Author:  Admin_Russell  Posted:  Jan 27, 2024 17:56  Subject:  Re: Variants Thread - January 26  Viewed:  283 times  Topic:  Catalog Cancel Reply	BrickLink ID Card Admin_Russell Location:  USA, California Member Since Contact Type Status May 9, 2017 Admin BrickLink Administrator
In Catalog, Admin_Russell writes:    The Responses    So far I have seen two YouTube videos addressing this issue, and I'll post in this new thread to respond directly (and completely) to what they are saying. The two YouTube videos I have seen are these: R.R. Slugger: There's a BAD Bricklink Update Coming... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGRxNX8Cg_o DuckBricks: Why Would Bricklink Do This? Is Bricklink Stupid? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk47Wb18ibg In this post I will address the second one: I'll begin with a quote from Chris which he used as part of the introduction: “I decided to take down every single one of my wall displays and actually consolidate them to be a lot better, neater, tighter, and more concise to allow myself to be able to put up even more stuff.” What Chris is doing with his collection is, in a way, similar to what we are doing with the BrickLink catalog. I do actually agree with the overall sentiment from this video. However, there are several points I would like to challenge: Quote from the video: “from the beginning, the catalog has just been continuing to grow and grow." Not completely true. There have been major corrections like this in the past, and we make minor corrections regularly. One of the things that is often missed by the average BrickLink member is that we reject the overwhelming majority of variants. That means that the BrickLink catalog only grows to the extent that we let it grow, and there are considerable restraints even now on the number of variants we will accept. 2 x 2 Hinge Brick – this is a merge between 30389c and 30389b. It does not involve the hinge brick without axle hole 30389a. [p=30389c]   *  30389b Hinge Brick 2 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger Vertical and Axle Hole Parts: Hinge   *  30389a Hinge Brick 2 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger Vertical without Axle Hole Parts: Hinge While we are talking about this early brick that many of you are excited to distinguish, I will point out that we are missing inventory information in 15 Sets and 1 Gear Item: https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=30389&in=S https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemIn.asp?P=30389&in=G The determined version is only in 10 sets currently. If this variant matters to you, please help us fill out the data in the BrickLink inventory system. A correction concerning the 2 x 2 hinge brick: “As a correction to the video, it has become clear that one of the examples I mentioned, the 2x2 brick with click joint, is NOT being consolidated when it comes to axle hole versus no hole - just the specific molding type of axle hole. However, all other examples mentioned are accurate, and from a database point of view, I still stand by my original sentiments in the video that this change ideally should not be happening.” However, there are indeed issues with the other examples: Click Hinges –The number of teeth does not affect the number of locking positions. A lot of people think that when they see the distinction in the catalog, but it’s actually not true. This misunderstanding is one reason we want to remove this distinction. These are simply cosmetic differences on a part that is not typically used for cosmetic purposes.   *  60471 Hinge Plate 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Fingers on Side Parts: Hinge [p=50340] 1 x 4 Clear Bricks – The 1 x 4 frosted bricks will be merged with the 1 x 4 standard brick (3010), not the specialty brick without tubes underneath (3066). [p=3010f3]   *  3010 Brick 1 x 4 Parts: Brick   *  3066 Brick 1 x 4 without Bottom Tubes Parts: Brick Smooth Slopes – there was a comment in the video that the result of a merge will be a “random hodgepodge” where buyers may receive slopes that don’t match each other. But this is actually the condition of the marketplace now, pre-merge. The oldest slopes had a very heavy texture (see photo below), whereas newer ones have much less texture. And in addition to the slopes that seemingly have no texture, real-life listings contain everything in between. The presence of “Smooth” entries in the catalog gives the illusion that there are only two grades of texture, but the reality is that listings based on subjective criteria will produce subjective results. In fact, I’m pretty sure that much of the Smooth Slope data we see in the set inventories is also subjective depending on the experience of the contributor. Community Poll – We don’t base our decisions on polls because if we did, the collector community on BrickLink would have their agenda completely wiped out by the majority who don’t care about picky details. Instead, we appoint very detail oriented admins who represent the collector community and they are the ones making the calls on variants on a day-to-day basis. Date - Feb 1 or Feb 15 – Feb 1 was the original date we were going to begin changes, but due to delays with the list of changes and requests to extend the time a little, we pushed the date to Feb 15. However, the name and number changes to tiles and the 1 x 1 round brick will start on Feb 1. Since these are not merges, they will not affect listings in the same way.

Message is in Reply To:

Variants Thread - January 26 - Admin_Russell

Hello again everyone, My initial post on this subject earlier this month has garnered almost 700 replies, which is right about the level of the BrickArms threads a few years [...] (4 months ago, Jan 26, 2024, to Catalog)

Message Has 5 Replies:

Re: Variants Thread - January 26 - Saitobricks.ca (37)

[...] From my experience with the click hinges, the newer ones seen to be less weight tolerant than the fully toothed variant. The ones with fewer teeth, when you position [...] (4 months ago, Jan 27, 2024, to Catalog)

Re: Variants Thread - January 26 - StormChaser (570)

[...] Clearly. BrickLink is convinced that it knows what is best for members. That level of arrogance and condescension will inevitably lead to irrelevance for this website. [...] (4 months ago, Jan 27, 2024, to Catalog)

Re: Variants Thread - January 26 - Yo_Yo_Flamingo (4598)

[...] This pretty much sums up the issue. To reiterate- if you order a dozen 7 or 9 tooth parts right now from different sellers, or even worse a dozen "smooth" or [...] (4 months ago, Jan 28, 2024, to Catalog)

Re: Variants Thread - January 26 - Familybuild (109)

[...] Just state honestly its about moving people towards PAB.. (4 months ago, Jan 29, 2024, to Catalog)

Re: Variants Thread - January 26 - brickerking (1889)

[...] OH, I FINALLY GET IT! This is a new sellers tool! Finally! BL is consolidating parts to make it easier to sell! Not quite the seller tool anyone was asking for, but at [...] (4 months ago, Feb 12, 2024, to Catalog)

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