Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | jodawill  | | Posted: | Feb 1, 2019 10:20 | | Subject: | Did the Lego Pirates books come in paperback? | | Viewed: | 59 times | | Topic: | Catalog | | Status: | Open | |
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| When I look up these Lego Pirates books on Amazon, they're mostly listed
as paperbacks. Does anyone know if they were actually ever printed in paperback,
or are those Amazon listings wrong? Bricklink only shows them as being printed
in hardcover.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 24, 2019 15:04 | | Subject: | Re: A Smidgen of Lego History | | Viewed: | 59 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
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| In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:
| | Today we added a somewhat historic entry to the BrickLink catalog:
At first it looks like a normal Duplo plate, but it's not:
The first Duplo plates and tiles were based on the regular Lego plate/brick ratio
of 3:1 (that is, it takes 3 plates stacked on each other to reach the height
of a single Lego brick).
Somewhere around 1992, these "thin" plates and tiles were abandoned for the "thick"
type, which have a 2:1 ratio. These are what we find in modern Duplo sets.
What prompted the change? It could have been the advent of the 6309 printed tile:
Here are some other early "thin" Duplo parts:
* | | 3808 Duplo Tile, Modified 2 x 4 x 1/3 (Thin) Half Circle with 2 Studs
Parts: DUPLO |
* | | 4121 Duplo Tile, Modified 2 x 4 x 1/3 (Thin) with 4 Center Studs
Parts: DUPLO |
and maybe even this:
|
That's really interesting. I've never seen a thin one. Any idea what
sets it came in?
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 18, 2019 13:16 | | Subject: | Re: Identical minifigs? | | Viewed: | 39 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
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| In Catalog, DadsAFOL writes:
| | The paint details on the torsos are different and there should be 2 different
entries for the torso, one belonging to the original and one belonging to the
reissue.
In Catalog, jodawill writes:
| | The inventory for these two minifigures is the exact same. Is there a reason
to have two different catalog items for it? I don't doubt there may be some
differences between the reissue and the original, but the inventory is listed
as them being identical.
|
|
Yeah, I see it now. Very subtle. Good eye!
There's also that policeman one. It looks like the torso is a different mold,
but I'm not sure whether there's a separate catalog entry for the different
shoulder shapes on the torsos.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 18, 2019 12:30 | | Subject: | Re: Identical minifigs? | | Viewed: | 31 times | | Topic: | Catalog | |
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| In Catalog, jodawill writes:
| | The inventory for these two minifigures is the exact same. Is there a reason
to have two different catalog items for it? I don't doubt there may be some
differences between the reissue and the original, but the inventory is listed
as them being identical.
|
Also true for:
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 18, 2019 12:28 | | Subject: | Identical minifigs? | | Viewed: | 95 times | | Topic: | Catalog | | Status: | Open | |
|
| The inventory for these two minifigures is the exact same. Is there a reason
to have two different catalog items for it? I don't doubt there may be some
differences between the reissue and the original, but the inventory is listed
as them being identical.
|
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jul 20, 2018 09:44 | | Subject: | Re: Does 3062b come in flat silver? | | Viewed: | 42 times | | Topic: | Colors | |
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| In Colors, Geniac writes:
| | Hello!
I'm working on adding a lot of used Lego and I'm trying to identify a
color.
The part is a round brick 1x1 (3062b), and it appears to be flat silver. I've
compared it to new parts already in my inventory, and it really looks like that
color. It's definitely not metallic silver, at least compared to other metallic
silver parts in my new inventory.
My issue is that this does not appear to be a known color for this part. The
part certainly appears to be actual Lego, so I don't think that's the
issue. I just don't want to add something to my inventory incorrectly.
Opinions? I'm tempted to just chuck those ones in the donation box rather
than mess with it, since it's only a couple of pieces. But I'm intrigued
as well.
Thanks!
Ann
Drop Bear Bricks
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FWIW: https://store.bricklink.com/mwlchow?itemID=73486053#/shop?o={%22invID%22:%2273486053%22}
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Dec 11, 2017 10:00 | | Subject: | Re: For Your Consideration: A Suggestion | | Viewed: | 82 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, StormChaser writes:
| | After careful thought, I believe I have come up with a suggestion which will
resolve a couple of issues.
My suggestion is that BrickLink take one of the two following courses of action:
(A) Convert all of your official volunteer positions to paid positions (as full
or part-time employment, whether on-site or telecommuting from across the world).
Pay all those who contribute catalog items/inventories/approved changes to your
website, whether in cash or some other benefit. Keep the BrickLink catalog as
your property.
(B) Continue operating off volunteer labor to expand and maintain the catalog
and perform other site functions like forum moderation and language translations.
Return the BrickLink catalog to the community as an open source database or
some other form of community-owned property. Consult with the community regarding
changes to their catalog and take their input seriously.
In the case of (A), it doesn’t matter what brands you add to the website. It’s
your website and you’re paying people to work here. If I don’t like your decisions,
then I can shop elsewhere. I’d probably be okay with adding other brands, though,
because, after all, BrickLink is your property to do with as you see fit. And,
honestly, the BrickArms product integration into the catalog was actually handled
well if these things must be added.
In the case of (B), I wouldn’t like adding other brands and would say so. However,
I would accept the additions because I knew that you cared about and had done
right by the community and just wanted more profit. And, honestly, some people
do want a BrickLink-style website for Playmobil and other similar products –
this has been expressed in the forum several times. I don’t mind sharing the
catalog if I can ignore what I don’t want to see (and I would ignore anything
not LEGO).
For me the BrickArms discussion has revealed a deeper dissatisfaction that I’ve
had with BrickLink for years, but never could properly articulate. For me, I
have only recently realized, it’s not fully even about other brands. For me
it’s this: it is not morally right to expect people to work unpaid for something
they do not own.
The fact that some of us (or even one of us, but for some contributing to BrickLink
is a part-time job and I am one of them) have worked unpaid for years is something
we should be ashamed of.
