Was that the comic artist? I think that one aired already.

Yup, it was - that guy Marlo, episode 6. I thought we were only up to episode 5 so i thought it was weird to see the next one available on demand.

Related Question - The last episode I saw was about the robots, his name was Scott, and I am glad he didn't sell any of his stuff but the cataloging aspect has interested me.

Has anyone really sat down and made an effort to catalog their collection? I have a Flickr visual style catalog but I need to update it and I kind of want to add more details, like year, artist, cost price etc etc as I am thinking of maybe someday insuring our collection.

I checked online to see cataloging software but none seem have what I want exactly. I am considering creating my own on excel or access but this will a daunting task but a labor of love nonetheless.

There's also a need for it in my case because I have memory of swiss cheese and I am starting to get fuzzy on the details on where and when I got stuff and I have caught myself buying doubles by accident. >___<

Any thoughts and suggestions appreciated!

Yeah, I have been trying to do this. By my estimate, I've photographed about 70% of my collection and I've been slowly cataloging them in an Excel spreadsheet with details like purchase prices, year of purchase, condition/completion. You really need to maintain a certain discipline with recording incoming items, otherwise it becomes a seemingly impossible task.

I always meant to keep up a database when I first started collecting but was so busy collecting I just never got around to it. It saddens me since I love lists, databases etc that I started but was never diligent about it. The main stickler for me now is how many toys I'd have to catalog, followed by taking uniform picture of each. By uniform I mean same exact setting with white background. Nothing would drive me more insane than having some mish mash of photos with different background and sizing. Like Daniel mentioned that I did not do- I've already lost track of purchase prices (though a majority I retain some idea of what they were) so it already seems impossible. Someone make a software program to help me catalog it all!

I am not even sure at what percentage we're at. I am guessing possible 60%-80% photographed.



Just building the categories is making my eyes water. I want to be able to include a picture with the data. I have considered making a physical copy using photos with info on the back so I have a visual copy to go with the database. But I might be pushing myself to the extreme with that one. Sadly, my discipline is sorely lacking in this. I wish I had more time! Between work which leaves me exhausted and the weekends I just want to be a vegetable it's very hard to motivate myself. But like I said this is a labor of love and nothing is ever easy.




Me too! Since I have learned a bit more familiarity with excel I can do a lot with it than before but the sheer task is..ugh.. Good Lord.



Yes this drives me crazy to no end. I recently got a black background and my pics are popping up rather nicely than before. Now I am faced with the decision to re-take shots that were done in a white background. But some toys look better in either or. So I have to assess each and every toy in our collection to see which would look better in a black or white background.



That's another thing I am afraid of. I am forgetting the prices I paid for our toys and where I got them from. I want to remember!



Unfortunately, the majority of the collectible software I looked into is either old or specific to more common collections and expensive and who knows if they will be software updates etc etc...

Then I look at this post but can't help but laugh at myself that I am agonizing over something this trivial, in the long view. But it's important to me and it makes me happy and I get to play with my toys and remember when and where I got it. How awesome it is etc etc.

Bottom line is I have to get my butt in gear if I want to get any type of catalog started. Put the effort in it to get the result I want. Just taking the first step is so hard!

I hear you! I actually kept a list of what I bought and sold and maintained it for about two years... But it got really depressing to see how much I was putting into it and how I never respected limits I set myself, so I stopped. Plus, if it ever fell in my wife's hands, I'd be dead.

I kept a list of my thousands of cds and records, actually updating the genre of every song, the language it was sung in, etc. etc. But I hate it locks you to one database system / music software... Online databases like Discorgs or Tatapoum seemed like a decent alternative. But then Tatapoum died, so it doesn't mean these sites are safe either.

I also tried taking a picture of everything with the same background, three angles, etc. etc. But as with many, many things, having two toddlers killed that project fairly quickly. Here's what it looked like:



(project at: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/petite ... 860374135/)

In the meantime, Rotocasted offers a cheap solution...

