Refocusing the Brickset database

 

  • Refocusing the Brickset database

    Posted by Huw, 29 Jan 2012 10:25. Filed under Brickset.

    This time last year we reorganised the database to group all 'non-core' products into the Gear theme.

     I am now considering the following changes to the items that Brickset records in the database:

    • I want to remove virtually all products that do not contain regular bricks, such as bedding, clothes, bags, books, DVDs, video games, pens, clocks, watches, stationery and so on.
    • I want to remove all product collections that existed only as line items at shop.LEGO.com (i.e. items in this list after 78800) as opposed to those that had special packaging (the remainder of that list)
    • I want to reserve the right not to include licenced products that contain bricks (e.g. Nintendo DS covers, LEGO annuals, Muji sets, Moleskine books etc.)

    My rationale for these changes are

    • To improve the overall quality, accuracy and completeness of the database. If its scope is reduced it will be easier to maintain a high quality of information.
    • The products listed above are generally of little interest to LEGO collectors and to some extent they 'clutter up' the database and consequently the search results. You may well own some of them but you probably don't really collect them.
    • There are so many LEGO-licenced products nowadays that it is impossible to keep track of them all and record information about them accurately.

    Books/DVDs that come with bricks, keychains, magnets, coin banks, idea books etc. will of course remain in the database and I will strive to improve our coverage of them.

    We are discussing this in the forum and I welcome your comments either here or in the forum if you feel strongly about this.


    107 comments, latest one posted 15 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by Nesquik in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 11:02

Just to reiterate sorry, are you suggesting that the 'Gear' theme is kept and you wish to simply port more products over to it? If that is the case then I'm all for it - when searching for a product you can often get completely non-related items.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 11:03

No, I want to remove them entirely and focus on 'Brick sets', basically.

Posted by TooMuchLEGO in United States, 29 Jan 2012 11:07

So you said idea books would stay. Would that also include encyclopedic type things such as the "The LEGO Book?"

Posted by Nesquik in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 11:08

Hmm... Personally, I would oppose that because if the Gear section is 'out of the way', per se (and could only be accessed via choosing 'Gear' on the menu tap next to Search), then a user could focus their results on either sets or Gear by simply choosing which criteria is appropriate.

Posted by aaronptrck in United States, 29 Jan 2012 11:28

Personally I oppose this change. While the majority of my collection is lego sets, I also collect the various *coughchinese*cough* logowear/gear. LEGO's still SELLS these items... It's not like Toys R Us is creating their own line of LEGO products and selling them... I want to be able to tabulate my collection no matter what I collect as long as the Lego (brand) is smeared all over the product.

Posted by Formentar in Sweden, 29 Jan 2012 11:34

As an owner of a couple of the product collections in question, I am positive about this. It's a bit odd to not have sets show up in the list of things I own only because they were part of an offer, so I should probably have them entered as separate sets anyway. The only downside is that the purchase price will have to be split in some way between the sets, but that's not much different from the recurring problem of splitting S&H costs.

Posted by mikeyob in United States, 29 Jan 2012 11:36

Frankly I don't care either way since this is your site, but have you considered someone your trust run that portion of the site keeping a "gear" section and you run the rest?

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 29 Jan 2012 11:47

I approve the change, but with one change: keep the video games. Just those. Please? :)

Posted by Marco in Netherlands, 29 Jan 2012 11:49

I oppose to the change, I like the fact that I can have one overview of all the stuff I've collected. My collection includes a few books and minifig alarm clocks. Maybe only mention them so people can still add them to their collection?

Posted by KillDeer in Canada, 29 Jan 2012 11:51

How would I keep track of my lego bedsheets for laundry day!?

Posted by bricklord in United States, 29 Jan 2012 11:52

I. personally, find the "gear" section kind of fun and enjoy browsing it from time to time. I like having all my lego and lego related items available for me to peruse. Some of my lego stuff is in storage and it's nice to be able to look at them here without having to rummage through plastic crates.
I agree w/aaronptrck that having those "gear" items in my lists is cool,
but I also agree w/ miniroll32 that it could be put "out of the way" for searching.
I think that mikeyob has an interesting idea in having a dedicated person who just handles the "gear" stuff.

Posted by Kulturkampf in United States, 29 Jan 2012 12:10

I'm all for this change.

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 29 Jan 2012 12:21

I don't see how it "clutters up" anything. Personally, I think it makes this site more complete. Maybe create a separate Owned list for gear?

But like Alemas said, KEEP THE VIDEO GAMES! They have legit reviews, unlike most gear. You can just bring back the "Video Games" theme, right? :)

And keep ALL books that are LEGO-related, not just ones that come with bricks and minifigs. I've been needing to email you guys about a few LEGO-endorsed books that are not in the system.

Do what you want, though, it's your site.

Posted by ChicoCheco in Norway, 29 Jan 2012 12:30

I would personally prefer, if the gear section could remain here. What is the good idea is to keep it separately from the stabdard building sets. First of all I own quite a lot of things belonging to the gear section and I like to keep a track of it. But more importantly, only then, the Brickset will be used as an ultimate database of the Lego products.

