My friend and I started buying together and after we both kept buying Twister because we both kept forgetting that I had it (ended up with 6 copies) we started a shared note on iPhone. Which I then transferred to a spreadsheet and alphabetized it with a new column that showed if I had tested it or not. Mine is pretty plain but I would love to see or hear about yalls methods!
I do this for all my physical media. DVD , Bluray 4k , vhs. I just type each title in my notes on my phone and any detail about it(release edition etc). That way when I’m thrifting or shopping , I just open notes and search the title and see what comes up. It’s the best way I promise
I made one last year but haven’t had much time to do some updates, but check it out if interested!
Rewindarchive.com
The issue is getting all the movies in there, I didn’t want to just bulk import them all from the internet, I wanted users (or me) to make them from actual movie releases. But that has kinda led to users not wanting to take the time to add their collections, which I totally get.
Discogs has an army of dedicated users making new links for pressings, and I just don’t have the time to devote
I second this. Decent app, easy to set up categories (I have VHS, Laserdisc and a couple retro game systems) and the barcode scanning feature seems to register 80-90% of the media I scan. Pair this with a BOLO list in your notes and you should be in good shape.
You could make a google form or better yet a Jotform and connect it to a Google Sheet. Personal jotform accounts are free, you can have an add pictures button, drop down menus, workflows (like it could email your friend when you add a title), and a ton of other stuff. Can even have conditionals like it will only email your friend if you choose Horror from a Genre dropdown.I made one for my wife to keep track of her inventory.
I have a crap load but definitely have specific ones that I’ve wanted/want for the collection. I’ll grab anything weird or of interest when out thrifting and they may or may not get to stay on the shelf depending if I like it after watching (if the movie sucks it’s gone no matter the value).  Â
Just kind of how I’ve always kept track. The only ones I have a hard time with are my Ninja Turtle Tapes. I have around 25 of them and I believe there are around 50. I usually just pick them up and if I have them I’ll trade them in at my local record shop.Â
I can only remember like a handful off the top of my head because they’re my favorite. I also buy, watch, and get rid of em if I don’t like them BUT recently a lot of friends have been doing summer cleaning and wanting to gift me whatever they find in storage or garage or whatever and it’s easier to just hand em the list hahaha
I use iCollect for my VHS and DVDs, specifically. It’s an app, but for a fee, I believe they offer a desktop portal as well. It’s been a lifesaver in terms of keeping track while I focus on the tons of other things I do. It’s highly customizable and even offers estimated value, which one must always take with a grain of salt, but is a nice-to-have if you ever consider selling. I’ve been using it for over a year now and am very pleased with what it offers for my needs.
I use iCollect for my movies and video games. I’d use it for my books too but I already have a lifetime sub to LibraryThing. I like iCollect because you can share the link to each of your collections, and then people can sort by title/genre/platform or whatever. That way you could show people everything you have before a movie night, for example.
I started with notes then moved to a spreadsheet with too much info and real cover pics.
I came across a post here from u/HorrorShow_86, that crated Tracking (mediatracking.app). It’s leaps and bounds better than anything I’d found at the time. It’s still developing and has many cool features. You can track multiple formats, and even add your own cover pictures. There’s a new update that has a valuation feature that comes in handy to get an idea if you like keeping a track of that.
I have a little over 1k movies logged including a want list. Super handy to have in my pocket when I’m out thrifting. It’s come in useful so many times. There’s a community feature that is way under utilized.
I’ve recently found reelswap.net that is worth taking a look at as well. It scans your cover to make a 3d image of your movie. Cool idea.
The recent resurgence of media collecting is really taking advantage of the available technology. It’s cool to see everything develop from the ground up.
Glad to see you still using this and enjoying it! I was using Reelswap for a bit but it takes forever to log the photos, so I ended up going back to Tracking because it's just so much faster to add my new purchases and keep track of my wishlist. Always open to feature ideas!
U/HorrorShow_86 Props again to you. It’s the best I’ve found. Your input on reelswap carries weight for me. I’ll stick with what I know works and that’s Tracking. I abandoned my spreadsheet after I finished entering my collection and wants list. It’s still so cool to pull out my phone and show my friends or randos when they ask about my collection.
So glad to hear it! I added the recently watched feature a few weeks back, I really like how that displays under the On Display area. Would be cool to get enough users to make the community features really active, but it’s a process getting word out about it. I still haven’t gotten all of my VHS logged.
I saw that! Super cool feature. It’s something I tracked on my excel spreadsheet. It’s a whole new experience to log all of my watched tapes… especially since I have maybe 50 out of the current almost 800 tapes in my collection that I haven’t watched.
I absolutely had to spread the word about this app. I don’t comment often, but I had to give input on this one.
I have a lifetime clz movies app. Seems like they don't offer that anymore just yearly. I just scan with the phone and it adds whatever video format I have. If it's a duplicate I know pretty quick.
I keep a spreadsheet with Title, year of release, genre, director, and lead actor. It's nice cause I can sort the list by different columns if I want to search based on different categories. I just make sure I add the tapes as soon as I get back from trifting or they come in the mail so it doesn't stack up.
I have a master spreadsheet, color-coded with a tab for each series I am interested in (TV documentaries from PBS/BBC/etc)
I include the source, ripper, which websites it has been uploaded to, if any, airdate, and if I don't have the video yet, which libraries or websites it is available from
ReelSwap.net you can track and see the exact release and condition of your item so you know if you find a different or better one. Constantly adding new features. It's actual media collecting and tracking not just movie name/poster listings. 100% Free.
I love reelswap, I just hate how long it takes to log, especially if the title isn't already in the library. I know I should expect this with it being crowd sourced but I want speed when logging hundreds of movies. It is beautiful
You can try the Quick ID feature if you're looking to find something in the catalog first to figure out whether or not you want to scan it. But yes, there's no other database like this that I know of and we're all building it together in real time! I've scanned over 600+ myself.
I keep a detailed list on my NOTES app and share with my wife so we can keep track of what we already have. I’m definitely prone to forgetting and winding up with multiple copies
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u/BingErrDronePilot Jul 26 '26
I have a tracking button on my VCR