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| Author: | hpoort  | | Posted: | Feb 8, 2024 06:40 | | Subject: | Re: Potato Servers | | Viewed: | 44 times | | Topic: | General | |
|
| In General, PupKiwi writes:
| | When will Bricklink update its servers?
It seems like they are incredibly outdated because of daily maintenance that
lasts too long, as well as the designer program orders breaking the website as
well.
I am struggling to do any order processing because of this.
|
Daily maintenance does not have to do anything with the state of their servers.
It is part of Bricklink's database design that it clusters all statistical
operations into a single daily batch so as to guarantee consistency and not interrupt
daily operations. This is by design, not by outdated servers.
As Russell has written in a recent post, the peak for the BDP far outweighed
their already very high expectancy and planning for much increased bandwidth.
AFAIK, updating their servers is one of the things that Bricklink has done during
the years.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Feb 6, 2024 05:38 | | Subject: | Re: View Previous Orders | | Viewed: | 38 times | | Topic: | Buying | |
|
| In Buying, illswerve2 writes:
| | Is there a reason why I can not see my past orders in the orders link under purchases
?
How can I view my previous orders ?
|
The reason is: more than 6 month old orders are purged from the system --
as Bricklink does not have a legal reason to keep these personal data for longer
and for no other purpose than to maintain the historic price list and any disputed
order (those are kept indefinitely).
For financial reporting purposes, the headers and financial totals of all your
orders are available for an unspecified (very long) time at https://www.bricklink.com/orderExcel.asp?orderType=placed
If you still need more details, refer to your personal e-mail archive outside
Bricklink.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Feb 4, 2024 01:41 | | Subject: | Re: Plate Variations | | Viewed: | 34 times | | Topic: | Catalog Identification | |
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| In Catalog Identification, FarmerTed1971 writes:
| | Hi all,
I am in the process of constructing older space sets and just in general Lego
from the 80s-90s. It would be really helpful if someone could tell me what year
Lego changed the underside of the plates to have the little circles in between
the studs not filled in. Specifically, I'd like to know when they did so
for part #4865 Panel 1x2x1 https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=6812-1
as I am trying to complete the Grid Trekkor and I care about having the specific
pieces from the era. Please message if you have any info, thanks. 
|
AFAIK, the difference between hollow and solid bottom pins can not be tied to
specific years.
Have a look at https://www.leggodt.nl to see what is known about similar changes.
|
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| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Feb 4, 2024 01:37 | | Subject: | Re: Strange Plate from the 60's? | | Viewed: | 50 times | | Topic: | Catalog Identification | |
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| In Catalog Identification, FarmerTed1971 writes:
| | Hi again all,
I was recently at my local Bricks and Minifigs when I pulled two 2x4 plates in
light gray from the bulk parts bin. The strange thing is, these have a different
font on the studs and are the patent pending versions as it says so on the bottom.
Can someone tell me what era these are from and what sets they came in?
Also, sorry for the really crappy photo.
Thanks
|
Have a look at this site: https://www.leggodt.nl
All about marks from different eras.
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| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Feb 1, 2024 07:16 | | Subject: | Re: Variants Thread - January 31 | | Viewed: | 50 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
|
| In Catalog, Teup writes:
| | In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:
| | We have a meeting on Monday (Feb 5) with our catalog admins to go through the
rest of the list and make final decisions. After that meeting, a schedule will
be made for the merges. Due to the large number of minifigure heads in the catalog,
the merge process is likely to not be complete until the end of May.
|
.....
What a mess. Why does Bricklink never keep its own promises? Russell please....
don't do it like this, this is chaos. I have been a seller here for a very
long time, I have paid thousands of dollars to you guys and I really don't
want to close shop but you're really forcing my hand here. I simply cannot
manage my inventory if changes are randomly happening on random days over a course
of MONTHS.
The change was scheduled for 1 Feb. We sent out a newsletter to our customers
about the date. Then it was 15 Feb. That's ok, at least more time to prepare.
I've spent a full day writing software to handle the transition form old
to new item IDs. But now it turns out that the changes are going to be all over
the place between basically today and MAY. And even THAT is not
sure...?
