"New" Toylines

Started by SoS, September 03, 2011, 12:28:46 PM

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SoS

September 03, 2011, 12:28:46 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
The ideas have been around for a long time now, but the recent conversations that have spawn from this thread, (http://www.shmax.com/Forums/viewtopic.p ... 1&start=30), have made me think about it more and more. Mike and I have been talking how to make it work on the database.

Diaclone and Challenge of the Gobots are easy enough, we can get started on this today with no issues (as far as I can see).

3rd Party stuff...I can see a place for it, but we have to limit our parameters. I don't think we should ever add knockoffs like the ones we usually see on KO Toys.

G.I.Joe. I think we can add this line easily. We have already been using mold info with the Generation 2 guns and recently with the Sky Striker and Cobra Commander release. Might as well do the rest.

Anyone else, think this is viable or am I just reaching for the stars?


--SoS

shmax

#1
September 03, 2011, 12:58:53 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
S'ok with me if you want to get started, but are you sure you really want to dive in on G.I.Joe this early? I was going to try to find a lead moderator to lead that charge. Are you volunteering?

SoS

#2
September 03, 2011, 01:08:52 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Quote from: "shmax"
S'ok with me if you want to get started, but are you sure you really want to dive in on G.I.Joe this early? I was going to try to find a lead moderator to lead that charge. Are you volunteering?
Yes sir, I am. Though I don't mind if you find an extra mod to help.

I've discussing with Mike off and on, how we could have other mods as we expand into other toylines. With him being the group leader with TF/Diaclone/Gobots and I for other toylines I'm "more of an expert" than he is: like LEGO, Star Wars, G.I.Joe, Marvel Universe.


--SoS

SoS

#3
September 03, 2011, 04:58:42 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Now, we'll need to create a parent (top level) cat for each of the toylines. So it looks similar to the Mold Tree. Mike and I have been talking about cleaning up the Transformers tree for a while now and we've come up with a basic solution that we can implement.


--SoS
[attachment=0:225b3hxs]Parent Cat.jpg[/attachment:225b3hxs]

shmax

#4
September 03, 2011, 05:58:45 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
I think you're nuts to take on G.I.Joe, Lego, AND Star Wars, but if you'd rather work on this stuff than sleep, who am I to argue? I still feel like we should maybe just start with the Fans Project/3rd party stuff, for a few reasons:

1. Demoting the former "Transformers" root node to a child node and creating siblings is something that will require some work on my part--there are chunks of code that assume "Transformers" is the root. In the meantime, my suggestion was to cheat and create a "3rd party products" category under the current "Transformers", to be moved later once I've done the other work, which brings me to...

2. a "3rd party products" under "Transformers" is a little less organizationally screwy than a "G.I.Joe" category under "Transformers".

 I also have a few questions. Are our existing systems going to be robust enough for G.I.Joe/Star Wars? Are we going to need tons of new factions?

SoS

#5
September 03, 2011, 06:24:57 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Quote from: "shmax"
I think you're nuts to take on G.I.Joe, Lego, AND Star Wars, but if you'd rather work on this stuff than sleep, who am I to argue? I still feel like we should maybe just start with the Fans Project/3rd party stuff, for a few reasons:
Yes, I am a bit nuts. However, I'm not planning to add all those toylines alone or all at once. I'll start one at a time.

Quote
1. Demoting the former "Transformers" root node to a child node and creating siblings is something that will require some work on my part--there are chunks of code that assume "Transformers" is the root.
How much is some work? If it's not too much trouble you might as well demote it now instead of putting it off longer. Since you are planning to have more toylines. :)

Quote
In the meantime, my suggestion was to cheat and create a "3rd party products" category under the current "Transformers", to be moved later once I've done the other work, which brings me to...

2. a "3rd party products" under "Transformers" is a little less organizationally screwy than a "G.I.Joe" category under "Transformers".
I would rather not "cheat" and create it under Transformers, I know Mike shares my sentiments on that one. It's best if we can just have it under its own umbrella. So if we have to wait, I know we would rather wait than "cheat". I'm one of those guys that's in the "if you're going to do something, might as well do it right the first time" camp. :)

Quote
I also have a few questions. Are our existing systems going to be robust enough for G.I.Joe/Star Wars? Are we going to need tons of new factions?
I believe our existing systems is. It's not "perfect", but we've already figured out how to add G.I.Joe stuff mold-wise. Toyline-wise, we just need you to do your magic.