When one guy owned the website he needed help, but times have changed. BrickLink
is a large business now. Act like one. BrickLink has had the best of both worlds
for years, but enough is enough.
|
I agree with B completely. The catalog was built by the community. It would be
impossible to compensate all the people who've put their time into it over
the years. The entire catalog should be released under the GFDL.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Sep 9, 2015 14:58 | | Subject: | Re: Limit on how many post you can make a day | | Viewed: | 39 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Biglesdug writes:
| | You act like a little kid.
Get over yourself.
|
This thread:
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Sep 9, 2015 14:42 | | Subject: | Re: Limit on how many post you can make a day | | Viewed: | 46 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Biglesdug writes:
| | I'm tired of the childish back and forth threads clogging up the feed. I
think there should be a 10 post per day cap for members. Maybe this will discourage
members from going back and forth will person attacks and keep the forum to only
useful posts.
People can take their person dislikes of each into other internet realms, go
start a twitter beef, just stop clogging up the forum!
|
I think a better solution would be:
a) Add the ability to ignore threads
b) Enable the new post notifications when ignoring something
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jul 20, 2015 10:13 | | Subject: | Re: Catalog - listing don't open in new Tab | | Viewed: | 26 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, jbricks writes:
| | In Suggestions, jodawill writes:
| | In Suggestions, PurpleDave writes:
| | In Suggestions, Brickwilbo writes:
| | Hello,
Is it a new feature or me that clicking listings the VIEW-button doesn't
open a new Tab. (in Chrome).
|
I've never had a new tab open when just clicking any link on BL, whether
using Explorer or Safari. I suspect this is something that may be specific to
Chrome, or maybe even a setting within your copy. I know Explorer and Safari
both have a setting that opens any clicked link in a new window/tab, but I've
never turned that option on. I know that if I really want it in a new tab, I
can force it to open a new tab. The only sites that do it automatically for
me are Hotmail (all links in e-mail, including BL want list notifications, always
open in a new tab) and Brickforge (clicking "Shop" from their home page always
forces a new tab, which is why I finally revised my bookmark to skip the homepage
and go straight to the store).
|
The problem is that with the new site, these links specifically won't allow
the user to open them in a new tab.
When I'm browsing items for sale, I'll open several stores in new tabs
so they all load at once and I don't lose my place on the items for sale
page. Then I look through each of those stores to see which store I want to buy
the part from.
This is another example of the HTML5 "progress" I mentioned in another thread.
Websites are constantly giving users less control over their own computers. 
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rightclick the storename instead of the ''view''
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Awesome. Thanks! Now we just need that for "Small Images," "Price Guide," etc.
In the meantime, duplicating the tab (in Chrome at least) is a decent workaround.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jul 19, 2015 20:10 | | Subject: | Re: Catalog - listing don't open in new Tab | | Viewed: | 24 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, jodawill writes:
| | In Suggestions, Brickwilbo writes:
| | Hello,
Is it a new feature or me that clicking listings the VIEW-button doesn't
open a new Tab. (in Chrome).
Clicking on the item under Description and in VIEW opens the item in the same
Tab.
Clicking on the Store name opens the item in a new Tab, while expecting the Stores
Splash/Terms start-page.
Seems obvious that VIEW should open items in new tabs like the old button used
to do.
|
Also, I think they should do away with the multiple items on the same page thing.
Now we can't link to things like the price guide (except for the link to
the old version). These things should all be separate pages.
|
It looks like I'm wrong about this one. The URL does change when you click
on something. So the only problem is that they're using buttons instead of
links. You can't copy the target URL or open in a new tab.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jul 19, 2015 19:58 | | Subject: | Re: Catalog - listing don't open in new Tab | | Viewed: | 25 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Brickwilbo writes:
| | Hello,
Is it a new feature or me that clicking listings the VIEW-button doesn't
open a new Tab. (in Chrome).
Clicking on the item under Description and in VIEW opens the item in the same
Tab.
Clicking on the Store name opens the item in a new Tab, while expecting the Stores
Splash/Terms start-page.
Seems obvious that VIEW should open items in new tabs like the old button used
to do.
|
Also, I think they should do away with the multiple items on the same page thing.
Now we can't link to things like the price guide (except for the link to
the old version). These things should all be separate pages.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jul 19, 2015 19:53 | | Subject: | Re: Catalog - listing don't open in new Tab | | Viewed: | 32 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, PurpleDave writes:
| | In Suggestions, Brickwilbo writes:
| | Hello,
Is it a new feature or me that clicking listings the VIEW-button doesn't
open a new Tab. (in Chrome).
|
I've never had a new tab open when just clicking any link on BL, whether
using Explorer or Safari. I suspect this is something that may be specific to
Chrome, or maybe even a setting within your copy. I know Explorer and Safari
both have a setting that opens any clicked link in a new window/tab, but I've
never turned that option on. I know that if I really want it in a new tab, I
can force it to open a new tab. The only sites that do it automatically for
me are Hotmail (all links in e-mail, including BL want list notifications, always
open in a new tab) and Brickforge (clicking "Shop" from their home page always
forces a new tab, which is why I finally revised my bookmark to skip the homepage
and go straight to the store).
|
The problem is that with the new site, these links specifically won't allow
the user to open them in a new tab.
When I'm browsing items for sale, I'll open several stores in new tabs
so they all load at once and I don't lose my place on the items for sale
page. Then I look through each of those stores to see which store I want to buy
the part from.
This is another example of the HTML5 "progress" I mentioned in another thread.
Websites are constantly giving users less control over their own computers.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jul 9, 2015 14:54 | | Subject: | Re: Stop the Auto Log Out Now! | | Viewed: | 61 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, pinball13 writes:
| | In Suggestions, enig writes:
| |
"Write"
CTRL+A CTRL+C
"Post"
If you get logged off:
CTRL+V
"Post"
Or just open a "test" window in a new tab to see if you're still logged in
|
Easier: CTRL-post which posts in a separate tab, leaving the original un-lost.
No need to copy/paste.
Very useful when submitting a part-out verification which has a lot of edits.
Sometimes they time out, and I never lose the edits if I hold CTRL when clicking
a button.
I get auto-logged out each night at scheduled downtime. Does it happen more
often for others?
|
I've never heard of this shortcut before. It doesn't seem to work in
Chrome on a Mac. What are you using?