Why wasn't it possible to simply set a date, announce it, and stick to that
plan? Why can't Bricklink go offline for maintenance on the set date of 15
Feb and come back up with the changes in place? It's a real shame that Bricklink
really doesn't seem to take these changes seriously and try to understand
the implications.... Does it really take that long to come up with new numbers?
And if it does, can you at least update them all at once by then, and announce
it properly?
|
I think what Russell said before was that he is going to do each mutation manually
through the user interface on their back end. This to ensure that all change
logs are filled normally, same as with any change. Doing it the other way - by
a bulk update directly in their database - they seem to lack the ability to keep
all logs updated as well.
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| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 29, 2024 10:20 | | Subject: | Re: Variants Thread - January 26 | | Viewed: | 49 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
|
| In Catalog, cartman1 writes:
| | In Catalog, Stellar writes:
| | In Catalog, hpoort writes:
|
|
| | | | | | Can anyone point me to a post of admin Russell where he has acknowledged that
any site enhancement regarding variants is actually taken up? (Meaning the coding,
not the database contents). In my mind he has never responded to any of the suggestions
to enhance the handling of variants.
|
This post?
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1450855
|
|
Yeah, that's the only one I've seen that comes close. At least they have
given it a name internally, although 'Checkbox solution' does not inspire
too much confidence yet.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 29, 2024 09:18 | | Subject: | Re: Variants Thread - January 26 | | Viewed: | 59 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
|
| In Catalog, SylvainLS writes:
| | In Catalog, jennnifer writes:
|
[...]
| |
Hmm 🤔, I’m wondering how Studio, or even a ‘simple’ Wanted List for a MOC, could
work with an umbrella system. Should BL propose to change the variants to cheaper
ones / more recent ones? How to know if they (functionally) work in the build?
|
How about to split the database field 'item number' into two subfields,
at every place where a part type is described:
(1) the base part number
(2) a set of which variants are acceptable
Ad (1): this would be the unbrella entry
Ad (2):
For stock inventories ('items for sale' : which variants could this be
/ are not distinguished (= by default: all)
For set inventories: which variants were found during the lifespan of this set
(= by default: the latest)
For wanted lists ('wanted items': which variants would you accept (=
by default: all)
In Studio: which variant to show (by default: the latest) + which variants would
work (= by default: all)
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 29, 2024 08:35 | | Subject: | Re: Variants Thread - January 26 | | Viewed: | 50 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
|
| In Catalog, jennnifer writes:
| | In Catalog, yorbrick writes:
| | | | You’re arguing for a real umbrella system while Yorbrick was answering BUC who’s
arguing for using a supplementary Undetermined entry “in the meantime.”
|
Indeed, the suggestion I was replying to clearly suggests that no new coding
would be needed, and so would be using the existing undetermined parts method.
But the "checkbox solution" Russell references would require time
and new coding. Using "undetermined type" utilizes an existing
method that would be a quick and easy fix to this so-called problem.
|
I'm going to jump in here and say that the site's current 'undetermined
type' system is not a good solution overall. (Even in the meantime.)
Our set inventories need to have the correct variant listed as using undetermined
parts there would water down our info. Therefore, the undetermined parts would
all be orphaned...ie not showing in the Known Colors or Appears In lists. This
means people creating wanted lists or parting out sets would have to know to
go and switch to the undetermined listing if they did not care to shop for or
list that specific element.
Without the 'umbrella' coding, it would create a lot of duplication and
confusion in the Marketplace.
Thanks,
~Jen
|
So if I conclude correctly, the only proper way forward is to START with the
'umbrella coding' - that have been asked for since many years.
Can anyone point me to a post of admin Russell where he has acknowledged that
any site enhancement regarding variants is actually taken up? (Meaning the coding,
not the database contents). In my mind he has never responded to any of the suggestions
to enhance the handling of variants.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 26, 2024 12:33 | | Subject: | Re: Variants Thread - January 26 | | Viewed: | 60 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
|
| In Catalog, StormChaser writes:
| | In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:
| | My initial post on this subject earlier this month has garnered almost 700 replies,
|
I would like an official response on why the website is choosing not to implement
the suggestion many have recommended for years. Many of us would like
to see a redesign of basic catalog functionality which allows everyone to be
served equally.
