New Member, Aspiring Contributer

Started by romorini, February 07, 2009, 05:22:17 PM

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romorini

February 07, 2009, 05:22:17 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Hello! This is a great site you all have. It's a great resource for the fandom. I admit that my resources are low, but I would like to help somehow. I don't keep boxes nor do I own a camera you'd want for pics, but I can do data entry in my spare time.

Where do you find the information on the molds? All I can find when I look at the toys are the date and manufacturer. I can figure out most of the line information, and re-use but not the number.
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shmax

#1
February 08, 2009, 05:16:46 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Quote from: "romorini"
Hello! This is a great site you all have. It's a great resource for the fandom. I admit that my resources are low, but I would like to help somehow. I don't keep boxes nor do I own a camera you'd want for pics, but I can do data entry in my spare time.

Where do you find the information on the molds? All I can find when I look at the toys are the date and manufacturer. I can figure out most of the line information, and re-use but not the number.
Hi there, Romorini. Engledogg is sort of the master of data entry at the moment, and he might be a good person to coordinate with when deciding which areas of the database to attack. But until we hear back from him, I'd like to hear more about your issue. I'm not quite sure I understand what it is you're asking for--when you say you can't find the information on molds, do you mean on this site? Or are you asking where we research our mold information? When you say you can't figure out "the number", what are you referring to?

I'll just assume you're trying to add a figure or part, and give you a quick primer.

1. First, check to see if the figure you're trying to add is already in the database. At this point, unless you're doing something very obscure or an upcoming release, chances are good we already have it. Just do a search for it, and examine the search results carefully. Check both the "Package" and "COntents" tabs to make sure it isn't already there!

2. Assuming you're sure that we don't already have a record for it, the next step is to decide if this figure or part is a repaint or reuse of an existing mold. If you're sort of a Transformer expert and are up to date on what has been going on over the years, you'll just know if this is a repaint. Otherwise, you'll have to do a little research. Check the transformers wiki (http://www.tfwiki.net), google around for it, and so on.

3a. If this figure IS a repaint, and you know what it's a repaint of, look up any of the figures in our database that you know share that mold, and go to its details page. Over on the right, you'll see a "Mold Info:" heading, and a mold path. The mold path will terminage in either a "Mold #n", or "Retool #n". Whichever it is, note the rightmost number. When you go to enter the record for your new figure, you can simply type that number into the "Mold id" box at the bottom of the mold input widget, and away you go.

--OR--

3b.
If this is a *new mold*, you need to use the mold widget to drill your way down to the proper category. For example, if this new mold comes from the new Movie (2009) deluxe line, you would click on "Transformers", then "North America", then "Movie (2009)", and finally "Deluxe". The last step is to click on the "Add New Mold" link that you see.

It all sounds a lot more confusing than it really is. Once you've done a few records it gets to be pretty intuitive. If you have more trouble, feel free to PM either Engledogg or myself (though Engledogg is definitely the guy to ask about what needs doing, or what should go where).

I hope that helps!

Max

engledogg

#2
February 08, 2009, 08:59:47 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
I think what romorini is asking about concerns whether or not a "mold number" appears on the figures themselves.  

When you a see a mold number assigned to a figure, part, or accessory, that number really doesn't appear on the toy itself, it's just a number generated in the database.

For example, if you're looking at the package for Gnaw, the G1 Sharkticon, found here:

http://www.shmax.com/Package_Details/1796/Gnaw,

clicking on the Gnaw figure, will bring up this page:

http://www.shmax.com/part_details/1134/Gnaw

Looking over to the right, you see Mold #5126, Part #4443.

That mold number (and part number) are generated automatically when we enter a figure/part into the database and don't appear on the toy itself.

The mold number sort of stands for the Gnaw toy as a whole, also encompassing all of his parts (meaning anything that came in Gnaw's box falls under this mold number, paperwork not included).  

So, in the instance of the Gnaw figure, he's Mold #5126, Part #4443 (even though he's the figure, he's still considered a part, in this case).

Now if you click on his Tail/Mace, you'll see this:

http://www.shmax.com/part_details/5615

Now looking over to the right, you'll see that the mold number stayed the same, but the part number is different.  In this case, his tail/mace is still Mold #5126, indicating that it's included with Gnaw, and the system assigned the tail/mace Part #2818.

So, don't worry about scanning all your figs for mold numbers, it's just our way of keeping track of everything in the database.  :)

Hope this answered your question.

MIKE
engledogg
Dumba$$ that used to buy everything...not so much anymore.

romorini

#3
February 08, 2009, 11:59:18 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
That's exactly the info I was looking for. The interface seems far more clear to me after your explanations. Is there a place you'd like me to start engledogg? I'm most familiar with Beast Wars and up. Generation Two and Machine Wars confuse the bejezzes out of me. I could figure them out, but I'd prefer a few warm-up rounds.
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engledogg

#4
February 08, 2009, 05:55:29 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Well, as you can you see, our database is fairly complete, with most packages already containing the proper figures, and with those figures, their proper accessories.

We do have a few gaps in the system, and to help with those gaps, I would suggest starting out here:

http://www.shmax.com/Database?no_parts= ... _collected

This is a link that takes you to all packages that are currently lacking any figures/accessories associated with them.

Following shmax's instructions/suggestions above, if you can fill in any of the blank packages, that would be great.

If, in the event that you can't, you can always scan through the existing records, working on ones that might be missing a weapon/accessory that we overlooked.

Just do a few at first, and let me know when you've worked on them, just so I can check 'em out and make sure everything is going okay for you.

Thanks,
MIKE
engledogg
Dumba$$ that used to buy everything...not so much anymore.

romorini

#5
February 09, 2009, 03:05:47 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Okay, I've got a few additions, I'll PM you the details. One question I have is on the instruction Booklets. I've kept practically all of mine from over the years.  What is your policy on scanning them?  I noticed RID Grimlock only had the front window scanned. Is that all you want?
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engledogg

#6
February 09, 2009, 05:44:58 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
At this point, I guess we're just looking for the front of the booklet, although it has been bantered about that we may get into scanning full instruction sheets, but that's still in the planning stage.

Here's G1 Jazz's booklet scan:
http://www.shmax.com/part_details/4810

So..something that looks like that.  All in all, it really depends on how the booklet was inserted into the packaging.  Booklets like G1 are cool in that you have a nice graphic on the front, it is prefolded, and all that.

More recent stuff, like RID Grimlock's, while still prefolded, gets rolled up and stuffed into the package so it will fit.  

So, long story short, as long as it looks nice and clean (with a nice white background) in the scan, and you can at least see the "front" of the instruction booklet as it appears when folded up, that should suffice.

MIKE
engledogg
Dumba$$ that used to buy everything...not so much anymore.

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