Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | infinibrix  | | Posted: | Mar 12, 2021 07:08 | | Subject: | Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation? | | Viewed: | 205 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
| Just an idea I’m putting out there for future consideration because with colour
abbreviations it can give you useful options for catalog use/navigation!
For starters I glanced at all the different colours and it didn’t appear to be
too difficult to give each colour a suitable 3 Letter abbreviation though it
goes without saying that a few colours may be forced to have a 4 letter abbreviation
but they will likely be just a very few obscure colours such as Very Light Bluish
Grey (VLBG) or Trans Light Bright Green (TLBG) but even if it became problematic
some colours may not even benefit as much from the need to have an abbreviation
compared to the more widely and commonly used colours
Either way here are just a few quick abbreviation examples:-
Black – BLK
White – WHT
Reddish Brown – RBR
Dark Brown – DBR
Light Bluish Grey – LBG
Dark Bluish Grey – DBG
Dark Grey – DGR
Red – RED
Blue – BLU
Dark Blue – DBL
Green – GRN
Olive Green – OGN
Tan – TAN
Dark Tan – DTN
Orange – ORG
Dark Orange – DOR
Yellow – YEL
It’s also worth mentioning that the idea would be to have these abbreviations
on display wherever we see colour descriptions which is pretty much anywhere
in the catalog and so if we had abbreviations like this I don’t think it would
take long for people to memorize them and put them to good use so that instead
of searching for ‘Dark Tan hair’ they can just search ‘DTN hair’ or instead of
‘Light Bluish Gray Helmets’ they can just search ‘LBG Helmets’. The other benefit
is that where space is limited in descriptions a Torso could contain ‘RBR Belt
Buckle’ instead of ‘Reddish Brown Belt Buckle’
However once you have colour abbreviations in places their uses can be extended
in other ways too for instance if they are combined with a minifigure part to
create a unique combined colour/part reference such as Legs-DBR (Dark Brown Legs)
or Torso-GRN (Green Torso) these combos can be exclusively used to narrow down
search results for minifigures in ways where you barely need to worry about trying
to guess or work out what keywords have been used and in some cases you won’t
even need to know the name of the character!
For Example if I start with this Henry Minifigure description in its most basic
form it would look something like this:-
Henry - Torso-RBR, Hair-DTN, Head-LNO, Legs-OGN
Granted it’s not the most visually pleasing of minifig descriptions and right
now you’re probably thinking it looks a confusing mess but translated it basically
reads ‘Reddish Brown Torso, Dark Tan Hair, Light Nougat Head and Olive Green
Legs
Now even before I add keywords to that description or even if it already had
keywords and I wasn’t sure what keywords to try? If I had that minifig in my
hand and I didn’t know the name of the character I will at least still be reassured
that with a simple search for some or all of those main minifig part colours
it will either bring up what I’m looking for or narrow it down considerably.
For example if I search for say both ‘Hair-DTN Legs-OGN’ that Henry minifig will
be the only minifigure match that comes up because it’s the only minifigure in
the catalog that currently includes both Dark Tan hair and Olive Green Legs.
Now even if I search for both ‘Hair-DTN Head-LNO’ I’m sure I will still only
get a very small page of matches and that’s before I’ve even attempted to narrow
down with character names Like Luke or Han or the colour/description of the torsos/legs
etc etc...
Essentially if minifigure descriptions were laid out in a format something like
this:-
Minifig Character/Type (*) - Torso/Arms-COLOUR (*), Hair/Headgear-COLOUR(*),
Head-COLOUR (*), Legs/Hips-COLOUR (*), (*Other Keywords)
where the (*) represents where keywords can be added for each core minifigure
component (as/when necessary) it would then mean a revised and more detailed
example of the Henry Minifigure might look something like this even though the
description may not need to be quite as detailed for helping to find this particular
minifig:-
Henry - Torso-RBR, Arms-WHT (Brown Waistcoat, White Tunic), Hair-DTN (Swept Back
Ponytail), Head-LNO (DS, Open Mouth Smile/Worried), Legs-OGN
Its worth mentioning that the ‘DS’ after head represents Double Sided Head (SS
= Single Sided) which would allow you to narrow down even further with just a
couple of extra letters added within search criteria
However one thing to also notice is that you can still search for specific colours
such as the ‘White’ print details found on legs or torsos such as the white tunic
without needing to worry about it bringing up core components in white as they
will only come up if you search ‘Arms-WHT’, Legs-WHT, Torso-WHT, Head-WHT, Hair-WHT
whereas searching for white alone would mean the colour can be set aside for
prints allowing you to be more specific with your overall minifig search results...
