BrickSearch app user survey
Posted by Huw,
BrickSearch is an iOS/Android app developed by the team behind Brick Fanatics. Its main USP at the moment is that it will identify series 25 collectable minifigures by scanning the QR code on the back of the box.
It also includes a set database and collection management features which at the moment are not particularly useful because they do not synchronise with Brickset or Rebrickable, but that might be set to change as the development team look for ways to improve it.
To that end, they invite you to participate in an online survey which aims to find out if and how you use the app, and what features you'd like to see added to it. It's fairly lengthy, so as an incentive to complete it, one respondent will win a €/£/$100 voucher to spend at LEGO.com.
There's a section about the features that you use at Brickset, which I agreed could be included. The aggregated and anonymised responses will be shared with us.
So, if you've not done so already, download the app, then complete the survey.
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28 comments on this article
I would use the app to identify series 25 minifigures. The problem is I haven't ever seen any in a store where they weren't locked in a cage, a store that refuses to employ anyone who could unlock that cage.
I have tried to use the app to identify the series 25 minifigures but it just won't work. The barcode scanner will work, and tell me it is a series 25 collectible minifigure, but the QR scanner does nothing.
(The number codes found online don't help me either, the codes I see on the packages do not match any of the ones listed).
The problem is that there appear to be two kinds of QR codes. The first shipments had the code that could be scanned and showed exactly which figure you got.
The newer shipments, at least over here, have a totally different looking type of QR code that apparently can be scanned but doesn't yield any information about the figure in the box.
I don't use BrickSearch, so...
I used it to find exactly which s25 minifigs I needed. It was quick and easy. I can't imagine I'd need it for anything else though. Well, until the s26 ones come out!
I'd use it but I need to change which camera the app uses. Does anyone know how to make the app use the camera on the screen side of a tablet?
I gave up. A survey that keeps growing each time you answer a question with further questions where you must supply an answer is not particularly user friendly, especially when those questions are not dependent on the answers to previous questions.
For what I've seen in Canada, it seems we only have the small QR codes which apparently are no use to help find the nature of the content. If they manage to make it work with the small QR, I will gladly use it and will gladly give it a score of 12 on 10. As of now I bought 2 boxes of 6 and got 2 identical boxes - so I have exactly 2 of each of the six characters that were in the first box - not pleased would be a gross understatement.
Since most people are only using the app for its sole USP, which doesn’t seem to work in all regions and it remains to be seen whether it works at all with subsequent waves, I’m not sure whether throwing in extra functions is worth the developers hassle.
@kdu2814 said:
"I have tried to use the app to identify the series 25 minifigures but it just won't work. The barcode scanner will work, and tell me it is a series 25 collectible minifigure, but the QR scanner does nothing.
(The number codes found online don't help me either, the codes I see on the packages do not match any of the ones listed)."
For me it worked when I initially used it, but couple weeks later it stopped. There was app update perhaps? Just tried it now on series 25 box I have at home with the bigger QR code, and it doesn’t work
@HOBBES said:
"For what I've seen in Canada, it seems we only have the small QR codes which apparently are no use to help find the nature of the content."
I don't know how universal this is (Like Canada, the U.S. is a big country) but the only ones I've encountered have the smaller codes as well.
I think it was a great idea to have an app that identified the CMF series, however, after several attempts (in various stores) it failed every time. I've since deleted the app.
I hope LEGO wakes up to the fact this is needed for future releases.
@CCC said:
"I gave up. A survey that keeps growing each time you answer a question with further questions where you must supply an answer is not particularly user friendly, especially when those questions are not dependent on the answers to previous questions."
Average time to complete the survey is just under 10 minutes. We are offering up a nice gift card amount for a prize draw because we know it takes a little longer. We appreciate the time that every person puts into this.
@HOBBES said:
"For what I've seen in Canada, it seems we only have the small QR codes which apparently are no use to help find the nature of the content. If they manage to make it work with the small QR, I will gladly use it and will gladly give it a score of 12 on 10. As of now I bought 2 boxes of 6 and got 2 identical boxes - so I have exactly 2 of each of the six characters that were in the first box - not pleased would be a gross understatement. "
I'm in Canada and I've seen both the large and small codes. Another LUG member scanned the four I brought to our last meeting and it worked on all of them (they had large codes)
I did the survey, and yes it was longer than most surveys, but I found it not excessive. I found here in the middle of the USA, that the two stores I found them at, had both small and large codes and it works good on some of the bigger ones, but if the printing was blurred (which was about 1/2 of the time with the bigger codes) it would not work or read the code, but I found the ones I wanted and it was a useful tool. Saved me a lot of time. I dont use the app for much more than that, but might in the future. I hope I get the gift card, but am not holding my breath.
Thanks for the app.
I've used the app to find specific series 25 CMF's. All the other apps that have been mentioned that are supposed to do the same thing haven't worked for me on my android phone, this is the only one that does. I have also encountered the issue of it not being able to read the codes if they are blurry which I understand. It can be a bit iffy at times but overall it works for me on the bigger codes, just have to be sure my camera isn't pointing at the UPC bar code. I haven't used any other aspects of the app.