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jun 4, 2015 10:05 | | Subject: | Re: Issue, I didn't bring up at the RoundTable | | Viewed: | 50 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, QA_Ryan writes:
| | In Suggestions, BrickStacks writes:
| | In Suggestions, popsicle writes:
| | I earnestly feel the new banner across the top of BL stores displaying the feedback
breakdown, should be altered.
As it stands now, a neutral will bring the percentile down. This, I believe is
misleading to potential buyers and somewhat unfair in nature. Many neutral marks
are received for perfectly satisfied transactions, as witnessed in the feedback
itself. This I think, is due to a general misunderstanding of the BL feedback
system. It is unlike many other site's feedback process.
I feel any neutral mark given, should be just that, carry no effect. Just
as it does with the numbers.
My motivations in bringing this up are unbiased, as reflected in our own banner.
I sincerely hope the Admins take this suggestion into consideration.
-Cory
|
This shows implemented, however The neutral still has an effect?
Jim
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The banner was altered by showing you a breakdown of neutral, positive and negative
when moused over now to help clear it up, maybe I was overzealous when marking
it implemented.
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It's a step in the right direction, but I personally prefer popsicle's
suggestion.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | May 26, 2015 00:32 | | Subject: | Re: Chat advertisement | | Viewed: | 45 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, studfinder writes:
| | On the home page there is a graphic that promotes the chat rooms that no longer
exist.
|
This confuses me. They updated the pictures quite a while ago, but the text still
mentions the chatroom. Maybe they just overwrote the original image files with
the new ones and didn't modify the page? Still, it's amazing that the
chatroom references are still in place after all this time.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | May 24, 2015 00:00 | | Subject: | Inventory Change Request for Set 6846-1 | | Viewed: | 32 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests (Entry) | | Status: | Open | |
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| Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Delete 1 Part 3839 Blue Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Handles - Undetermined Ends and Attachment Type
* Delete 2 Part 3839 White Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Handles - Undetermined Ends and Attachment Type
* Add 2 Part 3839b White Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Handles - Flat Ends, Low Attachment
* Add 1 Part 3839b Blue Plate, Modified 1 x 2 with Handles - Flat Ends, Low Attachment
Comments from Submitter:
Set could not have ever come with the other version of this part because the connection made with the white parts is not possible with the rounded ends.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | May 20, 2015 19:05 | | Subject: | Re: New Member tutorial | | Viewed: | 34 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Rick_S. writes:
| | In Suggestions, CoachMcGuirk writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rick_S. writes:
| | In Suggestions, CoachMcGuirk writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rick_S. writes:
| | ok with all the threads about new buyers and sellers, or a very long thread about
a new buyer, maybe a tutorial should be instituted for both new buyers and new
sellers that they would go thru as part of the sign up process so as to avoid
some of the confusion that is occurring (hopefully).
it could be any one of things from a video tutorial or a written tutorial or
? any of which must be completed before official member status is given.
this is just a suggestive thought.
|
People don't want to read lengthy documents or spend 5 minutes watching
a training video before making a simple purchase. This is likely why people don't
read store's ToS (which many are quite needlessly lengthy in my opinion)
leading to this problem.
Many people (myself included) spend lots of time on here and get the feel for
things, but lots of people just want to buy something and go away - maybe they
don't even care for Lego and give it away as a gift. If the time to make
that initial purchase is too burdensome, you'll either lose those sales or
you'll keep running into this problem, in my opinion.
The only solution to this problem, in my opinion, is to have an industry standard
e-commerce check-out system.
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Problem is this is not one business, but several businesses in several locations
with various degrees of shipping, payment and so forth, it is a lot easier to
do a tutorial then to try to come up with one wrap around program that will probably
cause rates for sellers to go up and take up lots of space and cause more problems.
|
Isn't it actually the exact same? If the tutorial doesn't explain all
the variations in all the processes in all the different business on here, it
is just as useless as not having one. If a new seller sits through the tutorial
and encounters a slightly different service agreement than what they just spent
5 minutes figuring out, they'll potentially place an order incorrectly or
give up.
Also there are many, many off-the shelf products available to handle e-commerce.
So, I'd say its easier to use something already existing than make something
new 99% of the time.
Would automatic checkout solve all the problems? No. It would probably even create
some as you say. But I believe it will be the only way to fix this specific problem
of buyers placing orders they no longer want.
Side question, what space? I'm lost and very curious on this.
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you do know the space this site is on? they had to close up the Chat room because
of it.
furthermore a tutorial can give the basics like how to navigate, how unless the
buyer says free shipping, there will be shipping and so on. what you suggest
would be a disaster in the making.
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It's my understanding that the chatroom was closed because it was a major
security problem due to sloppy coding, so they just scrapped the whole thing.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | May 20, 2015 18:54 | | Subject: | Re: New Member tutorial | | Viewed: | 28 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Rick_S. writes:
| | In Suggestions, therobo writes:
| | In Suggestions, Rick_S. writes:
| | ok with all the threads about new buyers and sellers, or a very long thread about
a new buyer, maybe a tutorial should be instituted for both new buyers and new
sellers that they would go thru as part of the sign up process so as to avoid
some of the confusion that is occurring (hopefully).
it could be any one of things from a video tutorial or a written tutorial or
? any of which must be completed before official member status is given.
this is just a suggestive thought.
|
http://www.bricklink.com/help.asp?helpID=2215
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but is that part of the sign up process, or one of those things that is hidden
away and unknown, since I didn't even know of this video.
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I didn't know about this video either. It (or something fancier) should be
part of the signup process.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Apr 30, 2015 20:17 | | Subject: | Re: Option to Ignore Thread | | Viewed: | 42 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, fosterbengoshi writes:
| | The forum already has settings to ignore individual posters and topics. How about
one additional tweak to give users the option to ignore specific threads?
Rather than being given the choice of ignoring entire topics or everything a
certain member posts, I think it would be better to just ignore specific discussions
that do not interest users.
Thor
|
Bump!
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Feb 20, 2015 19:53 | | Subject: | Ask for feedback before implementing… | | Viewed: | 293 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Discarded | |
|
| Suggestion: Ask the community for feedback before implementing any new features
or creating new partnerships. It seems obvious that the BL admins are out of
touch with what direction the community would like to see BL go, so this would
be a great way to prevent asinine decisions.