Here are a few more examples of how similar minifigs might look:-
Han Solo - Torso-WHT (Shirt), Hair-RBR, Head-LNO (SS, Smirk), Legs-RBR
Han Solo - Torso-WHT (Shirt), Hair-RBR (Wavy), Head-LNO (DS, Closed Eyes), Legs-DBR
Han Solo (Senior) - Torso-DBR (Jacket), Hair-LBG, Head-LNO (DS, Angry), Legs-BLK
(Printed Gunbelt)
Han Solo (Hoth) - Torso-DBL (Jacket), Headgear-DBL (Parka Hood), Head-LNO (SS,
Smirk), Hips-DBL, Legs-TAN (Printed Gunbelt)
Knight (Crusader Lion) - Torso-Red, Arms-BLU, Headgear-DGR (Neck Protector Helmet),
Head-YEL (SS), Hips-BLK, Legs-BLU
I appreciate in might not be to everyone’s liking but it does for the most part
seem to work and I’m pretty sure I could even use it to tackle all those samey
spider-man minifigs without having to worry too much about relying on vague (Web
Pattern) keywords and focusing more on the definitive colours of Torsos, legs,
hips, arms and definitive styles such as printed/legs arms etc…
But again just some ideas for another day perhaps?
|
 |
| Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Feb 16, 2021 09:04 | | Subject: | Adjusting Colour Names such as Bluish Grey? | | Viewed: | 480 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
| It will be known to many that I’ve always favoured the idea of using official
Lego colour names not because I like them better or think they describe the
colours better (Many are very odd choices!) but simply because it creates less
uncertainty about what I’m selling and what the customer thinks they are buying
however I’ve made that argument already and now’s probably the time to accept
that Bricklink colour names are unlikely to match that of the Lego group!
However one thing that has always jarred me somewhat is the use of the term ‘Bluish’
to describe the greys when I’m sure if it was’nt for the need to fit around the
older existing greys already in the catalog both would have no doubt just been
given the simple description Dark/Light Grey instead of Dark/Light Bluish Grey?
The thing is the way I see it Bricklink uses its own colour names for three main
reasons:-
A) Lego never provided a colour name for them to use (at least not in the early
days!)
B) They wanted their colour names to better describe and match the actual shade
of colour!
C) They wanted their colour names to be short and to the point!
However when it comes to those last two points colours like ‘Dark Bluish Grey’
and ‘Light Bluish Grey’ both fail to meet that ideal objective compared to most
of the other colour names that have been created by Bricklink. Both descriptions
are lengthy and somewhat misleading? If anything I see more ‘Bluish Grey’ in
a colour like Sand blue than either of these two greys and when all said and
done they are basically just Light and Dark Grey?
So what does it matter and what to do?
Well because they are both what I would call very common CORE central colours
in Legos colour palette it stands to reason that we should perhaps think about
giving them the most suitably descriptive name for them (Light and Dark grey?)
after all that is what any newbie or anyone else for that matter would define
them as?
Both of these colours are ‘very current’ where as the discontinued greys are
not so current and therefore probably don’t warrant the need for the best descriptive
name for them any longer? In fact if we were to rename the existing Light and
Dark Grey as ‘Old Light Grey’ or ‘Classic Light Grey’ I think this would also
be very helpful to newbies when they are confronted with so many different shades
of grey?
I would also consider using the ‘Old/Classic’ tag for some other discontinued
colours too like Brown i.e ‘Old Brown’ I have less problem with Reddish brown
remaining as that is at least what Lego themselves call it but ‘bluish’ is a
made up bricklink term that has little relevance to the actual colour nor does
Lego use the term? Lego may have added more blue to the actual colour mix than
the old greys but in appearance they are simply intended to be a Light and Dark
Grey in a new and current form hence I feel we should refer to them as such?
