Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

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.

Shmax.com

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

May have to try out Shmax.

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.

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

Flux Convoy wrote:Shmax.com

Sweet!

Didn't know this existed.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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!

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!