If you’re a collector of figures, MyFigureCollection.net (MFC) is the website for you! MFC is the world’s largest online database of figure information, with over 850,000 entries. Whether you’re looking for images of your favorite figures, want to know more about upcoming releases, or are just curious about what other collectors have in their collections, MFC has the answers you’re looking for. In this blog post, I will show you how to get started browsing and cataloging your collection on MFC.
One of the great things about MFC is that it’s organized into a variety of different sections, so you can easily find what you’re looking for. The homepage features the latest figure news, reviews, and photos, as well as a list of upcoming releases. You can also use the search bar to find specific figures or browse by category.
If you’re interested in cataloging your collection on MFC, the first step is to create an account. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to add figures to your collection and track their progress (including prototype and stock photos) and view others’ reviews on items.
How to Navigate MFC
This is the landing page for the website. The first thing you will be greeted with is the pictures of the day. Figure collectors can take photos of their collections and post them to be rated and commented on by the rest of the community.
To the right side of the screen is the Community column. In the Community column, there are articles, clubs, ads, and directory users who just joined.
Articles are journal entries written by users, such as Figure reviews, musings, and generalized polls regarding how to collect specific items. You can see some examples here in the Community column as my default settings show the Articles.
I require dark mode/high contrast due to a condition, but if you don’t you can toggle Light mode. For the purpose of this tutorial, I will use “Light Mode.”
Click your user icon and the drop-down arrow. You can also toggle if you want to hide the lewder figures by toggling SFW or, if you are a cultured individual, reveal them. You will know when you stumble on one because the photo will usually have a pink border.
If the SFW option is toggled, you will have to confirm your age to reveal the stock images on database entries. The photos of the item will also have a placeholder NSFW thumbnail.
The Database
When you click “Databases” you will see the latest additions to the database. Scroll further, and you will see the listings of figures released that month. If you want to see other types of merch, simply click “Goods” for items like clearfiles, tapestries, etc., and “Media” for books, doujinshi, and Bluray-type merchandise.
If you select “Calendar” you will by default see items released this year sorted by month, but you can also select to view only items you are interested in, whether this is as a wishlist or a list of your pre-ordered items.
This is a fantastic way to monitor your orders and budget accordingly!
But, how do your items show up here?
Adding Items to Your Inventory
If you want to find a figure there are many ways you can do this. You can search by brand, figure, character, series of origin, etc.
I personally search by the information I know about a figure. There are even ways to search by appearance. Let’s say I want to look for Ironmouse (Vtuber from VShoujo) figures. At the top of the page by your icon is a search bar, just type whatever information you know. In this case, I know that the character’s name is “Ironmouse” so I just searched for that.
Once you do that you can select if you search by tags or characters. You will know if you are selecting the character option if you see a tiny thumbnail icon of the character. If it has a gift tag icon, that’s the tagged characteristic.
Once you are on their page you can add them to your favorites and see all items for this specific character. To the right side, you can see associations with this character.
In the case of Ironmouse, a real person, you will see their company, their friend (Bubi), tags associated with her design, and associated clubs. She is adorable and pink with twintails so she is associated with the “Pretty and Pink” club.
You can also subscribe to notifications for the different types of goods that are available.
I am subscribed to notifications about Ironmouse’s figures.
Just click the bell icon so it looks like it has a slash through it. The slash means “Disable notifications,” so if you click it again it will disable the notifications.
You can subscribe to anything with the bell icon. Comment section so you can track updates or feedback on a figure? Yup. Photography from a certain user? You betcha. All items pertaining to a certain waifu/husbando? Oh yeah, most definitely.
Select the item you want to add to your inventory. For this example, I am going to use Ironmouse’s Nendoroid. I have already added her information to my inventory, but this is how you can too.
At the top of an item page, there are options to choose from. If your item is “Ordered” and already in your collection it will appear like so. To change this you just click it to open the manager.
The manager will allow you to add it to your wishlist, your orders, or your inventory. It is pretty straightforward and self-explanatory.
- If you already own the item you would toggle “Owned.”
- If an item is pending shipment/delivery/release and you have it ordered you would toggle “Ordered.”
- If an item is on your wishlist for whatever reason, i.e. it is too expensive, missed the preorder cut-off, or not available for order yet, you would select “Wished.”
- If you sell/donate/bin/gift the item you would then toggle “Delete” to remove it from your inventory altogether.
For budgeting purposes, you would utilize the rest of the options on the form for documentation. Sometimes, I forget where I ordered an item or how much the total was, but with this form, I rarely do that now.
Ironmouse, with shipping from Good Smile Company, will cost me 9700 JPY, and I can easily monitor that here. This will also help you in the event you decide to sell items and you are curious about your profit margins.
Once an item is paid for or has shipped you can add the tracking information and dates to the calendar. If the item was picked up second-hand you can also select that option below. Make sure to click “Save” otherwise your input will not be saved. (Save is at the top and bottom for those who don’t want to fill in the rest).
You can further organize your collections with “Lists.”
To add it to your list, click “Link.”
