Site Forum

I've dabbled a bit and been learning the existing tools so far and I think I'm ready to actually add the collection.  As it happens my physical collection is also getting reorganized in the process.   Anyway, is it fair to say that in terms of number of clicks and the current TCDB user interface it's more efficient to add cards by set (since you can check a lot off on one screen) rather than by person?  I just wanted to ask the community before I invest many hours in the initial cataloging.  Thanks!

I think it depends on what is important to you.  For myself I found that my initial loading of my collection was not meeting my needs.  So I deleted the whole thing and then had a good think.  I asked myself what do I need from the collection tools here that will give me the most satisfaction.  After many long days and nights I had found out that the most important thing I need is to be able to record the card's location.  I use the comment field in the Detailed Add feature to record each card's location.  I also found out that using the multiple collections feature allows me to divide up my collection by the physical means of storage.

I am not a set collector so set info ain't all that important to me.

Yes the way I am doing it requires adding each card one at a time but, it allows me to go through and REALLY enjoy my collection.

As a set collector, I just added everything by set using the "without ERR/VAR" option then went back and selected the ERR/CORs and VARs that applied, then for anything where I didn't have a complete set, I just selected which ones I have.

For player collections, it's easier to go to the specific player and use the Card # filter to locate the ones you have.

Thank you both, great experience.  And the card # filter idea is brilliant - that will definitely help.

I recently joined the site and agree that adding by set is quicker given all of the checkboxes available. I am a Red Sox collector, so I found that sorting by team within the set to be incredibly helpful in narrowing down which cards I cared about. One can quickly add to one's collection, want list, or trade/sell list that way.

However, though most cards were inputted in this manner, I often had to input cards by player given all the unfamilar subsets, inserts, etc that are embedded in each set, thus I wasn't able to find them the first time around when inputting by set. If you go this route, using Ctrl-F to find card numbers helps one get through the long lists of player cards. All those Nomar Garciaparra and David Ortiz cards were exhausting to find, so thank goodness for Ctrl-F.

Good luck! 

The Filters on the player pages are even better than the browser's find feature. :)

Man, after I read your sentence that makes a whole lot of sense. I forgot that one can filter by card number. Huge!

I recently added the majority of my collection into the database. One trick I used for near complete sets was to add the entire set to my collection and then remove the cards that I didn't have. That saved me many clicks.

The collection summary page is on person, team or set pages. You can use that to match what suits you best. I'm a set guy so by set worked best for me.

Also if you’re adding by set you can add “from here” it’s in the drop down menu next to the card number. It will allow you to add up to 100 cards in sequential order. Add multiples is a life saver for adding traders if you have a lot of bulk. And the number filter on the player page is the way to go with odd ball stuff