Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | PurpleDave  | | Posted: | Sep 10, 2018 20:44 | | Subject: | Re: Theme-exclusive elements? | | Viewed: | 25 times | | Topic: | Colors | |
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| In Colors, Classicsmiley writes:
| | Based on what I heard years ago, some elements could be considered "licensed,"
even if they didn't have a specific license-related shape or print. Sometimes
if a theme group needs a particular element for a model, they can get it, and
it's not available for other theme groups.
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I know that a lot of prints are IP-specific, and I know that a lot of molds are
IP-specific, both due to licensing restrictions (can't let everyone use Darth
Vader helmets). For a while, the lightsaber hilt (but probably not the blade)
was one of these molds.
But again, what this sounded like was molds that were available for general use,
but restricting certain colors with that mold to either the Dimensions or
Brickheadz theme. Like everyone gets to use as many 1x1 quarter-round tiles
as they want, but only Brickheadz gets to make it in a few select colors.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Sep 9, 2018 18:44 | | Subject: | Re: Theme-exclusive elements? | | Viewed: | 50 times | | Topic: | Colors | |
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| In Colors, DeLuca writes:
| | I am not familiar with this situation, but it sounds as though the original
author was stating that Dimensions and Brickheadz are allowed to use license-specific
elements, rather than that they can create exclusive elements.
|
No, my recolection is that the way the deleted text was worded is that you may
see elements released in colors that will only ever appear in Brickheadz because
that shape in that color is part of a special run that's restricted to Brickheadz
use.
Now, due to the odd nature of Brickheadz, I could see the Powers That Be ruling
that Brickheadz gets to commission one-time runs of new or retired elements,
and that no other theme gets to piggyback on those runs, but leaving open the
possibility that if any other theme actually wants those elements they can order
it up just like any other Q element.
Note that "element" refers to the shape and color combined. Brickheadz, like
Ideas, is restricted from generating new molds, so IP-specific elements are highly
unlikely to ever even appear in this theme. Minifig accessories are the one
potential exception I can think of, since some do hold weapons, but I can't
think of any that are actually _exclusive_ to Brickheadz (e.g. Jack Sparrow's
cutlass isn't even IP-specific, much less a new color). Dimensions not only
got to make new molds, they got to make new IP-specific molds, many of which
have never been used outside of that theme, which is very different from what
Brickheadz get access to.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Sep 9, 2018 15:57 | | Subject: | Theme-exclusive elements? | | Viewed: | 130 times | | Topic: | Colors | | Status: | Open | |
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| Recently someone on an AFOL blog posted a rather cryptic bombshell that Brickheadz
and Dimensions were allowed exclusive access to certain elements (part+color).
It didn't go into any real detail, asked that you not ask how the author
came to know this game-changing piece of information, and left it at that. When
the subject came up again in a way that didn't really support the original
claim, and I asked for clarification, my post was deleted, the original text
from the previous article was deleted, and the only explanation left labelled
the original claim both "contradictory" and an "insight". I don't expect
to get a clear answer there, so I'm asking here:
Does anyone know of any rule that Brickheadz (and before it Dimensions) can call
up elements that nobody else can use?
My understanding is that if you design a set that needs a Glow-in-the-Dark 2x4
brick, then as long as you've covered the cost of getting it into production
under your budget, any other set designer has access to that element for free,
basically. According to the original claim, it sounded like those two themes
could potentially bring a GitD 2x4 brick into existence, and every other theme
would be prohibited from using it.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Aug 19, 2018 11:12 | | Subject: | Re: Dark Grey 4095? | | Viewed: | 24 times | | Topic: | Colors | |
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| In Colors, 62Bricks writes:
| | These are the only two that currently have the DBG version inventoried, and they
are from 2006 and 2007, which is around the time Lego switched the colors. Possibly
early versions of these sets had the part in dark gray and later ones in dark
bluish gray.
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The color change happened around early 2004. By 2006, any remaining old dark
grey parts should have been cleaned out of their system, and if that's the
first time they actually made that element in dark-bley or dark-grey, they
should have used up all of their remaining dark-grey pellets. That's not
to say there's no chance that they could have uncovered a pallet or two,
but unlikely. Blending the two might be a possibility, but that bears the ugly
risk of marbling the entire run.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Aug 18, 2018 23:54 | | Subject: | Re: 2 box versions for 75952 Newt's Case | | Viewed: | 22 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
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| In Catalog Identification, nymira writes:
| | What usually happens for these if listing the box? The one that has to be "ripped"
open due to adhesive is far less desirable than the one that has the regular
seals, but there's no differentiation and I don't recall ever seeing
this with a set before.
