The Energon Pub

by **Noshrok Grimskull** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:40 am

How do you keep track of which figures you already have or what accessories you are missing on that one particular figure?
Excel spreadsheet? Text document? Hand-written list?

I for one really wished there was something like what BoardGameGeek does for board-, video- and roleplaying games: An easy way of tracking your collection, including comments, rating, sorting by different criteria ... only for action figures in general and for Transformers in particular.

Website · by **Flux Convoy** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:54 am

Shmax.com

News Credits: 3 · by **Midnight_Fox** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:24 am

I used to do it on Crave, but they're gone.

May have to try out Shmax.

News Credits: 9 · by **triKlops** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:42 am

Shmax is definitely the way to go.
it has streamlined my data for future purchases and i can see the gaps in lines of what i am missing.

the only other alternative was a service that Cybertron.ca has offered, forgot the name, but it started as a beta test with an integrated recommendation and price grading scale.
i never pursued it because i was happy with Shmax but could be worth a look.

News Credits: 6188 · by **Va'al** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:17 am

I've simply been using a text document, which I then copy and paste on my collection thread: http://www.seibertron.com/energonpub/va-al-s-bi-national-collection-t80445.php

by **Noshrok Grimskull** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:05 pm

Flux Convoy wrote:Shmax.com

Sweet!

Didn't know this existed.

News Credits: 7 · by **alldarker** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:35 pm

Nt adding much, but yep... Shmax.com can hold most of the info you'd wish to keep tabs on. And it's user fed, so it's always about 99% up to date at any time.

News Credits: 241 · by **Jelze Bunnycat** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:35 pm

My method is two-fold:

- an Excel sheet of all releases, per line, per company
- a Word document detailing what spot a certain figure takes or what "group" he belongs to

Simple, but works wonders.

News Credits: 1235 · by **LOST Cybertronian** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:49 pm

Signed up for Shmax a while back and couldn't get the damn thing to work properly. Wasn't very user friendly for me. Maybe thay changed it since then, i don't know.

News Credits: 7 · by **alldarker** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 1:07 pm

LOST Cybertronian wrote:Signed up for Shmax a while back and couldn't get the damn thing to work properly. Wasn't very user friendly for me. Maybe thay changed it since then, i don't know.

I have no problems with it, really... It does however use an autosave function on every value you put in: this can take a little time to kick in, so maybe that gave you trouble.

Browsing could also be improved, I have to say. It's sometimes hard finding the link to the Optimus Prime or Bumblebee toy you just bought among the 100's of different versions of these characters (with the same name) in the database.

by **T3c4x3r0** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 1:49 pm

Shmax here, not perfect but works pretty well for me ^^

by **WolfDawg** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 2:29 pm

I do it all pretty much by memory. I've yet to have any trouble with that method!

News Credits: 1 · by **Erailea** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 2:48 pm

WolfDawg wrote:I do it all pretty much by memory. I've yet to have any trouble with that method!

Same, for the most part. I've only messed up and bought a dupe twice and considering I have 180-ish figures I think my memory is doing pretty well. haha.

I do have a written list though. I just rarely use it for anything beyond a figure count.

by **RAcast** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 6:24 pm

Ah, this is great!

I was going to ask about something like this soon, thanks!

News Credits: 1 · by **SKYWARPED_128** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 8:13 pm

I haven't bought nearly enough TF's to need any advanced cataloging. A trusty old notebook and pen are all I need for now.

by **necr0blivion** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 12:12 am

LOST Cybertronian wrote:Signed up for Shmax a while back and couldn't get the damn thing to work properly. Wasn't very user friendly for me. Maybe thay changed it since then, i don't know.

I just started Shmax not too long ago. I think it takes some trial and error in finding the right figures, and sometimes the interface isn't very intuitive. However, I liken my issues as lack of experience.

I will say that it seems the site owners are responsive towards issues and if I could learn more about WHY I'm having problems in making in a better experience for myself, I can better indicate to the owners what should be tweaked.

