How do you keep track of your collection?

[fireglides]

Wow, there are so many great ideas here! And I'm so impressed with those who can go by memory! Thanks so much for sharing. I'm leaning towards an Excel spreadsheet or Ponydex. These seem to be easy ways of tracking things. I have a lot of G1s, some G2s, a ton of G3s, G3.5 babies, and one G4. I had started to take pictures of ponies, but I have no idea what happened with those photos. Will have to check with the hubby.

[Elisto]

I can usually remember if I have a pony or not when I see it, although I can't just list off my collection. So currently, I just keep a Word documents of everything I have listed by set/year, with really poor or really minty condition ponies highlighted so I know which can be upgraded and which shouldn't be. It's not very effective for keeping track of details like accessories, lesser flaws, price, etc., but those aren't things I'm too concerned about tracking either, and I have a small enough number of accessories to just remember what I have.

When I first started seriously collecting in middle school, I actually used to draw a picture of every new pony I got. It helped me learn to draw ponies, but also helped me pay attention to details and notice variations and flaws. I stopped when I got to about 60 or so (and discovered online MLP resources) though because it was no longer worth the effort. I still have the journal though!

[moonflower]

I used to keep a spreadsheet, but it got a got a bit too much and was a bit boring (I use spreadsheets enough at work!).

I now use facebook and although I am still a long way away adding everything, I have found it to be really great. I now have a visual reference to everything I have (at least, everything I have added so far!) and I can share my collection with my fb friends at the same time. Also, uploading pictures on fb is a lot quicker and easier to organise than photobucket.

[Rhubarbpie]

I have a journal which I use to keep track of my collection and any sales/trades I make.  I have memorized all the G1 and G4's I have, the G3's I find somewhat difficult to remember for some reason....

I also have Summers book for G1 checking and accessory ID (this helped me so much when I first started collecting) but it doesn't have the UK/International release ponies.  I do plan on getting her G3 and G4 books in the near future.  I may also commit my collection to a facebook page since my collection is now approaching the 300 mark !!!

[LittleSpiffy]

Spreadsheet with photos!  Working on my now, actually

[Sarah-Bee]

I have the most anally retentive spreadsheet known to pony-kind.

[ButtercreamDream]

I use the Collector's guide by our own Summer Hayes for my G1s, cross referencing the accessories colours with My Little Wiki (because there are so many shades of each colour).  I also have a google docs spreadsheet to track how many of the G1 US ponies I have, and how many are left.  I like to keep them organised, especially when it comes to the accessories.  I like to know what I have, what I still need, and what I can trade.

[hathorcat]

The ponies are easy. A nice long spreadsheet keeps track of them. But the accessories were a nightmare when I was still look for lots of them...did I have Baby Leapers mallet or was it Countdowns I was still looking for? I resorted to a picture of each pony with his/her accessories. Stored in folders by set and each image named it is easy to keep track

[Majesty]

Memory.

Same here.  I don't have a tremendous amount of ponies, maybe 50 or less so they're not hard to keep track of.

[Kisscurl]

I have checklist that I can open in word, when I get a new pony I highlight it in another colour, at the moment its in bright green, I also stick it in my dropbox so if I'm out I can look up and see if I have it

[Taxel]

I keep a website where I upload photos (and info like names, of course) to my collections website. I've been slacking off at marking which ponies I've sold/traded, but I know the ones I don't have anymore.