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I know there are several SW sets that have something like "black box" and "white
box" versions, depending on how early and/or late the parts were obtained. I
actually have two different shape boxes for the Green Army Men from Toy Story.
It happens. Mostly I think they open a new category listing, but I don't
know if that's a firm policy or just tradition.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Aug 4, 2018 15:51 | | Subject: | Re: Ninja Head Printing Variations | | Viewed: | 18 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
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| In Catalog Identification, todeluca writes:
| | I just noticed that my White Ninja Princess (cas058), from the Vintage Minifigure
Collection (852769), has grey headband, rather than a White one
|
Which ones actually have a white headband? Not the vintage Ninja Princess, but
it does have an old-grey headband while the VMC version probably has a bley headband.
| | Has anyone else seen these variations? If so, the head(s) need Catalog entries,
and the Minifig in (852769) should be designated as a Reissue (cas058new), as
was done with (cas050new).
|
If the minifig is glued, I expect any new catalog entry will be marked as something
that can't be inventoried, which means that any component parts will probably
not be cataloged.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Aug 3, 2018 19:52 | | Subject: | Re: Two versions of 33bc01? | | Viewed: | 40 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
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| In Catalog, normann1974 writes:
| | I just sorted my old doors and found that there are actually two versions of
. One with a hole in the top and one without. The BrickLink part shows
two images, one with a hole and one without. Shouldn't this part be split
into two?
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Couple quick questions. Is the glass loose in the red door, or is it still glued
to the frame? If you look on the inside of the yellow frame, can you tell if
the glass has tabs or if it's cut straight across? I ask this because from
where I'm sitting, looking at a single photo on a computer screen, I can't
tell if it's possible that the yellow frame has the same hole and it's
just obscured by a layer of flash. This happened with the headlight bricks,
which resulted in them being split into two catalog entries for "slotted" and
"unslotted", when it was really just parts where the flash was still attached
and parts where it either didn't form or had been removed (it was pretty
easy to poke it out with a fingernail and leave a nice crisp rectangular hole,
which tells you just how intentional it was when it occurred).
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Jul 30, 2018 21:00 | | Subject: | Re: 4495, now 4495a and 4495b | | Viewed: | 48 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
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| In Catalog, SylvainLS writes:
| | Anyway, the only half-solution I see (and that solution is not new and shows
up as often as this problem is raised in one form or another) that could please
and help both sellers and buyers a bit more than what we have now is to have
a system where variants could be merged (in a “undetermined” upper-level part
or in some kind of group). Sellers and buyers could choose to differentiate
or not. Buyers would be presented with XXX*, XXXa, or XXXb when they say they
want XXX*, but not with XXX* if they want XXXa.
Notwithstanding the many technical and especially UI problems (How to present
this so that newbies understand?), the problem would also then be with the “Price
Guide Which is Not a Guide but Which is Used as One” (Where do you place sales
for XXX*? Are sales for XXXa and XXXb also included in XXX*?…).
|
I suggested that to Alice a few years ago at Brickworld. Recently I learned
that to say it was not well received at BL headquarters would be on par with
saying that the sun is a bit toasty.
Variants are a necessary evil, because in many cases they are exclusive to old
and rare sets, and in many other cases they are critical to certain building
techniques and if Mark Twain orders lightning, he's more likely to receive
a bag full of lightning bugs.
But, when you get right down to it, in many cases, a buyer seriously doesn't
care which of two variants they receive. You can add them as separate entries
to a Wanted List, but then they search as two unrelated parts. Merging everything
into a single category with checkboxes to flag for specific variants on the Seller
end of things, and giving Buyers the option to use those same checkboxes to flag
for which of the variants they're okay with buying would save everyone so
much trouble. Buyers could have a single entry pick up one or more specific
variants, or _all_ variants (including Undetermined).
It would have major obvious benefits. Sellers would be forced to pick one of
the variants (or Undetermined) when listing parts, so right there you would eliminate
parts being mislisted because the Seller was simply unaware that there were other
variants for that part. You'd always have an Undetermined option for Sellers
who don't want to deal with making positive IDs on hundreds of Used parts,
so you'd eliminate the need to list with "I don't sort these" clarifiers
in the notes, which means no more getting blindsided by buying Variant B and
getting a mix of whatever (something which will absolutely become a headache
for BL with the new single-cart mobile platform). New variants could be added
without forcing everyone to shuffle their inventory to new listings. And for
Buyers who want to be a little selective about which variants they receive, but
are open to at least two of the available options, it will streamline one of
the most unpleasant processes you can currently find yourself dealing with while
trying to place orders.