Selectable variants is a long-term solution which demonstrates there is a vision
for the future of this website and a care for all members. What are the difficulties
with implementing a visionary solution? Not enough money? Not enough staff?
Not enough vision at the top?
Looking forward to a quality response to this question which many of us have
asked.
|
+1
Exactly what I was trying to convey with my reply to the original post and the
suggestions to this end throughout the years.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 25, 2024 08:03 | | Subject: | Re: Help with Studio | | Viewed: | 20 times | | Topic: | Related Software | |
|
| In Related Software, paul.kirk247 writes:
| | Hi. I wanted to ask the Bricklink forum users for help with a few problems I
have been having using the Bricklink Studio application.
The first problem is that I haven’t been able to download the Studio 2.23.12_1
update. When I try to click on the “Update” button on the “New Studio Version
Available” pop-up, nothing happens, it just briefly goes lighter and then returns
to the same colour as before, with the pop-up staying. No matter how many times
I shut the application down and restart it to try again, it still hasn’t worked.
The second problem is that when I am building a model that has a lot of pieces,
it doesn’t take long before the fan on my Apple MacBook Air goes to full blast
and the laptop gets overheated. It won’t stop doing this unless I shutdown the
Studio application.
I have tried asking the brick link customer support operators, but they couldn’t
work out how to sort these problems. If anyone could help me finally solve what
to do with these problems, that would be really helpful. Some other information
that might help is: the current version of Studio (that I am stuck with) is Unity
Player version 2021.3.5f1 (40eb3a945986), my Apple MacBook Air’s current version
is macOS Monterey version 12.7.1 (21G920),(and I have updated my laptop several
times since trying to sort these problems, so even though I haven’t got round
to updating it to the latest version, I don’t think that would help) and I have
attached a screenshot of the update pop-up.
Thanks
|
The first that Bricklink Customer Support should have done, was to point to you
to the proper forum at https://forum.bricklink.com
There are hundreds of post and several threads about exactly these issues.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 11, 2024 06:45 | | Subject: | Re: Important proposal regarding catalog variants | | Viewed: | 65 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
|
| In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:
| | In Catalog, WOLKsite writes:
| | In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:
| | 2. What if I really care about a certain variant that is going away? Can I
still buy and sell that variant?
Absolutely! You can add notes to your listings to make them as "determined"
as you wish. Buyers can still search within notes for extra details, or they
can simply observe them as they browse listings.
|
Are notes searchable in any way? Because I don't know them to be. This is
kind of moot if you're asking for us to manually look through potentially
hundreds of shops.
|
Yes, they are searchable:
https://www.bricklink.com/searchAdvanced.asp?utm_content=subnav
|
No, they are NOT searchable by absence of a standard.
Since you are proposing to move structured catalog information into an unstructured
comments field you are in reality removing the practical ways to list and find
parts.
Russell, I am impressed by how much effort and motivation you put into this idea
and into the involvement with this thread, but am very disappointed that you
don't actually listen to what is being said by most of the most seasoned
forum contributors, which is: (1) Yes, how the site handles variants needs to
be tackled, but also (2) No, merging specific parts is not the way to go.
Please let the developers have a look at the technical suggestions made in this
thread before you degrade the catalog.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 10, 2024 12:17 | | Subject: | Re: Important proposal regarding catalog variants | | Viewed: | 62 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
|
| In Catalog, 1001bricks writes:
| | | | All this needs is an extension of how you can specify parts in your store inventory
(how about a * or ? for starters) and an extension of how you can specify parts
in your wanted list.
|
No no no!!!
Nobody should HAVE to know (and remember, this specific day) that "*"
will show every version: this is "Linux" spirit, people are more "Windows".
"3068" should bring the 99.997% market of 3068b.
Specific versions can be more difficult to find, as it's reserved to highly
specialized people who will have time to learn the special features.
