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Minifigs/dolls - preferred labeling format?
Hi folks,
(Sorry for two posts on minifigs - I thought they made more sense separately than together.)
Should my goal as I'm fixing names on minifig torsos be to identify the character they belong on, or to describe the torso? Clearly, there are some generic/frequently-used torsos that only make sense as descriptions of the torso, but for other torsos that have been used exactly once and are readily identifiable to an expert as belonging to a specific minifig, how shall I name them?
Thanks!
Cathy
(Sorry for two posts on minifigs - I thought they made more sense separately than together.)
Should my goal as I'm fixing names on minifig torsos be to identify the character they belong on, or to describe the torso? Clearly, there are some generic/frequently-used torsos that only make sense as descriptions of the torso, but for other torsos that have been used exactly once and are readily identifiable to an expert as belonging to a specific minifig, how shall I name them?
Thanks!
Cathy
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I'd like to lay out my thinking on naming minifigure parts, in hopes of some discussion about it. This comes from my perspective as a mostly-buyer/collector, so I hope sellers will weigh in where I haven't understood your needs well.
I see the names we put on minifig parts as needing to serve the following groups:
1. The buyer who needs to buy a replacement torso for Watto, because the dog chewed it. The buyer will probably put Watto into the search box or might browse the set inventory.
2. The seller or collector who has a plain grey torso with dk grey hands and wants to know what in the world it is, or the moc builder who needs a plain grey torso with dk gray hands. This user doesn't know it belongs to Watto, so is going to be searching by description. ThatOtherSite has lots of posts of the "what in the world is this torso?" variety.
3. The contributor working on the inventory of a set that contains a grey torso with dk grey hands, who needs to figure out whether this item exists already in the database or whether it should be created. This user is not going to be searching for Watto, either.
So, here's what I suggest we do. DISCLAIMER: I write this with no authority whatsoever, merely as a member of the community.
* Torsos that are used across themes get descriptive labels only.
* Torsos that are used across multiple named minifigs in the same theme get descriptive labels (Sweater with Gryffindor Badge, not Harry Potter or Ron Weasley Sweater).
* Torsos that are used for unnamed figures (i.e. most of the City torsos) get descriptive labels
* Torsos that are currently used on one named (typically licensed) figure get the name of that figure but ALSO a description, to facilitate finding it in case 2 or 3 above. So http://brickowl.com/catalog/lego-frodo-baggins-torso-76382 would be "Frodo Baggins with Buttoned Shirt, Suspenders and Top of Pants" or something of that sort, rather than just "Frodo Baggins". Right now there are actually at least two Frodo torsos (could me more - I'm a Modulars gal, myself), so a more complete description will give us different names for them, as a bonus.
Your thoughts or comments?
Cathy
For torsos that can be named, like Harry Potter Quidditch Outfit, I would name it like that. Additionally, if you want to describe it in more detail, there is a decoration description field, if you use that, the extra description will appear as a bullet pointed list.
Torso names should contain the word torso in them, but it does not need to be at the start. So "police officer torso" is fine.
Another thing you can do if the torso used for many licensed mini figures is described the torso, and then put the names of the mini figures as tags. You can also assign a theme to a torso. This is quite complex really
'Frodo Baggins Torso with Jacket over Dark Red Vest and Tan Shirt'
I do like that much better - more grammatical by far. Sorry, I'd seen a whole bunch with "Minifigure Torso" at the start, so guessed (incorrectly) that this was the desired format.
BTW, I got some early rejects for putting descriptions in the decoration description field, so I thought use was non-preferred?
Yes, complex!
I'm still not sure how best to use the decoration description field, I suppose in this case actually if there are many Atlanta's diver torsos, then the decoration description needs to go in the name. I'm guessing there are many diver torsos.
I suppose another way of wording it, the name should be descriptive enough to separate it from similar torsos, and then the decoration description should be for any excessive description.
Once the larger issues are sorted out (all torsos have descriptions, all minifigs have inventories that include torsos, etc), some refinement will probably be necessary. Right now, it's hard for a non-specialist to figure out where the extra description bits should go, because it is difficult to establish how many similar torsos there are. (Until just a minute ago, a search for Frodo would get you only one torso, when there are actually two.)
I guess keeping the main descriptor as short as possible, but other descriptors still searchable may be beneficial.
I did a bit of online research to have a really good idea of how many of something would have the same base name and need some sort of identifier. Then I brought all of them up in tabs.
Solved what I though would be the best base (Atlantis Diver torso for admin's fig example) and worked rest so all the other tags/varients/descriptors worked together.
Welcome by the way Cathy, I think the input you have been giving has been great.