BrickLink Discussion Forum

Folks, if anything is going to improve in the catalog, we need to give some freedom
and grace to our admins so they can try things out. I can understand if people
get frustrated when they find something has changed and it no longer works for
them, but please understand that we have the long-term interests of the site
in mind, and also that we can adjust and/or reverse any decision that is made.

Regarding these sleeves, we have needed to add them to the catalog for quite
a while now, because of the need to search by the number printed on the sleeve.
Strictly speaking, this is not a PCC, but it's still a number people can
use for reference. Specifically, we want to give the ability to sellers to sell
the parts in the sleeves without having to open the sleeves. The only way they
can do this is to have a reference database showing the contents of every sleeve.

Because our partout system is not yet capable of handling subparts, we're
probably not going to be able to add these sleeves to the regular section of
inventories. Maybe if we change the image and description we can do it, but right
now sellers will end up listing things in their store that buyers cannot identify.

Please have patience as we make some adjustments.

+1

I think this is a long time coming and a darn good add to the catalog. I hate
having to open the cardboard packages to know what is inside them.

Thank you for adding them and the hard work you guys are doing in regards to
things like this! Whenever changes are made there will always be a good number
of people who will hate the changes which I can respect to a degree for there
has been changes that took me a while to get used to but as mentioned, we need
to give some latitude to the people in charge of making these changes to see
what works and what does not and give constructive criticism and not just criticism.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Aug 23, 2019 12:57

Subject:

Re: How much does your pet mean to you?

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191 times

Topic:

A little late but here is my dog Skragle. I wanted to give him a name that would
be based on something Lego related so I took kragle, from The Lego Movie and
just added an S and I think it fits him perfectly.

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Mar 7, 2019 21:22

Subject:

Re: How should i name this set?

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39 times

Topic:

In Catalog, popsicle writes:

In Catalog, GoudvanOud writes:

How should I name this set?

What’s in a name? That which we call a combo set, by any other name would sell
as sweet!

Sorry, couldn't help it. Had no TV in my apartment when I was young. So it
was come home from work, run the boardwalk, shower, dress, walk to the deli for
takeout and walk across the street to Balboa theater to eat. But the hiccup was
that the theater played Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet for nearly a year straight
before switching movies. To be honest, I didn't mind as a romantic young
idealist. Cried like a baby

I think I still know most lines of that Shakespeare play

That's cool, I like stories about life like that.

Years ago when me and a friend rented a house, for entertainment all we had was
a VCR but no TV so we had hook it into my computer screen to use it. When it
came to movies our choices were limited to a wide variety of one movie, 'What
About Bob' starring Richard Dreyfuss and Bill Murray.

We watched that movie soooo many times that we became really good at memorizing
all the lines and we would play a game where one would say a line or just a word
or two and the other one would guess where in the movie the line or word came
from. We played that game for years after that.

The simplest things in life can create some of the best memories.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Nov 28, 2018 12:55

Subject:

Re: Decorated vs. Pattern

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33 times

Topic:

In Catalog, StormChaser writes:

In Catalog, mhortar writes:

I'm not sure that 'Pattern' actually fits.

The word "design" means "decorative pattern."

If we wanted to be truly accurate and consistent, then every single part title
would have one of the eight following identifiers:

Plain
Printed Design
Stickered Design
Printed/Stickered Design
Molded Design
Molded/Printed Design
Molded/Stickered Design
Molded/Stickered/Printed Design (pretty sure there are none of those)

Have I missed any? Maybe when/if we get tags we can do this. I think it would
be helpful.

But it sounds like "Decorated" is the preferred term so far from all three commentors.
I still think it's quite strange that part categories are the only place
we use that word, but this ain't a one-man show.

Now that you bought up the subject of stickers.... Is there a possibility of
adding sub categories for each type of patterned part so as to separate printed
parts from applied sticker parts? So that whenever there are stickers applied
by the end user on parts verses patterns applied directly by Lego on the same
type of part then there would be a sub category for the sticker applied parts
to keep them seperate.

This would be extremely helpful for adding used inventory into our stores. A
good example would be printed tiles verses sticker applied tiles. If you know
that a part you are trying to add to your inventor is a Lego printed tile then
it would be so much easier to find it in the catalog if the stickered tiles were
in a separate sub category of the printed tiles.

I know it would be a lot of work but it sure would be nice.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Nov 21, 2018 11:23

Subject:

Re: Projectile Launcher

Viewed:

35 times

Topic:

In Catalog, calsbricks writes:

In Catalog, StormChaser writes:

In Catalog, calsbricks writes:

Change for the sake of change is often followed by complaints - it rarely serves
any real purpose. Agreed changes often come with compliments and welcoming. There
is a difference.