But, it will apparently screw up the cumbersome elegance of the way the catalog
is currently organized, so for now it's slightly less welcome than a cockroach
on a wedding cake.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Jul 21, 2018 14:11 | | Subject: | Re: Does 3062b come in flat silver? | | Viewed: | 19 times | | Topic: | Colors | |
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| In Colors, Geniac writes:
| | Good info, thanks!
It's definitely not chrome plated, so that's not the issue. It must
be something like the other...was made for something at some point or for someone.
|
Maybe. It could also be another brand. These parts never have the LEGO logo
on them (unless it's hidden up inside?) because there's not really any
place to put it that won't negatively affect the fit or aesthetics The
inner and outer sides of both the stud and the inset at the bottom are connection
surfaces, so those are out. The top of the stud is too thin to really fit the
logo on. The main barrel is the main visual surface, so that would be like having
the logo stamped into the side of a brick.
On LEGO 1x1 round bricks, there is always a pip on the side where the mold gate
is located. On most examples I can find, that pip is about 1/16", fairly round,
and located about 1/3 of the way from the top of the barrel (exclude the stud
and inset base for this). Chinese LEGO has a larger pip that's a bit longer
in the vertical (as seen from the S10 painter, and TLBM1 Dick Grayson accessories).
I can't find any offhand, but I always make sure to hide the pips whenever
possible when building, so I'm pretty sure I've seen a few where the
gate is 1/3 of the way from the bottom of the barrel. They have multiple factories
across Europe, so I suspect this variant comes from one of those, but if they
don't run that mold as often it won't be as common as the standard version.
The other thing that you can look for is if the inside of the base and the stud
are perfectly round, because they shouldn't be (not on modern parts, at least).
At four equidistant points around the inside of these two places, there should
be a slight bulge or flat spot that disrupts what is otherwise a perfectly round
hole. This is where the inside surfaces touch when they're attached to another
part. The round section is a slightly wider diameter that would have zero clutch,
but if you tilt the part when removing it from a stud this allows the part to
flex a bit so it won't crack open (this is especially important on trans
parts because the old ones were made of acrylic and would crack open the base
as a result of this, looking like someone had gone after it with a hole punch).
For trans parts this poses a bigger problem if you insert a trans bar into a
trans stud, because the material would have so much clutch that it would be nearly
impossible to remove the part, and could result in the bar snapping off in the
attempt. It's believed that they changed the material used for just lightsaber
blades to prevent this polycarbonate bonding, but if this change was introduced
around the same time it could help by limiting the clutch. Now, these bulges
are a bit faint, and can be hard to spot, so if you don't see them right
away try under different lighting, especially if you can limit it from a single
source (this creates stronger shadows), and don't forget to slowly rotate
the part a bit so the shading moves around the inside of the holes.
|
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Jul 20, 2018 18:42 | | Subject: | Re: Does 3062b come in flat silver? | | Viewed: | 30 times | | Topic: | Colors | |
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| In Colors, jodawill writes:
Metallic colors are painted, so they can be (and are) replicated. All you have
to do is find a way to match the look of the paint. Pearl and flat colors are
molded, and the only way to reproduce those is to mold them like that.
That said, there could be Q elements. LEGO Master Model Builders and LEGO Certified
Professionals can order any shape in any color if they feel like it, and it'll
be made. There are a couple of sellers who have this part listed in flat silver,
so it _might_ exist. However, Brickset inventories show no such thing (then
again, I can't find any listings for metallic silver ones either, and those
clearly exist). If it exists as an official part, their inventories should pick
it up because they mine the info directly from the LEGO servers, and avoid human
error. The only downside to their system is that they're only set up to
display the latest version of any set inventory. If changes are made, their
inventories are automatically updated to reflect that. That means if flat silver
1x1 round bricks _did_ get released in a set, but then got replaced with a different
color of the same part, Brickset would lose that info as soon as they pull the
updated inventory down. Here, you can save variations to set inventories as
you run across them, but people have to identify the part and color, and they
don't always get it right.
[p=3062b]
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Jun 30, 2018 19:23 | | Subject: | Re: Vampyre wall that glows not found in catalog | | Viewed: | 27 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
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| In Catalog Identification, mysterygirl writes:
| | I wonder what it was about glow in the dark stickers that bothered the EU.
|
I don't know specifically, but the sticker sheet and the Mummy deco are both
printed, and both got changed. The Werewolf claws and the Ghost shroud were
molded GitD plastic and got left alone. So apparently it had something to do
with GitD print where molded GitD plastic was considered safe. Print can flake
off in a kid's mouth, while the plastic is more likely to just show teeth
marks maybe?