I didn't find many series 25 in the wild, most of the ones I found were small QR codes and I wasn't able to get a single goat herder (went for a full set from a reseller but wanted extra goat, to consider 2 a herd)
I should carry my pocket scale with me but I don't think I'll see more of these; things to note for future series
Completed the survey, unsure what they wanted in the name field though.. I hope they contact me for clarification, if required
I found the app useful to buy extras of S25 I wanted having bought a full set from usual supplier. Done survey, will now investigate some of the other functions.
The app seems like a good idea, unfortunately Brick Fanatics has been on a downward trajectory for the past few years.
wow more surveys
@kdu2814 said:
"I have tried to use the app to identify the series 25 minifigures but it just won't work. The barcode scanner will work, and tell me it is a series 25 collectible minifigure, but the QR scanner does nothing.
(The number codes found online don't help me either, the codes I see on the packages do not match any of the ones listed)."
Likewise. Said as much in survey. Wonder if phone specific issues. I am android galaxy s23.
@TheOtherMike said:
" @HOBBES said:
"For what I've seen in Canada, it seems we only have the small QR codes which apparently are no use to help find the nature of the content."
I don't know how universal this is (Like Canada, the U.S. is a big country) but the only ones I've encountered have the smaller codes as well."
It depends on the shipment in my region (Mountain West). The ones that tend to stick around are the un-scanable small ones. Sometimes, you have to dig to find large QR codes to scan.
The scanner can take quite a while. However, it worked pretty quickly last week.
@StyleCounselor said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @HOBBES said:
"For what I've seen in Canada, it seems we only have the small QR codes which apparently are no use to help find the nature of the content."
I don't know how universal this is (Like Canada, the U.S. is a big country) but the only ones I've encountered have the smaller codes as well."
It depends on the shipment in my region (Mountain West). The ones that tend to stick around are the un-scanable small ones. Sometimes, you have to dig to find large QR codes to scan.
The scanner can take quite a while. However, it worked pretty quickly last week."
As with everything 'economic' in life, the 'good stuff' disappear (getting hoarded up) and the crap (it is not crap but we just don't know what is in the box) stays there. No surprise here.
With this sort of selling practice, I would even go as far as suggesting that the practice should be outlawed - it is not the interest of anyone except the company profiteering from it (so this is not a transaction between parties in an equal situation - one party(the buyer) has to forego the knowledge of what they are actually buying).
No interest in Minifigs so no interest in that part of the app. However, the rest of the app looks nicely polished and, with the tone of this survey, I wonder if a name change to 'The Official Brickset App' is coming.
@HOBBES said:
" @StyleCounselor said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @HOBBES said:
"For what I've seen in Canada, it seems we only have the small QR codes which apparently are no use to help find the nature of the content."
I don't know how universal this is (Like Canada, the U.S. is a big country) but the only ones I've encountered have the smaller codes as well."
It depends on the shipment in my region (Mountain West). The ones that tend to stick around are the un-scanable small ones. Sometimes, you have to dig to find large QR codes to scan.
The scanner can take quite a while. However, it worked pretty quickly last week."
As with everything 'economic' in life, the 'good stuff' disappear (getting hoarded up) and the crap (it is not crap but we just don't know what is in the box) stays there. No surprise here.
With this sort of selling practice, I would even go as far as suggesting that the practice should be outlawed - it is not the interest of anyone except the company profiteering from it (so this is not a transaction between parties in an equal situation - one party(the buyer) has to forego the knowledge of what they are actually buying)."
I tend to agree with you. However, I'm not sure how that really changes our situation. It would likely still be a situation where the good stuff is gone and the faff remains.
My Lego store still operates an exchange for unwanted CMFs. But, the exchange selection is definitely limited.
@tkatt said:
"I would use the app to identify series 25 minifigures. The problem is I haven't ever seen any in a store where they weren't locked in a cage, a store that refuses to employ anyone who could unlock that cage.
"
You might try a CH751 key. You will be surprised how many even safety critical stuff in the US is hidden behind locks with universal RV/ Utility keys.
@PjtorXmos said:
" @tkatt said:
"I would use the app to identify series 25 minifigures. The problem is I haven't ever seen any in a store where they weren't locked in a cage, a store that refuses to employ anyone who could unlock that cage.
"
You might try a CH751 key. You will be surprised how many even safety critical stuff in the US is hidden behind locks with universal RV/ Utility keys. "
That won't cause any issues at all! ;)
I downloaded the app and loaded up my collection from Brickset. Several issues encountered.
- It doesn't have the promotional sets in the database. Seems like it is incomplete since the GWP ones and Insider exclusives aren't showing up
- I can't change my default currency from British pounds to my local one
- I don't need notifications but am reminded to enable it every time I open the app; I have notifications disabled.
- The order of the starting/home page isn't customizable yet. It would be nice if this was able to be sorted by favorite themes and then the rest alphabetical or other.
- When previewing a search result set, it would be nice to directly click the wishlist or collection icons to have it added into those respective lists. It's a two step process right now. Also, after the two step process and going back to the list, the icon isn't updated to reflect the change.