saved all of my usernames/passwords on a word file & my computer crash so i lost ALL of my important info. ever since then, whenever i want to keep a record of something important to me, i whip out the pen & pad. call me old fashion.
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: pmkane on February 25, 2014, 10:17:59 PM
I am still a sucker for the written word, too, superdarkdark . . . those moleskin notebooks are my poison. In fact, I was thinking of doing a Kickstarter for a photographer's notebook made with similar construction to a Moleskin notebook. Ahhhh . . . so many idea, so little time to see them to fruition . . .
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: badpete69 on February 26, 2014, 11:47:29 PM
So I find this is a cool thread and it got me thinking that it would be cool to use something other than a spreadsheet to track my decks.  So I downloaded that book software that someone mentioned called Collectorz as you can download a free trial. 

It is truly a very detailed piece of software with what seems almost 50-60 different fields that you can populate all for your book collection. Thankfully the fields are customizable and you can rename them. The trick is to find out where each field would appear and after playing with it for the past hour or so  I came up with something cool. Check the pic below for details.  What is cool is that you download one side of the box as the front cover and the other side as the back cover and the picture flips when you click on it so that you can see both sides easily. That is a very cool feature

Anyway let me know what you think. There is so much stuff I have not even looked at yet but it's a start. I might just end up buying this software. And yes when you have tons of entries and pics , it looks like they are displayed nicely side by side

(http://netthreshold.com/example.jpg)
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: Anthony on February 27, 2014, 12:00:15 AM
Very nice job badpete, the perfect amount of info in one view. I like it  ;)
Title: Re: Keeping track of your collection . . .
Post by: Don Boyer on February 27, 2014, 07:22:48 PM
currently i am 13 decks strong so my organization is.. well.. stacked on the corner of my nightstand. i was thinking about picking up a few composition notebooks to keep track of the decks i've scooped up.

it's odd too because, i am very tech oriented; from iPhones to iPads to electric shavers. one time i saved all of my usernames/passwords on a word file & my computer crash so i lost ALL of my important info. ever since then, whenever i want to keep a record of something important to me, i whip out the pen & pad. call me old fashion.

Nowadays, such devices can be set to upload backups to the Internet - the data never gets lost.