Man, I hope so. Every TF database out there (including Seibertron's Vector Sigma and TFU) has some critical flaw that prevents it from being completely awesome. Seibs' db focuses more on the characters than the actual figures, and TFU suffers (at least, as near as I can tell) from not having any sort of db backend at all (i.e., it looks like he takes an existing page, copies it, then adjusts the code to point to new pics and such). Don't get me wrong, they're both great resources, but I've been wanting something that's figure-oriented and query-able. This is the first thing I've seen (besides my embryonic CF project) that has that promise. That you're tying in stuff like Hasbro serial numbers makes it easier (at least, in theory) for collectors to pinpoint the items in their collection. I think there are some ways that the UI can be cleaned up, though I love the drill-down idea. But I think you're on the right track by focusing on the code first rather than the glitz.
Also, I love the idea of the sticker. I only became aware of this place because another member, who also frequents Seibertron, had it in their profile. FWIW, there's now two of us over there.
Sounds like someone gets it! Yes, I had the same impression you did back in the early days when I was mulling this over. I realized that despite the zillions of dedicated transformers sites crowding the 'ol intertubes, none of them were really that slick. There were only one or two that were using a proper database, but they were sort of bedraggled in presentation, and weren't really designed with a proper hierarchy. The rest were, as you say, struggling along with hand-coded html. Even the really fancy sites, like Seibertron, don't make a distinction between packages and figures, so they couldn't really properly track, say, the UPC or product code (because they only have one record per figure, but a figure can come packaged in different ways). This site is my attempt to combine the strengths of them all, ditch their weaknesses, and add my own high-falutin' ideas.
I still don't know if I'm ever going to find a way to make any money out of any this, but for a while I'll be content if I manage to create the best site.
Now, then, about them shared molds--I'm now showing four things for any particular figure:
1. The figure, if any, that he is a repaint OF.
2. The figures, if any, that he has been repainted AS, or, if he is not the source, then SHARED molds.
3. The figure, if any, that he is a remold OF.
4. The figures, if any, that has been remolded AS, or, if he is not the source, then SIMILAR molds.
How's all that sound? Down the road I can fancy-it-up a bit by having a page with remold statistics, such as which toys have been repainted the most, and so on.
- shmax
