BrickLink Discussion Forum

I've had a buyer place an NSS on a (shipped and received, confirmed by tracking)
Order #23768286.

The stated reason for the NSS from the buyer:
"I am trying to cancel my bricklink account, but it's not letting me
because this order is still active. Please deactivate it ASAP and inform me of
thus so I can cancel."

We're going on 10 days now- the buyer hasn't responded. I haven't
heard anything out of the two Help Desk tickets I've opened, and I'm
growing anxious.

I thought help desk ticket times had been improved, and were in the range of
3-4 days now?

Author:

Yo_Yo_Flamingo

Posted:

Feb 8, 2024 22:54

Subject:

Re: CHEAPEST Prices in AMERICA?

Viewed:

43 times

Topic:

Sales

In Sales, rylie_aitch writes:

In Sales, ViktorTube writes:

Hello! Please check out my store! I try to make all the prices as cheap as possible
and most of my set prices are the CHEAPEST IN AMERICA! So if you need a LEGO
set check out my store first for amazing cheap prices!

"Some but not all pieces missing" is maybe the most vague description
I've seen on here

You might want to add a photo, or a list of exactly
what is/isn't there

"Up to 100% off!"
"May contain some pieces!"

Actually I did SOMEHOW sell a set that said "HALO Box. May contain
some pieces" on another market when I was trying to reserve a listing for
a friend. That was a wild experience.

Author:

Yo_Yo_Flamingo

Posted:

Feb 2, 2024 23:30

Subject:

Re: Bionicle is handled incredibly poorly

Viewed:

42 times

Topic:

In Catalog, WOLKsite writes:

In Catalog, NoGravitasHere writes:

Thanks for your response, Randy. I really appreciate it.
Only 150 Light Grey Metallic still has problems, and BrickLink's catalogue
doesn't even recognise it as being used in Bionicle. It definitely is, both
repeatedly and often interchangeably with 131 and 296, which themselves were
used interchangeably with each other in some cases. The link on the history of
silvers you have provided is not accurate, and my data conclusively proves that.
If you have the information you need, as you claim, then why have you skipped
150 entirely? Can you tell me what year(s) 150 made its way into the Bionicle
catalogue?

I believe the problem you're having is misidentifying 131, 150, and 296.

150 Light Grey Metallic is recognized on Bricklink, called "Pearl Very Light
Gray". In BIONICLE, it was ONLY used during 2003 for Kraata & Krana-Kal.
There are no other 150 parts in BIONICLE.

296 is a color that was used very briefly during 2006, introduced along side
"Warm Gold"/"Pearl Gold", but was quickly retired in favor of
the older 131 Silver - effectively all the 2006 sets use 296 in early batches,
131 in later batches. While 296 was used in 2007, this was only in Exo-Force,
for the marbled torsos, and even then, those were soon phased out for solid 131
ones, that's why the 2007 Exo-Force sets have alternate Minifigures.

What a lot of BIONICLE fans don't seem to grasp is that the silver used for
the Kal sockets, the silver used for the Nuva armor, and the silver used for
the 2007-2009 weapon parts, are all 131 Silver, despite how different they look.
This primarily stems from two different things:
- That 131 itself was adjusted several times during its lifespan (as were 148
Dark Grey Metallic, and 297 Warm Gold)
- That LEGO's materials and colors were all adjusted around 2005-2006 as
they moved to mixing colors in-house (at least, that's what I've come
to understand). This would be the source of not only 131 being different, but
also why the Kanohi Rau in the Toa Nokama set differs from that in the Dalu set.
The result of these adjustments is that 131 become more consistent. Before 2006,
polypropylene parts molded in 131 looked noticably different from ABS parts (a
problem not just with 131 but also with other "metallic" colors like
145, 147, and 149). After 2006, the color had a consistently lighter hue, matching
how it had always looked in ABS plastic.

We know when these colors were used - Throughout the LEGO community we have quite
a lot of data to go on gathered from LEGO, palette tiles to compare physical
parts with, etc.

