Discussion Forum: Messages by infinibrix (4997)
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 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 24, 2021 06:51
 Subject: Re: Minifigure sw0737a
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 Topic: Catalog
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infinibrix (4997)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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Store: infinibrix
In Catalog, Hygrotus writes:
  In Catalog, yorbrick writes:
  In Catalog, axaday writes:
  In Catalog, Thargor writes:
  I just saw that Minifigure sw0737a Poe Dameron was added to the catalog. This
Minifigure is included in set 75149 and comes with helmet and hair piece.
In the past we often had Minifigures that had both helmet and hair piece but
they were only listed once in the catalog e.g. sw0416, sw0772, sw0407 ...
Why is Poe now listed twice as sw0737 with hair and as sw0737a with helmet?

Maybe the new one comes with the 4+ X-wing

It does, but why is it not a new number? It is a different figure as it has different
parts. There are other figures that are similar but different and appear in different
sets and have different numbers. Such as

 
Minifig No: sw0471  Name: Yoda - Olive Green, Open Robe with Large Creases, Neck Bracket
* 
sw0471 (Inv) Yoda - Olive Green, Open Robe with Large Creases, Neck Bracket
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 2
 
Minifig No: sw0707  Name: Yoda - Olive Green, Open Robe with Large Creases
* 
sw0707 (Inv) Yoda - Olive Green, Open Robe with Large Creases
Minifigures: Star Wars

I totally agree with you
https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1190568 (and whole thread)
but as I see admins have different opinion about that.
I also think it should be new number.

...but I give it up and I don't care any more

Oh thats a shame to hear.... having glanced over your previous post I think I
pretty much agree with your proposal as I've just posted similar in this
thread though you may think some of my examples go a step too far with just relying
on different print decal but that is as least how I truly see minifigs being
unique enough to warrant their own ID
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 24, 2021 06:38
 Subject: Re: Minifigure sw0737a
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 Topic: Catalog
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infinibrix (4997)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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Store: infinibrix
In Catalog, yorbrick writes:
  In Catalog, axaday writes:
  In Catalog, Thargor writes:
  I just saw that Minifigure sw0737a Poe Dameron was added to the catalog. This
Minifigure is included in set 75149 and comes with helmet and hair piece.
In the past we often had Minifigures that had both helmet and hair piece but
they were only listed once in the catalog e.g. sw0416, sw0772, sw0407 ...
Why is Poe now listed twice as sw0737 with hair and as sw0737a with helmet?

Maybe the new one comes with the 4+ X-wing

It does, but why is it not a new number? It is a different figure as it has different
parts. There are other figures that are similar but different and appear in different
sets and have different numbers. Such as

 
Minifig No: sw0471  Name: Yoda - Olive Green, Open Robe with Large Creases, Neck Bracket
* 
sw0471 (Inv) Yoda - Olive Green, Open Robe with Large Creases, Neck Bracket
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 2
 
Minifig No: sw0707  Name: Yoda - Olive Green, Open Robe with Large Creases
* 
sw0707 (Inv) Yoda - Olive Green, Open Robe with Large Creases
Minifigures: Star Wars

If anything those Yoda’s are actually more similar to each other than the Poe
and so if we’re adding the letter ‘a’ to the end for similar items then we should
probably start with renaming them as sw0471 and sw0471a if we insist on keeping
the one with the bracket in the catalog?