Also wherever we use the term ‘Very Light’ can I suggest using the term ‘Pale’.
i.e ‘Pale Grey’ instead of ‘Very Light Bluish Grey’ as shorter names are much
easier for people to read off the site and to label/Inventory their stocks even
if that does mean some initial disruption?
Lastly shouldn’t we at least try and mirror Lego’s reference to Grey and use
‘Grey’ instead of ‘Gray’ in the descriptions?
I hope others will share the same logic in what I’m trying to suggest or perhaps
I’m barking up the wrong tree? Thoughts?
|
|
| Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Feb 4, 2021 06:06 | | Subject: | Separate Leg Hip wear from Torso Bodywear? | | Viewed: | 83 times | | Topic: | Catalog | | Status: | Open | |
| Can I make a suggestion that we create a new category for parts that are specifically
designed to go over the leg pins/hips and call it ‘Hip Wear’ or ‘Leg Wear’? as
there are plenty of them and probably many more that I have missed?
In my opinion ‘Body Wear’ should be left exclusively for all those parts that
are designed to go over the Torso/Neck piece only?
* | | 24087pb03 Minifigure Skirt Plastic, Ruffled (Ballerina Tutu) with White and Dark Pink Panels, Silver Stars, and Bright Light Orange Border Pattern
Parts: Minifigure, Body Wear |
[p=bb0869pb01]
[p=bb0886]
[p=bb0796pb01]
[p=28211pb01]
[p=bb0870]
[p=bb0869]
[p=bb0836pb01]
[p=18832c02]
|
|
| Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Jan 19, 2021 07:59 | | Subject: | Catalog missing Head Stud Type (Draco)? | | Viewed: | 58 times | | Topic: | Catalog | | Status: | Open | |
| Whilst it will already be known to many that I'm not a fan of the fact that
the catalog insists that sellers separate their head stud types and with their
being no change in sight I am now begrudgingly starting to sort through my heads
so that I don't run into problems with customers because regardless of what
I state in my store terms about "Not separating stud types" this won't count
for much in the eyes of Bricklink(Admin has already told me as much!) if/when
a customer chooses to complain and leave negative feedback for receiving the
wrong stud!
However whilst only in the early stages of sorting I've already noticed this
part only available to list in 'Blocked Open Stud' yet I also have some
of these in 'Hollow Stud' too?
Its a 10 year old part and so is there any reason both options are not in the
catalog and can I expect more of the same or have I just been unlucky?
If stud type is so important to people how is it that its gone unnoticed for
so long?
|
|
| Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Nov 13, 2020 07:29 | | Subject: | Minifigue Complete Build Inconsistencies? | | Viewed: | 209 times | | Topic: | Inventories | | Status: | Open | |
| Whilst I’m sure we all understand and appreciate that minifigs have to be listed
as per the instructions and whilst for the most part this might be a good guideline
to follow can we not also try and gauge what we feel the majority of the community
would consider more fitting as a complete minifigure along with what might be
considered unnecessary as part of a complete minifigure?
For instance we have Oscar the Grouch in his trash can marked for deletion??
To be replaced with this:-
I’m not sure anyone would consider the newer entry complete for instance would
anyone actually display the Oscar minifig without the trash can either way the
instructions point to the parts being arrow directed down into the trash can
anyway?
Then compared with these minifigs that have non-essential accessories:-
The yoda has a part only useful with the actual build and if you want Jay In
his kimono outfit you have to specifically purchase him with the multiple part
jet pack whilst the other ninja characters in matching outfits are sold standalone
as should be the same for all?
I’m then confused further as we have Ghostbusters characters in the catalog with
and without their proton packs so are they supposed to be fully accessorised,
barebone or a mix of both, which is it?
To be honest I like the two options given for the Ghostbusters minifigs and whilst
the majority of minifgs should only have one entry I think it would make sense
to have two entries for certain minifigs like the Jay without jetpack and other
minifigs like this one with an option to buy with and without a backpack:-
|
|
| Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Jun 13, 2020 12:39 | | Subject: | Minifigures being given incorrect codes? | | Viewed: | 103 times | | Topic: | Catalog | | Status: | Open | |
| I don't know if its just me but with regards to the ideas and dimensions
themes would'nt it make sense to only give minifigures the 'idea'
and 'dim' codes if they don't already belong to an established and
existing theme? For instance all the Ideas Pirates of Barracuda Bay minifigs
should perhaps be given 'pi' numbers instead of 'idea' numbers?
