Early version
This is a prototype. It works, but it is rough in places, the mug list has gaps, and market prices are not in yet. You are seeing it early on purpose.
Why this exists
Naples, middle of summer, this afternoon. Four and a half miles on foot in the heat, dripping with sweat, my wife asking me somewhere around mile three why on earth we collect these things.
Got there. Bought the Naples mug. There was an Italia one sat next to it. I stood there trying to picture our shelf at home, decided we already had that one, and left it.
Back on the ship, my kids told me we haven't got it. So it is gone now, unless I pay three times the price online. After four and a half miles. And it is not the first time.
That is the whole problem. Not that I forget what is on the shelf — that I could not check while stood in the shop with the thing in my hand. Every app I tried wanted me sat at the kitchen table. Nobody built the one you need at the till.
Nobody else wanted to go. She had wanted the luxury trip along the Amalfi coast, which we had done before. The kids wanted another day round the pool. I wanted to bring another memory home instead — the sort that pays you back on a wet Wednesday in February, working at the kitchen table, when the cup in your hand is Naples in the middle of summer.
They all love them once they are home, mind. Family and friends round, you put the coffee on, somebody turns their mug over and asks where that one is from. Twenty minutes later everyone is talking about their holidays. That is what these are actually for. Not the shelf. The conversation.
So this is the thing that keeps the story attached to the mug, instead of leaving it to memory. Because today is going to be one of them.
So this is me building the one I wanted. It works offline, so it works in the shop. It is early, the list has holes in it and the prices are not in yet. If you collect these too, tell me what is wrong with it and I will actually fix it.
Simon
What this is
A place to keep your mug collection, and the trips that came with it
Tick off what you own, see how much of the world you have covered, and write down who you were with. That is the whole thing.
Tick what you own
Open My mugs, search a city or open a region, and tap the ones on your shelf. Tap twice if you have a spare you would trade. If yours is not listed, add it.
Watch the map fill in
Where lights up every country you have brought one home from. It is usually a smaller number than people expect, and a lot more satisfying to grow.
Write down the trip
Stories is for the date, who you were with, and what you remember. Takes a minute per mug. In ten years it is the part you will be glad you did.
Things worth knowing
Nothing to sign up for
No account, no password, no email needed to use it. Everything saves straight to this browser, on this device.
Your collection is yours
It is stored on your device and not sent anywhere. Because of that, clearing your browser would wipe it — so there is a Back up my collection button on My mugs that saves a copy to your phone. That file loads straight back in, here or in any future version.
Worth is coming, not guessed
You can record what you paid today. Market values arrive once there is enough real sales data to stand behind, and every price will show how many sales it came from. No invented numbers.
Not sure which series you have?
There are eight of them and they are deliberately similar. Which one? at the end of the menu tells you how to spot the difference in about thirty seconds.
Which one is this
Eight series, and most people have been calling theirs the wrong thing for years
No shame in it, they are deliberately similar. Pick one up, look at the base, then feel how thick the wall is. Thirty seconds and you will know exactly what is sat on your shelf.
Help us get this right
This grouping is put together from public collector knowledge, and collectors know it better than we do. Some series overlap, some regions got their own runs, and a few never went on general sale at all. If something here is wrong, say so and it gets fixed.
What you own
0 of 0
Search for a city you have been to, or open a region below. Tap a row once for collected, twice if you have a spare to trade. Tap the star on any you still need.
Own one that is not on the list?
Add yours and it goes straight into your collection, counts on every screen, and travels in your backup. It gets sent over here too, so the master list gets better for the next person.
Something here look wrong?
Wrong series, wrong country, a mug listed that was never made, a name spelt badly. The list is put together from public collector records and it will have mistakes in it. You know these better than we do.
Keep your collection safe
Everything here is saved in this browser and nowhere else. Clear your history, change phone, and it is gone. Back it up and it never can be. The same file will load straight into future versions of CollectMyTrip.
Where you have been
Not everywhere you have been. Everywhere you cared enough to carry something home from. The number always comes out smaller than people guess, which is half the fun of watching it climb.
What it is worth
Add what you paid below and this fills in. It is your own figure, so it is the one number here we can stand behind today.
Market value is not here yet
And no made-up one either, which is the easy option and the wrong one. Real prices are coming, built from what collectors actually paid rather than what hopeful sellers are asking.
Each one will show its working: how many sales it came from, over what period. Too few sales to be sure and it will say so instead of guessing.
What you paid
The story behind each one
Who you were with, and what you remember
Somebody picks up a mug, turns it over, and asks where that one is from. This is the screen that means you can actually answer. The heat, the walk, who moaned, who paid. Write it while you still have it — everything lands below, ready for the next time somebody asks.
Be told when your collection is worth something
Prices are coming. When they land I will tell you what your shelf adds up to, and after that only when something in it moves. No newsletter, no weekly nonsense, and your address goes nowhere.