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v3.0: Add items in seconds, and your year Wrapped

· 3 min read
Joshua Yewman
Joshua Yewman
Senior Security Engineer, Founder of RetroTechCollection

The biggest change in v3.0 is how fast it is to add something now: point your camera at it, and RetroTechCollector works out what it is. Alongside that, there's RTC Wrapped, a cleaner mobile app, and your collection's value front and centre.

Add items in seconds, with AI​

Cataloguing has always been the slowest part of any collection app — typing out names, years and specs for hundreds of items. v3.0 mostly removes the typing.

Open Add and you'll now see Identify with AI right next to Scan barcode. Snap a photo of the item, and AI recognises it, matches it to the Library, and brings the form back pre-filled. Review what it found, fix anything that's off, and save. For loose hardware with no barcode and no box, it's a huge time-saver.

It pairs with the things that were already there: barcode scanning for boxed games, and autofill from the 36,000-item master catalogue when you'd rather search by name. Whichever route you take, you land on the same item form, so nothing is hidden from you.

AI identifications are quota'd per plan, so it's worth saving them for the items they speed up most. Full walkthrough in Adding items.

RTC Wrapped​

At the end of a year of collecting, it's nice to see what actually happened. RTC Wrapped is a shareable recap — what you added, what it's worth now, your top category, and your biggest finds — wrapped into something you can post or send to a friend.

It's part of the Collector and Enthusiast plans. More in RTC Wrapped.

A cleaner app on mobile​

The mobile app moved to a five-tab bottom bar — Collection, Market, Add, Social and Profile — with the camera, barcode scanner and AI identification sitting under that centre Add tab, one tap from anywhere.

We also went through the app screen by screen fixing the small things that add up: icons that were too small to tap, notifications you couldn't read, toolbars that ran off the edge, and form fields that were sized inconsistently. None of it is glamorous, but the app feels noticeably tidier for it.

Your collection's value, up front​

Your collection is worth something, and v3.0 makes that easier to see. The collection view now leads with a value panel showing your total and how it's changed, and analytics highlights items that are rising in value. Live values, the value-over-time chart and price-drop alerts come with Collector and above — see Prices & values and Analytics.

Want-it alerts and showcase profiles​

Two smaller community additions:

  • Want-it alerts — keep a wishlist of the things you're hunting for, and get told when something relevant turns up.
  • Showcase profiles — your profile does a better job of showing off the collection behind it, so following someone actually means seeing their shelves.

More in Social.

A note on plans​

Selling on the marketplace is part of the Collector and Enthusiast plans (5% and 2.5% selling fees respectively), and buying and browsing stays open to everyone, including the free Hobbyist plan. The full breakdown is on Plans & billing and Fees & payouts.

What's next​

iOS is in the works, and there's more coming for analytics and the marketplace. As always, the quickest way to shape what's next is to tell us what's missing — there's a Report a bug link in the app, or email [email protected].

Happy collecting.

— Josh