Updated Review Features/Editor and Review Contest!

[Fcbarcelona101]

Blackjack, I understand and agree the contest can raise some conflicts. Just remember it's not necessarily the quantity of reviews, but the quality that will pay off. My guess is that consistent participation with good quality reviews will put you in the best possible position with the contest judges.

Keep in mind this contest is a marathon, not a sprint. We have three months to go!

Two actually, the contest ends on July 3rd....thankfully lol

[Jeff Mack]

Just a quick update. There have been more than 175 approved reviews since the contest started and right now there are 45 reviews in Draft mode being worked on. The quality has been MUCH IMPROVED with the new format. We have gotten many messages from members saying how good the reviews are.

Here are the Top 5 Biggest Reviews to date:

mikeur86: 7199-1 - The Temple of Doom (20,588 characters)

Brianl3: 9474-1 - The Battle Of Helm's Deep (20,312 characters)

Fcbarcelona101: 7754-1 - Home One Mon Calimari Star Cruiser (20,241 characters)

mikeur86: 79104-1 - The Shellraiser Street Chase (18,786 characters)

Brianl3: 10229-1 - Winter Village Cottage (18,158 characters)

We are also getting some great submissions for Evaluation Articles as well, and those will be posted shortly. Everyone is really doing a fantastic job!! There is some real talent out there!

[Fcbarcelona101]

Just a quick update. There have been more than 175 approved reviews since the contest started and right now there are 45 reviews in Draft mode being worked on. The quality has been MUCH IMPROVED with the new format. We have gotten many messages from members saying how good the reviews are.

Here are the Top 5 Biggest Reviews to date:

mikeur86: 7199-1 - The Temple of Doom (20,588 characters)

Brianl3: 9474-1 - The Battle Of Helm's Deep (20,312 characters)

Fcbarcelona101: 7754-1 - Home One Mon Calimari Star Cruiser (20,241 characters)

mikeur86: 79104-1 - The Shellraiser Street Chase (18,786 characters)

Brianl3: 10229-1 - Winter Village Cottage (18,158 characters)

We are also getting some great submissions for Evaluation Articles as well, and those will be posted shortly. Everyone is really doing a fantastic job!! There is some real talent out there!

Right in the middle.

For the Evaluation Corner do we have to submit the reviews again to you directly or do you just pick the ones you like from those already submitted? (I thought it was the latter)

[TheOrcKing]

This competition is a love-hate for me, because other members who submit a lot of reviews just come to be seen as threats...

I can understand how it may seem and relate to the feeling, but please remember that some people do have more time on their hands to in turn write more reviews than others. Now just because somebody can write a ton in a single night does not neccessarily equal 'quality' reviews. This may be a contest, but do have fun with it and enjoy writing up a good review instead of rushing one out worrying about falling behind. Don't push yourself so hard that you start hating doing something you normally love doing in the first place. Create a review you feel you can be proud to have your name behind as well as beneficial to others reading it.

In the purest sense of the phrase, this is meant to be a friendly competition.

And I am saying that for everyone to remember that. (Including myself.)

[Blackjack]

Blackjack, I understand and agree the contest can raise some conflicts. Just remember it's not necessarily the quantity of reviews, but the quality that will pay off. My guess is that consistent participation with good quality reviews will put you in the best possible position with the contest judges.

Keep in mind this contest is a marathon, not a sprint. We have three months to go!

I know it's a marathon, but it's easy to fall behind!

[Fcbarcelona101]

Blackjack, I understand and agree the contest can raise some conflicts. Just remember it's not necessarily the quantity of reviews, but the quality that will pay off. My guess is that consistent participation with good quality reviews will put you in the best possible position with the contest judges.

Keep in mind this contest is a marathon, not a sprint. We have three months to go!

I know it's a marathon, but it's easy to fall behind!

Better to fall behind and finish than getting burnt out early and having to exit ;)

[Ed Mack]

At this point in the competition, I would just like to say that everyone is doing an excellent job. I would also like to add that it is very early in the competition and there are over two months left. Don't let that deter you from entering. Big reviews don't always mean quality. We have gotten some fantastic 8000-10000 character reviews, so smaller is sometimes better.

As for the competition, there has been a good mix of ideas and sets. But as I stated before, there are no set rules for winners...just quality and creative content in copious amounts. Whether that means doing 200 small reviews or 5 kick butt Evaluation Corner(EC) articles that are 10 pages long each, that encompass an entire theme of sets and their respective values and qualities that make them great or poor investments. It can be a combination of large and small reviews and content type. Whatever...

That being said, I just want to clarify the difference between an Evaluation Corner article and a large review. Jeff and I value a quality Evaluation Corner article over multiple large reviews for several reasons. Basically, they go on the homepage and many more members read them. Members and Google search engines love new homepage content. Not that we don't value reviews, it's just if you want to review an entire theme, then maybe a larger more encompassing article would be more effective. You can take your reviews and combine them into a larger article or blog that has a main idea or thesis or point you want to make. An EC article or blog flows from one idea to the next. It has a creative introduction and a conclusion that wraps up all the major points made in the body of the article.