Let me give an example - before X-mass I was about to buy to my girlfriend a shoulder bag http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=852678-1 which I found here + offer on eBay and then - very recently I was thinking about to buy http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=DKLegoBook-1 so I consulted Brickset reviews again to get the idea. No need to talk about a very useful game reviews. Finally I really like to browse thru the gear section to see what kinda of Lego funny things are produced http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=EL502-1 .

Therefore, if there is a chance to keep the gear section - it should be considered, because I think it is definitely worth it.

Posted by itsaturkey in United States, 29 Jan 2012 12:32

I agree with Alemas and Jonbuddy, I would prefer the Video games/movies to remain. I don't really care either way with Gear.

Posted by DocDanCan in United States, 29 Jan 2012 12:42

I think you did the right thing the first time around by adding these products to the site. As an avid minifig collector, I was excited when you added the books to the collection so I could keep track of where my Luke and Han ceremonial figures came from. I don't feel these products clutter up the site, as you have made it very easy to navigate and you don't see those products unless you click on the "Gear" link or something similar. I say you keep them here, but separate.

Posted by Krivorn in United States, 29 Jan 2012 12:43

i definitely think product collections should be removed.

Posted by Gandalf1 in United States, 29 Jan 2012 12:50

I think anything that does not contain any real LEGO elements should be removed, except for books and maybe video games. I guess things like the 2x4 coin bank should be removed, but not the Pharaoh's Quest one. And I definitely want watches to stay, because they contain minifigures, and/or other elements. But anything with real LEGO elements I definatley want, even if other things in the category aren't on here.

Posted by Nate the Great of LEGO in United States, 29 Jan 2012 12:59

I oppose this as well. If you got rid of anything, just get rid of the clothes. As others have said, I don't think it clutters your site. There may be some people who do collect these things and would like to know what is made. Don't get rid of them just because they don't have any bricks in them.

Posted by joshuathogue in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 13:04

I am of the opinion that you either get rid of all the additional items discussed or keep them all. It seems from the above comments that people want you to "get rid of 'A', but keep 'B'", this would probably end up being impractical. I don't see how you would choose what to keep, why keep video games and not t-shirts, book and not beddings, etc

If I had it my way I would have all lego company products on your site. I would just add a menu to your drop down search and call it 'merchandise' or something similar. That would contain all none brick containing products.

Posted by Nerd in United States, 29 Jan 2012 13:05

I'm for it.

Posted by 18000pieces in United States, 29 Jan 2012 13:09

I certainly wouldn't mind getting rid of all the gear, because I don't have enough of a collection to bother using this site as a tool to curate it. But I don't see how it clutters up the results, since it's already partitioned in its own special category. If you want to clean up the database, figure out a way to get promo sets, keychains, and magnets into their own special places. When I look at the Star Wars sets released in a certain year, it's annoying to have to sift through dozens of keychains to get to the ten actual sets.

Posted by mo123567 in United States, 29 Jan 2012 13:11

I don't collect any gear so I don't mind having less clutter. However, I think there are other ways around that such as allowing users to exclude themes in their profile or in searches. I don't care about Duplo or Cars either.

I can see why Lego gear collectors might not like this and, as was mentioned earlier, it would be nice for them if you allowed someone else to manage that part of the site so you can concentrate on the rest if possible.

Posted by recon in United States, 29 Jan 2012 13:12

I really like the Gear section so if you remove it I'll have to start my own site jk ;)

Posted by Meiko in United States, 29 Jan 2012 13:13

In in for the 2nd and 3rd idea, but not really the first. I have found myself in need of Brickset to get high quality images of DVDs and such, and I also think that those items are legitimate parts of my LEGO collection.

Posted by mo123567 in United States, 29 Jan 2012 13:16

I agree with 18000pieces and being able to exclude themes/categories would be a great way for users to focus on what they are interested in. I find all those magnets and keychains annoying as well.

Posted by lego8x8 in United States, 29 Jan 2012 13:18

I don't think that answering this questions one post at the time will get you anywhere. You need a survey with button and perhaps 3 options for example

Should non-official lego books be removed from the database: ( ) yes, ( ) undecided , ( ) No
etc,
etc,
etc,

everything will be a waste of time.

That will allow you to do calculations on a more rational base. Then use statistical software to see if the differences you find are really diffenreces. As you may know, percentages not always give a good representation of the data unless they are transformed.

Posted by brickmatt in United States, 29 Jan 2012 13:18

I can see that there are arguments both ways for gear; however, I am in favor of limiting it, at least to the point of only those things produced/sold by TLG. On the other hand, even if books are not included in the database, announcements and reviews would still be welcome since many of them are great, like the Lego Collector or the Idea Book.

Posted by Thomson & Thompson in Canada, 29 Jan 2012 13:35

So you'd take out Video Games, but would keep magnets and key chains and books that contain bricks, like Building the Magical World? Because I would like to keep my collection complete at Brickset.

