Comic Collection Management

[Odd_Bloke]

In the next week or two, I'm going to get just under 200 2000AD publications (about 180 of them weekly progs) delivered to me, to add to the 30 comics or so (pitifully few, I know) that I currently own.  I want to make sure that I have a good record of what I own somewhere, ideally online (so it's harder for me to lose), so that I can buy up gaps in my collection without having to rummage through it.

Currently, I use comicbookdb.com, but I find it to be horribly slow most of the time.  Does anyone else use an online comic collection tool and, if so, would you recommend it?

For those of you who don't use an online tool, how do you keep track of your comics?  Do you?

[Emperor]

I use comicbookdb and they do seem to be slow occasionally and with the occasional server outage but it seems better recently as I assume they have adjusted their web hosting to cope with their growth.

On the technical front it exactly how I'd put one together to allow for deep and flexible indexing, with quick cataloguing features.

I did have a look around and found some other services:

http://www.stashmycomics.com - seems to be slow at the moment

You need to look out for one that has a good user base (so that it is less likely to go down the toilet and so that everything stays up to date) and a way to download your connection.

I did find some discussion on an open source offline/online comic book software database - the logical thing would be to hook it up to comicbookdb:

http://zone.aintitcool.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=72622

[Dandontdare]

errm..I just sort of look at the shelves. I find that the comics usually have writing and pictures on the front to tell me what they are.



I'll turn in my geek card immediately. 

[Odd_Bloke]

errm..I just sort of look at the shelves. I find that the comics usually have writing and pictures on the front to tell me what they are.

I'll be living in a pretty small room next year (and I already have two full bookshelves in communal space), so I probably won't have the luxury of having my entire collection easily accessible (and possibly not even in the same house as me).

If I had more room, this would be less of an issue (but my geek card would probably compel me to do it anyway).

[Satanist]

For 2000AD I just have an excel spreadsheet with prog numbers on it that I mark what issues I have as I pick them up. Am I missing something here as it seemed like a pretty straightforward solution at the time?

[Odd_Bloke]

I'd do something similar to that if I wasn't looking for an online solution.  And I don't really like using Google Docs, so I'd like to avoid that.

Plus having extra info available alongside my collection is really useful because I'm terrible at remembering details (like plots) and at remembering numbers (like issue numbers).  So I'm basically screwed if all I have is a list of numbers and I want to decide whether I care enough about a certain set of issues to actually pick them up.

Also it's really cool.

[I, Cosh]

"Collection management" round here consists of knowing which series I've got all of and which I've only got some or most of. When I started getting 2000AD again and was buying a lot of random lots of Progs off eBay, I had a spreadsheet to keep track of what I was still missing.

The flaw in this method is that I'm still missing half a dozen issues of Shade and Hellblazer. Every so often I go through them and take a note of the ones I need which I inevitably lose before getting to a shop that might have them.

[Emperor]

The flaw in this method is that I'm still missing half a dozen issues of Shade and Hellblazer. Every so often I go through them and take a note of the ones I need which I inevitably lose before getting to a shop that might have them

A big plus is being able to add things to a wishlist so you don't lose track of such things.

[TordelBack]

I address my comics databasing problems by occasionally wondering whether certain cardboard boxes are in my attic, or in my parents' attic.  And on being detected buying Casefiles or other reprint I sometimes have to parse the query "does this mean we can get rid of some of those boxes in the shed?".  The answer returned is always "0".

This solution replaced the previous database system whose architecture focused on a sheet of A4 folded up to A9, with long lists of very very small numbers on it.

[Kerrin]

When I had all of my progs in the same place, I found that the best way to manage them was to put the most recent on top of the five foot plus pile and occasionally lean them all a little further into the corner of the room to stop them collapsing.

[Trout]

I keep lists in a pocket notebook, which goes with me to comic shops.

It has Dr Who stickers on it. Billie Piper is sexy.

- Trout

[Mike Gloady]

She is.

Although she has a boy's name.

And a semi-innuendo for a surname.

And I find the combination both intriguing and confusing.

Not sure I ought to have posted that.....

*sigh*

[Cactus]

I have a bit of paper torn from a notebook in my wallet. On it is a list of the progs/megazines/annuals that I don't have. If I happen to stumble across a purveyor of old thrills I just whip it out for comparison. Over time this will become so worn, torn and faded as to be almost illegible. I'll then lose it and have to create a new list, thus the circle begins anew.

I suppose a spreadsheet or database of some sort would enhance my geek-cred but I expect it would be less fun than rifling through my collection every few years to reconstruct The List.

I'd also like to pipe 'er. 

[locustsofdeath!]

If I happen to stumble across a purveyor of old thrills I just whip it out for comparison.

Speaking of innuendo... .

Sorry, I added nothing to this conversation.

[James Stacey]

I have my wants list in a database on a webserver with a simple display page which I can pull up on my iphone. Proved to be handy on more than one occasion. (its here http://www.stargatelrp.com/2000ad/index1.php if you want to see the holes in my collection)