Likewise dimensions Gimli, Gandalf, Legolas should maybe have a 'lor'
number instead of 'dim' same goes for Slimer and Stay Puft Marshmallow
man which also have 'dim' numbers instead of 'gb'
With the original ghostbusters minifigs from Ecto-1 it looks like they were already
changed from 'idea' numbers to 'gb' numbers with an i on the
end which might be a good way to keep some continuity on the site?
|
|
| Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Apr 25, 2020 07:35 | | Subject: | When is a Minifigure a Minifigure? | | Viewed: | 253 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
| Personally I don’t think we should lose the term minifigure because it’s very
key to how we and Lego describe the majority of their figures and at the moment
there are talks about Minfigs category being changed to ‘Figure’ and possibly
including everything from Lotso Bear to Baby Groot
I did discuss a solution here:-
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1192727
but I think it may have become a bit lost in the rest of the debate but I would
be interested in others thoughts on this or whether the term minifigure is even
still important or what minifigure should refer to going forward?
Here is my original suggestion:-
“On the subject of categorizing figures in general I think breaking down some
of this stuff might make more sense than renaming Minifigs to Figures and then
piling everything into the same place.
It’s a difficult one but I guess you have to start with defining a minifigure
and at the moment I can only think of two ways of doing this where by you define
it by Size after all a clue is in the word MINIfigure which does unfortunately
leave a lot of ambiguity or better still you define minifig by the fact it usesa
Torso Assembly?
Torso Assembly may be a good clear cut way of defining a minifig because almost
all traditional minifigs from a Dementor to a Lord Garmadon use the all-important
standard Torso design that holds a minifig together and its probably the one
key part that really defines what a minifigure looks like when we think of a
minifigure and with that in mind you could categorise as Follows:-
Minifigure – Anything that uses the Standard Torso Assembly design
Modified Figure – Anything from droids, to brick built Droids, to Skeletons and
stuff like Gollum, Slimer, Unikitty, Scurrier, Scooby etc..
Microfigure – Anything very small consisting of a single or maximum of two parts
such as Baby, Baby Yoda, Palpatine Hologram, Baby Groot, Trophy figures and all
those game figures etc..
You are then left with things like Cave Troll, Big Hulk etc. which can either
go under ‘Modified Figure’ or a separate ‘Large Figure’ Category?
Likewise are animals/creatures separated so that Polar bears, Wargs and Horses
go under ‘Modified Figure’ and stuff like baby dinos, spiders and snakes under
‘Microfigure’ or do they have their own ‘Animal category’?
Lots to think about....”
|
|
| Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Apr 12, 2020 06:55 | | Subject: | Just an idea about Neutral Feedback! | | Viewed: | 246 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
| The topic of Neutral feedback and how they are seen as minor negatives comes
up
quite a lot and although I’m sure this idea may not go down well with some....
I think one interesting concept could be to make it so that after 3 months any
feedback
that has not been left automatically turns into a Neutral which would probably
mean about 30% of any sellers feedback will no doubt be made up of Neutrals which
might then make leaving a manual Neutral seem less Negative and more acceptable
for a buyer to submit and for a seller to receive?
A seller could say why should I have to accept receiving Neutrals just because
a buyer couldn’t be bothered to leave feedback but firstly you have to remember
that the same situation will occur for everyone so that shouldn’t matter too
much especially if Neutral is more commonly expected however my theory is that
those customers that are particularly happy with their order be that because
it shipped quickly, well packaged, great parts, no fees, reasonable shipping
cost etc, etc.. are much more likely to WANT to let the seller know its arrived
and they are very happy with everything.
If a customer is left pondering because they are disgruntled about a couple of
things they may then be more inclined to leave Neutral or let it turn to a Neutral
automatically rather than leaving the usual somewhat less than deserved Positive
rating!
My other theory is that you may actually get more people choosing to leave feedback
in the first place because they may not want the seller to receive an automated
Neutral from them but on the other hand this option allows those buyers that
don’t want to leave feedback for a seller who delivered a less than perfect transaction
the option to allow it to just turn to a Neutral.