Beforehand, I was just using a wordpad document and adding things by date of purchase. It was not very utilitarian.

News Credits: 9 · by **Mykltron** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:08 am

Erailea wrote:
WolfDawg wrote:I do it all pretty much by memory. I've yet to have any trouble with that method!

Same, for the most part. I've only messed up and bought a dupe twice and considering I have 180-ish figures I think my memory is doing pretty well. haha.

You accidentally bought a duplicate? I don't need to consult my list to see if I already have it!

I have an Xcell spreadsheet. It's just to keep count of the figures in all lines, I don't bother accessories lists. My wish list is a separate text file as I have all the older figures I really want so it's just a list of upcoming toys.

I considered setting up a MySQL database but it's not really needed.

News Credits: 6188 · by **Va'al** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:29 am

SKYWARPED_128 wrote:I haven't bought nearly enough TF's to need any advanced cataloging. A trusty old notebook and pen are all I need for now.

That's what my electronic document is, too!

News Credits: 8 · by **Forgotten** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 7:58 am

I was using shmax to keep up with things, but they redesigned some stuff a few months back & it deleted my account when they did. I still haven't gotten around to setting it back up since it's a huge pain in my ass to add all my figures back in. I have a folder where I save pictures I take of all my TFs(for insurance reasons) that I can consult for now.

News Credits: 1 · by **Erailea** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:25 am

Mykltron wrote:
Erailea wrote:
WolfDawg wrote:I do it all pretty much by memory. I've yet to have any trouble with that method!

Same, for the most part. I've only messed up and bought a dupe twice and considering I have 180-ish figures I think my memory is doing pretty well. haha.
You accidentally bought a duplicate? I don't need to consult my list to see if I already have it!

Considering 95% of my purchases are made in stores, not online, it's not like I can look around my room before buying every figure.

News Credits: 10 · by **gavinfuzzy** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:57 am

All by memory, I can remember every TF I own, and where I got them from/ who gave it to me. :lol:

I have about 350+ now I think... So it's still easy to track.

News Credits: 2 · by **Nemesis Destron** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:59 am

WolfDawg wrote:I do it all pretty much by memory. I've yet to have any trouble with that method!

Indeed, my passion is fare in the way of numbers and details compared to others. But so far things are nicely stored in my neural net until the day comes when :BOOM:

then I might seek another method...'nuff said! :VEHI:

News Credits: 9 · by **triKlops** » Sun Jun 24, 2012 9:47 pm

Forgotten wrote: I have a folder where I save pictures I take of all my TFs(for insurance reasons) that I can consult for now.

you should ask Counterpunch about his insurance escapade when he got robbed, pretty enlightening

News Credits: 9 · by **Mykltron** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:37 am

Erailea wrote:
Mykltron wrote:
Erailea wrote:
WolfDawg wrote:I do it all pretty much by memory. I've yet to have any trouble with that method!

Same, for the most part. I've only messed up and bought a dupe twice and considering I have 180-ish figures I think my memory is doing pretty well. haha.
You accidentally bought a duplicate? I don't need to consult my list to see if I already have it!

Considering 95% of my purchases are made in stores, not online, it's not like I can look around my room before buying every figure.

True, but I'm still surprised that you'd need to!

News Credits: 6188 · by **Va'al** » Mon Jun 25, 2012 4:42 am

Mykltron wrote:
Erailea wrote:
Mykltron wrote:
Erailea wrote:
WolfDawg wrote:I do it all pretty much by memory. I've yet to have any trouble with that method!

Same, for the most part. I've only messed up and bought a dupe twice and considering I have 180-ish figures I think my memory is doing pretty well. haha.
You accidentally bought a duplicate? I don't need to consult my list to see if I already have it!

Considering 95% of my purchases are made in stores, not online, it's not like I can look around my room before buying every figure.
True, but I'm still surprised that you'd need to!

Same here, actually. I can understand buying something you don't really want on impulse, and to appease the plastic crack addiction. But do you really not remember what you have and what you don't?

Not trying to be rude, just curious!