Likewise the same for minifigs like these (jwo23 and jwo23a for backpack)

 
Minifig No: jw023  Name: Owen Grady
* 
jw023 (Inv) Owen Grady
Minifigures: Jurassic World

 
Minifig No: jw044  Name: Owen Grady - Backpack
* 
jw044 (Inv) Owen Grady - Backpack
Minifigures: Jurassic World

I would even extend further by saying maybe minifigures should only warrant a
new/unique reference where the minifig specifically has unique print decal be
that on the head, torso ,legs etc… the point being that adding a backpack, changing
the colour legs or style of hair is essentially just accessorising that same
minifigure differently thereby these Han’s would become sw0612, sw0612a, sw0612b

 
Minifig No: sw0612  Name: Han Solo, Reddish Brown Legs without Holster Pattern, Dual Sided Head, Cheek Lines
* 
sw0612 (Inv) Han Solo, Reddish Brown Legs without Holster Pattern, Dual Sided Head, Cheek Lines
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6

 
Minifig No: sw0714  Name: Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs
* 
sw0714 (Inv) Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6

 
Minifig No: sw0823  Name: Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs, Wavy Hair
* 
sw0823 (Inv) Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs, Wavy Hair
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6

And even these Zane’s although they may look very different they are still essentially
the same minifig with the same print decal on the head and torso and just accessorised
differently and so may benefit from njo106 and njo106a:-

 
Minifig No: njo106  Name: Zane (Stone Warrior Armor) - Rebooted
* 
njo106 (Inv) Zane (Stone Warrior Armor) - Rebooted
Minifigures: NINJAGO: Rebooted

 
Minifig No: njo185  Name: Zane - Titanium Ninja White
* 
njo185 (Inv) Zane - Titanium Ninja White
Minifigures: NINJAGO: Rebooted
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 16, 2021 10:24
 Subject: Re: Two Weeks?!
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 Topic: Catalog
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infinibrix (4997)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Catalog, bje writes:
  In Catalog, psusaxman2000 writes:
  In Catalog, infinibrix writes:
  In Catalog, BricksThatStick writes:
  In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:

  Catalog Newsletter which went out yesterday.

Guess my copy is stuck in the postal system somewhere...

Same! I thought it was just me only I don't see any news letter either?

This was an email that came from blservice@ bricklink . com

Double check your spam folder as it looked to be a mass blast.

Not a chance - there is no blocking on my mail servier for blservice or bricklink
- in fact all mails are coming through as normal although late, not even the
***SPAM*** thing in front of orders and additions. Maybe only went to the USA?

Yes I think BL may need to check whats happening as my inbox is super organised
and any filters very specific to only true spam.

I use gmail which is very easy to search and I've searched for newsletter
and via bricklink email address but nothing anywhere?
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 16, 2021 10:08
 Subject: Re: Two Weeks?!
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 Topic: Catalog
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infinibrix (4997)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Catalog, BricksThatStick writes:
  In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:

  Catalog Newsletter which went out yesterday.

Guess my copy is stuck in the postal system somewhere...

Same! I thought it was just me only I don't see any news letter either?
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 16, 2021 06:50
 Subject: Re: Two Weeks?! - personal solution
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 Topic: Catalog
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infinibrix (4997)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Catalog, Teup writes:
  In Catalog, StormChaser writes:
  In Catalog, Teup writes:
  I can't help but feel like we're
soon gonna have the catagories we want to have and these large projects aren't
necessary anymore, but maybe I'm wrong...

Well, that's absolutely the goal. This time around we created photographic
definitions for all the shape-based categories (brick, plate, tile, wedge, slope,
ring, ball, cone & dome, cylinder, etc.). Many of the movements will be done
for those parts, but some will remain undone (brick categories, slopes, and wedges).

Getting shape-based stuff sorted out was huge, so that's a lot of
progress. They're also probably the most impactful categories, so we're
getting them (mostly) out of the way first.

I know people want the large figure parts / Technic / Bionicle categories looked
at, so we'll have to get into those at some point. And theme-based categories
need to be looked at (Friends, in particular).

And another thing to keep in mind is that we want to have submenus for the Parts
category tree at some point. When that happens we'll probably create additional
categories to separate things further within the submenus (minifigure body parts,
for example, can be split up into multiple smaller categories once we can move
those into submenus).

Thanks for the fast replies guys, now I understand a bit better what the attitude
to the catalog is. Seems category based sorting is not reliable now but there
might be some "light at the end of the tunnel" for my situation - I am going
to wait and see where where it goes, while my store is closed at the moment anyway.

