Autographs 101 · Collector guide
Keep a sports card record you can find again
Which card details should you write down?
Start with the player or subject, the year, the set name, and the card number printed on the card. Add the parallel or variant when the card has one, such as a refractor, a numbered parallel, or a base card. If a serial number is printed, record that number too. Leave a field blank when you cannot read it. Do not guess a set name from memory if the card is in another room.
A photo of the card can suggest the player, year, set, and card number. Change any field before you save. If the photo cannot be read, the fields stay blank and you type what you see. The suggestion is not a price, a grade, or a certificate.
Say whether a signature is on the card, on a sticker, or added later in a private signing. Those are different facts. A rookie card and a later card with a rookie inscription are also different. The glossary pages for a rookie card and an on-card auto explain the words. They do not grade your copy.
Celebrity memorabilia and sports cards can sit in one Vault. A signed photo still needs the signer and the item type. A card needs the set and number. Use the description for anything that does not fit a field, such as a team, an inscription, or a note that the auto was added after the pack was opened.
How do you record a purchase without inventing a price?
Write the purchase price, the date, and who you bought it from in the piece notes. There is no separate purchase-price field, and those notes are not a tax cost basis. A receipt, an auction invoice, or a show pickup are sources you can name. If you do not have a receipt, write that the source is unknown. The app does not fill a price in for you and it does not pull completed sales.
An estimate you type later is still your estimate. It is not a live market value and it is not an appraisal. When you change your mind, keep the older note or replace it on purpose. Gold and Emerald can export a spreadsheet of the pieces, the card fields, and the estimates you entered. That export has no purchase-price column, because the price stays in your notes. Free accounts can read the membership page to see that export. The export is your data, not a valuation report.
A grader name and a grade are facts from a label you can see, if the card is in a slab. Type them as printed. Autographs 101 does not submit cards for grading and does not check that a label matches a company database.
Signed cards and what to write down
How do you find a card again, or keep a chase?
After you save a piece, search your Vault by the player, the set, the card number, the parallel, or the year. The search reads the fields you saved. It does not search the hobby for other people's listings. Open the piece to review the photo and the private purchase notes.
A want list is the chase you have not bought yet. Add the player or the card you are looking for, then keep researching on your own. When you buy it, add a Vault record and mark the want found. Turning a want into a record does not publish the piece. New records start private.
Use the collection tracking guide when you are filing signed photos and other memorabilia next to cards. The same account holds both. A Pre-Screen, if you use one, checks flow, pressure, letterforms, and consistency with known exemplars on a signature photo. It is not a grade and it is not a certificate.
Frequently asked questions
Does Autographs 101 price or grade my sports cards?
No. You can write a purchase price in the piece notes and type your own estimate. The purchase price is not a structured cost-basis field. The app does not look up live prices, pull comps, or grade a card.
Can I keep sports cards and autographs in one collection?
Yes. Cards, signed photos, and celebrity memorabilia use the same private Vault. A new record stays private until you choose to show it.
What should I save so I can find a card later?
Save the player or subject, year, set, card number, and parallel or variant when the card has one. Add a serial number, grader, and grade only when they are printed on the card or label you have.