This page contains answers to common questions handled by our support staff, along with some tips and tricks that we have found useful and presented here as questions.

You can enter your duplicates using either the formatted screen, or the spreadsheet edit screen. We recommend using the spreadsheet for duplicates since it is easier to use for entering duplicates. From the Update Collections menu, select Add/Change/ Delete Item and choose the collection you wish to update. If you bought 3 of one item from the same store at the same time, then you can simply find that item and enter a "3" in the Quantity field. However, if you bought those three items at different stores or for different amounts you will want to manage them separately.

To enter a duplicate item using the spreadsheet screen, you must:

1) Find the item for which you have duplicates and click on the description or any other field.

2) Then click on the Copy Row button located near the bottom of the screen. This will create an exact duplicate of that item at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

3) Edit the item you just copied by entering the purchase date, price, or whatever other unique information you have on that piece. Make sure that the Dup column shows "Yes". If not, change it to "Yes".

That’s all there is to it! Now when you run a Duplicates Report, this item will now show there. If you are keeping the first item as your own, and marking any others as duplicates, this is all you need to do. If you would like to sell all of those items, you will need to update the Dup column on the original piece as well as the copies you created.

The same concepts apply to the formatted screen, however, the formatted screen does not have a Copy Row button. To enter a duplicate item using the formatted screen, you must:

1) Click on the New button to give you a blank screen to use.

2) Enter the item information, including the item number, description, prices, etc. Make sure you click on the Duplicate Piece check box to indicate that this item is a duplicate.

3) Click on the Save button to save the item you just entered.

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How do I change the picture on the main screen?

When you double-click on the image, it will give you an Open File dialog box that will allow you to select the image you would like to see there. You will probably need to change the directory to your \IMAGES directory to get the listing of pictures.  The pictures are names using a 2 character collection description, followed by the item number. For example, DV58336.jpg is the Ramsford Palace picture from the Dickens Village collection. If you have any problems finding a specific picture, you can go to your edit screen, find the piece, then write down the image file name, then try again to change the picture.  That image will appear there every time you use the software until you change it.  If you don't see an image there, double click on the blue background about an inch below the Reports Menu.  That will also bring up the Open File dialog box.

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How do I update my Market Values?

First of all, download the new market values(MV.EXE) from our Downloads page to the directory you installed the Village Collector to, normally that would be C:\VCWIN.   You will have to then Run the MV.EXE program to expand the Market Values database.   Start the Village Collector program, then select Update Market Values from the Utilities menu, and you will get a small box with two option buttons, CANCEL and "Update Market Value and Image File Names". Cancel will return you to the main menu, while pressing the "Update Market Value and Image File Names" button will go back through all of your databases and add the image file names as well as update your collections with the latest market values and retired dates. As the databases are updated, you will see them flash up on the button you pressed. After the program updates all your databases, you will get a message back saying "All Village Collector Databases Updated with current Market Values!" Press OK and you're ready to go.

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How do I add New Releases?

First of all, you will need to download the new releases database from our Download page.  These files will be named something like JAN1998.EXE or JUNE1998.EXE.   Once you download them to your C:\VCWIN directory, you will need to Run the file you downloaded.  You can do this through the Run menu after pressing the Start Button, or use Windows Explorere to find the file, then double click it to run it.  Once they are expanded, you can start the Village Collector, then Update Collections->Copy Item to Another Collection.  To copy an item from one collection to another, you first need to select the database you will be copying the item from. Press the Open FROM Database button select the Jan1998.mdb from the dialog box. Then you can press the Open TO Database button and choose a database from the dialog box to copy the files into, for example, your Dickens.mdb. After both databases are selected, simply select an item description from the list on the left side of the page with your mouse, and drag it over to the list on the right and release the mouse button. It doesn't matter where you drop the item, it will automatically be placed at the top of your database. When you are finished with the Dickens database, you can click on the Open TO Database button and choose another database.   When you are all finished copying items, press the Done button to return to the main menu. You may need to re-sort your database after this procedure.

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What about Retirements?

When retirements are announced, we usually will have an updated Market Values database within a day or two of the announcements.  The Market Values Database will also update the retired year for you.   Once that is available for download, you can follow the instructions for installing the new market values.

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How can I prepare a database of pieces for sale?

