LEGO Launches 'My LEGO Timeline' in collaboration with Brickset on Facebook

 

  • LEGO Launches 'My LEGO Timeline' in collaboration with Brickset on Facebook

    Posted by Huw, 03 Dec 2012 13:31. Filed under Brickset.

    My LEGO TimelineIf you 'Like' LEGO on Facebook [1] you may have noticed that they've recently launched an app called 'My LEGO Timeline'. To be honest it's not particularly good, or appealing to 'hardcore' AFOLs but I'm mentioning it here because it uses Brickset's data and images.

    The idea behind it is that you search for a set and then enter when you made it and so see your collection on a timeline. It has many limitations, such as not being able to edit or remove entries, but I guess it's an interesting concept and a step in the right direction, and if it draws more people to Brickset, it has to be a good thing, right?

    So, that got me thinking: if you've recently found Brickset, maybe via Facebook, I'd be very interested to get your feedback on your first impressions. Is Brickset easy to use and navigate? Does it look outdated? Will you return and use the site again?  

    I am thinking of reworking parts of the site next year, primarily to make it more appealing to new users (while taking every care not to alienate existing ones) so your feedback will be invaluable. If you prefer not to comment, please email me directly.

    Incidentally, the user survey that I usually run at this time of year to solicit feedback from you all will be run early in the New Year.

    --

    [1] I have a lot of LEGO friends on Facebook, but only 5 of them Like LEGO's page. Why is that, I wonder?


    26 comments, latest one posted 5 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by M-Tron Hero Kodiak in United States, 03 Dec 2012 14:10

Cool, but I thought it was going to put the time line of when the sets were sold, not when I bought it. I guess I could add it when it came out.
Thanks for the article though. Will have to explore it more.

Posted by Matthew in United Kingdom, 03 Dec 2012 14:25

I have two facebook accounts, one I use and the other for LEGO! Anyone else the same?

Posted by UtarEmpire in United States, 03 Dec 2012 14:32

I would suspect that adults don't feel the same kind of need to advertise their brand loyalty on social networks, especially if said brand is a toy company. :)

Posted by blars82 in United States, 03 Dec 2012 14:35

Huw - I'm new to Lego this year and it started with the Harry Potter Legos...then LOTR and Monster Fighters and Super Heroes and the Hobbit. I visit your site daily for news on new Lego sets, Lego sales, and your reviews of sets. The other Lego site that I visit daily is fbtb.net. I haven't built anything on my own or anything, so I don't really know much about specific Lego pieces or much of the details. I just like buying, building, and displaying the sets...then selling them on e-Bay once I'm done with them if I don't love the sets. Then I have money for a new set. So I'm pretty much coming to your site daily for news on deals, new sets, etc. And I think your site is great for that. Other sites seem to have more custom Lego builds but that's not really my thing. I really like the databases at the top of your page too.

I'm not sure if you're associated with Bricklink.com, but I've struggled using/understanding that site.

Thanks for your great site and I'll continue to visit daily.

Brian
Madison, WI
(blars82@yahoo.com)

Posted by Plasmodium in United Kingdom, 03 Dec 2012 14:43

Wait...so...Lego has made an app which uses Brickset's photos...many of which originally come from the Lego site? Gotta love the irony there! XD
^Bricklink has got a reputation for being very hard to use. I looked into it once and then decided against it. (I don't think that @Huw is involved in Bricklink, though, right?)

Posted by bluemoose in United Kingdom, 03 Dec 2012 15:07

^ no, there is no connection between Brickset & Bricklink (other than both sites being part of the on-line Lego community). Quite a few of our photos are 'original', in that they didn't come from the Lego website.
http://www.brickset.com/news/article/?ID=969

Posted by King J in United States, 03 Dec 2012 15:45

Hmmm, I added Attack on Weathertop to the timeline, and it shows a picture of Fangpyre Wrecking Ball. Weird...

Posted by Mickitat in Germany, 03 Dec 2012 16:54

While your service here is free, FB is not, so you will never see me there.

Posted by DaveBey in United States, 03 Dec 2012 17:29

I'm looking forward to checking this out when I get home. Althought I may have to block my wife so she doesn't see just how much time is spent with LEGO while she's away...

Posted by Matthew in United Kingdom, 03 Dec 2012 17:34

^^ Last time I looked:

"It’s free and always will be"

Posted by Dash Justice in United States, 03 Dec 2012 18:00

I moved on from FB awhile ago to Google+ and I won't go back. G+ is superior in every way, just my two cents.

I regards to the site, I think it is fine as it is. I just worry sometime that with the addition of new content, the site may become 'bloated' if you will. (not that I am opposed to new features)

Posted by cjg in United States, 03 Dec 2012 18:59

@Mickitat: Yeah I'm pretty sure Facebook is free...

Posted by Si_Dorking_Surrey in New Zealand, 03 Dec 2012 19:26

Every single set has the image for Fangpyre Wrecking ball.

Oh dear, TLG release another digital cock-up - this is getting embarrassing!

Posted by followsclosely in United States, 03 Dec 2012 21:20

This concept could be really cool. But ths implementation stinks.