2¢
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Feb 9, 2015 14:20 | | Subject: | Allow element IDs to be added to new items | | Viewed: | 87 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
|
| I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that there's
no way to add an element ID until a part has been approved by a catalog administrator.
It would be awesome if it was added to the page where we add items to the catalog.
Thanks
Josh
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 29, 2015 16:16 | | Subject: | Re: Add filter exclude store with minimum over X | | Viewed: | 27 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, eileenkeeney writes:
| | Add a filter to search criteria, to exclude sellers with minimum purchase over
X (where I decide the value of X).
I know it does show minimum purchase in the search results, but being able to
just exclude these stores, would be helpful.
|
Voted yes.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 29, 2015 13:41 | | Subject: | Re: Default to weights turned ON in shopping cart | | Viewed: | 36 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, eileenkeeney writes:
| | When sellers set up a store, default to Weights turned on in Shopping cart.
Further, whenever a seller decides to turn off this feature, display a message
telling them that this makes it hard for buyers to estimate shipping, and it
is recommended that they leave the weights turned on.
Maybe even tell them that many buyers will choose to NOT buy from them, and instead
choose a seller that has the weights turned on.
I know that I have selected "empty cart" instead of checking out, at the point
I was about the check out, for at least 2 sellers in the last two days, due to
no weights in shopping cart.
I have read the reasons for having weights off. I still don't think it is
necessary (or of benefit) to not display the weights. There are better solutions
to every reason I have seen, for not showing weights.
Buyers are being asked to estimate the shipping cost, close enough to commit
to the order.
Not providing the buyers with the available information to do this estimate is
wrong.
Maybe implement a policy that allows buyers to cancel any order placed where
weights were not visible in the shopping cart without risk of NPB.
This will give sellers more incentive to just make the weights visible.
|
I think a better solution would be to allow buyers to (not by default) display
the weights in every store, regardless of the store's setting.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 27, 2015 16:10 | | Subject: | Re: Notify when wanted list item price changes | | Viewed: | 31 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, par016 writes:
| | In Suggestions, jodawill writes:
| | The current system works great for snatching good deals that are newly posted,
but it doesn't tell us if something goes on sale after it's already been
listed for a while. Looking at items in my wanted list, I see I've missed
out on a lot of great deals, presumably because they were on sale.
It would be great if there was an option to be notified when an item's price
changes.
|
This might work well if it was: A) optional and B) restricted to just sets.
If I got a notification every time a part on my wanted list changed prices, my
phone would blow up.
-Pete
|
Maybe it could be optional for every wanted list item.
Except for temporary use, I only add expensive items to my wanted list. I have
BL notify me via e-mail when something pops up so I can pick up the best deals
on things I'm looking for. I buy a lot of cavalry minifigures. I seem to
miss a lot of them because the prices change.
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 27, 2015 15:11 | | Subject: | Notify when wanted list item price changes | | Viewed: | 125 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Discarded | |
|
| The current system works great for snatching good deals that are newly posted,
but it doesn't tell us if something goes on sale after it's already been
listed for a while. Looking at items in my wanted list, I see I've missed
out on a lot of great deals, presumably because they were on sale.
It would be great if there was an option to be notified when an item's price
changes.
|
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 27, 2015 12:17 | | Subject: | Re: Remove references to the chatroom | | Viewed: | 30 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Brettj666 writes:
| | When chat was active, I almost never went to the forum unless people in chat
didn't know.
|
That's exactly why I prefer not having a chatroom. Good discussions just
become lost in a chatroom, even if they are archived. It's nice being able
to see the discussions I've missed.
Associating each user with their BrickLink ID is definitely important, though.
There may be some way to setup an IRC channel so that a moderator has to receive
a message from the BrickLink member to approve their IRC account, but that would
be an arduous task and would discourage new members from joining the chat.
|
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| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 27, 2015 11:58 | | Subject: | Re: Remove references to the chatroom | | Viewed: | 32 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, BrickItYourself writes:
| | | | no chat. I prefer the forum. I've never used the BL chat before, but large
IRC chatrooms are hard to follow, and you can't navigate messages in a chatroom.
|
lol, way to weight your opinion as informative.
I didn't get to live in the 60's, but I prefer living now to living in
the 60's
hard to follow - that was kind of the point of chat, off the record spur of the
moment talk.
It made the FORUM easier to follow because there were a lot less posts there
and the posts there
There were a lot of people that were regulars in chat the hardly posted in the
forum, for the most part they were two different crowds
the ONLY downside was the security problems that arose from it (except for maybe
the mods that had to spend time in there to monitor things)
That was actually a plus, I think the strong mod presence in the chat room kept
the conversation positive and prevented a lot of member bashing that happens
in the forum.
|
I've spent plenty of time in chatrooms before. I know what they're like.
I'm just saying my preference is the forum. I like to have the opportunity
to be a part of each discussion.
Anyway, I've always wondered why there isn't a separately hosted IRC
channel for BrickLink. There are a ton of different websites for hosting chatrooms.
I'm surprised there's not an unofficial one at least.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 27, 2015 11:40 | | Subject: | Re: Remove references to the chatroom | | Viewed: | 46 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Brettj666 writes:
| | Well, I would say it's a bit of both.
Outside a few appearances at seller conventions (EU and maybe one in the US),
I have yet to see any personal touches from Jung-Ju Kim and certainly no passion.
The MOC shop was a business decision, not a passionate one.
Someone who spent any time on BL would have at least some input on what needs
to change. If he used Bricklink personally, it was to pop in, make a purchase
and pay for it and pop out just as quick
I didn't expect Chat to be returned because any 'business' benefits
are hard to measure. You don't know that person A helped person B decide
on something and made a sale, you only know they made a sale. You don't
know that problems were resolved and advice given.
|
I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm actually glad there's
no chat. I prefer the forum. I've never used the BL chat before, but large
IRC chatrooms are hard to follow, and you can't navigate messages in a chatroom.