Posted by Bobszaar in United States, 29 Jan 2012 13:44

I think that it's an interesting idea, but why not make a separate database for all that stuff, or have the option to exclude the gear theme and product collections, and save it all as a cookie? I would like these to still be on the site for historical purposes, but do take my consideration, please...

Posted by Frasse in Sweden, 29 Jan 2012 13:45

May have one or to 'sets' that are affected. I'm ok with it.

Posted by DwarfSleepy in Netherlands, 29 Jan 2012 13:46

I don't care if you get rid of them (I don't collect them), and I don't care if you leave them (they don't bother me)

Posted by kwilder in United States, 29 Jan 2012 13:46

I am all for the change, or really any change that makes this site easier for you to maintain. I appreciate the service this site provides me. I use this site to track the sets that I have collected. I do have some "gear," but I don't use this to track that. I like the set database because at a glance I can see the sets I own, related sets by theme, collection, year, etc. However, I would never want that kind of information for any gear, so I don't think the inclusion of the gear is vital.

I have at times found the extra "gear" stuff to clog up the results of searches (for example, if I want to look at a list of products/sets released in 2012). I can see here that some people do want the "gear" included. But I see how you can never really keep up with all the licensed gear and things that are produced.

This is your site, you do what you wish with it. I have been appreciative (in the past year I've used this site) that you have always been so responsive to the people that use your site, and you posing this question is just one example. However, if you find it cumbersome to focus on gear (which is not the focus of the site) then I would encourage you to get rid of them so you can focus more of the energy on cultivating the set database, adding extra content and information about sets, or featuring other information in the site related to building and collecting sets.

Posted by joedapoboy in United States, 29 Jan 2012 14:03

As someone who is super dismayed about all the garbage people are sticking on bricklink (lego games parts before lego games were actually LEGO sets; foam swords; every single piece with a sticker getting it's own damn entry - seems like you could simplify it fantastically by making stickered parts only linked from the sticker sheets or linking out of set theme or anything.)
.
.
.
Go for it, Huw.

Posted by brix in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 14:10

I don't really see why these changes are being proposed. I think that for the site to be as complete as possible, every product sold by lego should be included (esspecially video games!). I can see why you might not want to put things on that are manufactured by another company and lego has licenced it but otherwise, I think you should include everything :)

Posted by Snowhive in Germany, 29 Jan 2012 14:12

It is OK for me, to remove all sets, that don't contain Bricks, if they aren't listet /sell in the LEGO shop. All products they are sell by LEGO should be in the database.

Posted by oldfan in United States, 29 Jan 2012 14:15

My two cents: It's been nice to be able to see all the books and DVDs that are available; I never would have known about "The Padawan Menace with Young Han Solo minifig" otherwise. But I do understand that this site started as a sets database and won't mind too much if it reverts back to such.

I also agree with posters on the forum that would like to see the tic-tac-toe and chess sets (regardless of country of origin) classified as sets, and keep them in the database. Ditto for the alarm clocks that come with a couple of minifigs and several bricks. But if they do go away, my world won't come to an end any faster...

Thanks again for this site, it's been a great resource and I'm glad I found it!

Posted by legomaniac in United States, 29 Jan 2012 14:26

Im for the change. I only own 2 of the games and it is not like LEGO has 100 video games, then I would like to keep track.

Posted by Legolijntje in Netherlands, 29 Jan 2012 14:27

I think this is a good idea, the only thing I think that has to stay, are the games. There just different than the other products you want to remove, especially the old ones like Lego Rock Riders, Lego Island, Lego Racers... But if you want you can group all version of e.g. Indiana Jones (pc version, ps3 version, ds version...) in one database item just called "indiana jones video game" or something like that.

Posted by LegoC10 in United States, 29 Jan 2012 14:38

I don't think this is a very good idea, because I like being able to say I own the LEGO products, even if they don't include bricks.

Posted by Plasmodium in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 14:40

Please keep the video games! I'd rather go here for reviews/info than to some dodgy gamer's website!

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 14:43

@oldfan, things like 'The Padawan Menace with Young Han Solo minifig', the Dorling Kindsersley books with minifigs and other parts would remain because, well, they contain LEGO parts. But having a incomplete list of Bionicle books, and duvet covers doesn't really add much to the database which is one reason to remove them.

The problem with using the 'produced/sold by TLG' differentiator is that there is so much now that has a LEGO logo but isn't actually LEGO or made by LEGO and often it's difficult to decide whether to include or not on the current criteria. Video games for example, aren't made by LEGO at all: they are produced by Travellers' Tales.

Posted by ambo100 in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 14:59

I'd like collectable minifigures to be declassified as being 'sets'. 26 our of my 110 'sets' are collectable minifigures.

Posted by bluemodern in United States, 29 Jan 2012 15:03

I am fine with removing gear from the database. As Lego8x8 said earlier, doing a survey may be one way to come to a decision.