Before I open up again at some point, I'll either align my entire store to
the new Bricklink categories (if they're "finished") or use a remark system
(if they're still fluid).

If I use remarks, I will write a tool. This tool will automatically assign custom
category names to all remark fields in the inventory, based on the part number.
It reads a text file that contains category/label names and a list of part numbers
that should belong to it. If anyone would be interested in such a tool, let me
know and I might start working on it a bit sooner

Whilst it can be helpful to use the remarks field for random parts where you
might choose to have them stored away and labelled in trays 001 to 500 or whichever
solution you choose don’t be afraid of using different filing methods for different
parts .
For instance where I always hold stock of a certain part I just store and file
them by design I.D
For instance I always hold stock of design I.D 3901 in various different colours
therefore I have a location for 3901 with all the available colours in the one
place that means I never need to update any remarks for those particular parts

However when picking I sometimes notice that the Bricklink catalog doesn’t always
put the most up-to-date design ID or at least the most common I.D in the main
prominent spot which would be handy
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 15, 2021 05:24
 Subject: Re: Option to search for unprinted parts
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 Topic: Suggestions
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infinibrix (4997)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:
  In Suggestions, The_RealRedHex writes:
  Maybe an option to search for unprinted parts could be implemented. This would
include stickers, printed parts, and stickers over assemblies.
Regards,
Theo - The_RealRedHex

Search:

-pattern

The word pattern is included in the name of nearly every decorated part.

Whilst unofficial Stormchaser has drafted up that he does not want to see the
word pattern included for minifig parts and possibly extending that to other
parts in the long term?

https://www.bricklink.com/help.asp?helpID=2506

"Excluded Words - The following words should not appear in figure titles: "figure"
and "pattern.""

Either way when I suggested trying to enable people to be able to search for
non decorated/patterned legs like this:-

https://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1256683

The change was made only to be reverted back because yourself and then other
people looked too deeply into how two-tone somehow had anything to do with dual
molded?

Two-Tone = A visual colour combination made up of two colours
Dual Molded = A manufacturing process

The point being that anything that can help narrow down peoples searches can
only be a good thing
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 14, 2021 04:19
 Subject: Re: Inventory Change Request for Minifig sw0100
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 Topic: Inventories Requests
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infinibrix (4997)

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In Inventories Requests, randyf writes:
  In Inventories Requests, dcarmine writes:
  Please make changes to the following inventory:
 
Minifig No: sw0100  Name: Anakin Skywalker (Padawan) - Yellow Head
* 
sw0100 (Inv) Anakin Skywalker (Padawan) - Yellow Head
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 2

* Delete 1 Part 3901 Dark Nougat Minifigure, Hair Male
* Add 1 Part 3901 Dark Orange Minifigure, Hair Male

Comments from Submitter:
I have an original figure, and I know what dark orange looks like.


But do you know what Dark Nougat looks like?

This is the only hairpiece ever made in Dark Nougat (and is one of the only pieces
known to exist in Dark Nougat), and Dark Nougat is very similar to Dark Orange.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126975831@N07/14890173099/

And this set definitely came with that hairpiece in Dark Nougat. (The official
LEGO data for this set confirms this as it also says it came with Dark Nougat
hair.)

If your original figure came from a sealed set with *true* Dark Orange hair,
then another minifigure will need to be created instead of altering the inventory
of this one.

Cheers,
Randy

also just to add that within that same set it actually comes with Kenobi with
hair described as Dark Orange and then the Anakin hair is officially described
differently as:-

Color Orange-brown
Description Dark Nougat

I'm not sure why Lego use two colour references for that same part but its
certainly intended to be different to Dark Orange thats for sure
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 15:42
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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infinibrix (4997)

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In Suggestions, randyf writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:

  Just to add how are you getting just 24 Spider-mans on one page as when I search
Spider-man I get 139 results which includes everything from Aunt May to all Spider-mans
nemisis

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogListOld.asp?pg=1&q=%22spider%2Dman%22&catLike=W&v=2

Then narrow it down by "Minifigs" item type.

