Should minifigs be linked somehow to the sets they're in?

catbricks

Hi folks,

I'm trying to chip in and convert some of these "unnamed" items and "minifigure torsos" into something more useful. One thing I notice is that the minifigs are not linked to the sets they're in, nor are the sets linked to the minifigs they contain. (Set inventories show minifigs as parts only.)

Is there some way I should be linking minifigs to their sets? I generally have all the info in front of me, but I don't know how to do it!

Thanks!

Cathy

Lawrence

On any set, you can go to the inventory and then click edit inventory. You can then add the relevant mini figures to that inventory. Similarly with minifigures you can do the same. If there is not already an inventory, if you click on the edit tab, there will be a create inventory button.

If a minifigure has a name and an inventory, several of the parts in its inventory like the head, torso and legs will automatically be named after the minifigure

Usually for licensed minifigures it makes sense to call it for example "Harry Potter torso" but for others it might make more sense to simply describe the torso.

catbricks

So it's OK to add the whole minifigure to the inventory even if the parts are already on the inventory? I don't want to mess up someone's parting-out process.

Lawrence

Yes, if the minifig has an inventory, it will later remove the parts.

catbricks

Oh, ok. And I see from the rejection that I just got that you want things in Title Case. That might be good to put on the directions somewhere. There are few enough examples that I'd missed that.

One more naming question, for minifig torsos. "Torso with V-neck Sweater" or just "V-neck Sweater"?

Lawrence

Yeah we're lacking on help advice at the moment. The first one.

catbricks

Lawrence, I'm sorry to bug you, but I'm still confused. The Burrow (http://brickowl.com/catalog/lego-the-burrow-set-4840) has both the minifigs and minifig parts included in the inventory. If I part it out into my wishlist, I get both the whole minifigs and the parts. Is that the desired behavior?

And, should each minifigure have an inventory of its own, or not?

Lawrence

It's not the desired behaviour, I didn't mention, if a minifigure does not have an inventory, then the automatic removing will not work. Minifigure inventories are slowly being added. For stores, there is a note at the top of the part out screen that says to check if both parts and mini figures are in the inventory.

Just to clarify, the inventories come from Lego with the minifigure parts, these then have to be replaced with the minifigure.

catbricks

Ok, thanks!

catbricks

So, I'm not sure if the "desired" behavior is actually desirable.

Example: http://brickowl.com/catalog/lego-unnamed-dinosaur-minifigure-823095

This minifig has an inventory, and is in a set, so it would seem to be eligible for the intended behavior. However, I'm not sure it is behaving the way I might naively expect it to. Specifically:

a. If I look at the torso entry, it lists as coming in the minifigure, but not as coming in the 4 sets that that minifigure is in. This seems like a problem to me -- if I want to know where the torso has been/is available, I want to see the sets, not just the minifig entry. (Seeing both would not offend me, either.)

b. It bugs me less in the opposite direction - if I'm looking at the set, I have to click into the set inventory to click into the minifig's inventory, to find the torso listing. But I think it might still bug me.

Suggestion for issue "a": "Comes in" should show not just the immediate parent but also the grandparent, at least if the parent is a minifig. (And maybe always. I'm not sure if always would be broken for another case, however.)

Lawrence

Your example is now "fixed" http://brickowl.com/catalog/lego-dark-red-dino-minifig-torso-with-d-logo-and-bandolier-76382/comesin

When checking what an item comes in, it will "go up the tree". I haven't made this change the overall count though partially because it's difficult and partially because I'm not sure if that's the best thing.

When looking at a set inventory, there is a "break" button on any items that also have their own inventory. Personally I find it quite fun to push them.

Nathvw

Minifigure annihilation. I like it.

catbricks

Huzzah, Lawrence!

catbricks

So, I did an inventory on http://brickowl.com/catalog/lego-springtime-scene-set-40052 and the two minifigs in it. I manually put the male fig into the inventory before Lawrence's new change that they should be automatically added. The Assemble/Break function works great.

The female fig's inventory was accepted, but it hasn't shown up in the set inventory. Is there something else I needed to do? (I can add the minifig to the set inventory, but I thought that was now automagic?)

Lawrence

You did it correctly, many of these processes take a bit of time as they run in batches. I also have to approve what the system does to make sure it doesn't go crazy. That lady will probably end up being fixed before the end of today. The handy thing about this new system, if a new set gets released with existing minifigures, those minifigures should get replaced without any user effort at all.

Nathvw

The handy thing about this new system, if a new set gets released with existing minifigures, those minifigures should get replaced without any user effort at all.

<:-P

catbricks

OK, thanks Lawrence. I didn't know it was a batch process, so when I saw the inventory approved, I thought it hadn't worked.

Lawrence

That's fine, it can often be a bit confusing. I have probably about 40 processes now that run in the background. It is a bit of a personality trait to try to automate everything.

figbits

Hmm.

For sets that have minifigs made of common parts, how is this going to work? I can image the system thinking that a set contains a particular minifigure because it contains all the component parts, when in fact the set's instructions combine the parts differently.

Lawrence

Everything has to be approved by me, it does do some odd things, if i reject it, it never tries it again.