If you think about it every transaction would be destined to become a Neutral
feedback and only those that specifically choose to give Positive or Negative
will change that eventuality which would probably make more sense?
Therefore two sellers with 100 feedback instead of looking almost identical may
end up looking very different based on their overall performance:-
Seller A:- 70 Positive, 30 Neutral, 0 Negative
Seller B:- 55 Positive, 45 Neutral, 0 Negative
Or at least that’s the theory if you go by the law of averages when it comes
to those that don’t leave any feedback and then add to that all those who had
previously been holding back with giving sellers a Neutral rating!
|
|
| Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Jan 28, 2020 14:31 | | Subject: | Lego AMA Should we +1 questions? | | Viewed: | 156 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
| With regards to the below part of the announcement Lego says they will update
the FAQ with our ‘MOST’ top-of-mind questions does that mean those questions
that get asked the most will more likely get answered? and in which case if I
have the same question as what someone else has already asked should I just +1
it or would that cause more confusion?
I would assume that all the main questions will remain on the far left and easy
for Lego to spot in fact any staggered +1’s underneath it should actually indicate
to Lego that several people are showing an interest in the same question but
at the same time I don’t know if it’s a good idea or not? Only repeating the
same questions again would seem even more confusing? Any thoughts?
“Please do add your questions in the thread below*. We will update the LEGO FAQ
on an ongoing basis with your most top-of-mind questions, until the closing of
the AMA on 31st January 2020 at 9AM EST.”
|
|
| Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Jan 2, 2020 19:06 | | Subject: | Official Lego Part Codes vs Bricklink Codes? | | Viewed: | 187 times | | Topic: | Catalog | | Status: | Open | |
| Now that Lego has acquired Bricklink do you think the official Lego part numbers
will be more widely used/accepted on BL or will Lego in fact actively want to
encourage the use of their codes on the site as a primary means of identifying
parts in the BL catalog?
Either way when you search for an official Lego part number BL already recognises
it so is there any reason the official Lego part code is not displayed alongside
the part in question? Perhaps there’s already an option in the settings to display
them that I don’t know about?
Also is there any reason BL have continued using their own reference codes instead
of switching to Legos? If it’s just a case of not wanting to upset members that
have inventoried their physical stock and become accustomed to these BL codes
wouldn’t it be better to have both codes to hand so that buyers and sellers alike
have the option of choosing whichever codes they prefer to work with?
|
|
| Author: | infinibrix | | Posted: | Jan 28, 2018 06:53 | | Subject: | BL Suggestion to raise revenue for BL+Sellers | | Viewed: | 284 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
| I don't know if this applies to all sellers but I rarely list my entire inventory
for any individual minifig part all at the same time mainly because whenever
I've done this in the past there usally comes a point when someone will buy
out all your stock in one go however many hundreds of the same part you might
have!
This is usually because you've dropped your guard and are suddenly selling
well below the BL average for the current price/demand and of course at that
point its too late for you to adjust your pricing to fit in line with current
market value. The other thing is I like to hold back stock for future minifig
builds as there's nothing worse than having to buy back minifig parts at
double or even tripple the price you once sold them for yourself!
Anyway getting to the point....
This can mean that with the smaller amounts I list in my store at any one time
I can unknowingly sell out of a part for weeks or months at a time before I even
notice and remember to replensih my store inventory again which is not good for
buyers, not good for BL and certainly not good for me!
Therefore I can't help but wonder whether BL should implement a similar system
to Brickowl where as your picking your order you can also see exactly how many
you will have left in your store thereby allowing you to easily re-adjust your
inventory as you go?
Even ebay has now implemented this feature as I think they also recognise that
this helps prompt sellers to replenish or re-purchase stocks before selling out!
I've also noticed that many other BL sellers try to get around this problem
by creating 4 or 5 listings for the same part all with varyig prices so that
as they sell out at the cheapest price they still have the same item listed at
higher prices but this just creates clutter and makes shopping with these sellers
very frustrating as you end up having to search through quadruple the number
of pages seeing the same items come up again and again!
Really not sure why Sellers do this as its not good for business and I've
quite often found myself having to give up with browsing any further through
their stores.
Does anyone share a similar view on this or perhaps theres a different way around
this that I'm missing?
|
|
|
