Personal Comics Database?
Ok we're crossing into SUPER-nerd territory w/ this discussion but I've been wondering lately if there was something quick and easy to replace the excel spreadsheet I've been using to track my collection (I'm an anal list maker I know). Whatever I used need to be fairly dynamic/automatic (w/ as little as possible actual work on my part). It would be a nice plus if I could log cover screen shots too (can't get that easily in my excel SS).
I did some research and stumbled across a few recommended alternatives, the champions of which seem to be conceives and Comic Collectorz. ComicBase def seems phat (it has a built in database of some 250,000 comics, movie clips from comic movies, etc.) but it's 149 beans for the "standard" edition and a whopping $299 for the "archive" or premium ed. Wowsers. Ok that one's out. Let's look at Comic Collectorz (more attractively priced at $39.99).
Comic Collectorz is def a sweet piece of software kit - even though 50% of it is way overkill for my needs. It allows you to store just about everything you ever wanted to about your comics (even who you lent it to) and add cover screen shots etc. Cool but a bit too manual. You have to add each comic in (you can quickly enter runs tho) and if you want a cover screen shot you have to go find it, save it, and link it manually, etc. Way too time consuming for me. But Collectorz makes a suite of tools (for cataloguing Comics, Books, Movies, Music, etc.), and the demo I installed had them all so...
Enter "Book" Collectorz. Book Collectorz is almost identical to Comic Collectorz, but allows you to automatically search numerous online book shops/libraries like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble (hell even the Library of Congress) for your titles, and when found, check a box and add them to your collection - complete w/ all available data AND cover shots. Nice. I catalogued my entire TP collection (about 25 books -- hey I've only been back 4 months!) in about 15 minutes w/ ZERO data entry by me (except typing the names of things I wanted to search for).
Now I've got everything I ever wanted to know about all the TPs/HCs I own, all searchable and sortable - even exportable to text file, HTML, excel, or my work-provided PPC. Extra nice. You can even keep track of who you lent books to, where you bought them, how much you paid for them, and tons of other stuff I'll probably never use - if it suits your fancy.
What's the catch though if you choose Book Collectorz over Comic Collectorz? Amazon and these online databases don't have floppies (at least any that I have found) in their databases (since they don't sell them typically) so you're only going to be cataloguing your TP's and HC's w/ this.
Luckily that's enough for me because I only "collect" my TPB's and HC's, and just kind of read and give away/throw away my flops. Not to mention how far I am from having the time and/or discipline to go through my collection and type everything in... Not by a longshot - I'm not THAT dedicated. I definitely needed something automatic and I think I may have found it. Cool. B+.
I did some research and stumbled across a few recommended alternatives, the champions of which seem to be conceives and Comic Collectorz. ComicBase def seems phat (it has a built in database of some 250,000 comics, movie clips from comic movies, etc.) but it's 149 beans for the "standard" edition and a whopping $299 for the "archive" or premium ed. Wowsers. Ok that one's out. Let's look at Comic Collectorz (more attractively priced at $39.99).
Comic Collectorz is def a sweet piece of software kit - even though 50% of it is way overkill for my needs. It allows you to store just about everything you ever wanted to about your comics (even who you lent it to) and add cover screen shots etc. Cool but a bit too manual. You have to add each comic in (you can quickly enter runs tho) and if you want a cover screen shot you have to go find it, save it, and link it manually, etc. Way too time consuming for me. But Collectorz makes a suite of tools (for cataloguing Comics, Books, Movies, Music, etc.), and the demo I installed had them all so...Enter "Book" Collectorz. Book Collectorz is almost identical to Comic Collectorz, but allows you to automatically search numerous online book shops/libraries like Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble (hell even the Library of Congress) for your titles, and when found, check a box and add them to your collection - complete w/ all available data AND cover shots. Nice. I catalogued my entire TP collection (about 25 books -- hey I've only been back 4 months!) in about 15 minutes w/ ZERO data entry by me (except typing the names of things I wanted to search for).
Now I've got everything I ever wanted to know about all the TPs/HCs I own, all searchable and sortable - even exportable to text file, HTML, excel, or my work-provided PPC. Extra nice. You can even keep track of who you lent books to, where you bought them, how much you paid for them, and tons of other stuff I'll probably never use - if it suits your fancy.
What's the catch though if you choose Book Collectorz over Comic Collectorz? Amazon and these online databases don't have floppies (at least any that I have found) in their databases (since they don't sell them typically) so you're only going to be cataloguing your TP's and HC's w/ this.
Luckily that's enough for me because I only "collect" my TPB's and HC's, and just kind of read and give away/throw away my flops. Not to mention how far I am from having the time and/or discipline to go through my collection and type everything in... Not by a longshot - I'm not THAT dedicated. I definitely needed something automatic and I think I may have found it. Cool. B+.
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