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Minifig parts' pictures need to be better.
So I can't be the only one who is really annoyed sometimes at some of the pictures for minifigure parts. They're all crooked so it makes any prints hard to see when they are on a packing slip. I don't get internet in my storage building, so I put all orders together using the packing slip I've printed beforehand instead of using my laptop. For minifigure parts, it's really hard to tell what the prints are on the heads, torsos, and legs, simply because the pieces in the pictures are crooked.
I actually had to take all my minifigure heads off and sell them exclusively on BL because it was too hard to tell what head was what on the picture. I would have to bring the packing slip and my box of heads into the house, pull the image up on Brickowl, and look on that. If it was still too hard to tell, I'd have to find out what sent it was found in, pull that up on BL, and look at their picture. Too much of a hassle.
It's really a pity since I was selling the heads more here than on BL. So what I think needs to be done is that all the heads, torsos, and legs get front-on pics instead of the crooked ones they currently have. I don't mind taking pictures for the pieces I currently have to help out, I just want to make sure that if I do so, the pictures will be accepted instead of denied. I don't want to go through all the time of taking hundreds of pictures and uploading them, just to have them all denied. I tried uploading my first two pictures to brickowl today, one of a decorated brick that didn't have a picture yet, and one of a head to replace the current crooked picture. The decorated brick picture got accepted within a few hours. The head picture is still pending, almost like the administrators aren't sure whether or not to replace the current image.
So would anyone else agree that front-on pics would be better than the angled, crooked ones that we have currently? And perhaps I could get a confirmation from an administrator or someone in charge that if I did start to replace the angled pictures with front-on ones , that they would get accepted (as long as they were good enough quality) and it wouldn't be a waste of time.
Thanks for reading my short story above.
I just want what's best for Brickowl and this seems like a good idea, at least to me.
I actually had to take all my minifigure heads off and sell them exclusively on BL because it was too hard to tell what head was what on the picture. I would have to bring the packing slip and my box of heads into the house, pull the image up on Brickowl, and look on that. If it was still too hard to tell, I'd have to find out what sent it was found in, pull that up on BL, and look at their picture. Too much of a hassle.
It's really a pity since I was selling the heads more here than on BL. So what I think needs to be done is that all the heads, torsos, and legs get front-on pics instead of the crooked ones they currently have. I don't mind taking pictures for the pieces I currently have to help out, I just want to make sure that if I do so, the pictures will be accepted instead of denied. I don't want to go through all the time of taking hundreds of pictures and uploading them, just to have them all denied. I tried uploading my first two pictures to brickowl today, one of a decorated brick that didn't have a picture yet, and one of a head to replace the current crooked picture. The decorated brick picture got accepted within a few hours. The head picture is still pending, almost like the administrators aren't sure whether or not to replace the current image.
So would anyone else agree that front-on pics would be better than the angled, crooked ones that we have currently? And perhaps I could get a confirmation from an administrator or someone in charge that if I did start to replace the angled pictures with front-on ones , that they would get accepted (as long as they were good enough quality) and it wouldn't be a waste of time.
Thanks for reading my short story above.
I just want what's best for Brickowl and this seems like a good idea, at least to me.
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My post here is not on the difficulty of locating a specific piece on the site, but on the low quality of the pictures for the minifig parts. What I mainly want to know, is that if I started replacing the current angled pictures with quality front-on pictures, would they be accepted or would it be a big waste of time for me to try?
The quality isn't the best in this picture (a family member took the better camera for a short vacation they are having; going to get it back soon), but even then, it's a lot easier to tell the features of the print since it's front-on and not sideways.
I just want to make sure that before I start taking pictures like this for hundreds of other heads that I have, that this will be acceptable.
Whether or not your own images would be accepted - I don't see any reason why not, but maybe not as the primary image, which is what appears on the picking lists.
It may be that you need to find a solution that works for you. I think picking by picture is where you're going wrong. For something like heads especially, you really need a storage solution that allows you to identify the part without needing to check it matches the picture (some heads differ only in the colour of the eyebrows...).
I used to store heads in little baggies marked on the outside with the BOID/BLID. These days I store all parts in a series of pull-out draws, each marked with a storage location (A1, A2, etc.), and I note the location of each part within the remarks field here on BO.
Either method would be a good place to start. Of course the pictures always allow you to double check but you don't necessarily need a detailed picture if you have other information to work with.
As to organizing, thanks for the tips. I do need to find a better solution. Plastic Drawers won't work for me; I use shelving units with cardboard boxes (currently switching over to plastic containers when I can)
I have been expanding my inventory rapidly since February, and as such, I don't have enough room to really break my heads down anymore (or anything for that matter.
I did not realize that I could put the BOID on the packing slips, thanks so much for pointing that out! Next round of listing heads, I will label them all with the BOID and put them on Brickowl. That will help greatly. Though I still think the pictures could use an upgrade. As the Lego company themselves put it:
"Only the best is good enough!"
@Jay37 - the picture I submitted was not accepted due to it being too dark and the torso still slightly being in the cropped image. Will have to work on better lighting and finding a way to keep the head from rolling (got a couple ideas). Think I'll focus first on the 700 pieces I have that don't have pictures.
Tyson
They aren't a long lasting device but do make a huge difference for the picture quality.
I also purchased a magnification lens for my cell phone because the macro images I took were hit and miss.
Here's an example of images taken with my old Sony Xperia Z5, an add on macro lens and a light box.
Getting the photo as good as possible saves a lot of time with editing and will ensure your pictures are accepted.
I never had an issue with telling my heads apart though, as I uploaded my inventory using brickstore (or brickstock, I forget the current name) IDs, which are recognized on the back-end of BO... and I have (as others have noted) bins, e.g., 762434-93 has a comment of A1-3, which means its in Bin A, Row 1, Column 3 (for smaller parts like this I use Akro-Mils bins or even smaller slotted cases for teeny parts like minifig hands, etc. I also cheated and use that field really meant for if you have a store on BO (other system lot number) for the Brickstock part number.
Having some kind of system that tells you location and kind of spreading items around your bins that are similar (such as minifig heads) really makes pulling WAY faster then going off an image... and you can always have the head in a 1x1 polybag (they're cheap on Amazon) and write the part number on it, if you are keeping multiple heads in the same bin.
Just another perspective and thought - obviously there is NO right or wrong to how any of us do it, just whatever works best for each seller! :-)
Yes, if its for a particular minifig then they can go via the inventory of the figure, but we know there are many inventories still not complete here, and if its for a MOC, then they may not know what they need and are trying to browse for the right 'look' to fit in.
This point is also valid for people listing items for sale. If sellers have heads to sell and have no idea on the part numbers then, looking through the list of heads until they find the right one can be difficult with the 45 degree angles.
I agree the angled pictures look professional, but if it comes at the expense of usability then it loses its professionalism.