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How do you keep track of your collection?


Igor

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I've got over 50 of the Lynx games in my collection now, with about 40 of those with boxes, some missing posters, some duplicates, some non-official release games, some big box releases. I could see there are apps out there to help you keep track of games for other consoles but support for the Lynx is really missing. So my question is how do you keep track of what you've collected, what's still left to collect, etc.

 

I ask this with an idea in mind to build a web site to keep track of this kind of thing, maybe serve as a bit of a market place for any duplicate sales, etc. I've had an Atari related domain name for a while now so looking to put it to some good use.

 

Any feedback would be welcome!

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I've got over 50 of the Lynx games in my collection now, with about 40 of those with boxes, some missing posters, some duplicates, some non-official release games, some big box releases. I could see there are apps out there to help you keep track of games for other consoles but support for the Lynx is really missing. So my question is how do you keep track of what you've collected, what's still left to collect, etc.

 

I ask this with an idea in mind to build a web site to keep track of this kind of thing, maybe serve as a bit of a market place for any duplicate sales, etc. I've had an Atari related domain name for a while now so looking to put it to some good use.

 

Any feedback would be welcome!

 

post-61233-0-59136000-1506552772_thumb.jpg

 

During college (pre-internet) this was my main method for keeping track of my 2600 games. Beyond the excellent tactile feel of pencil & paper, it was a real golden age for me.....always discovering new games without the 'ability' to simply Google, sigh...

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Gameye available on IOS and android I keep my entire collection of games in the app one of my favorite apps I highly recommend

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Thanks, I tried it out, don't love the interface but like all the features it provides

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When I was still building up my Lynx collection I just created a spreadsheet in Excel.

 

 

What about now after you've built it, is keeping track or knowing what's in your collection not a huge priority? I'm a bit of a "stats nerd" so having something that tells me I've got so many out of so many possible games is something I look for.

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What about now after you've built it, is keeping track or knowing what's in your collection not a huge priority? I'm a bit of a "stats nerd" so having something that tells me I've got so many out of so many possible games is something I look for.

I think when I was aiming to collect them all it was essential so I could keep track of which ones I had yet to find, but after getting a complete commercial set and all homebrews etc I didnt see the point in keeping the list anymore. I have since started to list systems though as I am loosing track of all the systems I've aquired lol.

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Gameye available on IOS and android I keep my entire collection of games in the app one of my favorite apps I highly recommend

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

^^^^^^^^^ This is also what I use. I was using RF generation prior to this, but Gameye also gives you an approximation on the value of the collection. Also much easier to add to games to their DB than most provided you have the information ready to submit to them as you actually create it essentially on the fly through their website.

 

The only disadvantage, is that there isn't a way to view the collection data outside of your mobile devices. it also doesn't sync the collection automatically. But it is very easy to do a backup on one device, email the backup file to yourself and then restore that on the other device to keep them in sync.

 

I've been very impressed with Gameye thus far and plan to continue using it.

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What happens if any of these services and online databases go away?

Wouldn't it be best to store something on a PC and transfer to mobile as needed?

 

 

That's the risk these days - you can't expect a free app like GameEye to last forever. You raise a good point though, once I get around to developing my web app for this I'll include some kind of export to computer option. Haven't started work on it yet, have a couple of other projects to tie up first.

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I mispoke in a way about gameye. It does allow you to export the data to a file you can view on your PC and use as you wish. I believe in CSV format. I know I used it a few times to quickly copy and paste what I had in my collection into other stuff to use. So you can export the data to read on a PC. But again, you have to email that exported file to yourself. Still for a free app, I've been really impressed with Gameye and prefer the interface on it over the one used for the RF Generation app.

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I use the attached spreadsheet of my own creation to keep track of what I have/want/need, etc. Page 1 is a roster of what I consider to be the 73 games that were available during the lifetime of the Lynx (yes, Bubble Trouble and Krazy Ace Miniature Golf are on this list). Page 2 lists the homebrews, known prototypes, self-published, and unreleased titles.

 

When I don't have my printed spreadsheet with me (which I reprint every time I make a change, add a cart, etc.), I keep track of my collection on my iPhone as a simple list in the Notes application. I also keep track of my Lynx high scores in Notes.

 

I only have 25 games, which is 25 more than I had at the beginning of the year when I didn't even own a Lynx or any carts. I have manuals for all 25, and I have boxes for all of them except four: Block Out, California Games (I have neither the large or small box), Ninja Gaiden, and Todd's Adventures in Slime World. BTW, if anyone has empty boxes for any or all of these four games, and you're willing to part with them for a reasonable price (or free :) ), please PM me. Thanks.