Normal people don't have this time/energy: they work, have a family, etc.
AFOLs are the most often casual builders.
Site should be casual for them.
|
You misread what I said. Not having to know about variants but still having the
ability to choose to care and specify would make it easier for casual users -
if the user interface is properly designed and has the proper defaults. With
the '*' and '?' I refer more to the backend, allowing these kind
of expressions in the database table that contains the wanted list items.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 9, 2024 12:12 | | Subject: | Re: Keep yourself well apprised of value trends | | Viewed: | 62 times | | Topic: | Price Guide | |
|
| In Price Guide, yorbrick writes:
| | In Price Guide, popsicle writes:
| | I would back in the day, but stopped long ago. The example of this minifig's
value (especially as new) brings home the countless potential payoffs. By necessity,
we vendors budget what little time left to us beyond that of running the store.
Nonetheless, it was always deemed as time very well spent for me, staying appraised
of market values trends - Can be enjoyable too.
-popsicle
|
What is his value though? The price guide for this one indicates what price buyers
are NOT willing to pay, but doesn't indicate what price even one buyer is
willing to pay.
It is a figure with low supply, but (at the current listed prices) even lower
demand.
|
There is one sales to be found at the torso level:
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=973pb0012c01&ColorID=10
It seems that the other parts of the minifigure are low/normally priced only.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 9, 2024 12:03 | | Subject: | Re: Important proposal regarding catalog variants | | Viewed: | 65 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
|
| In Catalog, yorbrick writes:
| | I can definitely see the advantage of getting rid of variants that are not really
important such as the interior type "connections between studs", sprue
marks and similar. Even the 7 vs 9 teeth, as they give the same functional angles.
However, the grooved vs no groove tiles are visually quite different from the
side. That difference really shows if you have more than one next to each other
and that is how they are often used when building. Same thing with smooth slopes.
Do they just get put into the regular slopes now, as again there is a clear visual
difference between the two and again slopes tend to get placed next to each other
when building. Whereas differences inside the parts tend not to get noticed anywhere
near as much as the exterior surface differences. Even the 7 vs 9 tooth hinge
differences tend not to show when looking at a build.
I also worry about vintage vs new/reissue torsos where the same print has been
used where there are large price differences, even if sellers can highlight they
have the original in the text.
|
Note that the "connections between studs" is not the functional difference,
it is just the most easily recognizable feature. The real difference is in the
angle of the slope and whether the hollow studs accept a bar connection.
The visual difference of the angle has not been enough for Bricklink to distinguish
a variant (see the 3x1 slope, which is not yet split), the functional difference
of the connectivity was.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 9, 2024 11:56 | | Subject: | Re: Important proposal regarding catalog variants | | Viewed: | 83 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
|
| In Catalog, Hurt writes:
| | In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:
|
| |
I would love to have a catalog as detailed as possible (e.g. the bottom pin form
of a regular 1 x 2 plate, either filled or with a hole), while at the same time
have this level of detail optional for e.g. new users or user who don't care
about it.
Something like a "main item" (e.g. the current "undetermined type"
that, when you add it to a wanted list, is considered to be the same as all "sub
items". So they should be linked somehow. Like "add the undetermined
type" can be any of the "sub items" when you use the wanted list
for buying, or when you want a specific sub type, you just add the sub type to
your wanted list.
Just dreaming
|
Exactly, that is how it should be done.
Catalog = as detailed as possible
Items for sale = as detailed as you as a seller are willing to sort
Wanted items = as specific as you need the parts to be
All this needs is an extension of how you can specify parts in your store inventory
(how about a * or ? for starters) and an extension of how you can specify parts
in your wanted list. No need to touch the catalog at all.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 9, 2024 00:38 | | Subject: | Re: Important proposal regarding catalog variants | | Viewed: | 904 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
|
| As a database engineer, this is the worst idea ever. To dumb down your core database
rather than solving it on the usage side.
As suggested many times before, why don't you allow sellers to indicate which
variants may have been mixed in a lot and allow buyers to specify which variants
they care about.
