How to catalog your Pokémon card collection
Vishwen Labs
Catalog a Pokémon card collection by identifying each card as a specific print, recording its condition, quantity and what you paid, and keeping the physical storage in the same order as the list. Done that way the collection has a value you can quote, a list you can export, and a wishlist that stops you buying a card you already own. A scanner app does the identification from a photo; the judgement about condition and the discipline about storage are yours. A few hundred cards take an evening; a binder a week is a sustainable pace for a big backlog.
Cataloguing a Pokémon collection
- Sort the pile by set. Group cards by the set symbol or set code on the bottom edge, then by collector number within each set. Bulk commons can go in set order in a box; anything holo, rare or old gets a sleeve now.
- Scan or search each card. Photograph each card flat under good light, or queue a stack in bulk mode. For commons you would rather not photograph, search the database by name and set instead.
- Confirm the print. Check the set and number the app returns against the card's bottom edge, and pick the right variant: holo, reverse holo, 1st Edition. Same-name cards are listed if the photo was ambiguous.
- Record condition, quantity and price paid. Judge the condition under a light, front and back, and enter it with the number of copies and what they cost you. This is what turns a list into a valued collection.
- Put the wants on the wishlist. Cards you are chasing go on the wishlist rather than in the collection, so the collection's value stays honest and the wishlist is the shopping list.
- Store to match the list. Binders by set in number order for the collection, top-loaders or a graded-card box for the valuable few, and a label on every box. The list is only useful if you can find the card it names.
- Export and back up. Export the collection to CSV and keep a copy outside the phone. Do it again after every big session, and after selling anything.
Why prints, not names
A collection catalogued by name is a list of Pikachus; a collection catalogued by print is a list of specific cards with specific prices. The difference is the set and the collector number on the bottom edge, plus the variant. The app's scan reads the name and the number for this reason, and the identification guide explains how to read them yourself when a card is worn or a scan is unsure. Take the extra second at this step; it is the one that cannot be fixed in bulk later.
Condition and price paid are the two fields people skip
They are also the two that make the collection worth cataloguing. Condition decides which marketplace price applies, and the condition guide sets out TCGplayer's five grades. Price paid makes the app's gain-or-loss figure meaningful and, if you ever sell in quantity, is what a tax office would ask about. For cards you pulled from packs, enter a share of the pack price or zero; consistency matters more than precision.
Bulk, and what not to catalogue
Not every card needs a row. Hundreds of played commons from a modern set are worth cents each and are better recorded as a box (“Paldea Evolved commons, ~300”) than scanned one by one. Catalogue what is worth finding again: every holo and rare, every card from before 2010, every promo, and anything a buyer would ask about. Bulk scanning helps with the middle ground, a stack of reverse holos or a set you are completing, where each card is worth a row but not a ceremony.
Decks are collections too
A deck is sixty cards that live together, and the app's deck builder keeps them as a unit with a composition breakdown, a running value and export in text, CSV, JSON and the PTCGO list format. Cards in a deck can also be in the collection; the deck value tells you what is sitting in the box you take to league night. The app does not check tournament legality; the regulation mark on each card and pokemon.com's rotation notice do that.
Keeping it current
A catalogue decays the moment you trade. Make adding and removing part of the transaction: scan the card in when it arrives, mark it sold when it leaves, and move a chased card from the wishlist to the collection the day it lands. Re-check the condition of anything you have played. With Premium the prices refresh themselves; the list only stays true if you do.
TCG Card Scanner is an unofficial, independent app from Vishwen Labs. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or associated with The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, Creatures Inc. or GAME FREAK. Pokémon and all related names, marks and card artwork are trademarks and copyrights of their owners. Card data and prices come from the public sources named on these pages, and nothing here is advice to buy, sell or grade a card.
Questions people also ask
What is the fastest way to catalog a lot of Pokémon cards?
Sort by set first, then scan the cards worth a row and record bulk commons as a box. Bulk scan mode queues a stack of photos; searching the database by name and set is quicker still for cards you can identify by eye.
Should I catalog common Pokémon cards?
Only if they are old, promotional or part of a set you are completing. Modern played commons are worth cents and are better counted as a box than listed one by one. Catalogue every holo, rare and pre-2010 card individually.