Come on Shmax, you know you want to say yes. :)

--SoS

shmax

#6
September 03, 2011, 06:48:58 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Okay, I'll put the new cat work at the top of my list. Stay tuned...

Tripredacus

#7
September 06, 2011, 12:52:42 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Once you add Star Wars, what will you do for Crossovers? Is that a TF toyline or a Star Wars one? Then again, is it an Iron Man toyline? I never figured out how to organize that myself.

shmax

#8
September 06, 2011, 03:47:57 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
That's an excellent question, and I'm sure we'll have a lot of spirited (re: angry) discussions about it. If you absolutely had to choose a place to stick 'em, I'd probably leave them under Transformers, as I believe that technically, the brand is "Transformers: Crossovers". Yes, they are Star Wars-flavored, or Marvel-flavored, but primarily they're still "Transformers"-brand toys. Would that annoy a Star Wars completionist? I'm sure we'll find out.

Another option would be to not choose at all, and just put them at the same level as the other major brands:
Code Select

root
   Transformers
      Cybertron
      Armada
      ...
   Transformers: Crossovers
      Marvel
      Star Wars
      ...
   Star Wars
      Original Trilogy
      Godforsaken Prequels


That way, everybody's happy (in the sense that no one is). You would have to check your rank/counts at the root level to get a feel for how you're doing.

Wajo357

#9
September 06, 2011, 05:09:39 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
or you can somehow label one item under both categories. Like the labels in gmail or how an ebay auction can be listed in 2 separate categories. I know... I'm creating more work for you... ;)
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spaceharfang

#10
September 06, 2011, 06:34:59 PM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
The best would to be able to list a single toyline under two brands.

Wajo357

#11
September 07, 2011, 06:04:52 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Quote from: "spaceharfang"
The best would to be able to list a single toyline under two brands.
yup, that is what I was trying to say.
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shmax

#12
September 07, 2011, 08:25:59 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Quote from: "spaceharfang"
The best would to be able to list a single toyline under two brands
Not sure that's necessarily true. Strictly speaking, it has only one brand, "Transformers: Crossovers". Our current approach has been a little more loose, in which we consider "Transformers" to be a brand, and "Transformers: Crossovers" to be a subline.

I understand the urge to find some way to force these toys under a person's Star Wars or Marvel collections, but that's more to do with the fictional continuity than it is the brand.

We'll have to give it more thought. I'm going to start by digging out some of my Star Wars Transformers, and reading all the fine print.

engledogg

#13
September 07, 2011, 10:30:16 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
I am in the camp of "it would be very cool for it to somehow appear in both toylines".

They truly do "crossover" the lines - take, for example, a Star Wars collector that might never touch a TF property.  He (or she) may consider these Crossovers as part of their Star Wars Collection.  And consider the flipside, a Transformers collector that is not all that interested in Star Wars or Marvel but still bought these because they're Transformers (I consider myself one of these collectors).

But, if you look at the UPCs on the Crossovers, they start off with 653569, the tell-tale intro to practically all mainline Transformers items in recent history.  So, I guess they're considered Transformers first, and Marvel and Star Wars second.

Although, just throwing this out there as an (weaker) argument for the opposite - every time Toys R Us has a "Transformers"-related sale (20% off, BOGO Half Off), the Crossovers are never part of the eligible items. :)

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

Tripredacus

#14
September 07, 2011, 11:24:07 AM Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 04:00:00 PM by Guest
Well it is possible to have Crossovers be a Transformers brand, which it is, but this ends up moving the conversation along to other things, and they will have to be addressed eventually. Some examples:

Beastformers are a part of Transformers, but Battle Beasts are not. Beastformers and Battle Beasts are in the same franchise.
There are Transformers toys in Choro-Q, KT Figure Collection, Super Collection Figure (SCF), Revoltech and MyClone, but those series are not Transformers series. Consider that KT has TFs as well as Getter Robos. Consider that SCF has Henshin Cyborg and Microman in it. Consider that MyClone also has various other franchises in it, and we already know what Revoltech has.

When figuring out Crossovers, I tried to apply the Titanium example to it. As you can tell from the logo, Titanium is not a Transformers brand, but it has Transformers in it. It also has Star Wars and Indiana Jones. But for some reason Crossovers can be seen as being either a TF brand, or a sub-brand of either Star Wars or Iron Man, etc.

As far as making them appear in both series, that is definately possible. A similar concept is used in your Windows operating system, its known as "linking." As an example, a lot of files are "found" in multiple locations, but they actually exist only in 1 location. So all you need is the ability to have certain franchises appear under multiple options but still only exist in one place.

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