Longboxes, indexed

A comic book inventory that survives the longbox

An inventory earns its keep the day you stop buying doubles. Record series, issue, publisher, condition, and your own estimate for every comic, then search the whole shelf before you pay for the same issue twice.

Open KeepsakeGridSee a worked example
  • Series and issue in one field
  • Publisher and variant tags
  • Private notes for storage detail

What KeepsakeGrid actually does

Every point below is a feature the product ships today. Nothing on this page describes a roadmap.

What one comic record holds

One record per issue keeps a longbox describable without inventing a new spreadsheet per series.

  • Series and issue number share the name field, so searches for a series list every issue you own.
  • The publisher goes in the maker field; the cover year in the year field.
  • Volume, printing, variant, and cover artist live in up to 12 tags.
  • Story arcs, bagging dates, and what you paid stay in the private notes.

Condition without the jargon arms race

Raw copies get described in your words, and certified copies get their certificate stored.

  • Four plain grades — mint, excellent, good, fair — cover raw copies honestly.
  • A slab's certification number fits the reference field beside the record.
  • KeepsakeGrid submits nothing for grading and displays no third-party grade scale.

Want lists and buying decisions

The point of a comic inventory is knowing the shelf before money changes hands.

  • Mark gaps in a run as wishlist entries and filter the catalogue down to them at a convention.
  • Search runs across the whole workspace, so checking a possible double takes seconds.
  • Record your own estimate per issue and KeepsakeGrid keeps up to 24 dated revisions of it.
  • Totals on the overview count owned comics only.

How a longbox maps onto the inventory

Six typed examples of comics in an inventory — a few first printings, a reading copy, and one gap still being hunted. Estimates are the owner's own figures, not price-guide listings.

Maker
The publisher, such as Image Comics or Fantagraphics.
Year
The cover year printed in the indicia.
Reference number
A slab certification number, if the copy is graded.
Notes (private)
Story arc notes, storage, and what you paid.
An example comic inventory as it appears in KeepsakeGrid. Estimates are the owner's own figures, not price-guide values. Publisher sits in the maker field of each record.
ItemMakerYearConditionStatusEstimateTagsNotes
The Walking Dead #1Image Comics2003ExcellentOwned60first printing; black and whiteFirst appearance of Rick Grimes; bagged and boarded
Bone #1Cartoon Books1991GoodOwned12self-published; first printingJeff Smith's own imprint; bought second-hand at a convention
Saga #1Image Comics2012MintOwned20first printing; Vaughan; StaplesSealed copy of the space-fantasy first issue
Usagi Yojimbo #1Fantagraphics1987FairOwned8rabbit ronin; SakaiSolo-series debut; a reading copy with spine stress
Hawkeye #1Marvel Comics2012ExcellentOwned10Fraction; AjaThe purple reboot; first printing from the pull list
Stray Dogs #1Image Comics2021MintWishlist15first printingMissed it at release; looking for a reader copy at a fair price

Download the comic starter spreadsheetA small CSV with these six rows. Import it after signing in and the preview builds the Comics collection — nothing is saved until you confirm.

What it deliberately does not do

Any tool for this job is only worth choosing once its limits are clear, so here are KeepsakeGrid's before you start typing in records.

  • Recorded values are your own estimates. KeepsakeGrid never presents them as appraisals, insurance values, or live market prices.
  • There is no barcode lookup, licensed catalogue data, or automatic pricing. Every record is one you type or import.
  • Private notes, serial numbers, wishlist items, photos, and valuation history are never included in a shared page.
  • There is no price guide, no grading-service submission, and no marketplace data. Every recorded value is your own estimate.

Questions about comic book collection inventory

Can I record graded slabs?

Yes. Keep the certification number in the record's reference field and photograph the slab as one of its up-to-four private photos. Reference numbers never appear on a shared page.

How do I handle variants and printings?

In the tags. First printing, second printing, cover variant, retailer exclusive — tags are free text, searchable, and capped at twelve per item.

Does it fetch comic values for me?

No. There is no price guide or marketplace connection. You record your own estimate per issue, and KeepsakeGrid keeps a dated history of your changes labelled as estimates.

Can I start from a spreadsheet of issues?

Yes. A CSV needs Name and Collection columns; maker, year, condition, status, estimated value, serial number, tags, and notes are optional. The starter file below matches the importer exactly.

Related pages

Collection management softwareMost collection software decides in advance what a collection is.Collection databaseA collection database should describe your collection, not somebody else's catalogue.Collectible inventory softwareAn inventory is only useful if it covers both halves of a collection.Collection inventory appKeepsakeGrid runs as a website, so cataloguing works on the device that happens to be in your hand.Coin collection inventoryKeepsakeGrid does not come with a coin price guide, and that is the point.Vinyl collection databaseNothing loads itself in from a licensed discography.Personal inventory appThe same record that describes a collection describes the belongings you would struggle to list from memory.

Start with one object

Sign in with Google, name a collection, and catalogue the first thing you would hate to forget.

Open KeepsakeGrid