Reading that HTF pieces thread had Me thinking....how does everyone keep track of what they have in their collection?

Do you keep an online database, or use a smartphone to track all the little pieces that you need? Do you just circle the ones you have or need in a picture aided guide like Bellomos or Tomarts etc?...

I know action figure checklist used to be very handy for a quick visual reference guide to all the figures in a given year, but that hasn't been updated in years.
What about vehicles? With so many pieces that could be missing, do you write down "gold exhaust piece need on destros despoiler"

Im very curious, as the con is just a few weeks away, and I've always just had a scribbled list in a notebook , and a handy Bellomo guide to look through while digging bins. Hopefully there is a really easy way to do this.

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I unfortunately don't keep a list. When I decide to complete a vehicle I just take it one at a time until its done. But the parts are usually so expensive to complete those childhood items, that I just give up.

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Absolutely not at all. I have several times gone into my storage bins and found things I either forgot I ever had or thought I'd sold long ago. It's actually kind of fun.

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I lost track years ago and hope to eventually get a handle on it. so far it's just chaos and stacks.

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I keep databases on my ancient pc of what is done, what needs to be done, and where I put it. And still I have boxes in the crawlspace that yield forgotten treasures.

It seems I bought a lot of stuff in the 80's and 90's that I took out of the box, put back in the box, stashed it, and forgot about it.

I have a file marked "Action Figures." In that file are several more, most notably "G.I.*JOE," "Cobra," Oktober Guard," and "Zartan and the Dreadnoks."

Open one of these files and there are two more files, "Figures" and "Vehicles and Battle Stations."

Open one of these and each character or vehicle series has their own file.

Within each individual file, I have a blank white background picture of the a figure or vehicle with all the accessories. Each character's figure share the same file, I have eight various Cobra Commanders, so they are all in the same file, in order from version one on up. I use these files to keep track of the photos I've taken of each figure or vehicle too. Pictures that include several characters or vehicles go into another file.

I also have a file named "All Action Figures." In this file I have, you guessed it, a picture of every figure I've got. For troop builders I just use copy after copy of the same photo rather a pic of each individual figure. This lets me know how many figures of a given troop builder I've got, so I know if I need to get anymore to build that figure's ranks more to make a good sized platoon or squad. I also have a file named "All Vehicles" that is set up the same way.

I actually started this file for a very dire reason, as a few years ago things in my life were not going well and let's just say I wasn't sure how much longer I was going to be around. I made the file for my family so that if they followed certain instructions, they could send the file to ZombieGuide and he'd have a good idea of what he might be getting and could make a somewhat educated guess as to what to offer. Fortunately that period in my life has long passed, but the way of keeping the collection and photos organized like that has stuck with me and it works well for me.

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As long as it's somewhere in my apartment, I'm content with that knowledge...

i dont collect vehicles i only collect figures.
i honestly with rare exception am only interested in arah and sunbow based figures so 99% of film or renagades or resolute i never wanted.
and i only keep what version of a figure i like best, so if i replace a character i like with a new version i get rid of the old version somehow.

the sad thing is at least like the last 5 years or so the only figures they have made that interested me always end up being exclusives.
of course now that they just arent making figures i want i am turning to doing a bunch of customs and am having problems getting a bunch of parts from a bunch of figures i havent been interested in and passed up by the dozens when they were out, like the roc agent helix and scarlett and covergirl all of whom seem a little more expensive now.

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Lately I have been buying bulk small bags at flea markets.

I've been opening new figures, playing with them for a few days, then putting them into a separate bag. I take a piece of 3x5 index card and write what action figure line, figure name, number, and year and include it.

Slowly working back to other parts of my collection that are in the plastic fishing boxes.

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I don't have a system for keeping track of my stuff, right now it's all just memory.

On my iPhone there's a place for notes, so I just wrote everything I could think of on that list. When I think of something new I add it as I go. If I'm actively seeking it usaly have a pretty good idea of what it looks like.

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I use the YoJoe checklist. I'm still working on it since my memory has been wrong on a few things I got rid of.

I keep an updated want list that has everything I'm looking for. At this point it is either replacing something that broke or finding something I haven't picked up yet. So it is a combo of ARAH waists and Marvel Universe figures.

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Since I really only collect custom figures, it's pretty easy for me. I use Evernote to store most of my custom-related ideas, thoughts, projects, etc... For this purpose I have a roster page. One is for figures I want to make in each respective verse. Another is for figures actually completed. as they get made I move them from one list to the other. I can also use check-boxes to help remind me which ones have or have not yet been submitted to the gallery.

I store the figures themselves in those little 12 compartment acrylic cases. I try to store completed figs to be somewhat in line with how each roster looks. Makes it easier to find a certain figure when needed.

I used to have a handle on my fodder, but I now have so much, and have drained so much of my usable brain capacity, that I just have to go by what my eyes see when it comes to tracking that.

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I use the YoJoe Pro collection management tools - https://www.yojoe.com/mycollection/

I just re-bagged and boxed all of my comics and added them into my database. It feels awesome to know what I have and what's still missing.

I was going by memory, but I've found it isn't very accurate.

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