Posted by Cam'n'Stu in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 15:04

I'm for keeping anything that includes real Bricks, so books, DVDs *and* the likes of Nintendo DS covers, LEGO annuals, Muji sets, Moleskine books etc. as I don't see why a DVD with a figure or bricks is OK but the latter isn't!

Posted by jgrahl in United States, 29 Jan 2012 15:05

This is a good move to lower the amount of things tracked. To include sets that only have actual bricks in them is the right idea. As a collector, I only purchase things with actual bricks in them.

The product collection would be best removed and used as set details. Like, "this set purchasable in product collection 2853300" Product collections create duplicate data.

I also like the consolidation of the related sets with different set numbers when it was done a while back.

Posted by richselby in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 15:07

No strong feelings, but it always seems a shame to jettison hard-won data. Why not keep it but no longer add to it?

Posted by Morgan19 in United States, 29 Jan 2012 15:09

Personally, I don't think I've ever looked up "gear" on Brickset anyway, so I wouldn't miss it.

Posted by el_rey95 in United States, 29 Jan 2012 15:20

I'm for it.

Posted by Berrybrick in United States, 29 Jan 2012 15:32

Please don't. I like to have my whole collection recorded here.

Posted by icey in Denmark, 29 Jan 2012 15:39

Very constructive move! Thumbs up!

Posted by theminifigcollector in United States, 29 Jan 2012 15:45

I'm kind of in the middle

Posted by voypro in United States, 29 Jan 2012 15:49

I think the only thing that should be added from the gear area is unique minifigs. Meaning NO to the DK Star Wars book, but YES to the Celebration Luke Mini-fig from that book. And none of the DS junk unless it has a unique mini-fig.

My reasoning is that Mini-Figs are such backbone of the Lego industry. So unique mini-figs yes, junk no.

Posted by suckerpunch83 in Canada, 29 Jan 2012 16:26

@ambo100 - But each minifig is actually it's own set. I know it balloons your inventory, but if you don't like it, just add the complete set to count as 1.

As for the changes, I understand that Gear is not really actually Lego, but it is Lego related. It's nice to have a database to look at what you have in your complete collection, whether it be sat & pepper shakers or the odd video game.

My suggestion would be to keep the gear theme, by make it separate from actual "sets". If you are doing a search you have a choice between Sets and Gear.

I think Brickset would be taking a step backwards with removing the gear altogether. This is called the"Lego set guide and database." To me, a database means everything under the Lego banner.

It seems here that a lot of other posters do want the gear section to remain as well.

Thanks.

Posted by lewa99 in United States, 29 Jan 2012 16:31

Will you be removing Mindstorms?

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 29 Jan 2012 16:31

I am highly against removing all of the gear. As I stated on the forum, the gear is a big part of my Lego collection, as I am a devoted Lego fan, and, as such, enjoy using Lego bags, mugs, umbrellas, etc. Please keep the gear! Most of the gear Lego makes is still high-quality too, which is worth noting - none of mine has ever broken.

Posted by benjadude11 in United States, 29 Jan 2012 17:08

Yes yes yes, all of the changes sound fantastic.

Posted by Toa Of Justice in United States, 29 Jan 2012 17:23

I'm for keeping Gear--I use Brickset to keep track of those products like I do the others in my collection. In fact, I can't imagine a better interface than that of Brickset to keep track of such items.

Posted by sitkawitka in United States, 29 Jan 2012 17:23

But this is the only site that I can find old lego stuff and I prefer to be able to see every lego set even with out any bricks

Posted by Balthazar Brannigan in United States, 29 Jan 2012 17:28

I like the idea of making "gear" its own category (in addition to sets, news, etc.), or at the very least keeping the video games. You could make each game have only one entry in the database, though, rather than one for each platform it was released on.

I wouldn't mind if the product collections were deleted, though.

Posted by lisqr in United States, 29 Jan 2012 17:34

I'm all for getting rid of it. But for those that like random gear, keep the current database and not updating it seems like a fair compromise.

Consider that lego is making as many foam sword as normal sets, it's a waste of time to keep track of them all.

Posted by Renegade007cjh in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 17:57

Would this include getting rid of magnets and key-rings? I am really trying to complete my collection(s) of these and it's very useful having them in the same place as my sets...

Posted by Thomson & Thompson in Canada, 29 Jan 2012 18:02

I would like to keep my collection whole, so please don't remove anything.

Posted by Dlakii in Australia, 29 Jan 2012 18:05

I'm quite opposed to this motion, but I do recognise that you have a point insofar as the wide variety of licenced products under the LEGO name these days - I recently came into possession of a LEGO art carousel which is completely absent from the database, for one - and there are indeed problems in that sense in terms of trying to maintain a complete database. On the other hand, I can't quite find myself able to agree with the idea of disposing of perfectly good data you have already, and including/excluding gear products solely on the basis of them containing LEGO pieces feels very inconsistent a policy for an inventory database.