I've heard of similar oddities where a banned substance was considered legal
if it was encapsulated in some manner that made it safe. My college theater
had vinyl floor tiles in the auditorium. The tile had asbestos in it. If it
was fibrous asbestos insulation, they probably would have had to have it removed
a lot earlier, but floor tile is unlikely to start releasing asbestos fibers
into the air like insulation will, so until they remodelled the theater and wanted
to retile the floor, there was no problem with leaving them right where they
were and allowing the public to walk on them. During the remodel, however, they
had to turn the place into a negative pressure air chamber and have guys in hazmat
gear strip the floors, because having stable asbestos and having stable asbestos
removed are two very different situations.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Jun 29, 2018 22:12 | | Subject: | Re: Vampyre wall that glows not found in catalog | | Viewed: | 55 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
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| In Catalog Identification, mysterygirl writes:
| | Greetings Master Builders,
The closest I've found to this corner wall with its glow-in-the-dark sticker
and 7 white ivy leaves is this piece:
Part 87421pb018
Panel 3 x 3 x 6 Corner Wall without Bottom Indentations with Bricks and 7 Dark
Tan Ivy Leaves Pattern (Sticker) - Set 9468
But as stated, those leaves are Dark Tan and they don't glow in the dark.
Can someone direct me to the correct part in the BrickLink catalog before I post
to Reference Catalog? Or is it a case of the wrong sticker put on a part?
|
The GitD stickers come from this sticker sheet:
The GitD compound got them in trouble in the EU, so they ceased production of
all GitD stickers and the GitD print on the mummy minifig and replaced them all
with new non-GitD versions, like this:
If you scroll _waaaaay_ down to the bottom of this page:
https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=9468-1
...you'll find a list of alternate parts, which includes a bunch of stickered
elements. Currently there are ten different stickered elements accounted for,
with GitD alternates for only six of them. Given the rarity of the sticker sheet,
there's probably not many people who are willing to sticker the parts just
for the photos, so it's probably just a matter of trying to hold out for
applied stickers to pop up in the wild. It _is_ the correct part, but now that
an image is available the stickered element counterpart will need to be added
to the catalog.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Jun 27, 2018 22:01 | | Subject: | Re: 1x1 Plate | | Viewed: | 45 times | | Topic: | Colors | |
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| In Colors, superchicken77 writes:
Ooh... If those are legitimate, and not mislisted under the wrong color, I may
have to pick up a few hundred of those before they dry up again. Back around
2004, a small spread of sets resulted in a fairly complete mix of small to medium
bricks and plates, with very few gaps. I assumed that existing meant I could
hold off and order them whenever I first needed them. A few years ago when I
designed Holley Shiftwell in minifig scale, my design called for 20 2x2 corner
plates. They were listing for $3 each. I was able to reduce that number to
four per model, which allowed me to justify building both a flying and grounded
version. There are some other parts that I never picked up in any quantity that
I've had to basically figure out how to omit from a few MOCs. I got lucky
with the 1x1 plates that I needed a fair chunk of them when I did (would have
been a lot luckier to have needed them when they were down at a couple pennies
each), so the price didn't go up even higher, as I've been able to incorporate
them into a few other MOCs because I dug deep and stocked up while I could.
But I'm suspicious of these. Unless there's another regular set that
slipped through that includes them (none are listed by inventory as of yet),
CMFs have all been 100% made in China, so it should be impossible for European
sources to yield piles of CMF-exclusive parts so soon after release, and unlikely
to happen even at a later date unless the parts show up in something else like
Build-A-Minifig.
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|
| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Jun 27, 2018 20:33 | | Subject: | Re: 1x1 Plate | | Viewed: | 57 times | | Topic: | Colors | |
|
| In Colors, cnrtrains writes:
| | Just wondering if Dark Purple just came out in 1x1 Plates.
|
As already stated, they've existed for over a decade, but they are stupid
rare right now. I once sucked up about 90% of all Bricklink stock in a single
order for 60 of them at $1 each, and I'm running low again. Sleep Kitty
does indeed appear to come with one, but CMFs haven't shipped with extras
of the small parts since S2, I think. So, every copy of Sleepy Kitty will probably
come with exactly one dark-purple 1x1 plate, as a CMF-ish release the components
will not be available loose on S@H, and even palping the packets to identify
the contents will still result in at best a 50% chance of correctly identifying
a Sleepy Kitty without opening the packet first. Time and effort not even being
factored into the equation, that still leaves an average cost of $8 to guarantee
a yield of one of these plates, which means this won't make a significant
dent in the demand or cause the prices to drop. What it might do is hold them
steady where they are, since jacking the price up too much higher will just push
people to go buying up sitting Uni-Kitty packets to get the parts they need.
