New feature: which catalogues are sets in?
Posted by Huw,
We didn't publish a #ThrowbackThursday article yesterday because (a) it would be overshadowed by the Big Ben announcement and (b) I was putting the finished touches on a new feature, which I have just deployed.
Essentially, it's a linkage between the catalogues in our repository and the sets database. It enables you to see which catalogues a particular set appeared in, and to open them at the appropriate page. To see this in action, go to, for example, this page, then click on the catalogues tab at the top.
A lot of data is needed to make the connection which is hard work to gather. My daughter Alice is currently going through catalogues and noting what appears on what page. Data for 1978 to 1983 has been uploaded already and we plan to add data for UK catalogues 1984 - 1999 in the coming weeks.
While doing it, Alice has also been noting the UK name for sets which is shown as 'also known as' on set details pages and listings such as this one.
I hope you find the feature useful. If so, let us know in the comments: it will encourage Alice to continue ploughing through them...
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33 comments on this article
Awesome feature! Great work Huw and Alice! The catalog link is perfect, sounds like lots of hard work. Really like the UK name feature, I often end up buying stuff I already have!
Is there a list of all sets that have linked catalogue? Its a great feature btw. Great job :)
Hard and tedious work I imagine - thank you.
Wow that is a trip down memory lane. It is amazing how moving it is to see catalogs from your childhood with all of your old sets laid out. Getting all misty eyed now..... :)
@LukaMull, not yet but I suspect in time I'll add indexes and cross-reference lists.
A lot of hard work!! Amazing feature. I am gonna use it a lot. Impressive. I would not think about such a feature. It is awesome.
Thanks a lot. Cant wait to browse through!
It's amazing to see how much of a lifespan little 886 had. Great idea, and lot's of hard work gone into this idea.
^ Indeed. It was not uncommon for sets to be available for 5,6 years or more back in the day. That's something else that this exercise will expose: how long sets were on the shelves.
Personnally, I love this feature! Because I like to see in catalogs everything I have and if I know that a set is to see in a catalogue, I absolutely will need to look at the catalogue. :-) (Even better is, that the feature brings the user immediately at the wanted page, waouh).
But I'm afraid it will be an enormous job. There are A LOT of catalogues and EVEN MORE sets. :-/ Worse of all, it will never finish, because TLG is of course still producing both of it (catalogues & sets), it would become a regular duty. :-/^2
We will limit ourselves to UK catalogues up to 1999, i.e. those we have in our library. Beyond that they became less interesting and, of course, much bigger!
Maybe others want to help?
Thanks! Great feature.
I'm not sure if it is useful but it surely is interesting. It makes a great job of bringing the catalogues section into attention.
What a cool feature!
Great idea! Yet more excellent work, Huw! :)
I've got a few of these going back to the 80s, from Australia, that I've recently been going through. Interesting to see that many of them are subtly different to the UK ones. But some, like the 1981 medium train one, are radically different, same cover but very different layout inside. The Australian version only has English rather than 3 languages, so that makes some sense. I wonder if we shared the US versions?
If you want help I'd be happy to, I pored over those catalogues as a kid and I know them backwards, and I have more than a few of the sets in there.
Top stuff, Huw, thanks! :-)
I've really enjoyed trawling through the late 70s / early 80s ones... So many memories! :-)
Oh, and can we have Flashback Friday instead this week? I could whip something up. :P
Great idea, really nice!
^^ If you like!
@TheBrickPal Flashback Friday would be great!
Wonderful Huw! So many site enhancements this month! You're killing it!
My thanks to you Huw and Alice! I think this will be a fun feature and truly appreciate the immense work that must have gone into/still going into this project. Your hard work and dedication are what make me turn to this site daily for all of my Lego news:)
Oh very cool. This is one of cross-referencing I've frequently wanted. I don't know how much I'd use it, but you never know until it's available. I know that there is a ton of work goes in to this, so you have my deepest thanks.
Thank you for all your hard work, you are continually making this site better and it shows!
Nifty feature. Thanks, Huw and Alice.
This is fantastic! I'm especially happy to have the UK name feature. Thanks for all your hard work, Huw and Alice!
Thank you for a great new feature. I like the page turning format - like having the catalog in hand.
Nice one
I wanna quote LegoSolo77's comment, because I couldn't find better words: "My thanks to you Huw and Alice! I think this will be a fun feature and truly appreciate the immense work that must have gone into/still going into this project. Your hard work and dedication are what make me turn to this site daily for all of my Lego news:)"
THANKS A LOT!
Awesome feature, and very useful! It will be a blast checking out these old sets and linking to the catalog pages. It will definitely bring back plenty of cherished memories! Thanks for the addition and all the great work Huw!
Thanks everyone for your encouraging comments!
Just when I thought the site couldn't get better!
Thank you for all of your hard work. It's greatly appreciated!
Thanks a lot! Love the feature.
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