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 29 Jan 2012 18:16

I very much agree with Dlakii. I think that the most upsetting part about this proposal is that Brickset would no longer display data that has already been obtained. I dislike the idea of getting rid of perfectly good information. In an age where knowledge is more valuable than anything else, this seems almost backwards.

Posted by Nabii in Denmark, 29 Jan 2012 18:28

LEGO do not have any real record of the licenced products either, nor does this archive include the set collections, therefore Brickset is currently the not only the most complete database of LEGO products there is, but for these particular products the only record there is. This makes it very valuable information, it's a shame to lose it, though I would say that, I use it for work! I completely understand why you want to stop though, it's getting very hard to keep up with it all and it's never presented in an easy format to enter into the database. Entirely your call Huw. Thanks again for Brickset.

Posted by hewman in Australia, 29 Jan 2012 19:04

I'm all for removing the clutter to make the site more streamlined and easier to maintain. The one thing I would like to remain is some of the great hardback books (even if they don't include any bricks or minifigs) like the Lego Ideas books. These books only come out relatively infrequently but they have wide appeal, so I think they'd be advantageous to the community to remain in the database.
As for other books and all the 'gear' products, I think it would be good to get rid of them. Personally, I don't see any need for all the key chains, even if they are sold and made by Lego.

Posted by mars4life in United States, 29 Jan 2012 19:35

Even though gear can be interesting, I have no problem with it being removed.

Posted by JohnnyB in United Kingdom, 29 Jan 2012 19:56

I don't post much but on this one I'd say to keep the books. If for no other reason, the old idea book from maybe 1986 or so was what got me more into legos as a kid; seeing the little villages and space scenes. Those I'd keep. I remember they had stickers too.

Posted by Denver_80203 in United States, 29 Jan 2012 20:24

Go for it. You have enough work as it is keeping track of the things that the majority of us care about. If someone else wants to deal with the other stuff, give them a copy of the DB and let them have at it.

Posted by Odeinoichus in Canada, 29 Jan 2012 20:58

As a LEGO Reviewer who has reviewed all items he owns including the 'Gear' for the sake of completeness it would kind of disrupt my Review Counts, as certain Sets have been reviewed with the intent of being Milestone reviews. #175 or #200 and all that. By removing the Gear from the site that would kind of eliminate my Milestone Reviews as the special ones they were meant to be and knock them down a number or two resulting in my words in the review no longer being viable.

Although I can understand where there might be problems with the Database, certainly there's some way to fix the issue without wholesale deletions. Then again some people might just not care enough about the Gear section. What of The LEGO Book and Standing Small? They have no parts, would they be deleated as well?

Posted by shootvolio in United States, 29 Jan 2012 23:16

If it has been sold or marketed by LEGO or available on the shop.lego.com or had been sold through Shop@Home then it should be on this site. I would like to see this site as a complete site which does get harder each year to find all of the items available with LEGO branding. I own some gear items and have many on display with the rest of my sets in my collection. There is also items that I have like a Chicago LEGO store coffee mug with my name on it as well as a Star Wars T-shirt that I have never seen in any database anywhere. This can never be complete and I know this site is called brickSET but I think it is fun re-browsing the whole database to see new additions added from the past that I may have that I never new had been added. I would also miss the DK books being listed as most contain no LEGO parts and seem to be included in your purge of the gear section. Please keep the data base as is. You do a wonderful job with this whole site. There have been a lot of great suggestions above to just let users decide what they want to search for and have listed. Recategorization may also be an option to look into that was mentioned above.

Posted by disneywizard in United States, 29 Jan 2012 23:43

Please don't remove the gear section. I also collect items like the DS Covers/minifigs, video games, books and such. I have always loved this site that you can track and review anything lego. I'm even interested in what people think of the moleskin binders when they come out, they look interesting. I agree with others if someone else wanted to help track those items I and many others in the community would appreciate it. I wouldn't mind if gear was separate from the rest but I consider that gear as part of my Lego collection.

Posted by mcfarlandman in United States, 30 Jan 2012 01:29

Please do it. I often browse buy theme or year and scrolling through pages of watches, pens, and other "crap" while looking for the real meat of the site would not be missed.

Posted by M-Tron Hero Kodiak in United States, 30 Jan 2012 01:41

You have been doing such a great job over the years, I say that is a good idea.

Posted by WDB in Belgium, 30 Jan 2012 03:14

Good idea. Back to basics.

Posted by plantbit in Australia, 30 Jan 2012 03:39

I don't think it's a good idea. Some collectors like myself collect anything Lego themed. I do notice that there are some Lego themed things missing from the database. I would like to see more listed. Maybe have users contribute photos or details of the extra things and supply them in your database. It might be good to have two seperate databases as you suggest, but it might be confusing to go from one database to the other.

Posted by bic3 in United Kingdom, 30 Jan 2012 04:11

I think a separate database is needed on another website linked to Brickset. It could have the same format for ease of use and the same facilities for the 'I own', 'I want' etc. Personally I'd be quite happy to see gear disappear.

