Collector Guide

Track Your LEGO Collection

Updated September 2026ยท6 min readยทlego collection tracker

A LEGO collection tracker has one job the others do not: telling a sealed set from a built one, and a built-and-complete one from a parted-out one. TrophyShelf records that on its own field, alongside the set number, the box condition and the piece completeness — and reads the set name, number, year and piece count off a photograph of the box.

Sealed or built is the whole question

Every other hobby grades a thing's condition. LEGO grades whether it is still a thing at all โ€” a sealed 10179 and a built 10179 are different objects with different buyers, and a parted-out one is inventory rather than a set. That distinction is the first field worth filling.

Sealed status carries five values, and they are the ones the market actually uses: MISB (Mint in Sealed Box), Opened, all sealed bags intact, Opened, built once, Built, complete, Built, incomplete, and Parted out. "Opened, all sealed bags intact" exists because it is a real and valuable state that a yes/no sealed flag would flatten.

What a set records

The type is LEGO โ€” ๐Ÿงฑ in the picker โ€” and it is the deepest schema in the app after watches. Fifteen fields of its own, on top of the universal ones.

Which field identifies the set?

Set number. Not the name โ€” names repeat across re-releases and translate differently, while 10179 is 10179 in every language and every price guide. Fill it first; it is the field that makes a shelf searchable against the rest of the world.

Set name, Year released and Piece count sit beside it, and the AI reads all four off a box photograph.

Why are there four separate completeness fields?

Because "complete" means four different things to a buyer, and collapsing them loses the answer they want:

A set described as "complete with box" answers none of those. Four fields answer all four.

What is the Type field for?

Provenance, and it is where the interesting sets live: Standard retail, Exclusive, Limited edition, Employee gift, San Diego Comic-Con exclusive, LEGOLAND exclusive, VIP reward and Promotional.

A convention exclusive and a retail set can share a set number, a piece count and a year, and be nothing like each other. There is a Limited edition number field too, for the ones stamped 247 of 10000, and a Certificate flag for the ones that came with paperwork.

What will the AI not fill in?

Condition, and every judgement like it โ€” sealed status, box condition and piece completeness are yours. A model cannot tell from a photograph whether the bags inside are intact, and guessing would put a claim about value on a field nobody re-checks. It reads the printed facts off the box: set name, set number, year, piece count.

It also leaves Paid, Est. value and Where acquired alone, for the same reason โ€” no photograph contains them.

Step 3 of the add flow, Review details: every field already filled and marked as AI-suggested โ€” condition, manufacturer, segment, assortment, mainline index and series โ€” each an editable control before anything is saved
The AI fills the printed facts. Sealed status is the one you set.

Do it in TrophyShelf

  1. Create a collection per themeStar Wars, Modular Buildings, Ideas โ€” pick LEGO in the type picker and the ๐Ÿงฑ tile is set for you.
  2. Photograph the box, then the buildBox front with the set number visible, box back, and the assembled model if it is built. Up to 10 photos per set.
  3. Confirm the set numberSet name, number, year and piece count pre-fill from the box shot. The number is the one worth checking.
  4. Set sealed status yourselfThe AI will not guess it, and it is the field that decides what the set is worth.
  5. Record box and piece conditionBox condition, piece completeness, and whether the original inner packaging survived โ€” three answers a buyer always asks for.

Ready to put it on the shelf?

Unlimited collections ยท 15 AI autofills a month ยท No credit card.

Start your shelf โ†’