I agree that it seems the MOC shop was just a business decision. The dumb thing
is that it's probably done more harm than good. I would be surprised if they
haven't spent more money developing it than what they've earned from
it so far. I really don't see why they think there would be a lot of people
lining up to buy someone else's creation. Anyone who knows what a MOC is
is probably more interested in creating their own than following someone else's
instructions. If they wanted to target kids, they should have picked a better
name.
I have no idea who Jung-Ju Kim is. I've only seen two or three staff members
on the forum (unless inventory admins count), and none of them have seemed to
be in touch with the community.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 27, 2015 11:21 | | Subject: | Re: Remove references to the chatroom | | Viewed: | 44 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, popsicle writes:
| | In Suggestions, jodawill writes:
| | In Suggestions, studfinder writes:
| | In Suggestions, jodawill writes:
| | The chatroom has been gone for a really long time, but there are still broken
links on the site related to the chat.
Here's one example. I'm pretty sure there are several others. http://i.imgur.com/iMrMxST.png
|
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=751253
... from August 2013 - not even a reply from Admin back then, and no change since
then either, except the picture was changed. This is indicative that even simple
fixes are beyond their capability, and the suggestions forum is really ignored
(despite assurances otherwise).
Miles/..
|
Such a simple change. That's pretty sad.
I wish the Jezek family had sold BrickLink to a community member. There are so
many people here who would be capable of operating this site.
|
Slow down, cowboy......they did sell to a long standing BL community member.
Jung-Ju Kim has been a member for years.
Less posts, more research....
|
Ok, I see that now. I guess I just always assumed it was just an outside company
because of the way things have been going.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 27, 2015 10:49 | | Subject: | Re: Remove references to the chatroom | | Viewed: | 47 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, studfinder writes:
| | In Suggestions, jodawill writes:
| | The chatroom has been gone for a really long time, but there are still broken
links on the site related to the chat.
Here's one example. I'm pretty sure there are several others. http://i.imgur.com/iMrMxST.png
|
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=751253
... from August 2013 - not even a reply from Admin back then, and no change since
then either, except the picture was changed. This is indicative that even simple
fixes are beyond their capability, and the suggestions forum is really ignored
(despite assurances otherwise).
Miles/..
|
Such a simple change. That's pretty sad.
I wish the Jezek family had sold BrickLink to a community member. There are so
many people here who would be capable of operating this site.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 27, 2015 10:33 | | Subject: | Re: Remove references to the chatroom | | Viewed: | 46 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Royroy writes:
| | In Suggestions, jodawill writes:
| | The chatroom has been gone for a really long time, but there are still broken
links on the site related to the chat.
Here's one example. I'm pretty sure there are several others. http://i.imgur.com/iMrMxST.png
|
under: "my activity"
Chat:
0:00 Visit Feature Minutes in Chat
0 Visit Feature Members on my Ignore List
0 Visit Feature Members are Ignoring Me
|
http://imgur.com/a/KZORc
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 27, 2015 10:09 | | Subject: | Remove references to the chatroom | | Viewed: | 308 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
|
| The chatroom has been gone for a really long time, but there are still broken
links on the site related to the chat.
Here's one example. I'm pretty sure there are several others. http://i.imgur.com/iMrMxST.png
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 24, 2015 13:01 | | Subject: | Re: Please include control for lot limits! | | Viewed: | 71 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Off Topic, petertje_lego writes:
| | In Off Topic, jodawill writes:
| | In Off Topic, petertje_lego writes:
| | In Off Topic, jodawill writes:
| | In Off Topic, Lonely_Brick_OH writes:
| | I am sick to death of having to kill orders due to the lot limitations.
And today I got another negative for something that should have been done years
ago.
When you, the owners of Brick Link, fix this site, please, please, please include
a way for the seller to keep control of the limits on his/her store.
Thank you.
|
You require every lot to be at least a dollar, but you have lots that don't
add up to a dollar.
Personally, I avoid stores with lot limits. Even if my order meets their requirements,
I don't want to waste my time figuring out how to make the numbers work out.
|
not really, the average price of a lot has to be $1.-
buy 1 lot, pay $1.-
buy 2 lots, pay $2.-
in this it doesn't matter if 1 lot is $0.05 and the other is $1.95
it's still 2 lost for $2.-
and so on...
not that hard
Cheers,
Peter
|
That's probably what they meant, but that's not what their terms say.
It says "at least $1 per item lot."
|
true, but their terms also say:"That means a 10 lot order needs to be 10.00."
|
That still doesn't imply an average
Sorry, as mathematician, I have a tendency to be overly pedantic. 
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 24, 2015 12:47 | | Subject: | Re: Please include control for lot limits! | | Viewed: | 70 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Off Topic, petertje_lego writes:
| | In Off Topic, jodawill writes:
| | In Off Topic, Lonely_Brick_OH writes:
| | I am sick to death of having to kill orders due to the lot limitations.
And today I got another negative for something that should have been done years
ago.
When you, the owners of Brick Link, fix this site, please, please, please include
a way for the seller to keep control of the limits on his/her store.
Thank you.
|
You require every lot to be at least a dollar, but you have lots that don't
add up to a dollar.
Personally, I avoid stores with lot limits. Even if my order meets their requirements,
I don't want to waste my time figuring out how to make the numbers work out.
|
not really, the average price of a lot has to be $1.-
buy 1 lot, pay $1.-
buy 2 lots, pay $2.-
in this it doesn't matter if 1 lot is $0.05 and the other is $1.95
it's still 2 lost for $2.-
and so on...
not that hard
Cheers,
Peter
|
That's probably what they meant, but that's not what their terms say.
It says "at least $1 per item lot."
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 24, 2015 12:45 | | Subject: | Re: Please include control for lot limits! | | Viewed: | 56 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Off Topic, jval writes:
| | In Off Topic, 62Bricks writes:
| | In Off Topic, Lonely_Brick_OH writes:
| | I am sick to death of having to kill orders due to the lot limitations.
And today I got another negative for something that should have been done years
ago.
When you, the owners of Brick Link, fix this site, please, please, please include
a way for the seller to keep control of the limits on his/her store.
Thank you.
|
I hate finding shops with parts I want but with lot limits (or other unfriendly
policies that scream "Please don't waste my time buying bricks from me!")
