Wargame Collection Management... How do you track your toys?

[Kugelfang]

Just posted up an article about how I track my toys at Petite Guerre.



I'd be interested in learning how other wargamers do this. I probably took it to an extreme. I suspect everybody does this differently (if at all ;-) )!

--jeff

[fred]

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

I’ve toyed with this a couple of times, and between the volume of stuff to list and constant indecision on what level to record, I’ve not got very far.

The most thorough I have been was to list figures at the box (or layer of box) level and this was around 120 items - and I’ve since rejigged my storage quite a bit so this isn’t probably that valid any more. This is obviously at a pretty high level, and even this through up quite a lot of complexities around genres and other categorisation. Probably not helped by me collecting across lots of periods and wanting to get most use out of figures with different rule sets.

I see that you have gone for this fairly macro level of categorisation, but then listing out some more detail about what is contained in the group.

The other extreme that I have toyed with but not done anything practical with is to list every base of figures - as most of my figures are 10mm they tend to be multi based. This would then allow fancy stuff to be done with categorisation to help build army lists for different games / rules. But this feels a lot of effort for the return - and is probably why I haven’t done anything  with this.

Then there are unpainted figures…

I’ll have more of a ponder on this - ultimately it all feels a lot like work! And I’d probably rather spend my free time paining.

[Harry Faversham]

I don't, once the little sods get painted their job's...
to look after themselves, that's why they've all got popguns!

 

[warrenpeace]

A friend of mine made an Excel spreadsheet of all of the 28mm War of Spanish Succession units that our group had for the big Blenheim 2004 project. I think it was updated a bit in 2005 as we prepared for Ramilles 2006. But it's not up to date, and I'm not sure that he's updated it since 2005/2006. I made a list of my own WSS units in a Word document.

Somewhere I might have a hand written list of my 15mm Seven Years War units. I'll have to look for it, or just do a list in the computer.

Need to do this for some other periods that I collect. It's really a good idea to inventory them.

[Moriarty]

I find I don’t need one - once I’ve painted them, they tend to stick in the memory? Have never found the need to reckon a sum total, as they are produced to satisfy a ‘project’ usually a different period from the rest.

[Dolnikan]

I'm terrified of even trying. There are hundreds upon hundreds of them and for many, I wouldn't even know how to categorise them. That however might also be because I also have fantasy things which always are a fair bit harder to box in.

[bluewillow]

Excel spread sheet, that also has army lists for games etc so I can cut and paste as required. I also have a painting project list and a wish list.

Cheers
Matt

[flatpack]

Haven’t needed to do this, as once the figures are painted, they go into the display cabinets and they can all be seen and played with.
I must say though, that a tray full of 28mm sailors have now gone missing.
I think they are on shore leave, and will be back when they sober up. 

[has.been]

I don't, once the little sods get painted their job's...
to look after themselves, that's why they've all got popguns!

  True Harry.

Haven’t needed to do this, as once the figures are painted, they go into the display cabinets and they can all be seen and played with.
I must say though, that a tray full of 28mm sailors have now gone missing.
I think they are on shore leave, and will be back when they sober up. 

JC is a baaaaad influence on your naval troops.

[Kugelfang]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. From here and what I'm reading on another forum it appears that I'm probably the only person who's gone to this extreme. And, I have to admit, cataloging a sizable collection is like eating an elephant. Cataloging a small one is unnecessary.

The application doesn't provide the organization. It just provides a framework on which to hang it. The real work is in organizing, not cataloging. Horses for courses, of course.

--jeff

[abbot_amaury]

Hi Jeff,
thanks for the interesting blog article. And you are not in this alone! 
I'm using quite a similar approach with slightly different intention: a wiki (dokuwiki) running in my LAN and customized to my needs.
Main intention was a paint log for my minis (I am a super slow painter and I always forget what colors I used when I started to paint a mini some years ago...). But I also use it for managing other data like manufacturer, sculptor etc. 
   

[Marko]

I use the Collection Calculator website for mine. Useful in that it can be used to work out a replacement value so I can get my house contents insurance adjusted as appropriate.

[Sterling Moose]

I never keep track of what I have painted or otherwise.  Often I open a box and it's a great surprise as to what it contains!  On more than one occasion I've bought something at a convention only to later find I had bought it previously and now have two..........or more   

[WuZhuiQiu]

Just posted up an article about how I track my toys at Petite Guerre.



I'd be interested in learning how other wargamers do this. I probably took it to an extreme. I suspect everybody does this differently (if at all ;-) )!

--jeff

That is an approach that I ought to follow, while deciding what to keep and what to dispose of. May I have copies of Muster and of Cache?

[Hummster]

I use a Google sheet for it, so pretty much the same as Excel.