The Village Collector has a report called Duplicates for Sale that will list all pieces that have a quantity greater than one, or have the Duplicate indicator set to "Yes".  If you wish to be more selective of which pieces you see on a report, the easiest way to do that is to create a New Collection.  To do that, start the Village Collector, then go to File->New Collection. You will have to give the file a name, then it will bring up a blank screen for entering your information.   At this point, just click on the Done button.  We won't enter any information at this time.  Now if you go to Update Collections->Copy Item to Another Collection,  you can open your exisitng collection on the left side, and open your new collection on the right side.  Then simply drag-and-drop the items you wish to sell into the new collection.  Now if you run the Duplicates for Sale report, only the items you wish to sell will be listed.  One more note, when selling an item, you will have to change the Market Value to the price you are asking for the piece.    

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How can I show purchases made in a specific year?

Some insurance companies want to see only what you purchased last year, or this year, so they can update their files without trying to figure out what has changed.  To do this, go to Reports->Custom,then choose the database you wish to work with. When it comes up, make sure the Show Collection Items button is marked. Then in the SQL box (the white text box), enter the following:

SELECT * FROM Items WHERE PurchYr = "1998" Order by SortData2

Then click on the Execute SQL button the actuall run the SQL.  When you are done, only the pieces you bought in 1998 should be shown in the spreadsheet.  The SortData2 field mentioned contains the sort order you used the last time you sorted the items.   You can sort by any field you like.  Now you can click on the Report button to view and print the report.  Of course, you can rearrange or delete the columns to make the report suit your needs.  For more information, check the manual under Custom Reports, and also in the Appendix where it discusses various SQL examples.

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I get an error message "Can't Open Database - Wrong Version".  What does this mean?

Somehow, your database was either opened and saved to another version of Microsoft Access than the Village Collector uses, or the database has become corrupted.  You can try Utilites->Repair Database to see if that takes care of the problem.   If it doesn't, you can email the problem database to us and we'll convert it to the correct version for you.     

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How can I create a database for my other collections?

All you have to do is go to File->New Collection, and give your new database a name, using standard Windows naming conventions (two to eight characters, no special characters, followed by a period and MDB).  That will build an empty database for you to enter your other collectibles into.  Once you have them all entered in, you will be able to use the rest of the programs functions, such as reports, with your other collections.

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I installed the software, but don't see any databases?

When installing the software, there is a check-box where you tell the installation program to install Collectible Databases.  Apparently, you missed this when installing the software, or the setup program somehow missed installing them.  If you have version 4.0, you can Run the SETUP1.EXE file in your \VCWIN directory, then choose your databases and/or pictures.  If you are using version 2, version 3,  you can Run the SETUP.EXE program from the diskettes, and when you get to the screen where the Village Collector Software is checked, UNcheck it, then select the Collectibles Databases option, and choose the databases you wish to install.  For those of you using version 4.1 on CD, you can either run SEUP95.EXE from the CD, or if using Windows 3.1, you can run \WIN31\SETUP31.EXE from the CD, then choose your databases.

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I installed the software, but can't view any pictures.  What is wrong?

It is likely that you did not install the images to your hard drive when you installed the software.  The instructions listed immediately above will tell you how to reinstall them if you wish to do so.  With the CD ROM, you can view the pictures from the CD without actually installing them to your hard drive.  You must have the CD in your CD drive in order for that to work, and also, you will need to make sure the VC.INI file correctly points to your CD ROM drive.  To do that, start  Windows Notepad (usually found in your Accessories folder).  Go to File->Open, then for the Filename, enter VC.INI, then click OK.  In the Environment section, there should be a line that looks like this:

CDDrive=D

If it isn't there, add it anywhere within that section.  If it is there, make sure the drive letter is the correct letter for your CD drive, in this case, D.  If you still have trouble, contact technical support.

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When running the New Picture Updates, I get an error message like  "Illegal operation on "Isinst30".

Disable the Microsoft IntelliPoint Wheel before running setup. To do this, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete, select Mswheel, and click End Task. You can try running the setup program at this point.  If it fails, continue with the following:

Boot the computer in safe mode before running setup. 

Then rerun the programs you downloaded. If they work, you can then reboot your computer normally. If that doesn't work, let me know and I will provide another means to get the files.

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