Comic Book Database

This is the place to discuss the episodes of the Comic Book Page podcast, the Comic Book Page website or pretty much anything else of interest to the Comic Book Page community...

Moderator: JohnMayo

Post Reply
drew
Master Reviewer
Posts: 1666
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:56 pm
Contact:

Comic Book Database

Post by drew »

I need a comic book database, and there seem to be a few out there:

I would like one that:

1. i can use a USB barcode scanner to enter the bulk of my collection

2. will pull in info automatically like title, retail price, publisher, etc...

3. easily exports to excel

not sure about cloud based vs. software, updated with current overstreet values would be nice but not dealbreaker,

what you guys are using?
Comics For Fun and Profit(also available on iTunes and Stitcher)
comicm
Master Reviewer
Posts: 689
Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2007 8:10 pm

Re: Comic Book Database

Post by comicm »

www.comicbase.com

The best on the market but costs the most and has a yearly subscription. Both Bob Brettal and I use it. He has one of the largest collections and I have about 55,000 comics and it works great.

The barcode scanner is fantastic and you get weekly updates and cover images. you can also upload to their server for access to your digital phone for cons etc...
www.geekbrunchpodcast.com - Geek Brunch
www.dcnoisepodcast.com (both available on iTunes via the iTunes store.)
drew
Master Reviewer
Posts: 1666
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:56 pm
Contact:

Re: Comic Book Database

Post by drew »

looks pretty good also looking at collectorz.com
Comics For Fun and Profit(also available on iTunes and Stitcher)
User avatar
JohnMayo
Host/Owner
Posts: 3282
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:12 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: Comic Book Database

Post by JohnMayo »

comicm wrote:http://www.comicbase.com

The best on the market but costs the most and has a yearly subscription. Both Bob Brettal and I use it. He has one of the largest collections and I have about 55,000 comics and it works great.

The barcode scanner is fantastic and you get weekly updates and cover images. you can also upload to their server for access to your digital phone for cons etc...
ComicBase is certainly can be the most expensive on the market but does now have cheaper versions. The free version is limited to 500 comics and the next cheapest version if $59.95. The yearly upgrades to get access to the next data kind of put me off ComicBase. While it is a good program, I think it is overpriced.

I'm using the Comic Collector from CollectorZ program Drew mentioned. It used to be a buy once and pay for upgrades later but has moved to a subscription model. I paid $49.95 initially for the Pro version and have paid another $80 or so for an upgrade subscription that covers the next four years. The upgrade subscription is optional.

I've got the Opticon 2001 barcode scanner which works both as a USB barcode scanner and in a stand alone mode which can then dump the data into Comic Collector. I usually have it plugged in when scanning comics so I can know immediately if I didn't get a full scan of a barcode. (I scan around 50 comics a week and usually mis-scan at least one in the stack.) From the barcode it looks up the data about the comic, the cover, etc.

My collection is around 53,610 or so comic in size. (I've got far too many that I haven't inventoried into either Comic Collector or into my Excel inventory system.) I haven't had the time to scan my entire collection. Instead, I've been scanning all of my new purchases since the New 52 kick off and I think I've only had one item it couldn't find (Serisus #5 from last week). so far, I've scanned 39 short boxed of comics containing 5603 comics (not including the most recent DCBS shipment I've gotten).

I have the CLZ Comics app for Android which means I can export my collection to my phone and tablet and have access to it anywhere, including whenever I don't have internet access. The CLZ Comics app is another $9.99. There is also an option for uploading your collection to their servers and accessing it there but I haven't had the need to do that.

The two programs are roughly on par with each other. Both have some features the other lacks but nothing I found to be too major when I did a deep dive a few years ago before deciding to go with Comic Collector over ComicBase.

I also have the Movie Collector program from CollectorZ and it is my inventory of record for my movie collection.
Comic Book Page: Website || Podcast || RSS || Episodes Archive
User avatar
JohnMayo
Host/Owner
Posts: 3282
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:12 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: Comic Book Database

Post by JohnMayo »

Comic Book Page: Website || Podcast || RSS || Episodes Archive
drew
Master Reviewer
Posts: 1666
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:56 pm
Contact:

Re: Comic Book Database

Post by drew »

Have tried the iOS / android barcode scanner through your phone it's only 8 bucks but no idea how well it works
Comics For Fun and Profit(also available on iTunes and Stitcher)
drew
Master Reviewer
Posts: 1666
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:56 pm
Contact:

Re: Comic Book Database

Post by drew »

Wonder if it can be installed on multiple machines I have an intern that is going to do the bulk of the scanning and I was hoping to just share files
Comics For Fun and Profit(also available on iTunes and Stitcher)
User avatar
JohnMayo
Host/Owner
Posts: 3282
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:12 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: Comic Book Database

Post by JohnMayo »

drew102e wrote:Wonder if it can be installed on multiple machines ... and I was hoping to just share files
You can install it on multiple machines and share the files but don't try to update it from multiple machines at the same time.
drew102e wrote:...I have an intern that is going to do the bulk of the scanning...
Must be nice. I have to do all of my comic book inventory work myself.
Comic Book Page: Website || Podcast || RSS || Episodes Archive
drew
Master Reviewer
Posts: 1666
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:56 pm
Contact:

Re: Comic Book Database

Post by drew »

Must be nice. I have to do all of my comic book inventory work myself.
remains to be seen, hope so

i have an awful lot of direct market comics without barcodes so not sure how efficient this process will be
Comics For Fun and Profit(also available on iTunes and Stitcher)
User avatar
JohnMayo
Host/Owner
Posts: 3282
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:12 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

Re: Comic Book Database

Post by JohnMayo »

I think both programs have a way to add a run of issues for a given title.

About how many comics do you need to inventory?
Comic Book Page: Website || Podcast || RSS || Episodes Archive
drew
Master Reviewer
Posts: 1666
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2013 5:56 pm
Contact:

Re: Comic Book Database

Post by drew »

6000 or so...chump change for you guys :wink:
Comics For Fun and Profit(also available on iTunes and Stitcher)
Post Reply