MTG Old Frame
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Collecting

Collecting

How to build your collection with Collect

Old Frame3 min read

Turn a collecting idea into a project. Here we will build one with one English copy of every original-era card, choosing its first English printing.

The project we are building

First English printings

EnglishFirst printing per cardGoal 1

Open this selection in Collect

Black LotusBalanceLlanowar Elves
  1. 01Create a project
  2. 02Choose the cards
  3. 03Add the selection
  4. 04Track your progress
01

Give your collection a home

Sign in, open My projects and choose New project. Give it a name you recognise. New projects start private.

You can browse without an account. To save a project, use Create account and follow the email verification steps. Collect shares your WordPress session if you are already signed in.

New project

Project nameFirst English printingsPrivate

Example: a separate project for this collecting goal.

02

Choose one version of each card

In Catalogue → Cards, choose English. Open More filters and select First printing per card. Keep All sets, All finishes and Oldest first.

Collect with English, All finishes, Oldest first and First printing per card selected.
The actual filter panel. Click the image to enlarge it.

Clear any artist, type, colour or rarity filters from earlier searches. The button above opens this example with the filters already set.

03

Add the whole selection at once

Choose Add filtered results to a project. It includes all matching results, even cards you have not loaded with Show more.

  1. Choose your projectFirst English printings
  2. Set the minimum Goal1 copy per version
  3. Preview, then savePreview changes → Save

Check the total and sample before saving. Adding the same selection again keeps higher existing goals and the quantities you already own.

04

See what is missing

Keep Goal at 1. Update Have when you obtain that exact version, then save. Want and Extras are calculated for you.

Balance
Balance · Alpha · English · Nonfoil

Try the example

Imagine this is the Alpha Balance entry in your project. How many copies do you have?

Goal
1

Copies you want

Have
0

Copies you own

Want
1

Still missing

Extras
0

Above your goal

Missing: you still need one copy.

This example is interactive. It does not edit your collection.

A later reprint is a different version. Owning a Fourth Edition Balance does not complete the Alpha entry.

What does “first printing” choose?
  • The earliest recorded version matching your filters. With English selected, that means its first English printing.
  • If foil and nonfoil appeared together, nonfoil wins the tie. A foil-only first printing can still be selected.
  • One entry per card name. Different basic-land artworks do not create extra goals. The two physical halves of B.F.M. remain separate.
  • This example covers regular cards from the original era, before Eighth Edition, including Scourge. Tokens, oversized cards and modern retro releases are outside this selection.

Selecting Foil would instead choose the first matching foil. Leave All finishes selected for this example.

Views, CSV and sharing

Use the album, compact list or table to review your project. Export a CSV for your records, or import a Collect CSV after checking its preview.

Private: only you can view it. Unlisted: people with the sharing link can view it. Public: it appears in Community. Visitors cannot edit your quantities.

A project stores the selection you save; it does not automatically add future catalogue changes. Saving Goal 0 and Have 0 removes that entry.

Open My projects