Find spare parts on UK DS

[playmofire]

I've just noticed that on UK DS there is now a Find Spare Parts search facility so there is no need to use the similar facility on the German site.

[sbblabotw]

Do you know what this means? English names that I don't have to make up! Now, it seems they're not that easy to read: some have colours, some are abbreviated (and a lot are still German!) but I'll be collecting them to add to the PlaymoDB data. The availability of parts changes all the time, so I'll record what's visible now, and keep looking on a regular basis to see what's been added. Blue puzzle pieces are starting to appear in my dreams...

[Indianna]

Thanks for the heads-up, Gordon!  Here's hoping that the US website quickly follows suit.   

Heather - if there's anything that we mere mortals can do to help out with data collection, please let us know!   

[sbblabotw]

A good sign, for sure. So much more efficient than depending on human customer service reps, as pleasant and helpful as they generally are.

Indianna, thanks. Moving forward, slowly, with getting something more usable on the site. I'm publishing *data* - numbers, names, set assignments, and pictures - as soon as I collect it (mostly automatically via script), but of course it's only coming in bits and pieces. Have you looked at the TO BE ASSIGNED category lately? Huge. (But intriguing!) Once the site itself gets more usable, I can ask people to help with some of the detective work. We'll be in touch!

[Indianna]

. . . Have you looked at the TO BE ASSIGNED category lately? Huge. (But intriguing!) . . .

Wow - that is a lot of new parts!  I like the way that Playmobil is picturing them individually - it reminds me of the way that LEGO and LEGO fan sites show parts - this method seems to be more sortable and easier to categorize in the long run.

Once the site itself gets more usable, I can ask people to help with some of the detective work. We'll be in touch!

  Now that's intriguing!     

[sbblabotw]

Wow - that is a lot of new parts!  I like the way that Playmobil is picturing them individually - it reminds me of the way that LEGO and LEGO fan sites show parts - this method seems to be more sortable and easier to categorize in the long run.

Yes, I really like them. Clean and easy to see. Some are line-drawings, some, those fancy CGI images that show transparency, surface textures, etc. well. I'll still crop instructions as I get time, since they will have the number in the pic, and are (sometimes) bigger, but it's great to have these. There are thousands and I can import them via script. Check out the Klicky categories too - I can categorize them from the numbers, so they don't have to go in the holding bin. http://playmodb.org/cgi-bin/category.pl?cat=Klicky;subcat=Adult%20female;pics=on;sortby=partnum;page=13 , for example.

[GrahamB]

Thanks for this, Playmofire. Prices in £ sterling too, that will make my order lists look less expensive!

... English names that I don't have to make up!

But I like the names in PlaymoDB (especially the 'ice-cream scoops in a pile' in the Pony sets)!

Lots of new stuff appearing in the DB, thanks Heather!

[tahra]

That's awesome Heather

[sbblabotw]

But I like the names in PlaymoDB (especially the 'ice-cream scoops in a pile' in the Pony sets)!

What? (innocent look) I'll keep separate the "official" names and mine, specially picked to be searchable and consistent for parts the same shape (hence the ice cream). But great to have SOMETHING that's not German, hm? and automatic too. Not sure exactly how many official English names are available, but the scripts are rolling and we'll find out soon.

[playmofire]

Glad to have been of help, Graham, although the advantage of prices in euros was that there was a nice surprise when you saw the final total in £s on the invoice!

Those developments are certainly interesting, Heather, and I will be glad to help when the time comes if I can.