Posted by lukehankenobi in United Kingdom, 30 Jan 2012 04:46

I agree about Collectible Mini-figures distorting my collection's data. Ticking the complete collection box, though, means you don't have the link to the great pics. Maybe a compromise would be that: The products that fall into Huw's category are viewable, and tickable. But, do not get added to the database figures. I think the separation is a great idea.I also understand the enormous amount of work involved in keeping up with all the new gear, and therefore completely support Huw's position, and think he should focus on Lego Sets.
Product Collection should go for sure! Do anyone but grandparents buy these anyway?

Posted by kangojack in Australia, 30 Jan 2012 05:08

I can see additional gear items in the future being a burden on maintaining the database, whats the ratio of new gear to brick items?
If you are adding twice the number of gear times compared to standard brick sets, then maybe the gear items should be exported to a separate site.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 30 Jan 2012 05:38

'Virtual' product collections have gone!

There's currently an issue with the piece counts of remaining product collections and their constituent sets that appears to have occured overnight when they were recalculated. I'll sort it out when I get home later.

Posted by gregb41404 in United States, 30 Jan 2012 06:14

I also agree about the collectible mini-figures distorting data. I do think your database is the most complete out there. and a incredible resource for us collectors and would really like for it to stay the same if possible. I have alot of gear and odd ball lego stuff and i like to keep track of it all. What was removed so far? Virtual product collections, Also maybe let us know before u do it if u decide so we can export to excel our collections.

Thanks and keep up the great work!!
greg

Posted by Nikola Bathory in Bulgaria, 30 Jan 2012 07:12

I suport Huw's desire to clear the database from stuff like books, pens or clothes...
Also the product collections are not really necesarry to have here, there's info on all the sets in these product collections, so...

Posted by Delatron in United Kingdom, 30 Jan 2012 08:16

Never bought a pen, t-shirt, duvet cover, magnet set, ice-cube tray, etc. and thought of them as part of my collection, so for me they could be dumped although I can see how some completists would be bothered by it.

That said, if you are so finnicky that you classify your drinks coasters/ salt and pepper pots/ shoulder bags in your collections perhaps you could start your own database titled 'sundry Lego-related rubbish'!

I love the facility that Brickset offers me to see what sets I have, how many pieces, figs, etc. but even that I know is not accurate because of bricklink and PAB purchases, trades and so on, so I wont get all bent up about any changes. It's a great site with very useful tools and good news articles, but whatever makes it easier for you to run Huw is absolutely aces with me.

Posted by brickmonkey13 in Canada, 30 Jan 2012 08:27

I'm not a huge buyer of LEGO gear, but I like seeing the items I do own included in my database. I imagine that there are a lot of us out there who when building our inventory want to see every item noted.

Posted by Be-Burger in Israel, 30 Jan 2012 08:53

Things like t-shirts and pens should be gotten rid of, but some things like video games which many of us are opposed to getting rid of, because people actually care about them...

Also, collectable minifigures do annoy me that they count as a regular set, because it isn't. I look at my set count, and think "Wow, I have a lot!" and then I click and a ton of those "sets" are just figures...

Posted by sharky in United States, 30 Jan 2012 09:30

I welcome this change. At the very least all non-set items should be on a different database and search. It wouldn't bother me if the non-set items went away completely. Some may feel differently of course.

Posted by TheCahleySlash in United Kingdom, 30 Jan 2012 10:40

I think you should keep all the Gear sets which contain a Brick compatible with a another, so a Brick Separator would meet this and the Brickmaster Books aswell as the Watches wheras other things like the Video games and some Books should be removed from the database as they do not contain any compatible pieces .

Posted by legogeek in United States, 30 Jan 2012 10:52

To Gear, or not to Gear, that is the question....

Brickset is first and foremost about the Brick and collecting LEGO. Thus the database's primary concern should be to include all LEGO sets. The inclusion of Gear is a nice addition, but could almost be a seperate site all its own. I think we have been spoiled by the fact that it is even included on Brickset.

I can see many reasons for keeping and dumping Gear.

The biggest reason to dump it is, I'm sure it is a task for @Huw to source all available Gear - a real pain in the rear - imagine how hard it is to find everything to add.
Even though I don't care much about the Gear content, I do think it's loss would be a detriment to the site. As we can see a lot of people seem to be passionate about it's inclusion. And to try and filter the Gear content would probably be a headache, resulting in countless inquiries as to "why did item XXX get dumped, but item YYY is still included?" I know I have Gear stuff that I have marked as "owned" and I would miss it if it went away. Perhaps there would be a better way of classifying all the assorted Gear? Perhaps there needs to be more overlap of categories and subcategories for Gear - where an item can be listed under more than one category?

As a minor side note, I also tend to agree that minifigs (such as the CMFs) probably shouldn't be included in the total set counts as they do tend to skew results.

Perhaps as some others have mentioned, the Gear database should be kept intact but left for other admins to maintain? Certainly there are some among them that are Gearaholics?