That's a reasonable assessment. However, I'm fairly confident that the
changes I've made or coordinated in the catalog so far were all improvements.
Still, I've gotten a number of complaints about nearly all of them.

How does that go - you can please some of the people all of the time but not
all of the people all of the time

NB - We haven't had reason yet to complain other than taking up the entire
forum with catalogue and inventory change requests ....

There are certain ones that talk allot about the changes needed yet they disagree
with just about EVERY change made. Hmmmm, makes you wonder.....

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Nov 1, 2018 00:39

Subject:

Re: Catalog Project Request "Bar" vs. "Weapon"

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38 times

Topic:

As far as I can see this part is not a weapon, and I can't find it even once
used as a hollow hammer. It only appears in brick-built weapons where it features
alongside parts that also are not classified as weapons, such as barbs and chains.
Unlike the lightsaber, which really is a weapon the way it is, this part
is not a weapon.

To me it doesn't really matter which classification is used (bar or weapon)
just so long as both are in it. They share the same characteristics so it would
make sense to have them together in the same category.

Jim.

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Oct 31, 2018 20:49

Subject:

Re: Second Catalog Project Underway

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26 times

Topic:

WOW, Lego actually made an ashtray? Who woulda thunk.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Sep 28, 2018 22:17

Subject:

Help identifying part.

Viewed:

125 times

Topic:

Status:

Open

I can not for the life of me figure out what this is or where in the catalog
it exists.

Any ideas?

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Sep 11, 2018 16:49

Subject:

Re: Request official BrickLink app

Viewed:

62 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brickwilbo writes:

In Suggestions, KaanDurak writes:

Hi ,
I use my phone alot and I also use Bricklink alot , but the site on phone isn't
that great , so please. Bricklink create a phone app of Bricklink , it would
be easier for phone users.
I hope the staff will see this and an official bricklink app will be created.
Thanks for reading

It's in development https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1094209

wow, that post was 5 years old so it is still a work in progress??

jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Jul 9, 2018 19:58

Subject:

Re: P.I.X.A.L. Name Capitalisation/Punctuation

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37 times

Topic:

In Catalog, todeluca writes:

In Catalog, TheBrickGuys writes:

If I were doing a search for her I would use the spelling on the box - it is
the quickest and the most simple. Plus, the bio you mentioned is not very easy
to find so most people are only going to know the minifigure as just plain Pixal.

As for a compelling reason not to change it to P.I.X.A.L.? If you do a search
on Lego.com for P.I.X.A.L. you don't even get get any relevant search results
related to her or Ninjago but if you do a search for just plain Pixal then you
get search results that apply.

Jim

As shown in the images above (the second two), a search for “Pixal” yields “P.I.X.A.L.”,
so there would not be any problem for those who search with the non-punctuated
spelling.

If Lego.com refers to her as Pixal on their website and on the set box and in
the set's description then I agree with BL not to change it. The punctuated
form of Pixal is only used by Lego.com in the bio you referred to which is not
even easy to find.

I understand your point and agree with it when looked at from more of a purist
point of view but not even Lego.com deems it important to refer to her using
the punctuated form of her name so again I think BL made the right decision.

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Jul 9, 2018 18:50

Subject:

Re: P.I.X.A.L. Name Capitalisation/Punctuation

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Topic:

In Catalog, todeluca writes:

I have submitted changes to Minifig (njo086), wherein I have added the proper
capitalisation and punctuation to P.I.X.A.L.’s name - all of which have been
rejected.
While I understand that the name on the box is “Pixal”, her official bio
on the Ninjago section of LEGO.com has her name as “P.I.X.A.L.” (See images).
Additionally, searches for “Pixal”/“PIXAL” yield both her standard (“Pixal”)
and Samurai X variants (the latter of which has the proper capitalisation/punctuation)
- (See images). Thus, changing the capitalisation/punctuation of (njo086) causes
no search problems, is correct, is accurate to LEGO’s own character bio, and
is consistent with the names of the character’s other variants.

From my perspective, the only reason to retain the current spelling of
(njo086), is because this is what was on the box. If there is some other, possibly
more compelling, reason to retain the current spelling, please let me know.

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Apr 10, 2018 13:46

Subject:

Re: Price guide rant

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53 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, LaineeP writes:

I know that this has probably been beat to death, but I have a suggestion. I,
as well as others I'm sure, have complained about the average prices that
are grossly inflated due to very high priced parts. On the used side of the guide
it seems it is always the same 2 stores (ex $39.95 for a $0.20 piece).

Why can't we do what they do in some sporting events - throw out the lowest
and highest and then average. I'm sure there is a way to do this.

Lainee

What do people use the average of the "Current items for sale" info for? I would
think that the 6 month sales average info is much more important. It has been
brought up here many times and I don't understand why people don't use
the 6 month sales average instead?

