Need Help! FINALLY organizing my collection

[Anonymous]

Ok, since school's almost out for the Summer, I've decided to finally catalogue and organize my collection. I've got games and systems in boxes at three different locations, and I want to alphabetize, separate, and gather them all in one place. So, I need some help from you guys.

I'm going to create an Excel File with all the games and Systems listed, so I'm good to go there, but I need to know:

What kind of boxes would be good for storing cartridges in? These aren't going to be on display, but I would like them to be easily accessible.

Do you keep the systems together with all their hookups and controllers, or do you keep all the controllers in one spot, all the AC adapters in one spot, etc? Which is more convenient. (I'd like to have it so that when I want to play a game, I take the system out, hook it up, then put it back when I'm done)

Any help or advice or anecdotes would be appreciated!

[ghsqb]

One idea that might be helpful:

If you've got alot of "cart only" items, I've found a great way to store them are the big cardboard boxes they use for sports cards.
I think they are 5,000 count, anyway there are five little rows, pre-divided, and INTV and Atari carts fit very nicely.
Coleco carts I can use the two rows to the right, and the two rows to the left of center, they are a little wider so you cant get five rows in.

The great thing about this is that they are stored with the top label facing up, for quick selection when you want them, the boxes are the perfect depth, and once you put the lids on, these boxes are stackable.

Nice, clean, effiecient and it protects your games.

[Anonymous]

You mean something like this?

http://www.kindstranger.com/Photos/dp/holder.jpg

That would be perfect, that's an excellent idea. Thanks, keep 'em coming!

(btw, I found that at http://www.comicscardsandmore.com/supplies.html for 3 dollars. although my local card shop should have them for sale to...)

[Queen Of The Felines]

I've been pounding nails into the wall and hanging milk crates from them. Great for storage, fairly sturdy, and much cheaper than shelving. (Try to find some of the same color so they at least match!)

Kristine

[punkoffgirl]

How large is the collection?
I've always thought if you get a decent sized bureau (a wide one, but not so tall), you could use it in a variety of ways: store the games & systems & controllers in the drawers when not in use, have a tv on the top to actually play the games, and an attractive furniture addition to your home :)

[Anonymous]

I've thought about that, but a bureau/dresser in the living room doesn't sound quite right. IKEA has some dresser type things that would work, but since I'm not settle yet, I'd prefer to have something that can be moved around easily.

If anybody has pictures of their collection inside of an entertainment center or buraeu type setup, I'd love to see them.

Oh, and I really don't know how big it is. I'd say there are about 50 2600, 100 NES, 30 SNES, 20 Coleco, 30 INTV, 100 IBM/Atari800/coleco titles, 75 3D0/SegaCD/TurboCD titles, 50 PSX, and 25 GC/XBX/PS2 titles, so about 200 carts, 100 boxes, and 150 CD/DVD titles. And about 20 systems.

[hydr0x]

one question? why do u want to use excel? use access instead and make a decent database (i've done that too) it's better to make reports or something like that (how many atari games do i have, how many acclaim snes games and so on) AND if u ever decide to make a website showing your collection you can use the database, that'll help u a lot

the problem i see in storing your things is that u have no system with a huge amount of games, 20 of this 20 of that and so on, that makes it hard to store them cause the cart-sizes differ so much, normally you'd prefer one box for snes, one drawer atari and so on but that would mean you would have a lot of empty space after organinzing in each box/drawer/whatever

another thing, perhaps don't alphabetize them, how about this: split them up into about 5 or 6 main genres, this should be possible without problems, and order them them alphabetical per genre, i admit with your number of games the benefit isn't great but with higher numbers it's a good choice if u feel like playing a puzzle game, but don't know which one, if u do it alphabetical you will always have to decide which game before u search, and so u will play the same games all the time, and some will never been used

[hydr0x]

btw there are IKEA's in the US???? since when?? i thought they only had stores in europe

[Saturn Sensei]

btw there are IKEA's in the US???? since when?? i thought they only had stores in europe

Ikea has a number of stores in the US. A few in California, and a few on the East Coast.

I drove down to the one in Carson, CA a few months ago. Great store.

I got a tall bookshelf with glass doors. Great for keeping dust away from my games. I think the name of the bookshelf was Billy. It is available in a number of sizes.

http://www.ikea-usa.com/product_presentation/subcat.asp?id=410

[Trellisaze]

Agreed about using a database rather than Excel. If you prefer viewing your records in Excel, you can always import your database queries into it anyway.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, IKEA has been around for a few years. I don't know about the rest of the country, be Seattle's got one, in addition to the ones in CA and the East Coast.

As for the database, Access sounds like a good idea. I can create my own forms that way too, I hadn't even thought about that, thanks guys!

[ghsqb]

That card box is exactly what I meant.
I took pictures of my stuff in them to give you an idea of how well it works but I can't get the photo to display in my post :(

Furthermore, as far as tracking your collection, check out Cart Commander here:http://www.arcaderestoration.com/index.asp?OPT=10&DATA=10&CBT=20

[sniperCCJVQ]

btw there are IKEA's in the US???? since when?? i thought they only had stores in europe

In Canada there some stores too 8-)

[l_lamb]

btw there are IKEA's in the US???? since when?? i thought they only had stores in europe

There's even one in Houston! They took over another company (STOR) that was a direct rip-off. They're about to double the size of teh building, too; they just got permission to close the street behind the store so they can expand onto the next lot.

