Collection Cataloging

Cataloging a collection can be a daunting task for many a collector. Unless you're like me and truly enjoy spreadsheets and meticulous organization, it's not exactly an appealing way to spend your free time. This is especially true if you're starting from scratch and/or have a large collection. However, in my opinion, it's a critical part of collecting.

Be it posts from collectors on social media, or collectors featured on shows and documentaries about collecting, I'm often surprised by how many collectors don't catalog their collections. To each his/her own, I'm not here to judge or preach. I simply find it interesting. A complete catalog of your collection is a valuable asset when it comes to having the collection appraised and insured. It's a great backup in the event of theft, loss (i.e. during a move), or damage/destruction (fire, flood, tornado, etc.). And it serves as an archive to preserve the legacy of your collection, both during and after you own it.

The choice as to whether or not you catalog your collection is entirely up to you. And if you do, the method by which you catalog it should be a system or format that works comfortably for you. Below is a detailed breakdown on how I catalog my Star Wars collection. It's a system I developed years ago when 95% of my collection was still in storage. Last year, after the entire collection was moved into the Prides of Nexu Museum, I made some upgrades to the catalog system and completely re-cataloged from scratch (a process which took seventy nine days). Now however my catalog is one hundred percent complete, accurate, and consistent. Thus, going forward I only need to enter each new acquisition as its acquired, a task requiring very little time. So while it’s a lengthy process initially, the benefits definitely justify the time spent. Not only do I have a detailed record of my entire collection, but the data can be sorted and filtered to reference specific information.

Everything I’m about to share is specific to my collection. I use an Excel document to catalog my collection, one workbook with a lot of tabs. First and foremost, I divided my collection up into categories and sub-categories. Each category has a three-letter code associated with it.

Category                                            Category Code

Action Figures                                    FIG

Apparel                                               GEA

Artwork, Posters & Standees             ART

Audio & Visual Media                       MED

Displays, Signs & Packaging              DIS

Home & Office Items                         HOM

Lightsabers & Blasters                        WEA

Misc. Items                                         MIS

Novels, Books & Magazines               NBM

Statues, Figures & Busts                     SFB

Toys, Games & Models                      TOY

Anakin’s Collection (my dog)            K9A

The sub-categories are more specific and are for tracking;

*character focus collections (i.e. my Ahsoka Tano collection has a sub-category code of ATC)

*genre specific collections (i.e. anything Expanded Universe related is sub-category EUC)

*a particular favorite brand (i.e. all Grant Gould art pieces has a sub-category code of GGC)

I have seventeen different sub-categories.

Tabs

The two main tabs are the Count tab and the Catalog tab. There are then tabs for each of the twelve categories, labeled by category name. And there are tabs for each of the seventeen sub-categories, labeled by sub-category name.

The Count tab tracks the piece count of the collection. I actually track two different totals; an “As Packaged” total, and an “Individual Pieces” total. The “As Packaged” total counts each piece as it was packaged/purchased. The “Individual Pieces” total counts how many individual items in a package. So a Hasbro Battle Pack with five figures and a vehicle would count as one “As Packaged” piece, but would count as six “Individual Pieces”. I feel the “As Packaged” total is a more accurate number when stating how many pieces are in my collection. However, I also like knowing how many total “Individual Pieces” are in my collection as well. So I track both.

The Count tab also tracks both the “As Packaged” and “Individual Pieces” counts by category and sub-category. This way I have two totals for the collection as a whole, but also two totals for each individual category and sub-category. In terms of the categories, many also have a counter for what I call Item Breakdown counts. This count totals specific types of pieces within a certain category. I’ll use Action Figures as an example:

Category                                As Packaged              Item Breakdown       Individual Pieces

Action Figures                                    xxx                                                                  xxx

            3.75” Figures                                                   xxx

            3.75” Creatures                                               xxx

            3.75” Vehicles                                                 xxx

            3.75” Playsets                                                 xxx

            3.75” Accessories                                            xxx

            6” Figures                                                        xxx

            6” Creatures                                                    xxx

            6” Vehicles                                                      xxx

            6” Accessories                                                 xxx

 So the total of the Item Breakdown column would equal the Individual Pieces total

The Catalog tab is the main, master catalog list of every piece in the entire collection. The information on the Catalog tab is fed to the Counts tab, and to every category and sub-category tab. This is the tab I manually input data into.

Data Points and Collection Numbers

On the Catalog tab, for each piece, there are fourteen data point cells filled out. Of the fourteen data points, two are assigned numbers and twelve contain data I manually input.

Category

Sub-Category

Collection Number

Item Number

Additional Pieces

Additional Piece Collection Number

Type

Manufacturer

Series

Item

Number

Year

Item Condition

Notes

Each piece is assigned a unique 9-digit Collection Number. The starting number was #000000001. The Collection Number identifies the piece within the collection. Each piece is also assigned a unique 7-digit Item Number. The Item Number identifies the piece within its category. Thus, each Item Number begins with the three-letter category code. For example, the first Item Number in the Action Figure category is Item Number #FIG0000001. So for a piece that is one “As Packaged” piece and one “Individual Piece”, it will have one Collection Number and one Item Number. For a piece that is one “As Packaged” piece and multiple “Individual Pieces”, the piece will have one Collection Number and multiple Item Numbers.

Category and Sub-Category – input is three-letter code

Collection Number – assigned Collection Number

Item Number – assigned Item Number

Additional Pieces – YES or NO field

*If YES then Collection Number populates in the Additional Piece Collection Number field

Type – input is specific type of piece (i.e. T-Shirt, Mini-Bust, Poster, etc.)

Manufacturer – input is manufacturer/brand name (i.e. Hasbro, Gentle Giant, etc.)

Series – input if piece is part of a manufacturer’s series (i.e. The Legacy Collection)

Number – input if the piece itself has a number (i.e. #CW44 or #297 of 750)

Year – input is the year the piece was released

Item Condition – input is the physical condition of the piece (i.e. Sealed in Package)

Notes – input is information on one-of-a-kind pieces, signatures, certificates of authenticity, important facts about the piece, etc.

The goal is to have as much information about every piece as possible, while also having each piece entered in exactly the same format and manner so that all the data is consistent across the entire catalog.

Each Category and Sub-Category tab look identical to the master Catalog tab, except they only contain pieces belonging to their category or sub-category.

As I mentioned before, having this amount of information on each piece in the collection allows me to sort and filter the data in order to look at it in virtually any context I choose, be it for reference or cross-checking against want/hunt lists. But most importantly, my entire collection is captured and recorded in explicit detail.

My next project is to photograph every individual piece in the collection, and name each photo JPG file with said piece’s Collection Number, thus tying it back to the collection catalog. Then years from now, after I’ve sold the collection, I can take the catalog and the photos, and have a book made of my collection. That way, when I’m old, my collection will only be one piece (the book), instead of thousands.  

So that’s how I catalog my Star Wars collection. I’m not sure if it makes any sense reading it in text form, but the spreadsheet is far too large to show in screenshots.

The Prides of Nexu Museum

Twitter: @PridesOfNexu

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