Either way, with or without Gear, the decision is up to Huw and whatever he chooses I'll support.
What it boils down to is, I'll be happy as long as I can still keep track of my normal LEGO "brick" sets.

Posted by bluefocus in United Kingdom, 30 Jan 2012 11:16

It's a horrible idea!
You should keep as many lego related things as possible on this site as the video games section for example relate to kids these days so if you get rid of them you site viewership will go down!!!!

Posted by aidenmoyles10 in United Kingdom, 30 Jan 2012 12:36

I'd be more than happy to get rid of all the gear sets. I keep a spreadsheet of the sets I own, so it would be nice for it to match Brickset. Also getting rid of the gear would give Huw more time to work on and improve the site. Not that it isn't already the best site on the net.

Posted by labrat in United States, 30 Jan 2012 12:47

It seems that many of the comments in the forum favor the changes while many of the comments on the website do not favor the changes.

This may indicate an age bias as younger members of brickset are not allowed to particpate in the forum.

I hold no opinion either way. I can see both points of views, but I think we should all make sure that everyone's voice gets to be heard. We were not always AFOL's, and how much better would life have been if we had never had our dark days?

The nicest thing to notice is that no matter the outcome Brickset is still going to be the best LEGO resource on the internet.

Posted by legoDad42 in United States, 30 Jan 2012 13:24

Chiming in late on this. I definitely understand the difficulty in listing EVERY single thing Lego makes especially textile stuff they lisence out but I think for BrickSet to be THE definitive guide (which is what I want and wish and love it to be...that's why it's my #1 site to start the day) you gotta' have the following...

-Every building set (obviously), even the display covers for like DS covers that have studs and tiles on them. They are building pieces.

-All books, magazines, sticker books, etc.

-All Convention exclusives from SDCC, NYCC, Toy Fair, exclusive party giveaways, Lego Billund tours they do, etc. This should be thoroughly investigated and catelogued for compleatist.

-Display items that are lisenced by Lego. Meaning display case, storage case, and the like...etc.

- You gotta' have the items that contain bricks...like the new Moleskins coming out, etc. And the aforementioned items like DS covers that have building elements on them.

-You don't need video games or dvd's unless they come with an exclusive figure or building set, etc.

-You don't need clothing, textiles unless the Lego store sells them and sometimes there are exclusive shirts kids get at Club Meetings. Not something you can find at a Walmart, regular retail store (again, unless they have some fig. or building element).

-You need to have the watches and pens that have building elements.

-Keep all key chains and magnets. Anything with a minifigure actually. Big, small or just the right mini-fig size.

Sometimes I find stuff at TRU that are unusual to me. Like Ninjago large figures that come with a sound device. Also I've seen a lego set with little things you clip onto the necks of a minifig and you can write or use stickers that come with the set so it's looks like a balloon, bubble from a comic book. Very unusual to me. These unusual thngs should be in the database for collectors and casual fans to come here and say...oh...I didn't know they made that. I might get one. I've never seen this...great place to come back to.

I love brickset. Keep it as complete as possible to be THE definitive guide. EXCELSIOR!...;)

Posted by Xiaolong in Belgium, 30 Jan 2012 14:14

This site is called BRICK - SET. So, actually, it should only contain info about bricks.
All the rest like books, keychaines, Znap, Bionicle, Herofactory and all the other stuff/gear that has nothing to do with buildingbricks should be somewhere else, e.g. 'Containing Lego logo or made by Lego group or accepted/approved by Lego group'
This is imo complete the opposite of ^(legoDad42) as Lego is for me a building toy; All the rest only wears the same name.

Posted by legoDad42 in United States, 30 Jan 2012 14:32

^You gotta have bionicle and Herofactory because they have lego elements that are used for building. That's weird to not include them.

So if you're the complete opposite you want video games?

Posted by disneywizard in United States, 30 Jan 2012 17:10

Possibly a custom search option either for when your logged in it saves your settings or if your a guest you just choose I want to search for turning these options on/off like Sets, Minifigs, Gear, Books, Video Games or etc. You choose the types of things you want to search for when you enter text into the search box so then when you search you don't get back items in other categories you don't want. Everyone has there own preferences, like some may not care about video games while others might. You then can filter out what you don't want or include what you do like Amazon or EBay lets you. Then each person can use Brickset the way they want to. Even if the admin team focuses more on sets rather than gear and gear doesn't get updated as often, that's fine, but at least then gear is still accessible for those that do enjoy tracking and seeing those items. I agree collectible minifigs should not count as a set. It would be cool if collectible minifigs could just be categorized as such, a minifig rather than a set. Then when you see set counts they are just that, sets. And then minifigs are a different grouping, basically like they show in the View Your Minifig Collection.

I very much enjoy this website and appreciate the ability for feedback. Brickset is my home page at home and my phone because I like staying on top of what's going on in Lego around the world. I love the fact that it's a global hobby too and we all get to share our thoughts. Thanks to HUW and our other admin's for all their hard work.

Posted by ToughTom in United States, 31 Jan 2012 11:47

That sounds like a great idea.