Okay thanks but back to Jennifers point it might work well if you already know
what minifigure you have in your hand but if you don't know the name of the
character your looking at it may have been a reliable means of searching for
minifgs using these kinds of search options but I get it people(as well as myself)
ar'nt keen with the awkward looking description titles so I won't push
it any further
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:54
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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infinibrix (4997)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, popsicle writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  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!

It's a strong idea that's getting some push back. How about...

For color descriptors within the title, just using the color itself
as a small box next to the part within the description, as in the Color Guide?

And then people will have to hover over the patch to know the name of the colour
because the colours are undistinguishable unless they are side to side and named?

Not very practical, I fear.


Yeah Popssicle its a terrible idea and almost as bad as the OPs suggestion
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:39
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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infinibrix (4997)

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In Suggestions, DeLuca writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

  The only abbreviations I have ever tried to use for colors are LBG and DBG and
then only when pressed for character space. Abbreviations are often difficult
to read and add to visual clutter. I am not sure why the entire minifig's
inventory would need to be listed in its name when that information is already
searchable? Sorry, I am very not onboard with this suggestion. I did a search
for 'spider-man' limited to minifigs and got 24 results. I can clearly
see all of them on one page of thumbnails and can quickly scan for the differences.
That's good enough for me!

Jen

Well part of the reason for giving this idea some thought is because minifgs
will apparently need to have their own unique description and cannot rely on
using vague terms like Spider-man 1

 
Minifig No: spd001  Name: Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
* 
spd001 (Inv) Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
Minifigures: Spider-Man: Spider-Man 1


I do agree that this is a bad title, but this is an example of the more general
issues with many current figure titles, and of the need for improved standards
(which are currently being developed) - Something like “Spider-Man - Silver Web
and Eyes Pattern, Blue Arms and Legs” would be sufficient, and would not
lengthen and clog up names with unnecessary colour-abbreviations.

unless those colour abreviations could be used to search but hidden from view
in descriptions because I agree they do look messy
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:36
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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infinibrix (4997)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

  The only abbreviations I have ever tried to use for colors are LBG and DBG and
then only when pressed for character space. Abbreviations are often difficult
to read and add to visual clutter. I am not sure why the entire minifig's
inventory would need to be listed in its name when that information is already
searchable? Sorry, I am very not onboard with this suggestion. I did a search
for 'spider-man' limited to minifigs and got 24 results. I can clearly
see all of them on one page of thumbnails and can quickly scan for the differences.
That's good enough for me!

Jen

Well part of the reason for giving this idea some thought is because minifgs
will apparently need to have their own unique description and cannot rely on
using vague terms like Spider-man 1

 
Minifig No: spd001  Name: Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
* 
spd001 (Inv) Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
Minifigures: Spider-Man: Spider-Man 1

Just to add how are you getting just 24 Spider-mans on one page as when I search
Spider-man I get 139 results which includes everything from Aunt May to all Spider-mans
nemisis
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 13:17
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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infinibrix (4997)

Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Suggestions, jennnifer writes:

  The only abbreviations I have ever tried to use for colors are LBG and DBG and
then only when pressed for character space. Abbreviations are often difficult
to read and add to visual clutter. I am not sure why the entire minifig's
inventory would need to be listed in its name when that information is already
searchable? Sorry, I am very not onboard with this suggestion. I did a search
for 'spider-man' limited to minifigs and got 24 results. I can clearly
see all of them on one page of thumbnails and can quickly scan for the differences.
That's good enough for me!