[Arrrhalomynn]

Why not use cart commander instead?
It's incredibly easy and has most functions you could hope for.

[hydr0x]

because it can't do anything u want, it's mainly made for atari games, if u have mainly snes or cd games you get problems

[sniperCCJVQ]

because it can't do anything u want, it's mainly made for atari games, if u have mainly snes or cd games you get problems

Why ?

I don't see your point, Be more specific please.

[Arrrhalomynn]

That's a load of nonsense.
I don't have any atari games and 80% of my games are on cd.
Useful for a cd collection are:
title
manufacturer
quantity
copyright year
release year
cost
value
rarity
condition
media type
media status
video format
high score
aquired from
date aquired
notes
Boxed
Boxed sealed
instructions
special controller

The only options that are cart specific are:
model number
label type
label color
serial number
overlay

I really don't see how you can call this 'atari-specific', just becasue it has some cart-only features.
Of course it is true that the premade lists you can choose games from are mainly old, but you can very easily add your own games, so that's no problem.

[Anonymous]

I actually already have cart commander, but I thought an Access Database would be a little more flexible and customizable. I'll have to look into both more since cart commander would definitely be easier to set up.

Another question: The card holder works great for Atari/coleco games, but does anyone have anything good for NES/SNES games?

[hydr0x]

i had a typo i didn't mean can't do anything but can't do all the things LOL

it is missing some things like seperate condition of manual/box/cart it only has overall condition, i have about 10 fields in my own access database that cart commander hasn't

[TokenGamer]

first off... i'm wondering what fields you guys use with access. i'm thinking about an access database before my collection gets any bigger. i tried it out once and got annoyed and forgot about it till now.

as for storage solutions...

those 5000 count boxes are the best!!! i have modifyed them to suit every type of cartridge there is. the space efficiency is awesome. the coleco carts are wider but i pop out the separators (which are folded in 2) and i cut them down the middle. making them only one layer of cardboard makes them perfecto for the coleco carts. you can pop the separators out and create slots in the box to fit just about every cart there is. nes carts are a little tall for the box but it's ok. the lid sits on top of the carts and protects them.

my favorite shelving solution is laminate flooring. oh yeah! those floor boards make awesome shelves. i bought boxes of 7 boards for $10 each at the hardware store. that's $1.50 per shelf. each one is already 7 feet long and 8 inches wide and has a nice finish. if you need them wider, (for systems) just glue (or click) 2 boards together and cut to size. BTW, use shelf standards spaced 16 inches apart to put them on the wall. they look great and they look even better if you paint the exposed edge and sand the corners round. by gluing or clciking them together you can customize it to whatever size you want, length or width, as long as you have a saw to cut it down to size. they are thin which saves space but are still very strong because, after all, it's flooring and flooring is made to take a serious beating. anyhow video games and systems are so light that you can pack them on and the boards won't bend. if you're making wider 15 foot long shelves, stagger them just like you're doing the floor with them. you can do so much with cheap laminate flooring.
try it. it rocks!

[Ed Oscuro]

Furthermore, as far as tracking your collection, check out Cart Commander here:http://www.arcaderestoration.com/index.asp?OPT=10&DATA=10&CBT=20

Wow! I didn't know somebody had created this but I was hoping I'd see it someday. I like lists. :D

[VACRMH]

I haven't used Cart Commander before, but does it look up games for you or do you have to type them in yourself?

I've been using Collectorz.com's Game Collector for awhile and it looks up games in a database... quick and easy :)

...god, I really do sound like an ad for this program :embarrassed:

[AlanD]

If anyone needs an Access database for a few systems let me know and I'll send over what I have to you. Just let me know the systems you want and if I have them I'll send them over. I have been using Access for a few years and there is one nice thing it does that as far as I know Cart Commander will not do - export to a format that my Palm can easily use.
Alan

[Dragoon]

Anyone else tried this Electronic Game Organizer program. It works great!

http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/egm/index.html

[anagrama]

btw there are IKEA's in the US???? since when?? i thought they only had stores in europe

'Semi-disposable Swedish furniture' was referenced in Douglas Coupland's book Generation X, so I assume they've been there since at least 1991.

[briskbc]

Anyone else tried this Electronic Game Organizer program. It works great!

http://www.gamersgraveyard.com/repository/egm/index.html

It looks OK. This quote from the site made me reconsider.

EGM is more or less an abandoned project, partially because of limited time, and partially I feel EGM is no longer adequate for my needs, and needs to be completely rewritten. EGM 0.0500 is probably the last version. EGM does work reasonably well, and I still use it for my collection, but there are probably some leftover bugs here and there, and some features never completed. The serious bugs should have been fixed now, and some may still find this useful. If you really like the program, and for some strange reason want to see new versions, drop me a note and I will consider it. It might be quite a while before that happens, if I decide to do so.

Anyway I used to have an excel spreadsheet and did my own values based on an eBay average which is where I sell my games if I have to. I can't access that file because my old computer is fried and I haven't gotten around to testing the HD. I'm going back in time to the stone age and use a combination of book and a checklist from this site.