So if the lot limits were somehow coded into the shop policies in a way that
buyers could eliminate them from search results, want list notifications, etc.
that would be great.
Sellers who want to impose lot limits would have what they want, and buyers would
have a way to avoid them. Win-win.
|
Instead of lot limitation a seller could place a bulk qty in his lots. Saves
time from buyer to make.. lengthy calculations
|
That's what I've done in some situations. I don't want to count out
a certain number of jewels for any order. It's a waste of time. So I put
them in bags of 50 and only allow people to order 50 at a time.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 24, 2015 12:44 | | Subject: | Re: Please include control for lot limits! | | Viewed: | 57 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Off Topic, 62Bricks writes:
| | In Off Topic, Lonely_Brick_OH writes:
| | I am sick to death of having to kill orders due to the lot limitations.
And today I got another negative for something that should have been done years
ago.
When you, the owners of Brick Link, fix this site, please, please, please include
a way for the seller to keep control of the limits on his/her store.
Thank you.
|
I hate finding shops with parts I want but with lot limits (or other unfriendly
policies that scream "Please don't waste my time buying bricks from me!")
So if the lot limits were somehow coded into the shop policies in a way that
buyers could eliminate them from search results, want list notifications, etc.
that would be great.
Sellers who want to impose lot limits would have what they want, and buyers would
have a way to avoid them. Win-win.
|
Just a few weeks ago, I was about to order from someone with a lot limit; it
may have been The Lonely Brick Ohio, but I can't remember for sure. I often
forget to check the store terms before filling my cart. I spent a lot of time
going through everything they have. Then right before I submitted the order,
I saw the lot limit and emptied my cart. I was just a few cents under the lot
limit, but I had so many items in my cart, it would have taken several more dollars
to bump my average up that high.
If lot limits are to be allowed at all, I do like the idea of being able to block
sellers with lot limits.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 24, 2015 12:21 | | Subject: | Re: Please include control for lot limits! | | Viewed: | 84 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Off Topic, Lonely_Brick_OH writes:
| | I am sick to death of having to kill orders due to the lot limitations.
And today I got another negative for something that should have been done years
ago.
When you, the owners of Brick Link, fix this site, please, please, please include
a way for the seller to keep control of the limits on his/her store.
Thank you.
|
You require every lot to be at least a dollar, but you have lots that don't
add up to a dollar.
Personally, I avoid stores with lot limits. Even if my order meets their requirements,
I don't want to waste my time figuring out how to make the numbers work out.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 10, 2015 01:01 | | Subject: | Re: Inventory Change Request for Set 2022-1 | | Viewed: | 30 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests | |
|
| In Inventories Requests, viejos writes:
| | In Inventories Requests, peter_heyden writes:
| | Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Delete 1 Part 31005pb05 Red Primo Brick, Round Rattle 1 x 1 with Ladybug Pattern
* Change 1 Gear Yellow pri057 Primo Storage Elephant {match ID 0 to 1}
Comments from Submitter:
The rattle brick isn't included in this set. The elephants nose seems to have one, but that's a similar brick without the rattle, with with a rope to pull the elephant.
The elephant comes with and without bow tie. I just entered a new item (gear) for the elephant with bow tie. However I can add the item only after it is approved. I'll do that right after approval.
Please consider the lid and elephant to be catalogued as parts in stead of gears. Other Primo elements (e.g. some storage form lids) are listed as parts. In that case, it would be possible to add an assembly for the elephant plus lid, as a "Ride on elephant".
|
Here's an image of the elephant without the bow tie from the 1998 Dutch catalog,
showing the pull string and the detachable wheels:
|
I love Primo.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/109285352@N02/13404864505/in/set-72157642904645254
|
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2015 00:51 | | Subject: | Re: Could we get rid of this? | | Viewed: | 65 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, FigBits writes:
| | In Suggestions, jodawill writes:
| | "79 messages in this Thread. blah blah blah"
Could we have an option to stop collapsing the message tree? It's a great
annoyance while trying to read through a large thread.
I'm guessing the only reason it does this is because when the site was written
billions of years ago, web browsers couldn't handle large pages very well.
Now that they can, it would be nice to see the entire message tree without the
extra click.
Thanks,
- Josh
|
http://www.bricklink.com/messageFilter.asp
Uncheck the box marked "Supress message tree when there are more than 50 messages
in thread"
(And, read the forum when you're logged in, so that your preferences are
applied.)
--
Marc.
|
Wow. I can't believe I've never seen this before. You rock!
|
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 8, 2015 00:39 | | Subject: | Could we get rid of this? | | Viewed: | 306 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Already Exists | |
|
| "79 messages in this Thread. blah blah blah"
Could we have an option to stop collapsing the message tree? It's a great
annoyance while trying to read through a large thread.
I'm guessing the only reason it does this is because when the site was written
billions of years ago, web browsers couldn't handle large pages very well.
Now that they can, it would be nice to see the entire message tree without the
extra click.
Thanks,
- Josh
|
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 7, 2015 22:05 | | Subject: | Re: Andrew! Punctuation please! | | Viewed: | 84 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, blackballoon writes:
| | In Suggestions, BrickBuy writes:
| | In Suggestions, pikachu3 writes:
| | In Suggestions, Kenopolis writes:
"removeal"
|
"your"
|
"Items(s)"
|
Items(s), precious!
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 7, 2015 13:00 | | Subject: | Re: Integrate age verification software into BL | | Viewed: | 38 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Spiritparticles writes:
| | In Suggestions, Hardstone writes:
| | Bricklink would really benefit from having some sort of age verification software
integrated into it. Despite the minimum age to join being 18, it seems like a
lot of underage buyers keep managing to sign up. I am not going to name names,
but there is at least one recent buyer who admitted in the forums that he or
she is 16.
Can't BL staff add some sort of age verification element to the registration
process?
|
I don't think age verification is a good thing. When I run into Verisign
I usually stop and don't complete registration, so it may be a bigger deterrent
to new buyers.
