Answer: The best way to do it is with spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel. Use rows for adding new figures, and the columns for recording information about the figures.

I prefer to have mine cataloged in a LibreOffice Calc sheet because its free, but you can use Microsoft Office Excel if you already have it. Other free options include Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel Online, which are both optimized so that your spreadsheets can be modified across all your computers and mobile devices. If you’re a little more savvy with databases, perhaps give Microsoft Access a shot, though I wouldn’t recommend this for the majority of us (myself included). Really it doesn’t matter what your tool of choice is, as long as you get those figures cataloged. You can even use a pen and notebook, though I’d advise against this because its obviously more difficult to modify and, you know…no Ctrl+Z.

Once you decide what you’re going to use, choose what information about your figures you want to include. For starters, I’d recommend: Type, Name, Line, and Year. The columns will vary depending on the types of figures you have in you’re collection. With Transformers, for example, I would add some additional columns like: Faction, Alternate Mode, and Class. I’ve included an example of what your spreadsheet might look like below:

If you’re interested in selling some of your figures, consider including columns such as: Retail Price, Complete/Incomplete, Condition, In Box, etc. This way, when it comes time to list figure for sale online, this information is easily accessible.

Keep Your Collection Inventory Up To Date:

Finally once you’ve created your catalog, you need to be diligent about keeping things up to date. Personally, I’m guilty of not keeping mine up to date, and there are a number of figures that I just forget that I have. Depending on how frequently you purchase new figures, I would suggest picking a certain day of the week or month where you get things up to date. Perhaps take notes of everything you purchase through the week/month, so when it comes time to update the catalog, you are not trying to track down everything you purchased and potentially forgetting to enter in certain items.

Why You Should Keep and Inventory of Your Action Figure Collection:

The short answer: because it helps you keep track of what you have in your collection, and some general details about the items in your collection.

Before I go through the reasons why keeping track of what you have in your collection is useful, I should say that though I’m talking about action figures specifically in this post, the general principles can apply to almost anything you’re collecting.

Keeping track of your action figures is important, especially once your collection gets large. Once you have hundreds of figures, it can be easy to forget names of certain figures, the year they were released, what line they were part of, and other miscellaneous details that you’d like to know. Keeping an active catalog allows you have this information on hand. It can also help you keep and accurate count of your collection, as well as where everything is located.

Aside from helping you keep track of what you have, keeping an inventory of your collectables can also be very beneficial if you choose to sell certain pieces of your collection. All the information on the figure will already be there, so you won’t have to do all kinds of research on the spot before listing the figure on eBay (or wherever you chose to sell them). Plus, when you decide it’s time to sell certain items, but you don’t know which ones specifically to sell, its much easier to look at a spreadsheet/list of figures than it is to examine your shelf that is full of action figures or dig through tubs of them.

Finally: bragging rights. I know it might sound a little petty, but, honestly, you’ve collected all of these figures over the years. A spreadsheet for tracking each one of them as well as document important information about them just looks impressive…and possibly crazy to some, but impressive to the people who “get it”.

How Keeping an Inventory/Catelog Can Help You Keep Track of Your Figures:

As I mentioned earlier, keeping a catalog of all your figures can help you keep track of where everything is once you move certain items to long term storage. One method of doing this is to create a column on your inventory spreadsheet for where the figures are stored. You can call the column something like “box number”, “storage unit”, “tub”–its completely up to you. In the column, put the number of the storage unit in which that particular figure is stored. Have your storage units labeled accordingly. If a figure is stored in unit number “1”, you will know where to look for that figure when it comes time to display it, sell it, etc. This is just my method of keeping track of them. Ultimately, what’s important is that you have a method of tracking your figures; it doesn’t necessarily have to be mine.

Conclusion:

While there is not a rule saying the that collectors need to take an inventory of their collections, its definitely good practice, and can help you to keep tabs on what exactly you have, where it is, what condition its in, what can be sold, and so on. But really, the real reason to do this, is because it just feels so good to add another row to that spreadsheet and watch your collection grow.

Click here to check out my simple guide to storing your action figures.

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