Jen

Well part of the reason for giving this idea some thought is because minifgs
will apparently need to have their own unique description and cannot rely on
using vague terms like Spider-man 1

 
Minifig No: spd001  Name: Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
* 
spd001 (Inv) Spider-Man 1 - Blue Arms and Legs, Silver Webbing
Minifigures: Spider-Man: Spider-Man 1
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 12:47
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
  In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  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!
[…]

Using tags would bring the same searchability advantages without cluttering the
descriptions with incomprehensible jargon terms.

So what is incomprehensible about ... ?

Bear Costume Guy - Minifigure only Entry - Torso-WHT (Heart and Rainbow), Headgear-CRL
(Mask Bear/Panda), Head-YEL, Left Arm-BLO, Right Arm-CRL, Left Hand-DAZ, Right
Hand-BLO, Hips-CRL, Left Leg-MAZ, Right Leg-BLO.

 
Minifig No: col356  Name: Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
* 
col356 (Inv) Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
Minifigures: Collectible Minifigures: Series 19 Minifigures

You'd probably only bother to reference a complex minifig like this:-

Bear Custume Guy - Torso-WHT (Heart and Rainbow), Headgear-CRL (Mask Bear Panda),
Head-YEL (DS)

Besides most people will already find quite easily with key searches for Bear,
Coral, Rainbow

However with other minifigs where you have lots of Han Solos for instance you
could simply search 'Han Hair-LBG' and that alone will only bring up
these two minifigs:-

 
Minifig No: sw0841  Name: Han Solo, Old
* 
sw0841 (Inv) Han Solo, Old
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7

 
Minifig No: sw0675  Name: Han Solo, Old (Lopsided Grin)
* 
sw0675 (Inv) Han Solo, Old (Lopsided Grin)
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7

and thats where it really helps to find things

In truth you'd only need to start including colour references to arms and
things like that if your dealing with complex variations of minifigs such as
spider-man otherwise colour references for the 4 core minifig components would
be sufficients i.e Headgear or Hair, Head, Torso, Legs
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 12:42
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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Location:  United Kingdom, England
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In Suggestions, yorbrick writes:
  In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  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!
[…]

Using tags would bring the same searchability advantages without cluttering the
descriptions with incomprehensible jargon terms.

So what is incomprehensible about ... ?

Bear Costume Guy - Minifigure only Entry - Torso-WHT (Heart and Rainbow), Headgear-CRL
(Mask Bear/Panda), Head-YEL, Left Arm-BLO, Right Arm-CRL, Left Hand-DAZ, Right
Hand-BLO, Hips-CRL, Left Leg-MAZ, Right Leg-BLO.

 
Minifig No: col356  Name: Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
* 
col356 (Inv) Bear Costume Guy, Series 19 (Minifigure Only without Stand and Accessories)
Minifigures: Collectible Minifigures: Series 19 Minifigures

You'd probably only bother to reference a complex minifig like this:-

Bear Custume Guy - Torso-WHT (Heart and Rainbow), Headgear-CRL (Mask Bear Panda),
Head-YEL (DS)

Besides most people will already find quite easily with key searches for Bear,
Coral, Rainbow

However with other minifigs where you have lots of Han Solos for instance you
could simply search 'Han Hair-LBG' and that alone will only bring up
these two minifigs:-

 
Minifig No: sw0841  Name: Han Solo, Old
* 
sw0841 (Inv) Han Solo, Old
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7

 
Minifig No: sw0675  Name: Han Solo, Old (Lopsided Grin)
* 
sw0675 (Inv) Han Solo, Old (Lopsided Grin)
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7

and thats where it really helps to find things
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 07:33
 Subject: Re: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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infinibrix (4997)

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In Suggestions, SylvainLS writes:
  In Suggestions, infinibrix writes:
  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!
[…]

Using tags would bring the same searchability advantages without cluttering the
descriptions with incomprehensible jargon terms.