On top of this, all LEGO colors have some degree of variation, both from adjustments
made over time and from poor quality control. This makes for *color variation*,
something not recognized on Bricklink (besides Rust :v) not separate colors.

A somewhat common misconception I've come across in the BIONICLE community
is that 150 is the lighter silver you find in the early 2006 sets, but this not
correct. That color is 296. This likely stems from a second misconception, that
the lighter parts used from 2006 onwards are 296, which as I've detailed
above is also not correct.

Yes, there have been some glaring issues in the BIONICLE part of the catalogue
- All of the ones Randy mentioned I am really happy are being addressed (as someone
who has researched Zamor Spheres, I'll be keeping an as careful eye as I
can at how that develops). There's some others as well, like incorrect listings
of the Kanohi/Krana packs which I've brought up in a past topic.

However, the case of silver is one that at this point stems from many BIONICLE
fans (and I say this being a BIONICLE fan) not knowing the subject as well as
they think they do, either jumping to conclusions or getting all their information
from Bricklink (people still think in terms of Pearl Light Gray and Flat Silver).
The latter is also the primary reason why I want Tahu's eyestalk color recognized,
as BIONICLE fans are just not familiar with Trans-Dark Pink and thus do not realize
it's not the same color at all.

On top of this, requesting regular sellers to differentiate between variants
of silver is... well, I can already tell you I know that wouldn't go very
well, unfortunately.

Author:

Yo_Yo_Flamingo

Posted:

Feb 2, 2024 23:25

Subject:

Re: Modern Buyers?

Viewed:

47 times

Topic:

General

In General, SDF_Bricks writes:

I've had a buyer potentially interested in 2 large sets I'm selling.
He asked for pictures. So, I went ahead, checked the inventory once again, took
several pictures, sent to him, unlisted the two items he was interested in (to
give him first dibs). It's been 4 days now and he has not even acknowledged
receipt of the pictures and what his intentions are. Be nice to people they said,
what did I get? I waisted 2 hours and now nothing. Yes, it's part of the
business/hobby, but next time someone asks for pictures well ... we'll see.

Yeah, that's why I recommend (almost) never doing pictures.

Author:

Yo_Yo_Flamingo

Posted:

Feb 2, 2024 18:33

Subject:

Re: Bionicle is handled incredibly poorly

Viewed:

62 times

Topic:

In Catalog, 1001bricks writes:

Are you suggesting that The Lego Group with a valuation of $12.2 billion isn't
capable of hiring a couple more catalogers or even implementing the information
offered here for free? I'm just curious here since surely they could afford
a handful more employees to get on top of things.

These kind of changes and cataloging require people with expertise in both BrickLink
and LEGO. I would guess there's not a handful of people just hanging around
waiting to be hired.

Plus find those with a deep knowledge of Bionicle!

I know only one - but it's OP who's complaining in Forum

There's a few of us here

The name might not imply it, but Bionicle is my mainstay

Author:

Yo_Yo_Flamingo

Posted:

Jan 28, 2024 17:03

Subject:

Re: Variants Thread - January 26

Viewed:

63 times

Topic:

In Catalog, brickbiters writes:

i'm sorry, you must be new.

not to egg on a troll but, that is standard fair for shipping. once it's
shipped you give out a tracking number and you're done.

if of course there is any problem with the order such as missing parts etc i'd
be happy to work that out. the rest is with the postal service.

if you're concerned about any of those things happening then pay for insurance.
that's what it's there for. maybe the post works different in the uk
but that's how things are done here in the USA.

if something is lost, stolen or damaged, there's nothing a store can do about
it and again that's why you'd pay for insurance if you want your order
covered.

i'd say that's pretty professional to me.

and of course, if you don't agree with my stores terms you're always
welcome to patronize any of the other stores on bricklink. i think you'll
find they have similar terms, which is why it's always a good idea to read
them.

what isn't professional is bogarting another store's comments on a public
forum to criticize their terms and bring focus to your own store (off topic i
might add). but hey, that's on you.

good day to you sir.