In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Hello everyone,
As a platform, we have decided to take a hard look at some of the mold variants
that we are currently asking you to recognize. For sellers, more variants means
extra sorting and extra work while pulling orders, plus the issues that arise
from variant misunderstandings.
For buyers, excess variants mean that it's harder to assemble a wanted list,
find stores, and ultimately obtain the parts you are looking for.
I have put together a quick Help page to outline these proposed changes:
https://www.bricklink.com/help.asp?helpID=2625
Notice the date on this is coming up quickly (Feb 1), so I'm not giving a
lot of time for discussion. I'm aiming for about 1 week of discussion and
then we'll give sellers 2 weeks to adjust the descriptions on affected items
if they wish to retain the distinctions.
I plan to construct a full FAQ page with answers to all your questions. This
will serve to inform users about what was done here in February 2024, and also
help point the catalog in the right direction in the future.
To get started, I'll list a few here:
1. This sounds like you're dumbing down the BrickLink catalog to make
it easier for new users. Is that what is going on?
Not really. There are many, many other variants we expect people to sort and
care about. These ones don't really seem to matter much, and some of them
(e.g., the minifigure heads) actually cause problems for the catalog that cannot
be corrected otherwise.
2. What if I really care about a certain variant that is going away? Can I
still buy and sell that variant?
Absolutely! You can add notes to your listings to make them as "determined"
as you wish. Buyers can still search within notes for extra details, or they
can simply observe them as they browse listings.
3. How do I know which exact variants will be merged? I only see one example
in each category.
Please ask in this thread and I can be very specific. Usually we are talking
about a handful of parts and the printed versions.
4. Has a merge like this ever been done before?
Yes, there was a precedent - the Headlight Brick with Slot:
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1016584
It was marked for deletion a few years ago and was finally merged last August.
5. Are these the only parts up for consideration, or are there other variants
that will be merged as well?
This is all for now. Based on how well this goes, we may elect to remove other
entries later. However, we will keep all functional variants and important cosmetic
variants.
|
|
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| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 6, 2024 12:37 | | Subject: | Re: Got refund; no explanation from seller | | Viewed: | 37 times | | Topic: | Buying | |
|
| In Buying, Zabeth writes:
| | I'm new to Bricklink. Placed an order several days ago and paid via PayPal.
This morning I have a notification from PayPal that my money has been refunded,
but no message from the seller as to why.
Is this normal seller behavior on Bricklink? Should I just move on and place
an order with another seller?
Thanks!
|
Did you pay through PayPal OnSite or through another flavour of PayPal? If the
latter, the seller may not have been able to properly receive your payment.
Also look at the order details and both your Bricklink and e-mail messages, including
the spam box; it is possible that you may have missed a message or that it has
been automatically flagged as spam.
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 6, 2024 01:44 | | Subject: | Re: stud io parts. | | Viewed: | 23 times | | Topic: | Related Software | |
|
| In Related Software, computer_073 writes:
| | how often does the part's selection in Stud.io update? Because I want to
use the Lego part 92221 from hero factory for a build and wondering if it will
ever get added
|
Updates happen continously, but that does not mean that all parts can be added.
Please head over to the Studio forum to read more. You might want to start here:
https://forum.bricklink.com/viewtopic.php?t=6368
|
|
| Author: | hpoort | | Posted: | Jan 6, 2024 01:30 | | Subject: | Re: COLOUR AVAILABILITY | | Viewed: | 27 times | | Topic: | Searching | |
|
| In Searching, Kennedy_Telford writes:
| | Hello Friends!
I am new here & haven't yet found a way to see what colours are available
in a part that is not available in the colour that I would like, I've just
been trying every colour 'til I get one that works.
Is there a button to push or some other method that I am not seeing?
THANKS!
|
Since on Bricklink, colour availability is to be found nearly everywhere, I've
got the feeling you are talking about Studio, which has its own help site and
its own forum (https://forum.bricklink.com). See this help article: https://studiohelp.bricklink.com/hc/en-us/articles/5459441964695
and look for section D on 'availability'.
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