Granted but I don't expect that will be coming anytime soon....
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 12, 2021 07:08
 Subject: Colour Abbreviations for Catalog Navigation?
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 Topic: Suggestions
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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:-

 
Minifig No: poc036  Name: Henry Turner
* 
poc036 (Inv) Henry Turner
Minifigures: Pirates of the Caribbean
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:-

 
Minifig No: sw0278  Name: Han Solo, Reddish Brown Legs without Holster Pattern
* 
sw0278 (Inv) Han Solo, Reddish Brown Legs without Holster Pattern
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6
Han Solo - Torso-WHT (Shirt), Hair-RBR, Head-LNO (SS, Smirk), Legs-RBR

 
Minifig No: sw0823  Name: Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs, Wavy Hair
* 
sw0823 (Inv) Han Solo, Dark Brown Legs, Wavy Hair
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6
Han Solo - Torso-WHT (Shirt), Hair-RBR (Wavy), Head-LNO (DS, Closed Eyes), Legs-DBR

 
Minifig No: sw0841  Name: Han Solo, Old
* 
sw0841 (Inv) Han Solo, Old
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 7
Han Solo (Senior) - Torso-DBR (Jacket), Hair-LBG, Head-LNO (DS, Angry), Legs-BLK
(Printed Gunbelt)

 
Minifig No: sw0343  Name: Han Solo, Tan Legs with Holster Pattern, Parka Hood with Tan Fur
* 
sw0343 (Inv) Han Solo, Tan Legs with Holster Pattern, Parka Hood with Tan Fur
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Episode 4/5/6
Han Solo (Hoth) - Torso-DBL (Jacket), Headgear-DBL (Parka Hood), Head-LNO (SS,
Smirk), Hips-DBL, Legs-TAN (Printed Gunbelt)

 
Minifig No: cas115  Name: Crusader Lion - Blue Legs with Black Hips, Dark Gray Neck-Protector
* 
cas115 (Inv) Crusader Lion - Blue Legs with Black Hips, Dark Gray Neck-Protector
Minifigures: Castle: Crusaders
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 View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 8, 2021 09:30
 Subject: Re: Image recognition feature
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 Topic: Suggestions
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In Suggestions, starbeanie writes:
  
 
Part No: 3626bpb0350  Name: Minifigure, Head Male Ferrari K. Raikkonen Pattern - Blocked Open Stud
* 
3626bpb0350 Minifigure, Head Male Ferrari K. Raikkonen Pattern - Blocked Open Stud
Parts: Minifigure, Head



Thanks I knew it was somewhere under racing minfigs but it seems its not a 'speed
racer' minifig but rather a 'Racer'

I think it needs the hair print added to description
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 8, 2021 09:14
 Subject: Re: Image recognition feature
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In Suggestions, axaday writes:
  In Suggestions, Grosoleil writes:
  It would be nice to have an image recognition feature for parts, especially minifigure
heads, there are so many!

What color is that hair? I guessed dark tan, but didn't find anything.

It's a primitive light nougat head. That should make it easy to find if
it is real, but I'd need to know that hair color.

When I first saw it I straight away thought it belonged to a Speed Racer minifig
or maybe vey old Harry Potter?

 
Part No: 3626bpb0291  Name: Minifigure, Head Female Brown Hair and Eyebrows, Red Lips Frown Pattern - Blocked Open Stud
* 
3626bpb0291 Minifigure, Head Female Brown Hair and Eyebrows, Red Lips Frown Pattern - Blocked Open Stud
Parts: Minifigure, Head

 
Part No: 3626bpb0307  Name: Minifigure, Head Male Black Eyebrows and Hair, Forehead Lines, Frown Pattern - Blocked Open Stud
* 
3626bpb0307 Minifigure, Head Male Black Eyebrows and Hair, Forehead Lines, Frown Pattern - Blocked Open Stud
Parts: Minifigure, Head

These have similar design style with the hair speaking of which it should be
coming up with a search for 'Light nougat head hair' as the hair is quite
a defining feature for that particular head but it did'nt come up when I
searched
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 2, 2021 13:05
 Subject: Re: Category Changes, Part Two - UPDATE
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 Topic: Catalog
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infinibrix (4997)

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In Catalog, StormChaser writes:
  In Catalog, DeLuca writes:
  Is "Figure" the best keyword?