 

MillipedeMan

LYNX1.pdf

Edited by MillipedeMan
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I use the attached spreadsheet of my own creation to keep track of what I have/want/need, etc. Page 1 is a roster of what I consider to be the 73 games that were available during the lifetime of the Lynx (yes, Bubble Trouble and Krazy Ace Miniature Golf are on this list). Page 2 lists the homebrews, known prototypes, self-published, and unreleased titles.

 

When I don't have my printed spreadsheet with me (which I reprint every time I make a change, add a cart, etc.), I keep track of my collection on my iPhone as a simple list in the Notes application. I also keep track of my Lynx high scores in Notes.

 

I only have 25 games, which is 25 more than I had at the beginning of the year when I didn't even own a Lynx or any carts. I have manuals for all 25, and I have boxes for all of them except four: Block Out, California Games (I have neither the large or small box), Ninja Gaiden, and Todd's Adventures in Slime World. BTW, if anyone has empty boxes for any or all of these four games, and you're willing to part with them for a reasonable price (or free :) ), please PM me. Thanks.

 

MillipedeMan

Nice sheet millipedeMan!

Do you have a xls file?

thanks

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  • 5 weeks later...

I used an IOS app called "Lynx" but just found out that it doesn't work with the latest release of iOS and the company that made it (for free) is no longer around . Now I need to check whether I can pry those figures from a backup or do all the catalogueing again. PITA as I used similar apps for 7800, VCS and Jaguar as well. At least it's a good excuse to dig through all my games. I think I'll stick to a spreadsheet format the next time to keep my data from disappearing again.

 

(I thought about creating a custom database with TapForms which would allow tick boxes for "box", "manual" and even pics but for a casual collector that's just too much work.)

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I learned early on, way early on, to try and find something very common and widespread for keeping track of my material. It could even be as basic as a text file or excel spreadsheet with minimal or no formatting. Something that can be migrated and transferred easily from platform to platform.

 

Personally I'll never rely on any sort of new smartphone application, let alone anything online. For secondary usage it's fine I'm sure, but primary must remain at home in simple format. Or at least if it's a complex format, the program should have the ability to output into a simpler standard widely-accepted format.

 

And now with emulation and mirrors of sites and NTFS/Windows' files & folders & search, it's really very easy to look something up.

 

I can recall instantly obscure early versions of "disk splitter" programs as easy as I can find Star Blazer or Wavy Navy. And for physical media and hardware databases, it's a combination of Excel and a photo library. With the photo library being organized in file/folder style. No reliance on photo organizers or online hosting.

 

Also by keeping things on a basic most-common-denominator level, it is easy to add new tools to my toolbox for even more functionality should it be needed or become available.

 

---

 

Back in 1979/1980 I had made a custom PFS database on my Apple II. This was pre-Appleworks by several years.

 

At first I was just fine using a "card catalog" for finding my disks and cartridges, on a shelf, like in the library. I had a nice laminated sheet depicting the layout of all my games and where my most important ones were. I had like 10 of those Apple SoftwareBank 3-ring binders full of 40 disks each. And I didn't need no stink'n menu system to find stuff.

As a matter of fact, I even tried to use PFS: Personal Filing System to set up an electric catalog. It became too tedious and took too long.

But most of all (like most of you) I liked to collect stuff back then. I liked to build gaming libraries and have instant access to any game at any time. And I wanted it to be futuristic. An electronic library. So I used PFS (Personal Filing System) on the Apple II to record information about the "ware". Was it a game? utility? programming tool? How many sides? Copy protected? Original / pirated? Single file? if so how many sectors? And so me and my buddies worked around the clock cataloging all this information into PFS. We never fully finished it all because when we got to around 400 entries the random search got real slow. Only the 1st data field remained lightning fast. And there was a 1,000 item limitation anyways. We had it going to where you'd type the name of the program, and it would tell you what 3-ring binder and page it was in. Sometimes flipping through the disks in a pile was faster!

 

So we stuck with the pile, unconsciously keeping the newest and most favorite material on top. This applied to Apple II and Atari 400/800 material alike. And other disks, too, like C64.

 

At some point in time I wanted to export the database, but it was impractical at the time, as a kid I couldn't figure it out. And so I had wasted a ton of time updating it and everything. All for nothing. As a kid all this was disheartening and frustrating.

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