I received a quote from the above mentioned user. I explained I only accept Paypal,
and suspected he was underage when he begged me to let him send cash, so I cancelled
the quote and blocked him after some thought. But on the other hand he could
get burned by someone who he sends cash. So, the decision to block him wasn't
made lightly.
|
When I was 13, I mail ordered a CD my mom wouldn't let me buy, and I sent
cash. Unfortunately, she opened the mail before I did, and while the CD I
bought wasn't vulgar, the catalog they sent with it was filled with adult
material on other punk album covers and so on. She sent it back.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 7, 2015 12:35 | | Subject: | Re: Integrate age verification software into BL | | Viewed: | 40 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Kaye writes:
| | In Suggestions, technic.lego writes:
| | In Suggestions, Hardstone writes:
| | Bricklink would really benefit from having some sort of age verification software
integrated into it. Despite the minimum age to join being 18, it seems like a
lot of underage buyers keep managing to sign up. I am not going to name names,
but there is at least one recent buyer who admitted in the forums that he or
she is 16.
Can't BL staff add some sort of age verification element to the registration
process?
|
You can join the military at sixteen & a half but you can't register at BrickLink
until you're eighteen. At seventeen anyone can participate in a live-fire
training exercise but not even chat online about Lego at BrickLink. In some states
of the US you can own a firearm at the age of fourteen. Making mistakes is how
we learn & being over eighteen does not exclude you from lying, cheating &/or
stealing.
Sixteen is reasonable & should be the new minimum. But yes, register with a linked/verified
PayPal account or credit/savings card linked to a bank account but for all
members, not just younger users! Failing to verify an account should still allow
a user even at a younger age to take part in discussions & communicate like any
other human being. I'm sure not all problems caused to sellers are from underage
members. Being a young person where a site selling a product that is specifically
targeted towards a market even younger than yourself but then being excluded
from taking an interest or participating in expanding your knowledge in because
you're deemed too young is as rude as hell.
This age group is often excluded from most things & this is the age that our
youth is most vulnerable to outside influences. Let us include them & encourage
their interests instead of alienating & disillusioning them into participating
in more underground/antisocial activities.
Welcome to 2015. We are the human race.
I'm only saying. I'm not trying to incite rage, hatred, be offensive
or stir the pot in any way & not having a selling history how could I possibly
know anything about anything.
|
In the spirit of a moderate response (following your lead), there are two main
reasons put forth by the admins for the 18+ rule.
1) Buying and selling requires a contract, and in most jurisdictions, that requires
the age of 18 to make it valid. They have to draw the line somewhere...
2) While vulgarity and abuse is not allowed at any time, the 18+ rules allow
the members to not have to tiptoe around the younger ears, as sometimes there
is adult stuff discussed on the forums. Not that that has kept all immaturity
from the forum discussions...
One can also browse the site and learn from the community without ever becoming
a member. This does not require a login to view the catalog, or to read the forums.
The admins had to set the standard somewhere, and they viewed the current state
of things to be the best balanced approach.
|
I don't remember ever seeing adult discussions here. Does that really happen?
(I'm not arguing with your points at all. I agree. I'm just curious.)
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 7, 2015 01:23 | | Subject: | Re: Integrate age verification software into BL | | Viewed: | 70 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, Hardstone writes:
| | Bricklink would really benefit from having some sort of age verification software
integrated into it. Despite the minimum age to join being 18, it seems like a
lot of underage buyers keep managing to sign up. I am not going to name names,
but there is at least one recent buyer who admitted in the forums that he or
she is 16.
Can't BL staff add some sort of age verification element to the registration
process?
|
That would be nice, but I don't know if there's a practical way to do
that. If I remember correctly, I don't think it asks for your age when you
register, so maybe they could at least do that if they don't already, although
people will just lie.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Jan 6, 2015 00:02 | | Subject: | Re: reporting forum posts | | Viewed: | 84 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, renhoffman writes:
| | I was playing around with the reporting feature today, and I think it needs some
tweaking. Kind of hard to do for me, as logging out causes the system to require
me to log-in in order to report something, but I wanted to see how the general
public sees things. I did notice a lot of things have slipped by without being
reported, and took care of them. Anyway, I was able to determine that there doesn't
seem to be an easy way to report forum TOS violations. Perhaps a link for reporting
spam, flooding, swearing, etc. could be added to each message. Then, when a user
clicks on the link, they would click on a violation, add a comment if needed,
and the report message is sent to us as it is now, with an automatic link to
the message.
Please forgive me if that already exists, as I can't see it.
Darren
|
Is this what you're looking for? http://www.bricklink.com/problemMessage.asp
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Dec 18, 2014 09:29 | | Subject: | Re: A simple sugestion | | Viewed: | 68 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, mabccc writes:
| | In Suggestions, jodawill writes:
| | In Suggestions, jamesuniverse writes:
Voted yes.
When the new team took over, I think everyone here only wanted to see improvements
to the search and wanted list. We've seen neither of those. Instead, we've
seen tons of MOC Shop spam and now they're taking advantage of Lego's
abandoned Cuusoo name to sell more MOC Shop items, which I think is a disgusting
move, even if it is legal.
|
Cuusoo was never Lego's name. They contracted Cuusoo to help fan-source new
ideas. Lego then ended their agreement / partnership with them when they realised
it was a good idea. Cuusoo are allowed to continue operating as a company, partnering
with whoever they like.
So long as Bricklink don't call it "Lego Cuusoo", then they are safe on the
legal side.
I'm not a fan of it, just as I'm not a fan of the MOC shop. But Cuusoo
shouldn't suffer just because lego no longer want to work with them.
|
"Cuusoo" is printed on the Lego boxes. The average person probably doesn't
know that Cuusoo is another company. It just seems like BL is trying to cash
in on Lego Cuusoo's reputation. I don't see any other explanation for
it because it seems pointless since the MOC Shop already exists.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Dec 18, 2014 09:20 | | Subject: | Re: A simple sugestion | | Viewed: | 64 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, jamesuniverse writes:
How about this suggestion: Sell BrickLink to someone who actually cares about
the AFOL community. There are plenty of software engineers around here. Someone
like Steve Hassenplug would do a really great job updating the site without enraging
the entire community that supports it.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Dec 18, 2014 09:15 | | Subject: | Re: A simple sugestion | | Viewed: | 73 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| In Suggestions, jamesuniverse writes:
Voted yes.