In Catalog, yorbrick writes:

In Catalog, brickbiters writes:

sorry, your excuses won't change my mind. to sellers who are crying about
it taking too long to pull orders, they just want to make an easy buck and probably
won't even last long here.

there is an option to say whether you are a store that catalogs by variant or
not so that buyers know what kind of store they're dealing with...a professional
or a "hobby" store.

Your terms

I do not refund for lost, stolen or damaged goods incurred during shipping.
I highly suggest you purchase insurance at your cost if you are concerned with
any of these issues.

indicate an unprofessional one.

Oh boy. Who's gonna tell him?

Author:

Yo_Yo_Flamingo

Posted:

Jan 28, 2024 12:02

Subject:

Re: Variants Thread - January 26

Viewed:

63 times

Topic:

In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:

The Responses

So far I have seen two YouTube videos addressing this issue, and I'll post
in this new thread to respond directly (and completely) to what they are saying.

The two YouTube videos I have seen are these:

R.R. Slugger: There's a BAD Bricklink Update Coming...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGRxNX8Cg_o

DuckBricks: Why Would Bricklink Do This? Is Bricklink Stupid?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk47Wb18ibg

In this post I will address the second one:

I'll begin with a quote from Chris which he used as part of the introduction:

“I decided to take down every single one of my wall displays and actually
consolidate them to be a lot better, neater, tighter, and more concise to allow
myself to be able to put up even more stuff.”

What Chris is doing with his collection is, in a way, similar to what we are
doing with the BrickLink catalog.

I do actually agree with the overall sentiment from this video. However, there
are several points I would like to challenge:

Quote from the video: “from the beginning, the catalog has just been
continuing to grow and grow."

Not completely true. There have been major corrections like this in the past,
and we make minor corrections regularly. One of the things that is often missed
by the average BrickLink member is that we reject the overwhelming majority of
variants. That means that the BrickLink catalog only grows to the extent that
we let it grow, and there are considerable restraints even now on the number
of variants we will accept.

2 x 2 Hinge Brick – this is a merge between 30389c and 30389b. It does
not involve the hinge brick without axle hole 30389a.
[p=30389c]

30389b Hinge Brick 2 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger Vertical and Axle Hole
Parts: Hinge

30389a Hinge Brick 2 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger Vertical without Axle Hole
Parts: Hinge

While we are talking about this early brick that many of you are excited to distinguish,
I will point out that we are missing inventory information in 15 Sets and 1 Gear
Item:

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=30389&in=S
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=30389&in=G

The determined version is only in 10 sets currently. If this variant matters
to you, please help us fill out the data in the BrickLink inventory system.

A correction concerning the 2 x 2 hinge brick:

“As a correction to the video, it has become clear that one of the examples
I mentioned, the 2x2 brick with click joint, is NOT being consolidated when it
comes to axle hole versus no hole - just the specific molding type of axle hole.
However, all other examples mentioned are accurate, and from a database point
of view, I still stand by my original sentiments in the video that this change
ideally should not be happening.”

However, there are indeed issues with the other examples:

Click Hinges –The number of teeth does not affect the number of locking
positions. A lot of people think that when they see the distinction in the catalog,
but it’s actually not true. This misunderstanding is one reason we want to remove
this distinction. These are simply cosmetic differences on a part that is not
typically used for cosmetic purposes.

60471 Hinge Plate 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Fingers on Side
Parts: Hinge

[p=50340]

1 x 4 Clear Bricks – The 1 x 4 frosted bricks will be merged with the
1 x 4 standard brick (3010), not the specialty brick without tubes underneath
(3066).
[p=3010f3]

3010 Brick 1 x 4
Parts: Brick

3066 Brick 1 x 4 without Bottom Tubes
Parts: Brick

Smooth Slopes – there was a comment in the video that the result of a
merge will be a “random hodgepodge” where buyers may receive slopes that don’t
match each other. But this is actually the condition of the marketplace now,
pre-merge.