No idea. We use "Minifigure" 8,567 times and "Figure" 1,843 times. There's
no standardization of the terms.

I suppose we could change them all to "Figure/Minifigure" to catch both types
of searches. That's only 10,410 catalog changes.

Since all the other minifigure parts are currently described as minifigure I
would do the same for the slopes too as they after all very much minifigure parts!
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 2, 2021 12:39
 Subject: Re: Category Changes, Part Two - UPDATE
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In Catalog, StormChaser writes:
  In Catalog, infinibrix writes:
  In which case 'Slope, Minifigure' would be better?

First you must consider how best to accomplish your goal. You want to tag all
the Slope 45 2 x 2 parts that are used as the bottom halves of figures with a
unique identifier to make them easier to locate.

Yes but that is why I put all these questions to you in the first place as you
originally just sent me a link to go about submitting a request myself even though
its now clearer to me that you were'nt fully onboard with my approach? my
point being, your the catalog expert therefore why not just give me your own
input/thoughts if you feel it should be done differently otherwise I'm just
submitting a request thats is going to go full circle and end up rejected anyway
or was that the intention?

  Is the word "Minifigure" the most appropriate term to use here? It is already
used for 8,567 items in the catalog. I doubt anyone would use that word when
searching for these particular slopes, but I suppose they might?

Well they certainly won't use that word now because they already know Minifigure
is not included in any of the sloped leg descriptions however once they know
it is they will then be confident with using that term to search?

  
The word "Legs" is used 5,679 times. Oddly, in combination ("Minifigure Legs")
we only find 42 uses. Regardless, it might be worth considering the best search
terms to use for your endeavor.

There is a big difference though as to find Legs you only need to search for
'Legs' but because there are countless other slopes you cannot just rely
on the word 'slopes' meaning you have to rely on another key word combination
be that 'Slope Legs' or 'Slope Minifigure' or if we can guarantee
the words Dress, Robes and Skirt will all be used on every sloped legs then that
would perhaps be sufficient enough?

People only need a guarantee certain words are included in order to feel confident
about being able to rely on them in their search criteria and so I'm not
so fussy about the word used but I just thought minifigure defines them all as
they are all Minifigure slopes whereas they are not all Skirts, they are not
all robes and they are not all dresses hence this makes it feel like an unreliable
search term for people to depend on?
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 2, 2021 10:02
 Subject: Re: Category Changes, Part Two - UPDATE
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In Catalog, StormChaser writes:
  In Catalog, infinibrix writes:
  My request would simply be to put the word 'Minifigure' in front of the
word Slope

This change would cause items in this list to sort improperly by title:

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogListOld.asp?catType=P&catString=33

In which case 'Slope, Minifigure' would be better?
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 2, 2021 09:59
 Subject: Re: Category Changes, Part Two - UPDATE
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In Catalog, StormChaser writes:
  In Catalog, infinibrix writes:
  Does that mean I have to submit a separate request for each and every Sloped
Legs?

Yes, it does mean that.

  or can I just submit one part as an example of how they all need to be changed?

Start with one request to show us what you have in mind. We'll contact you
if it can't be approved. If it is approved, you're cleared to request
updates to the rest of the items you'd like to change.

Yes that was my issue as I don't mind going to the trouble of finding them
all and submitting the requests but I'd rather not spend a lot of time only
to find they all get rejected!

