I’ve never been one to keep the original packaging on some of the stuff I’ve gotten over the years. Some were box sets so those boxes still exist and transport stuff around. Possibly even the original miniatures. Things like the old Ral Partha blisters though? Nah. That makes it a bit harder to create a catalog of the collection. Luckily, there are resources out there.
“Hey, Mr. Bones … you get back in your catalog.”
First up is www.dndlead.com.
They have quite the listing for the stuff from my high school years or before. They have web listings for the old stuff:
- 1976 Archive
- 1977 Minifigs
- 1979 Dungeon Dwellers
- 1980 Grenadier
- 1983 TSR
- 1985 Citadel
- 1987 Ral Partha
- 1999 WOTC D&D
- 2000 Chainmail
As well as others and new stuff. If you have an older mini you can’t identify, it might be on DnDLead.com.
A great resource for finding old and newer minis is the Minibase which references over 2,000 miniatures for these manufacturers:
- Assassin Miniaturen (34 minis)
- Chronopia (2 minis)
- Dark Sword Miniatures (31 minis)
- Freebooter Miniatures (28 minis)
- Heresy Miniatures (19 minis)
- Ikore (45 minis)
- Iron Wind Metals (46 minis)
- Masquerade Miniatures (8 minis)
- Rackham (254 minis)
- Ral Partha Classics (370 minis)
- Reaper (1016 minis)
- Spyglass Miniatures (11 minis)
- Vampire Wars (66 minis)
- Wizards of the Coast (534 minis)
Once you find the miniature to get data on it it’s time to put it in your catalog. I use the awesomely powerful Springpad.com website and mobile apps. I can take pictures and add them straight to a notebook.
I format my Spring’s titles with the Manufacturer Line :: Miniatures Name :: Manufacturer SKU. Then I add the sculptor to the description if they are known.
eg. “Chainmail :: Crazed Minotaur Cultist :: CM88300”
I use these all in the name because they show up on smaller layouts like in the apps for quicker visual searches.
Take pictures of your picture and upload them to Springpad.com. Those represent your catalog entry if you group them into one spring (entry). You can title it, add a description, more photos, links, files, and more to the entry. For searching through your catalog make sure to add Tags. I usually tag with the composition of the mini (Metal, Plastic, Resin) and then characteristics like sword, dagger, male, and dwarf. Then I tag it on its current state of paint, Painted, Primed, Partially Painted, or Unpainted.
Here’s a list of my catalogs in progress. You’ll see a combination of stock photo entries from the manufacturer or contributor as well as painted or partially painted images. Sadly there are more stock photos than painted miniature photos.
- Minis Owned Catalogs:
- Reaper Miniatures
- Ral Partha Miniatures/Iron Wind Metals
- Grenadier Models
- Wizards of the Coast/Dungeons & Dragons
- Other/Custom
- Minis Painted for Others
- Miniatures of Interest … ones I like, some I am thinking of getting or just intriguing paint jobs by others.
- Paints Owned
- A list of Reaper Forum Users’ Blogs
The really beauty of Springpad.com is that I can scan the barcodes of newly acquired miniatures and paints via the mobile app. That creates a fast and easy to add spring for one of my notebooks.
I still have many more miniatures to catalog. Many of them are old but there are always more on the way for a miniature collector.