|
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Apr 2, 2018 20:17 | | Subject: | Re: Inventory Change Request for Minifig coltlbm27 | | Viewed: | 25 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests | |
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| In Inventories Requests, randyf writes:
| | In fact, I don't think any of the cape colors truly match their plastic counterparts.
|
Maybe white? I'm not sure I'd say even black (starched or stretchy)
really matches. Of course, with some colors like dark-purple and dark-red, there's
so much variation in the ABS to begin with that trying to determine if the capes
really match or not is hopeless.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Mar 20, 2018 04:38 | | Subject: | Re: Save Offsite Paypal! | | Viewed: | 99 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, matejo writes:
| | If you select PayPal Marketplace as picabo suggests, you will not be able to
revert back to your current Onsite PayPal method.
|
Except they promised that you would be able to if you so choose. As yet, nobody
has reported having any success with this.
| | There was little information required to enable Onsite PayPal (whether complete
or incomplete as BrickLink information goes), however PayPal Marketplace in my
opinion is a more intrusive agreement.
|
The fact that you _can't_ back out of it, even when promises were made that
you could, is proof enough that it's more intrusive to some degree. The
explanations for how Marketplace works show at least some of the extent to which
this is true.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Mar 19, 2018 20:44 | | Subject: | Re: Save Offsite Paypal! | | Viewed: | 43 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, RecycledBrick writes:
| | I didn't miss those. How is Bricklink going access my PayPal account? It
doesn't matter what agreement is made, how do they get into it? I am just
wondering.
|
They won't be able to log into your account directly, from the way people
are reading it. They _will_ be able to contact Paypal and request a chargeback
which Paypal will probably cheerfully comply with without asking any questions
(and if you're really unlucky, like a guy in my LUG was, Paypal will charge
you a fee for "representing" you when they surrender like Jar-Jar). They _will_
be able to inform Paypal that X money should be diverted to Bricklink as the
owner of the "marketplace".
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Mar 19, 2018 20:28 | | Subject: | Re: Save Offsite Paypal! | | Viewed: | 48 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, RecycledBrick writes:
| | If there is something different or bad, what am I missing?
|
Did you ever sign on to a public wifi network and get a warning that even if
the site you're viewing is secure, someone could still be watching the whole
time via the network? Did you ever go into a seedy internet café and log into
all of your bank accounts from every computer in the place? No? Why not? Was
it because you didn't want to worry about what sort of malware might be lurking
in the background, logging all of your keystrokes? Right now Bricklink is the
internet café terminal, telling you that in order to actually use their services,
you have to use their computer to submit payment to them.
It doesn't matter that Bricklink doesn't have you store your login info
on their server. It's the idea of loading Bricklink on the computer that
I use to access financial accounts, after they were hacked so badly that the
entire site was shut down for days...on two separate occasions. Bricklink goes
on Computer A. Paypal goes on Computer B. If they can figure out how to manage
an Onsite Paypal payment by logging into Paypal on a different computer, I'm
fine with that. If they want me to initiate a popup window to process the payment
by clicking on a button on Bricklink, they need to go back to the drawing board.
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|
| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Mar 19, 2018 17:33 | | Subject: | Re: Save Offsite Paypal! | | Viewed: | 43 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, calsbricks writes:
| | Really not sure how this decision was made
|
Dartboard.
Prodigious amounts of alcohol combined with world-record-setting span of sleep
deprivation.
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| Author: | PurpleDave | | Posted: | Mar 19, 2018 17:30 | | Subject: | Re: Save Offsite Paypal! | | Viewed: | 56 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, legoman77 writes:
| | Could a seller put in his terms 'Please pay directly through the paypal site
to XXXXX.net (PayPal address)? That would take it out of bricklinks venue.
That could even be put into the listing.
|
Maybe. Then the problem is going through the thousands of sellers here and asking
them to add this to their terms, along with a viable means of payment that can
be selected as a placeholder.
| | About the hacks,I did mention that before. Bricklink has trouble getting features
to work why should the sellers feel confident that the same people can prevent
hacking?
|
I've been throwing that out there as the primary reason why only offering
onsite payment is a dumb idea. I'd feel safer dropping my driver's license,
social security card, all credit/debit cards, and the account numbers and passwords
to all of my bank accounts into my mailbox for a day and hoping nobody noticed.
Bricklink and Paypal do not get to play on the same computer in my home, which
makes paying by any onsite payment option about as problematic as having a Chinese
space station land on your head (and I hear that may be a possibility for me
around the same time this fiasco is scheduled to burn down, fall over, and sink
into the swamp).
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