I am asking this not to be snarky in any way, I am just wondering if maybe I
am not seeing the importance of that information and thus missing out on the
use of it.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Mar 20, 2018 01:12

Subject:

Re: Bricklink: please clean up incomplete sets

Viewed:

59 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, Brick.Door writes:

I recently listed another batch of used sets. Once again in reviewing prices
I found in most cases the cheapest one available for sale is listed as "complete"
but missing minifigures.

Bricklink can't you do a sweep of these errant listings and send the seller
a warning? Maybe query sets that are listed as complete but have the word "missing"
or "no minifigs" in the comments

I know you don't want to make changes automatically (the seller could have
written "no missing minifigures" or something) but it is a long and slow process
to find these one by one. And there are thousands of them listed.

Sounds like a lot of work? You are probably losing money too. The average
sold price is lower than it should be because so many incomplete sets are being
sold as complete. If sellers saw the real average price they would set their
prices higher and Bricklink would benefit from the higher commission.

For example I recently listed Star Wars set. The cheapest 3 currently available
(listed as complete) are $15, $20 and $24. None of them are complete according
to the sellers description.

The average sold for this set is $22 but since 3 of the sold sets were prices
$15, $15 and $21 they were probably incomplete but sold as complete and now are
polluting the price guide. The correct average sold is about $27

I hope your not suggestion that BL do a sweep by checking each and every listing
of every set listed by every seller or even just the least expensive listing
of each and every set? If you are then that would take so much time and effort
that it would be, well for lack of a better word, ridiculous. If I have miss
understand you then I apologize.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Mar 16, 2018 18:52

Subject:

Re: New buyer LOE to tie up inventory for 14 days

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52 times

Topic:

In Suggestions, matejo writes:

And a question (or questions) for a question (not addressed to you), why does
BrickLink not address this decade-old concern?

Is there a bona fide problem with giving sellers & buyers say "only" 6 days to
get something done (like the courtesy of sending of simple message) rather than
the current 14 days?

If yes, what's the problem?

Is instant checkout their one-size-fits-all solution?

Have they told anyone this?

If they have, is there some place to find their positions outside of this needle-in-a-haystack
forum (where I add hay such as this), where administrators' positions are
very low in number and extremely hard to find?

Are they taking the eBay road and discounting the importance of low volume buyers
and sellers?

And did I say "Whoopdeedoo" yet?

In Suggestions, WoutR writes:

Why not make sure that every buyer has to use the instant checkout? That should
solve your problem.

You really dont even have to wait one day, just cancel the order and move on.
If you are concerned about getting a negative feedback then just wait the alloted
time.

You have the ability to cancel the order so there is no need to downgrade BrickLink
for their policies (not your first posts, just this one)? And remember, you agreed
to these policies when you signed up to be a seller here on BrickLink as we all
did.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Feb 23, 2018 13:39

Subject:

Re: Interface improvement

Viewed:

48 times

Topic:

I can forgive a lot of incompetence if you're at least working
in my interest.

"My interest" is very subjective. The problem is that so many feel the same way
as you do so in that when a change or changes are made and it dose not benefit
what they consider 'their interest' then you get this...

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Feb 23, 2018 12:13

Subject:

Re: Interface improvement

Viewed:

57 times

Topic:

Don't forget the typical forum response to ANYTHING that admin tries to do....

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Jan 20, 2018 12:18

Subject:

Re: Sellers who smoke should let buyers know

Viewed:

43 times

Topic:

They did not fit me so I threw them away.
John P

That gave me a good laugh, it sounds exactly like something you would say.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Jan 20, 2018 12:13

Subject:

Re: Sellers who smoke should let buyers know

Viewed:

46 times

Topic:

It also helps to put Jet Dry in the rinsing water, not with the small but with
helping the parts to dry water spot free.

When we wash used parts, after spray rinsing, we take a container filled with
water and add a good amount of jet dry to it. We fill up a fine strainer with
lego and dip them into the solution. We then lay them out on a large towel an
point a fan on them. The parts come out beautiful - no water spots at all! We
have very hard water so the difference that the Jet Dry makes is very substantial.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Dec 12, 2017 16:37

Subject:

Re: So many "incomplete" sets listed wrong

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43 times

Topic:

I think some sellers mistakenly list them as complete but I think most others
list them as complete even though they are incomplete to avoid them from being
filtered out by buyers that have incomplete sets filtered out of their viewed
listings - I will not buy at all from these stores, I view them as already being
a bit shady.

Jim

Author:

TheBrickGuys

Posted:

Sep 11, 2017 11:52

Subject:

Re: Separate email addresses for buying/selling

Viewed:

31 times

Topic: