Default Condition and Language are no problem! Although if you want, you could just specify a format of your choosing (EN) (NM) or something to designate these and those could be entered as well. Anyway, not as important as just having mass card entry
I just went through the exercise of converting my collection to be compatible with The Vault, a desktop-based program that I've found pretty friendly to use. The main things I'd look for are:
* Automatic Pricing <- if you use Excel you're probably writing macro's for this.
* Capability to distinguish by Set (especially relevant for set foils vs some particular promo). Basically the program should have a database of all possible variations of a card so you can pick the Exact variation you have.
* Output friendly - to ensure you won't have to retype your entire collection if you ever move to a different program. Also to allow export to CSV in case you ever want to run some analysis
* Input friendly - some programs allow you to scan cards, some programs allow you to type and select cards, up to you on your input method of preference.
[I personally wish there was a program that would allow Mass Card Entry WITH sets - it's by far the fastest form of card entry if you're decent at typing.]
QQ: Is there a default way to set up the pics such that I can use the pics downloaded from your other program, GathererExtractor? I tried setting it to the GE pic dir (C:\Program Files (x86)\Gatherer Extractor\pics), then card nomenclature by Name but this didn't seem to work. Does this work with the GE pics or do I need to get pics from a diff source?
Edit: I figured it out. GathererExtractor default will get the images, name them .full.jpg and put them into setcode-named directories, i.e. FE\Armor Thurll1.full.jpg. So in the Vault, the extension needs to be set to .full.jpg, setcode-named dir needs to be checked and card nomenclature is 'by name'. Just posting this for anybody who couldn't get it to work.
@chaudakh: Great program btw, finally decided to convert my collection to Vault format. One thing I miss is a sort of 'mass-card-entry' form. i.e. when entering cards into collections if you could have a textbox where ppl can just type (or copy/paste) a mass of text such as:
--
5 Force of Will (AL)
2 Zombify(8E)
--
etc. that'd be faster than typing it in, right-clicking add to collection, etc.
This. reddit is pretty big. Kinda sad because you lose that sense of community and reddit's fairly fragmented - miss the days of people being active on the forums.
I'd imagine reddit's r/mtgfinance has been swallowing up a lot of the news and discussion. Podcasts too, and those often get linked to reddit with corresponding discussions.
Yes, that's why I went with CI. They cover the cards you bring with you to play with at events (i.e. cards not in a safe)!
On book-keeping, unfortunately this is unavoidable. The good news is that you don't necessarily need to grade the cards - just assume an average condition throughout and maybe list a few of the highest-$ graded ones. Pricing for signed cards can be assumed as SP, as that's what they are generally sold for, on an individual basis anyway
Once you have the list of cards, getting and maintaining prices on them is an automated process if you're using a good app to store your collection.
@KnickM - Yes on homeowner's insurance. However I've found that homeowner's insurance will not cover your mtg collection, at least not up to the amounts you must be inquiring about if you're thinking about this. As for collection value - I actually have a list of most of the cards in my collection, even the ones less than $1 and manage it with pricing software. Deckbox or other apps out there can do this as well, I believe. The difficulty was in typing out all those cards to begin with, but managing it has been not too bad. It's also helped that a large portion of my collection are complete sets, which makes for much, much simpler card management.
There are a couple more threads on this on MTGS, reddit, motl too for more references btw.
2 good online insurance sources: Collectinsure.com, TheFia.com. I've asked for quotes from multiple home insurance vendors (as recently as winter '16) but the prices were pretty crazy.
In the end I went with CI (cheapest option for my usage), they don't require an independent third-party appraisal and I made several videos for my collection. In addition to this, I have copies of my collection regularly updated on various online sites as well as a workbook documenting all changes to the collection for audit purposes.
Love the article, pretty comprehensive! One thing not discussed, however is why Wizards would or should tweak formats to benefit players. Players also need to know that as with all companies, Wizards has long-term financial gains as a key driver - whether that 'benefits' a particular group of players who seek to have fun or profit is a distant concern. Magic's primary consumers are the consumers who continuously buy packs. Thus, prices are here to stay, PostModern will likely be a thing. In the meantime, players should diversify their collection to avoid price shocks and like the writer said, just say no to being exploited!
* Automatic Pricing <- if you use Excel you're probably writing macro's for this.
* Capability to distinguish by Set (especially relevant for set foils vs some particular promo). Basically the program should have a database of all possible variations of a card so you can pick the Exact variation you have.
* Output friendly - to ensure you won't have to retype your entire collection if you ever move to a different program. Also to allow export to CSV in case you ever want to run some analysis
* Input friendly - some programs allow you to scan cards, some programs allow you to type and select cards, up to you on your input method of preference.
[I personally wish there was a program that would allow Mass Card Entry WITH sets - it's by far the fastest form of card entry if you're decent at typing.]
Edit: I figured it out. GathererExtractor default will get the images, name them .full.jpg and put them into setcode-named directories, i.e. FE\Armor Thurll1.full.jpg. So in the Vault, the extension needs to be set to .full.jpg, setcode-named dir needs to be checked and card nomenclature is 'by name'. Just posting this for anybody who couldn't get it to work.
@chaudakh: Great program btw, finally decided to convert my collection to Vault format. One thing I miss is a sort of 'mass-card-entry' form. i.e. when entering cards into collections if you could have a textbox where ppl can just type (or copy/paste) a mass of text such as:
--
5 Force of Will (AL)
2 Zombify(8E)
--
etc. that'd be faster than typing it in, right-clicking add to collection, etc.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/i6pqhbaykpwzesm/rfDPfQbeGY?lst
Unfortunately, he doesn't have 'all' the sets...
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-software/337213-the-vault-v0-11a-15th-nov-2015-deck-collection
Also if you store your collection on deckbox, that should update as well.
Yes, that's why I went with CI. They cover the cards you bring with you to play with at events (i.e. cards not in a safe)!
On book-keeping, unfortunately this is unavoidable. The good news is that you don't necessarily need to grade the cards - just assume an average condition throughout and maybe list a few of the highest-$ graded ones. Pricing for signed cards can be assumed as SP, as that's what they are generally sold for, on an individual basis anyway
Once you have the list of cards, getting and maintaining prices on them is an automated process if you're using a good app to store your collection.
Some external reading - there's links to other articles in there from other sites.
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?22800-Insuring-My-Collection-Advice
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/329573-insuring-ones-cards
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-general/325430-insuring-your-collection
https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/278k6u/has_anybody_insured_their_mtg_collections_can_you/
2 good online insurance sources: Collectinsure.com, TheFia.com. I've asked for quotes from multiple home insurance vendors (as recently as winter '16) but the prices were pretty crazy.
In the end I went with CI (cheapest option for my usage), they don't require an independent third-party appraisal and I made several videos for my collection. In addition to this, I have copies of my collection regularly updated on various online sites as well as a workbook documenting all changes to the collection for audit purposes.