The oldest slopes had a very heavy texture (see photo below), whereas newer ones
have much less texture. And in addition to the slopes that seemingly have no
texture, real-life listings contain everything in between.

The presence of “Smooth” entries in the catalog gives the illusion that there
are only two grades of texture, but the reality is that listings based on subjective
criteria will produce subjective results. In fact, I’m pretty sure that much
of the Smooth Slope data we see in the set inventories is also subjective depending
on the experience of the contributor.

Community Poll – We don’t base our decisions on polls because if we did,
the collector community on BrickLink would have their agenda completely wiped
out by the majority who don’t care about picky details. Instead, we appoint very
detail oriented admins who represent the collector community and they are the
ones making the calls on variants on a day-to-day basis.

Date - Feb 1 or Feb 15 – Feb 1 was the original date we were going to
begin changes, but due to delays with the list of changes and requests to extend
the time a little, we pushed the date to Feb 15. However, the name and number
changes to tiles and the 1 x 1 round brick will start on Feb 1. Since these are
not merges, they will not affect listings in the same way.

This pretty much sums up the issue.

To reiterate- if you order a dozen 7 or 9 tooth parts right now from different
sellers, or even worse a dozen "smooth" or "not smooth" slope,
there is an almost certainty that you'll get a mixed bag based on your expectations.
That is, if you even cared enough in the first place, and didn't just select
the first listing that matched the part you're looking for.

Author:

Yo_Yo_Flamingo

Posted:

Jan 26, 2024 00:43

Subject:

Re: Important proposal regarding catalog variants

Viewed:

55 times

Topic:

In Catalog, randyf writes:

In Catalog, Yo_Yo_Flamingo writes:

In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:

In Catalog, icm writes:

In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:

In Catalog, icm writes:

The inside supports, as on part 32064c, are critical for function. They allow
the part to be used as a jumper and on jumpers. This is not a trivial mold change!
It radically changes the functionality of the part!

Can you provide one illustration of an official LEGO model that uses this building
technique with a 32064?

32064 Technic, Brick 1 x 2 with Axle Hole
Parts: Technic, Brick

My knowledge of set instructions isn't comprehensive for that. I know I've
done it in my own MOCs and I know that configuration of inside supports has been
used on many other parts to enable their use as jumpers.

Can you try this experience with some real bricks and take a photo for us?

That seems to be the trend of this thread- most folks misunderstand the variants
of these parts, from the 7 teeth to 9 teeth joints to the 1x2 bricks with axles,
and think that there is an actual functional difference.

There _is_ a functional difference with
[p=32064c]
compared to the other variants of the part. That isn't fantasy or conjecture.
That is the truth.

Do exactly what Russell said to do. Try putting a 32064c on top of any 1x2 jumper
plate. Now try it with any of the other variants of the part. Let me know what
you find out.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Good, while I've got you here... Who do I have to talk to to replace the
imaginary piece in the inventory for this set?

8744-1 (Inv) Visorak Oohnorak
47 Parts, 2005
Sets: BIONICLE: Visorak

I know I'm getting annoying here, but after several change requests, it's
unfathomable

Author:

Yo_Yo_Flamingo

Posted:

Jan 26, 2024 00:39

Subject:

Re: Fun queries we sellers get...

Viewed:

37 times

Topic:

Selling

In Selling, novabrick writes:

"Do you have X of this part you haven't listed?"
or
"more of this part you only have 2 of."

Now, we constantly add to our inventory and have a ton of parts yet to be listed.
It still is a somewhat silly question i think.

Christian

novabrick-team

In Selling, popsicle writes:

Over the years we've had our share of let's say 'intriguing'
questions from prospective buyers.

I actually appreciate that question. I do have a ton of parts not yet listed,
and if they're willing to pay for it it could be in their future.

Author:

Yo_Yo_Flamingo

Posted:

Jan 25, 2024 21:51

Subject:

Re: Important proposal regarding catalog variants

Viewed:

76 times

Topic: