[gmunny]

Here's an old post about tracking software. I used to use excel, but then swiched to the Collector's Assistant. I think it depends on how many chips you have. Excel is fine for small collections, but can get a little cumbersome if you have a lot of chips. The hardest part for me is to keep my records updated. It's fun to buy chips, but work to update a spreadsheet/softwre. Here's an old post related to this topic.

http://www.chiptalk.net/forum/chip-c...ght=chip+track

[abby99]

My spreadsheet is a little different from tomb1's:

Casino
Date opened (casino)
Date closed (casino)
City
State/country
Denom
Manufacturer
Mold
Catalog number (e.g., TCR #)
Condition
Acquired from
Date acquired
Purchase price
Year released (e.g., new rack 2007)
Comments (e.g., traded/sold for xxx, acquired in trade for xxx, used as drop chip, used only at table games or only in poker room, 10th anniversary commemorative, which UV mark if one of several, etc.)

I may add a field for current/obsolete status.

If/when my collection gets to be large enough, I'll add a field for location in my collection (e.g., book 1, book 2, box 1, box 2) for obvious reasons.

One thing that's missing is a picture, but that's what the collection is for.

[i run 8s]

I use 2, side by side. Collectors assistance., and the www.collectionlibrary.com. The collection library is FREE, but one must be a CCGTCC MEMBER TO USE IT. Just another good reason to join cgtcc. There are well over 50,000 images uploaded. Some nice stuff can be found there. I just recently started to upload to the library and have a long way to go. Currently working on getting the 108 Borlands up loaded.

[Gaming Ore]

If I may, a few words about inventory (tracking) products/services...

In the beginning, I developed my own database, using FileMakerPro. It was good, but required input! (Go figure.) Being somewhat lazy, my collection quickly outgrew what my database said I had. And what it said I had, it really needed scans to be usefull! But scans take even more time, so in the longrun, I just gave up on my FileMakePro homegrown database.

Then I heard about the Collector's Assistant and also the Collection Library. Since the Library was free, on-line and available to me as a member of the CC&GTCC I signed up. (Please note, this product/service is not a CC&GTCC endorsed product/service. The owner/developer (Brian Watts) is using CC&GTCC membership as a requirement.)

The Collection Library is an on-line service that permitts users to list chips owned, available for trade and those wanted, in an on-line database that can be viewed by any and all members. Moreover, if a member is in-search of a specific chip, he/she can search the complete database and see who has the chip, who has it for trade and who is looking for one.

Obviously, a great service, but again, it required input and I was lacking in the diligence to accomplish that. However, as a searching tool, it was good resource, as it does have thousands and thousands of images. One of the few notable drawbacks here is that everyone that scans and uploads images to their portion of the database does so with different resolutions. Accordingly, some chip scans a good and some are not so good. Also, when searching for common chips, you will end up with multiple scans of the same chip and sometime duplicates (and more) of the same chips.

This is because each member gets their scans from different sources. If you scan your actual chips and upload those images, then your listing has actual scans of your collection. But what about those collectors that have the chips, but not the scanning or camera equipment. They can upload an existing scan of the chip(s) (say from Silver State Treasures) just to show what their chip looks like and if more than one person does this, a search will see multiple copies of the same chip.

HOWEVER, this on-line service is very usefull and I use it for my research or answering questions, etc.

Then there is Collectors Assistant. If I am not mistaken, this database program operates as a SQL product and it has a lot of functionality. And if scanning is not your desire, it comes pre-loaded with about 10,000 quality scans of chips and an ability to subscribe to additional scans! If for any reason you wish to use your own scans, you can do that and not use the pre-loaded scans. Also, it comes pre-loaded with casino names and other bits of information and all-in-all is an excellent product, especially for the price (around $50).

Now having said all that, the product that I would like to see is the equivilent of www.dvdspot.com. Wow, what a product!!

Jim (Gaming Ore) Follis