A glamour log suggested in the question is basically one binary value attached to a character - has it? yes/no. Physical items in inventory...well, let's see: condition, SB value, colour and crafted-by if applicable, HQ or NQ if applicable... if it's the same amount of data, I'm gonna feed Shuu his dragonskin boots.
Should form a "not paying for extra retainers" alliance or some such - personally, I've been sticking to the two we were given. In 2.x. When we didn't have 2000 new items, and weren't preparing for 500-800 more in the next patch.