When the new team took over, I think everyone here only wanted to see improvements
to the search and wanted list. We've seen neither of those. Instead, we've
seen tons of MOC Shop spam and now they're taking advantage of Lego's
abandoned Cuusoo name to sell more MOC Shop items, which I think is a disgusting
move, even if it is legal.
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Dec 7, 2014 09:52 | | Subject: | Allow items to be tagged in mult. categories | | Viewed: | 90 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
|
| http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=875000
In Catalog, cosmicray writes:
| | The real issue here is not what category this part/design should be placed under.
The real issue is the hierarchical design of the catalog that forces all parts
to live in only one category. Some pieces (such as this one) really do need to
exist in more than one category.
The alternative to having n categories, is to do away with categories entirely,
and instead provide tags for each part. This part would likely have tags for
tree, palm, and bar. I'm not trying to redesign the world, but pointing out
that the existing design has shortcomings (which is really the entire point of
this thread).
|
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Nov 17, 2014 00:18 | | Subject: | Inventory Change Request for Set 42027-1 | | Viewed: | 23 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests (Entry) | | Status: | Open | |
|
| Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Add 1 Part 4716 Black Technic, Gear Worm Screw (Alternate)
Comments from Submitter:
15457 was quickly discontinued due to quality issues
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Nov 17, 2014 00:17 | | Subject: | Inventory Change Request for Set 42026-1 | | Viewed: | 23 times | | Topic: | Inventories Requests (Entry) | | Status: | Open | |
|
| Please make changes to the following inventory:
* Add 1 Part 4716 Black Technic, Gear Worm Screw (Alternate)
Comments from Submitter:
15457 was quickly discontinued due to quality issues
|
|
| Author: | jodawill | | Posted: | Aug 30, 2014 02:22 | | Subject: | Re: Allow Brickset to Link to Part List & Sellers | | Viewed: | 76 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
|
| Still no response from Bricklink?
In Suggestions, Miro78 writes:
| | In Suggestions, Huw writes:
| | In Suggestions, mnementh writes:
| | In Suggestions, goshe7 writes:
| | I don't really have a strong preference about the catalog. I've uploaded a minimal
amount of info to it and don't really care how it gets used/abused. I'm just
trying to explain some of the rationale I have seen in these discussions previously.
If I wanted to champion the release of BrickLink catalog data, I'd start the
argument with BrickStore. That is oddly omitted from many of these discussions.
|
The catalog is, and has always been, freely downloadable:
http://www.bricklink.com/catalogDownload.asp
All of it.
With no restrictions placed on it.
By design.
Dan was always more community oriented than commercially oriented and believed
in freely sharing information to foster the community. Yes this may lead to
some use that we do not like, but that was the tradeoff for for the positives.
Brickstore would be one of the positives. It gives users the ability to do things
that Dan either could not or would not support on BrickLink. It was a winning
situation for everyone. Dan didn't have to provide features that only a small
subset of users wanted/needed. Members still got the features they wanted.
The author of BrickStore was able to make some money to defray the cost of producing
the software. The only negative is that the software is no longer being developed.
But in true community spirit, it is open source, so people can continue the
development on their own.
I believe that Brickset would also be a positive for all involved, depending
on how it is implemented. I believe that Brickset has a wider reach than Bricklink
in that it reaches people outside the core AFOL market. As such, it could only
drive more traffic to BrickLink, which makes BL more money and makes BrickLink
sellers more money. The only issue to be resolved would be how to compensate
Brickset for sending the traffic.
Any agreement between the two sites could stipulate that the inventory and parts
catalog information could only be used to link back to BrickLink and not to other
competing sites. Brickset maintains its own catalog of set information so it
would remain free to continue to link set info to eBay and Amazon. There is
also potential for information to travel in the other direction as well. BrickLink
could use set reviews.
Troy
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I am encouraged by the generally positive nature of the discussion this time,
and thank you to everyone who's putting the case forward for allowing it.
I understand the concern about Brickset promoting eBay and Amazon, your main
competitors, but I'm pleased to see that many of you recognise that it would
be better for you if it were to promote eBay, Amazon AND BrickLink.
To clarify a few points:
- If Brickset were to display set inventories, they would not appear on any page
that also showed eBay or Amazon links at the same time.
- Links on image/part numbers would lead directly to the appropriate place on
BrickLink (whatever you stipulate that to be, the catalogue or for sale list,
perhaps)
- Currently, Brickset does not promote eBay or Amazon when viewing minifigs and
that would be the case for parts. Data provided by BrickLink would NOT be used
to promote anything other than BrickLink and would not be made available to 3rd
parties.
- There would be no stress placed on the BrickLink system by retreiving the inventories,
as it would be a one-off exercise when one was first requested by a user, possibly
refreshed every couple of months.
- There would potentially be an increase in requests for images from the BL server,
but arguably no more than if someone viewed the inventory after clicking on a
link to view it at BrickLink. In most cases users' browsers would cache these
anyway so any increase would be negligible.
My motivations for wanting to do this have been questioned in the past, often
with suspicion. Of course I want to do it to make Brickset a better website which
provides its users with more information. But, in doing so I believe it can make
for a more joined-up community which will benefit BrickLink as much as it does
Brickset. As someone pointed out earlier, Brickset's demographic is very different
from BrickLink's and many of its users do not even know BrickLink exists, or
are suspicious of it. There are several discussions in the forum where this has
been raised.
Finally, I have a working prototype showing how I would like to integrate BrickLink
inventories into Brickset and I can make it available for testing to anyone that's
interested. Drop me an email (huw@brickset.com) with your Brickset username.
(I wrote all the code to do so a few years ago but have never made it publicly
available)
Thank you for reading this. I welcome your comments. I would also welcome knowing
who ultimately can make a decision to allow this.
Huw
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It has been 19 months since any more posts were done on this topic. Ownership
has changed hands on Bricklink and I am curious to know if the stance has changed
at all. I am not familiar with the history between Brickset and Bricklink, but
I think this would help both parties. Afterall, BrickOwl is already on both Brickset
and Rebrickable. Times are changing, what is Bricklink's stance now?
Miro
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USA, Indiana
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