Pre-define differentiations between similar mold types, useable for extended search

patpendlego

New feature: pre-defined differentiations for similar mold type, usable for extended search.

E.g.
Plastic: CA, ABS (are there more?)
Time period: classic, pat pend, pat pend obscured, void, part id
Logo: old, with open 'O', new, ...
Mold pip: edge, bar, side, stud, center

This is one feature BL does not have and probably will never have, therefore could be a USP of BO.

Lawrence

Already on the list well, material type was, the rest is a good idea.

patpendlego

Nice :-) You may adopt the terminology used by Leggodt.nl, no legal issues will occur

Lawrence

Do you want to expand on them a little more, make sure you have all of the options, and then I will add it to the edit form. Also, tell me what the default is. So, plastic would default to ABS, what about the others?

Aladine

plastic: yes, there is another but I never found a name given to it. Some old plates are neither CA nor ABS. And as far as I remember, old trans clear items were of a different material too
time period: maybe add old numbering. - we need Gary desperately !!!
and IMO for each feature there should be 'other' too, as there will be some more differentiations than you mentioned (where should I put my plates with mold pip on the underside but not inside bar)
However, congratulations Admin. The idea of a catalog with differentiations is sooooo wonderful. What about differentiations in minifigs? Could vintage minifigs please have the correct heads? And what about inventories of vintage sets? Well, there I'm just dreaming, I think.

Lawrence

I have just added material type, I will need to be told about any other options to be added though. We should be able to use the same field for packaging and other items. So the material type for packaging can be cardboard or PE for box or polybag.

I'm not a fan of using "other" for now, as people might not tell me they need a new option added, I prefer to leave them as N/A for now, but may add it later.

I do not intend to restrict the catalog, I want the catalog to have everything Lego within reason, and then use powerful search tools so that people don't experience clutter. For example, there are thousands of weird bricks, but when you go on the brick category, you see straight away the bricks you probably want. But if you want the weird stuff too, you can use the filters on the left or the search.

patpendlego

Indeed, I don't know either the old plates plastic, I just use CA/ABS (it something in between).

Minifigs:
Head: Solid, Hollow, Recessed
Torso: Hollow, Short Ribs, Long Ribs
Hands: None (the 'stiffs'), Old Color, New Color

E.g.
SHO: Solid Stud Head, Hollow Torso, Old Color Hands
RLN: Recessed Stud Head, Long Ribs Torso, New Color Hands

patpendlego

Material: CA Plastic, ABS Plastic, Paper, Cloth, Metal, Silver, Wood, other...

Lawrence

Silver is a metal

What is that plastic Lego make technic bricks out of?

patpendlego

Timeframe: Automatic Binding Bricks, Pat. Pend., Pat. Pend. Obscured, Void, Part ID

Roughly (best guess) in years:
Automatic Binding Bricks: until 1958?
Pat. pend.: 1958-1974
Pat. pend. obscured: 1975-1978
Void: 1978-1982
Part ID: 1982-

Void is the term I use for the period between Obscured and Part ID, but it is not strict. There are many parts that just don't have one of the above even if they are from pat pend period.

"Pat. Pend." I use if these words are actually written inside the part.

"Pat. Pend. Period" I use for parts that are from the same period, but do not have it written.

patpendlego

Metal ... yes, too generic perhaps Iron is better?

patpendlego

@Admin

Now I see ABS with e.g. 2x2 plates, but that is not what I meant. I would like the material type on each inventory entry. There are also 2x2 plates made from CA plastic...

Lawrence

Understood, we should probably make separate catalog items for CA items? Or will we end up with a ridiculous amount of variations with all the combinations of stud/material etc?

patpendlego

Pls no seperate catalog items, there would be hundreds if not thousand. Plates, bricks, windows, ...

I would like these just for store inventory lots, and only available if the store is distinguishing similar mold types.

patpendlego

Check my store inventory, most lots have a description stating the type of plastic, mold pip location, timeframe, etc. These are quite well defined, and could be supported by BO as separate fields for each lot with a drop down box with possibilities. A field for material, a field for mold pip location, a field for logo, etc.

If buyers can seach within description it works too, but if you want to be different from that other site this would be a great feature.

Lawrence

Oh, I will have to have a think about that one then. If it is an option, like color, that will be a bit of a mess database wise and also for the interface. But at the same time, I don't really want thousands of entries. I would prefer the thousands of entries to the modifications that would be needed to support listing options other than colour.

patpendlego

The #3001old brick only already has 18 known variants considering these four characteristics. This is not including the Bayer variants on this brick which are easily 15-20 as well.

It gets even more complicated if you want this available for sets, because sets can have different inventories too with respect to these characteristics.

Lawrence

:O