Posted by Xiaolong in Belgium, 31 Jan 2012 14:36

@legoDad42
Sorry, almost complete opposite. Video games have nothing to do with building parts, so no they don't have to be here for me. Bionicle and Hero are construction toys, just like Znap was, but IMO they are not what I call 'Lego'.

Posted by yellowcastle in United States, 31 Jan 2012 14:53

Hopefully anyone who "owned" virtual collections knows to go back in and add the individual sets...cough...bluemoose....cough cough :o)

Posted by Brickmatic in United States, 31 Jan 2012 17:45

I'd like to address some of the rationale, because I don't think it is necessarily correct.

I think a lot of the rationale is geared towards the idea of completeness. I can understand why having a truly complete database appealing. This is ideal. However, we don't operate in an ideal world and I also realize that having perfect information is a direction we move towards but will not reach. That is why having an incomplete database is alright, as long as the database is comprehensive. A comprehensive database is one that covers most ground. Brickset is the most comprehensive database of LEGO products online. However, calling Brickset comprehensive means two things: completeness, including all or nearly all elements or aspects of something AND of large content or scope, or wide-ranging. Brickset is both. The information you wish to remove is accurate. Removing it will not improve the accuracy of the database. It will not make the database more comprehensive. The only improvement would be clarifying aggregate data, such as search results, but there are other ways to do this.

Another reason for removing this content is because it is irrelevant, since people do not collect it or much interest in it. I think comments have shown that there are people out there who care about this information. Even though there are people who don't care, I think there are significant number who do. So I don't think this reason holds much water.

Finally, there is the argument that this additional information costs too much in effort to maintain. First off, the information already in the database is accurate and generally maintenance free. So this reason doesn't validate removal of information. As for new products, it is true that ensuring a complete list of items creates a lot of work. However, I think having some of the items is better than having none of them. In that light, just add whatever is easiest. These additions will improve the overall quality of the information available in your database.

I think the best solution is to:
1) Stop worrying about the completeness of the entire database. Focus efforts to improve completeness on the parts of the database that have the broadest interest.
2) Better categorize and label gear and sets (video games, books, textiles, etc; regular sets, battle/booster packs, magnets, etc.)
3) Create exclusion filters for search. This will make finding the information that is relevant to the user easy. Quality in search results.

Posted by AndreasL in Denmark, 31 Jan 2012 19:27

Hi Huw,

I am one of your vetaran users.

I absolutely concur with the comments from legoDad42 and Brickmatic. I also have a large number of gear items that I would like to keep track of. Actually I have 141 sets marked as owned in the gear section. Although many of them are duplicates - for example storage devices - it is still a considerable number of individual items that I would miss very much if I could not look up on Brickset.
For example, I collect the Idea Books, the Lego DVDs, etc. and it would be a real loss to suddenly loose the wanted lists for these kind of items.

So, please consider this very thoroughly.

Posted by The Sly Fox in United Kingdom, 01 Feb 2012 06:15

For my two pennies worth:

I agree with most of the comments already made. But I would just remove and exclude any items that do not contain bricks, minifigures or building elements.

But having said that, as a Star Wars only collector, the database currently shows 288 sets. 17 of these are not released yet so I own 205 of the 271 sets available. Yet I will never have the full set because I will not be getting my hands on the 3-in-1 sets. So if these are removed from the database my collection will not feel so unfulfilled.

I'm so glad that this is not my decision to make ...

Posted by mariszka in Poland, 01 Feb 2012 12:14

pls do not remove gear !!!! just put the content somewhere else.

let's decide democratically!

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 01 Feb 2012 12:33

Thank you all for your comments, particularly Brickmatic whose post makes a lot of sense.

I have decided *not* to remove Gear, although I may make it less prominent in search results.

The virtual sets have been removed (still in the database but marked as deleted so they never show up anywhere) as I think we agree they are unnecessary, being just 'marketing units'.

Posted by mo123567 in United States, 01 Feb 2012 13:31

In addition to my earlier suggestion to allow themes and catagories to be excluded in searches or just be excluded in your profile settings, I would like to add the ability to sort by "date added to Brickset". That way I can create a search of only what I am interested in and see if any new sets have been added since last time I checked.

Just a few ideas to make browsing more focused on a user's interests.

Posted by JRDA0406 in United Kingdom, 01 Feb 2012 13:31

I cannot be bothered to read the above comments for this answer to this query, sorry.

Would deleting the Harry potter and star wars DK books mean that those exclusive minifigures would be 'loose' rather than 'in a set'?

I think those are worthwhile exceptions. But those pens are cheap and nasty, the R2D2 figure from the pen wouldn't stay together. They don't deserve an equal platform.

Posted by mhbears in United States, 05 Feb 2012 13:56

I depend on this site to have ALL Lego items that have been made. I find this site to be the most complete, accurate and dependable over many others. Most of all it is very user friendly and it would be a disappointment to me if anything were to be deleted off the site. There's my two cents.

Commenting has ended on this article.