If you did it right, your item will say “Unlink” on the right side.
To create your lists click “Create a list.”
Ironmouse is a Vtuber, and I have a few other Vtuber merch items ordered so I am going to create a list of Vtuber merch. These lists can be for whatever you want. I sort mine by category and by origin/genre. i.e. I have a “Kuroshitsuji” list and “Scales” list for scale figures.
You can also select who the audience of your lists are. I keep mine as “Nobody” by default as these are for my own categorical documentation purposes,
If for example, you are purchasing the item as a gift for a friend, you can add a note to your inventory.
Once you’ve added a figure to your collection, you’ll be able to rate it, leave a review, and upload photos. You can also track its status (whether it’s been released or not) and add tags to help organize your collection. And that’s just the beginning! MyFigureCollection.net is always expanding and adding new features, so be sure to check back often.
Advanced Management of your Collection
MFC is equipped with a nifty “Manager” option. In the manager, you will find your inbox, your collection, and a hub for your articles/pictures/lists/ads/friends/clubs/subscriptions/favorites.
If you click “My Collection” you will see your collection at a glance but with all the details you input.
With this, you can also export a spreadsheet with all of the information. This way if someone wants to know how much you’ve spent on your collection you can tell them quickly. However, I’m an idiot and mixed currencies ($20 vs. 2000 JPY) so my numbers are skewed and require additional formulas in excel to quickly calculate values. Learn from my mistakes, people.
You can also add and remove items quickly this way.
Subscription Notifications
Earlier, while looking at Ironmouse’s Nendoroid, I subscribed to notifications for all “Figure” items of her. Here is how you will access the notifications. To get to your notifications, just go up to the top right user icon, then the drop-down arrow. Notifications will be the 3rd option down.
If I look at my current notifications I can see that someone just mass-updated the “FuRyu” brand’s entries. To clear this notification just click the bell in the right corner without unsubscribing to the notifications.
You can clear all notifications quickly by just clicking “Mark all as read” in the top right corner. You can also manage how you receive these notifications should you be interested in email notifications or just the ones available onsite.
Ads/Hunts
So, let’s say you are looking to buy/sell a figure on MFC. First, there are some rules.
One, there is basically a “slow mode” to prevent spamming from non-paid users.
A paid subscription to MFC has perks!
That’s right, there is a paid user subscription option. This allows you to post more than one “Ad” per week, among other things, but I don’t pay, so I am not sure what they are. You can utilize the site just fine without resorting to paying for it.
This is a list of what kind of perks you can get with a paid subscription. You can read it for yourself here.
Two, you are required to have photos on your listings, This will require you to upload your photos to albums and then link them to your listing.
So how do you upload photos?
Uploading Photos
Their photo uploading is fairly tedious, as you have to agree to terms and conditions and verify that you are either uploading photos from online (and following the rules/guidelines for those) or photos you have taken.
Once that is complete, you then have to make sure your item is sorted into the proper categories. So if you are posting images for a sale you would probably put it under “Loots&Boxes,” as it is the figure, in-box. If you are posting images of the room your collection is in, this would go under “Spaces,” for example.
Click the dark gray “Pick” to select the image you are uploading. Select the Album you are uploading it to and the category of the photography.
The “Related Items” “Pick” is where you will tag the item you are uploading. So let’s say I was selling a figure of Izuku Midoriya, I would input filters and scroll through until I find the item. Once found, I’d click “Pick” on the right of the window, then close it.
If I sold a NSFW cast-off figure, I would make sure NSFW is ticked in the top right. Ditto, if the item contains major spoilers.
Three, Only users with a certain amount of positive feedback are not required to use “Paypal: Goods and Services” for payment and are allowed to ask for the “Friends and Family” options to get around taxation laws.
How to find Ads
Ads are pretty easy to understand,
If you toggle “Sales” it is YOUR listing that is available to purchase.
“Hunts” are items people are “hunting” for and the prices they are willing to pay.
Once you find an ad you like you just open it and read the blurb about the item. If you are interested there is a “Contact (Username)” button at the bottom of the Ad so you can contact them to discuss purchase details or request additional photos.
Now, obviously the limit of 1 post a week is ludicrous when you are trying to clear your inventory for whatever reason. So you can always just go to the comment section on database entries.
Let’s say you are hunting the Myethos Miku Shaohua figure.
Some options are users, others are proxy or official vendors who made bot accounts that regularly post information on sales their sites/stores are having.
As always, proceed with caution when purchasing from people online and ask for plenty of pictures, and insist on protected transactions, i.e. Paypal Goods and Services. This way in the event of fraud you can refute the transaction and file a claim to get your money back.
There is a lot more to MFC than I can fit all in one guide, but I think I covered the basics pretty thoroughly.
When in doubt on a page look to the top right or bottom left of the screen and your answer may be right there.
That’s all there is to it! Browsing and adding figures to your collection on MyFigureCollection.net is easy and fun. Be sure to check back for more figure-related content, including tips on how to get started with collecting!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. I’m always happy to help out fellow collectors! Until next time, happy collecting! 😀