Posted by HuoYang in Indonesia, 03 Dec 2012 23:34

Hi i still want the ability to mark a set as unwanted. if you look at my data i own almost all sets just because i cannot mark any set that i don't want to buy.

This is my routine:

Everyday i always read news from this site in the morning (like reading newspaper, and after work) Thx for providing such a great site with useful info on LEGO, btw LEGO in Facebook made a competition to submit pictures on missions 1 to 5 that can net you death star and other sets.

Then i browse my custom query which listed all sets that i don't already own about 400 of them. and try to complete the sets. by visiting brick link.

Then after work i wait for my packets to arrive and again visit your site to update the sets that i no longer want since sometimes i only get the minifies and its accessories and consider the set as owned (because you don't have any feature to mark a set as unwanted.

Thx this is by far the best and most useful site that i found.
I hope you can grant me the ability to mark item as (unwanted or any other label with similar meaning) right now i can only mark item as owned or wanted.

HuoYang

Posted by jon_k in United Kingdom, 04 Dec 2012 01:06

bah yet another something or other on face book I am sick of hearing about faceache, am I the only person in the world who doesn t use face book..

make it an app or a web page , but facebook tie in , not a chance

Posted by Mickitat in Germany, 04 Dec 2012 03:07

FB is "free" in the sense that you don't pay with money. You pay with data, a currency too many people do not acknowledge as such - and spend a lot more freely than common sense dictates. Nothing in life is free.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 04 Dec 2012 03:21

^^ Does unwanted = not owned and not wanted? Can't you just leave both checkboxes un-ticked?

Posted by TheCahleySlash in United Kingdom, 04 Dec 2012 05:44

^^^ I don't even have a 'Facebook'! 'Twitter' and 'My Lego Network' is better!

Posted by sarlacc98 in United Kingdom, 04 Dec 2012 08:26

I agree google+ is better.

Posted by VeeDubGuy83 in United States, 04 Dec 2012 08:49

I find Brickset to be an invaluable resource for any and all LEGO fans or collectors... I will have been a member for just about 2 years come this January... Whenever I need to find out information about a set, a new set coming out, or what to expect in the future, I know Brickset will be one of the first people to have that information. I know I probably use less than half of the features Brickset provides, but that is okay. I just love being able to track what sets I have and create my virtual "want's"!

Posted by HuoYang in Indonesia, 04 Dec 2012 10:06

Huw: if i leave both i cannot in a sense complete the list, and in danger of missing something (especially when added later) for example sometimes you add new polybags or sets that were recently discovered but was released a few years back. With the way i am doing it now i can tick what i no longer want as owned so when i search using set that i dont own as query parameter i can have a small list of sets that i actually need and even if you discover something new i will never miss that because i will have it on my list.

My long term goal is to have 0 item list (meaning all that i want i already have) :) (this tho will sadly make my number of pieces owned to become bloated)

i feel the need to evaluate every item and tag them. If you add unwanted checkbox than everyone can work their way in your database by giving each item an evaluation on whether they want them to remain in their list of items or not. Right now the only way to achieve this goal is by tagging them as owned.

The long list of items and new additions of items in the database have the potential to confuse on whether we have already taken the time to evaluate that particular item and might make me miss sets that i might actually want.

btw if i leave both checkbox unticked i cannot search using the quary of sets that i actually want since there might be set that i want but i havent ticked as wanted since new sets are added periodically.

Thx and sorry for the long post
HuoYang

Posted by HuoYang in Indonesia, 04 Dec 2012 10:12

btw i just realized something. there is not 1 other user that supports what i want so its probably just me :p.

Therefore my conclusion it would be a waste of your valueable time to make this into a feature in Brickset (and i dont want that :) i love your work and you can do more usefull stuff that might benefitt more people)

Point no 2 since there is nobody obsessed like me to complete everything on LEGO since its creation, my actions will not have a huge impact on your overall data accuracy :) thankfully.

Thx Mr Huw
Keep up the good work :)

HuoYang

Posted by Brickmatic in United States, 04 Dec 2012 19:07

^ Yeah, I don't think many people share you system. That said, I don't understand why you mark unwanted sets as "owned". Wouldn't it be better to mark unwanted sets as "wanted"? Counter-intuitive, yes, but it should let you keep the functionality of your current system and let you keep track of what you actually own.

Or better yet, you can use the system like everyone else (wanted means you want it, owned means you have it) and just do a custom query to check for new additions to the database. You won't miss anything that way if you search for all the stuff added since last time.

Posted by HuoYang in Indonesia, 04 Dec 2012 21:00

Hey thats a great idea :) so i can just quary fo set that i dont want :) and dont own that way i will also not miss anything :)

Thx Brickmatic :)

now i just have t find the time to untick all those owned sets that i dont already own to wanted Lol but this is a very good solution :)

Posted by rockz in Singapore, 05 Dec 2012 04:58

i just got into lego last year and been trying to search for any site that gives the best info and i believe that brickset is the best so far in terms of data arrangement and information....your work is much better than lego's official website....any improvement will be a bonus.....

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