Updated 14 September 2026.
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.
Give your collection a home
Sign in, open My projects and choose New project. Give it a name you recognise. You can also add an optional start date to show how long you have been working on it. When finished, add an optional end date in Settings to show how many days the project took. Both dates can be edited or cleared. New projects start private.
You can browse without an account. To save a project, use Create account and follow the email verification steps. Use your existing Collect account if you already have one.
New project
Project nameFirst English printingsPrivate
Choose one version of each card
In Catalogue → Cards, set Show to Different cards. Open Filters, choose English, and keep All sets, All finishes and Oldest first. Choose Show cards to close the panel.
Settings for this example
- Show
- Different cards
- Language
- English
- Set
- All sets
- Finish
- All finishes
- Order
- Oldest first
Clear any artist, type, colour or rarity filters from earlier searches. The button above opens this example with the filters already set.
Add the whole selection at once
Choose Add filtered results to a project. It includes all matching results, including cards on pages you have not opened or loaded yet.
- Choose your projectFirst English printings
- Set the minimum Goal1 copy per version
- 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.
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.
Try the example
Imagine this is the Alpha Balance entry in your project. How many copies do you have?
- Goal
- 1
- Have
- 0
- Want
- 1
- Extras
- 0
Copies you want
Copies you own
Still missing
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.
Already own part or all of the collection?
Open your project and choose Mark collected. Apply it to the Entire project, All matching the current filters, or Choose individual cards. Individual selection is kept when you move between pages. Review the scope, then confirm.
This fills Have up to each selected variant’s Goal. Extra copies and notes are kept. Progress is shown as both collected quantities and a percentage.
Make the binder yours
The binder opens in Turn pages mode. Use the page buttons or drag a page; Display lets you choose nine or twelve pockets and continuous scrolling. Missing cards stay in colour with a red Missing label.
In your unfiltered Full goal view, choose Arrange cards. Drag a card onto another pocket to swap them, or tap the two pockets. You can move between pages while arranging. Reset to default order restores the original order.
Open a pocket to change quantities, add notes or upload a photograph of your own copy. That photograph follows the project’s privacy setting. Some catalogue foils use a simulated finish; Show original image switches it off. A language badge identifies the selected version when its own scan is unavailable.
Start with an idea or meet other collectors
Collection ideas offers ready-made checklists, such as Alpha, Seventh Edition Japanese foils and a Counterspell global set. Review a checklist and choose Make it yours to create a private project.
Community shows public projects and their owners. Search by collection title or collector’s displayed name. Open a public project to comment or contact its collector; messages and notifications are available from the navigation.
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.