I am using Aperture to catalog
only problem... I imported 34,000 photos of toys from my website since 2000
I think it will take some time to get them all tagged

By the way: Marlo was the guy who drew my logo Goji Girl many years ago when he was at DC Comics in trade for a Popy Godzilla! He's an awesome artist and all round great guy. His collection is way bigger than what they showed.
I hope that show doesn't find me

I can think of quite a few people here that could be turned in. LOL

i have a list in evernote, and just today decided to start recording things in an excel spreadsheet too. not going to bother with photos though, and my collection is fairly small these days anyway. i also had to guess (poorly) about what i paid for things that i've had for a long time. even with my collection being a lot smaller than it used to be it's still kind of a shock to see the aggregate price paid for everything i have.

This is what scares me from including price in a database

I am surprised someone hasn't made an app for smart phones to snap a photo, add those items and upload to a site with tags to make it easier.

Yes, it's called Flickr. ;p

Yes Roger. Flickr is awesome too. I have multi-thousand photos on there too!
It's super fast to snap a photo and send it up there and lot's of room for info. Chimply has the most amazing Flickr sets with terrific info.

Online sites are good for convenience, but I wouldn't rely on them as a permanent archive for my collection info. How would you transfer your records if you ever decide to change service?

Flickr is the most established photo sharing service out there at this point. It's got a robust API and full control over photo privacy. It's the ideal application for what was being requested.

There are a bunch of apps that let you download all your Flickr photos and back them up:

http://www.flickr.com/services/apps/tag ... oad&m=tags

http://www.flickr.com/services/apps/tag ... kup&m=tags

There are also online services that will download your photos and burn them to a CD/DVD for you.

rotocasted actually has many of the technical features one wouldlike in a site like that. I don't actually use it, but been aware of what it offers for some time now. You can catalog based on existing entries or add your own. Dunno if you can enter price info, but it would make sense that you should be able to keep private records. But again, I'm not trying to drum up business for them or nothing..

I am actually a member of Rotocasted. While the site means well, one of my gripes is that there's no photo credit. They are in the process of adding that feature for the future but who knows when it will be implemented. That's why I stopped uploading. I have seen some of my pics uploaded without permission.

Another thing is only the uploader can make changes to the information. So if the uploading party has incorrect info, only the admin or the original uploader can correct the error. So you're at the mercy of someone else's knowledge other than your own.

Also I don't recall any buttons that enable you to hide your collection and make it private. Plus I don't think pricing is available either.

Sorry - I'm a little late to post this, but better late than never. I thought some might be interested in more info on this show. Someone in Robot-Japan provided a telling link:

http://www.therpf.com/f47/syfys-collect ... ndex6.html

If you go back a few pages, it explains a lot. Joe, the comic book collector, chimed in and told the scoop. Basically, they put out a blind call for super collectors, then told them that their collections would be appraised, then said that the appraiser would force them to sell one item of the appraiser's choosing. Once all was said and done, they edited it and changed the title to make it an intervention show. Wow. Just... wow. Totally uncool. It was fun to see the collections, but the setup is inexcusable.

^ thanks for sharing that info.

very telling:
makes sense how the show convinced all these folks to participate. completely duped.

after watching the first episode, i wondered why it was called "intervention" when there didn't seem to be any intervention in the therapeutic/counseling sense. if they were there to actually help the collector, i would've expected collecting/displaying/control skills to be taught so that they could maintain a healthy collection and relationship after the show ended. that would be a show i would watch regularly.

How disappointing. I wish they stuck with the Master Collector format of the show.

Like many have mentioned, it would have been nice to showcase collections and offer tips on how to take care of them, display options and appraise realistically.

I'll still watch it just to see the collections they profile but with a frame of mind that everything else is BS.

Did this show get cancelled? My DVR hasn't recorded anything in a month and don't see any future listings. Don't get me wrong... I hate this show, but I do love looking at peoples collections. I'm a masochist that way.

I don't know, as much as I enjoy seeing other collections, I kinda hope it did. This format was not the way at all - painful more often than not. The show was terrible, the host awful, the editing atrocious, and the whole 'reality' skew of it made me want to wretch. Why couldn't they just have a show about normal folks displaying their sweet collections sensibly to share them with everyone? Apparently that is what the whole message of the show was, so why not feed us what you claim is best. Ach. TV producers. Too tired for this rant.

I'm guessing it did get the can - I was checking it out via cable and the weekly listing suddenly changed to the final three eps being shit out in one night with no repeats. Went off On Demand almost immediately, too. Buried, and you won't catch me complaining.

Couldn't agree more. 5 years and counting without it.