Dexcel
This is the macro-enabled Excel workbook I use to keep track of my card collecting efforts. I have provided a helpful guide on how to read the Dexcel below since there is quite a bit of color coding and internal language used. If you find anything out of place or would like to suggest enhancement ideas, please feel free to share using the Guest Book tab.
📘 Internal Definitions
Classic — Any card printed during the Pokémon's debut Generation
Prime — Classic that has been deemed the coolest and best for a given Pokémon according to Parks' objectively correct opinion
Definitive — Ability to determine a Prime for a given Pokémon; all the sets for their debut Generation have been released and a card for them exists
Placeholder — Custom card to denote any slots where a non-Definitive belongs
🎨 Color Code
Purple — Total number of cards for a given reference regardless of other factors
Gray — Cards not included in Orange counts since they either do not have a card or are non-Definitive; given Placeholders in binders
Orange — Official counts including everything that would be considered Definitive (Purple minus Gray)
Red — Pokémon from previous Generations that have yet to have a card collected for them even though cards of them do exist
Yellow — Pokémon that have a card collected for them but that card is not a Classic
Blue — Pokémon that have a Classic collected for them but not the Prime
Green — Pokémon that have the Prime collected for them (goal state)
Periwinkle — Headers, notes, and anything not directly related to a specific card
🗂️ Tabs
Totals Tab — Provides a summarized analysis of collection progression
Notes Tab — Record of all the rules, definitions, colors coding, future ideas, and miscellaneous helpful points of information
Updates Guide Tab — Standard work instructions for when a new Generation drops or when every cell is green (the latter perhaps being a little too optimistic)
PokéDex Tab — Tracker for the PokéDex section of the Taxonomic Binder
Forms Tab — Tracker for the Forms section of the Taxonomic Binder
Park's Vault Tab — Tracker for any other card I own or want
📊 The Workbook
| Definitions |
| Objective: have the coolest card of every Pokémon species and form from their Generation's original sets as well as anything else cool |
| Classic: card printed in one of the sets released during the Pokémon's debut Generation |
| Prime: Classic that has been deemed the coolest for a given Pokémon according to Parks' objectively correct opinion |
| Definitive: being able to determine a Prime for given Pokémon since all the sets for a given Generation have been released |
| PokéDex: binder section that includes every Pokémon that has a National PokéDex number |
| Forms: binder section that includes all Pokémon that does not have a National PokéDex number; see the sheet for the rules |
| Parks' Vault: binder section home to any card not displayed in the other sections; see sheet for sub-sections; no duplicates |
| Bulk: any card that does not fit in the PokéDex, Forms, or Parks' Vault; typically duplicates from Parks' Vault |
| Placeholder: a custom card created by Parker to denote any slots where a Gray belongs |
| Color Key |
| Purple: total Number of Cards for a given reference regardless of other factors |
| Gray: cards that are not included in official counts since they either do not have a card or are not Definitive; given Placeholders in binders |
| Orange: cards that are included in official counts; everything that would be considered Definitive (Purple minus Gray) |
| Red: Pokémon that have no cards collected for them; you will find an empty slot in the binder |
| Yellow: Pokémon that have a card collected for them but it is not a Classic |
| Blue: Pokémon that have a Classic collected for them but not the Prime |
| Green: Pokémon that have the Prime collected for them; the collection is effectively complete once everything is Green |
| Periwinkle: used for headers, notes, and anything not directly related to a specific card |
| The tabs in this workbook will be the same color as their highest priority card |
| Storage and Browsing Guide |
| PokéDex and Forms = 6 inch binder with 150 pages; Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos and Arceus on the front; 84 pages in use as of Gen 9 |
| Parks' Vault 1 = 4 inch binder with 100 pages; Lapras and Dragapult on the front; no Energy cards unless needed for collection |
| Parks' Vault 2 = 4 inch binder with 100 pages; Darkrai & Cresselia on the front; no Energy cards unless needed for collection |
| Parks' Vault Energy = 1.5 inch binder; 1st Grade Drawing on the front; all the Enegery cards; 41 pages but prolly less once full |
| Bulk = Texas Tech Box in labelled baggies |
| The binder page slots can only have two cards in them, one for each card meant to be viewed on either side of the page |
| Any unneeded multiples of the same card need to be organized into the correct baggie in the Texas Tech Box |
| Cards are designed to be laid flat; only store cards parallel to the direction of gravity |
| Avoid bending cards by only having 25 pages per binder inch; also always close the binder fully after viewing |
| Be sure to only bend pages on the creases when flipping through binders; also only jump ahead two generations when mass flipping |
| Dexcel Sections' Row Format |
| Column A: name of the card; usually the name of the Pokémon |
| Column B: name of the set the card is found in |
| Column C: number of the card within the set; left blank if there is no number system within the set |
| Placeholder Rules and Design |
| Create placeholders using https://pokeplaceholders.io/collections (template in files) |
| Placeholders are created under the two conditions below: |
| Condition 1: the Pokémon is from the current generation and therefore cannpt be Definitive |
| Condition 2: the Pokémon does not have a card made for it yet |
| TLDR; any Grays need to have a Placeholder while cards just missing (Reds) are shown by empty slots |
| Miscellaneous Notes |
| Japanese exclusive arts/cards are not considered for this Workbook |
| Make sure to send the Dexcel to your phone everytime there is a new update |
| If you ever need more binder pages, use Ultra Pro 9 Pocket Pages Platinum Series (not the "secure" version); already some extras in the closet |
| Cards with text not written in English are not only welcome but celebrated |
| Parks is more than happy to receive packs from the current Generation, but they are still not Definitive and thus inefficient |
| Parks has been collecting since he was seven years old (1st grade; 2006) |
| Web Search Tools |
| The best website for Card purchasing is https://www.tcgplayer.com |
| The best website for Card searching and details is https://pkmncards.com |
| Row Formatting is designed for easy search on Google and the various cards sites |
| New Ideas |
| Digimon cards of favorites |
| Coolest Card from each set section? |
| Power Logs Idea |
63 rows · scroll sideways for more columns · colours are live from the workbook