Therefore starting with this as an example:-

 
Part No: 3678bpb027  Name: Slope 65 2 x 2 x 2 with Bottom Tube with Minifigure Dress / Skirt / Robe, White Panel with Black and Gold Trim Pattern
* 
3678bpb027 Slope 65 2 x 2 x 2 with Bottom Tube with Minifigure Dress / Skirt / Robe, White Panel with Black and Gold Trim Pattern
Parts: Slope, Decorated

My request would simply be to put the word 'Minifigure' in front of the
word Slope and that is how I will request it unless you feel the word 'Minifigure'
would be better placed further along in the description?
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 2, 2021 09:45
 Subject: Re: Category Changes, Part Two - UPDATE
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In Catalog, StormChaser writes:
  In Catalog, infinibrix writes:
  would it be possible to add the word 'Minifigure' within the description

If you'd like to see titles of individual items changed, you may request
those with this form:

https://www.bricklink.com/catalogReq.asp

Does that mean I have to submit a separate request for each and every Sloped
Legs?

or can I just submit one part as an example of how they all need to be changed?
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 2, 2021 07:48
 Subject: Re: Category Changes, Part Two - UPDATE
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In Catalog, randyf writes:
  In Catalog, StormChaser writes:

  We have 915 items potentially moving this time (up from 540 items last October),
but we still didn't make it to these suggestions from the February, 2021
discussion:

randyf
Friends category

What is the reason for not being able to get to this? It was brought up in very
fine detail in October last year and was brought up again this time. So between
when I first proposed everything and when it may eventually get implemented come
this October, that is one full year. I thought you were the one who wants to
solve issues instead of to keep putting them off? Or is that not the case anymore?

Just speculating but I have a feeling it may have something to do with how these
changes might then affect how we treat other things like Mini doll Hair?

Those friends accessories certainly have uses for all figures and there already
seem to be crossovers with traditional minifigures using these accessories such
as the bow in the hair here:-

 
Minifig No: hp226  Name: Lavender Brown - Bright Pink Blouse
* 
hp226 (Inv) Lavender Brown - Bright Pink Blouse
Minifigures: Harry Potter: Half-Blood Prince

which means it also uses the Friends style of hair too and likewise its used
again here-

 
Minifig No: sw0920  Name: Qi'ra - Tan Jacket
* 
sw0920 (Inv) Qi'ra - Tan Jacket
Minifigures: Star Wars: Star Wars Solo

The question I therefore have is at what point is hair considered standard hair
or Mini doll hair?

This Dana minifig uses standard hair:-

 
Minifig No: gb006  Name: Dana Barrett
* 
gb006 (Inv) Dana Barrett
Minifigures: Ghostbusters

or does it?

 
Minifig No: frnd416  Name: Friends Donna
* 
frnd416 (Inv) Friends Donna
Minifigures: Friends

Is it therefore declared as a certain style of hair by how its first released
or by the fact that its rubbery or does it simply come down to the fact that
it comes with a hole in the top?

In which case what does that mean for other traditional hair types like this
rubbery one?:-

 
Part No: 11261  Name: Minifigure, Hair Long with Braided Front
* 
11261 Minifigure, Hair Long with Braided Front
Parts: Minifigure, Hair

or this traditional one with a hole?:-

 
Part No: 64807  Name: Minifigure, Hair Female Short, Braided on Sides, Hole on Top
* 
64807 Minifigure, Hair Female Short, Braided on Sides, Hole on Top
Parts: Minifigure, Hair

It may in the end be simpler to merge them all just to keep some clarity however
at the same time many of those friends hair seem out of place on most traditional
minifigs likewise those friends utensils seem a little bit brightly coloured
when it comes to considering them for use with traditional minifigs so I see
both sides and am a bit of the fence with this one?
 Author: infinibrix View Messages Posted By infinibrix
 Posted: Mar 2, 2021 06:30
 Subject: Re: Category Changes, Part Two - UPDATE
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In Catalog, StormChaser writes:

  decorated slopes used as legs - these should remain decorated slopes


Okay but if minifig slopes are to remain with the rest of the decorated slopes
would it be possible to add the word 'Minifigure' within the description
so that people are able to bring them all up with just a search for 'Minifigure
Slope' so they can exclude all the irrelevant slopes?
Currently searching for Dress, Robe, Skirt is never a guaranteed way to find
them all as they are all tagged with different key words

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