We tried to make the review inputs a little more like an essay. Some reviews can easily be converted to one large essay, while others are more choppy...still acceptable, but not EC article quality. I noticed many people reusing charts and information. That is acceptable, but it might not win you the contest. Many of the reviews might have been better served in one large article. It is also possible that these reviews all done on one theme can be converted to and interesting larger EC article. There are many ways to win this contest. Jeff and I are not afraid to add prizes if so deserved.

Feel free to ask questions or PM me with ideas or new articles...

[Ed Mack]

Blackjack, I understand and agree the contest can raise some conflicts. Just remember it's not necessarily the quantity of reviews, but the quality that will pay off. My guess is that consistent participation with good quality reviews will put you in the best possible position with the contest judges.

Keep in mind this contest is a marathon, not a sprint. We have three months to go!

I agree...It's a marathon. I just wanted to say that Quacs did a wonderful job on a Evaluation Corner article that I will use as a template for other members. It will be live in a couple of days. I realize people have different skill sets, so that's why we offer many different ways to win a prize. Not everyone can win though and there should not be any hard feelings.

Also, have you seen the amount of Brickpoints I have been handing out? A ton of them. Many members will at least qualify for the STAR WARS polybags.

[Fcbarcelona101]

Hey Ed, I am currently working on a EC article that will probably be sent to you later today, but I was wondering what should I do to include the price guide data for individual sets as you did on your Monster Fighters review. Should I just send it to you and make notes about where I want that info, or is there any way I can add those myself?

[Ed Mack]

Hey Ed, I am currently working on a EC article that will probably be sent to you later today, but I was wondering what should I do to include the price guide data for individual sets as you did on your Monster Fighters review. Should I just send it to you and make notes about where I want that info, or is there any way I can add those myself?

Jeff and I use OPEN OFFICE as a word processor. It's FREE and they have a nice option for charts. Easier you make it on me, the bigger smile on my face. LOL

[Fcbarcelona101]

Jeff and I use OPEN OFFICE as a word processor. It's FREE and they have a nice option for charts. Easier you make it on me, the bigger smile on my face. LOL

I'm doing them in Word, just wasn't sure if you wanted them to look exactly like the ones you have in the price guide.

[Blackjack]

Blackjack, I understand and agree the contest can raise some conflicts. Just remember it's not necessarily the quantity of reviews, but the quality that will pay off. My guess is that consistent participation with good quality reviews will put you in the best possible position with the contest judges.

Keep in mind this contest is a marathon, not a sprint. We have three months to go!

I know it's a marathon, but it's easy to fall behind!

Better to fall behind and finish than getting burnt out early and having to exit

Sorry to sound like a whiny noob earlier. I totally understand that you have to consistantly turn out quality reviews for 9 weeks in order to stay in the game. As far as falling behind, you don't need to own a set to review it... so I'm not going to run out of material! :)

[Ed Mack]

Jeff and I use OPEN OFFICE as a word processor. It's FREE and they have a nice option for charts. Easier you make it on me, the bigger smile on my face. LOL

I'm doing them in Word, just wasn't sure if you wanted them to look exactly like the ones you have in the price guide.

Word is fine. Charts are the easiest way, whether they are Word or Open Office. Jeff has to recreate the charts anyway, but it is easier for us to convert them over if everything is in order.

[Fcbarcelona101]

Jeff and I use OPEN OFFICE as a word processor. It's FREE and they have a nice option for charts. Easier you make it on me, the bigger smile on my face. LOL

I'm doing them in Word, just wasn't sure if you wanted them to look exactly like the ones you have in the price guide.

Word is fine. Charts are the easiest way, whether they are Word or Open Office. Jeff has to recreate the charts anyway, but it is easier for us to convert them over if everything is in order.

Do you want the file sent by email or PM?

[Blackjack]

With regard to charts. Some people's reviews consist mostly of a chart format which covers all sets in a theme and the CAGR or what have you. It seems that you can rack up a whole lot of points just for doing the charts because the review gets super long just listing each set. Is there a difference in the way they are scored, or are they more desirable than reviews which are all just a discussion of the set without the charts?

[Veegs]

With regard to charts. Some people's reviews consist mostly of a chart format which covers all sets in a theme and the CAGR or what have you. It seems that you can rack up a whole lot of points just for doing the charts because the review gets super long just listing each set. Is there a difference in the way they are scored, or are they more desirable than reviews which are all just a discussion of the set without the charts?

I put them in my last two reviews mostly because I quite liked the ability to quickly compare without searching (I am lazy) and although most compare just within a theme, I have seen reviewers include sets that are complimentary or similar. I don't think it should result in a lot more BPs, though.

[Grolim]

With regard to charts. Some people's reviews consist mostly of a chart format which covers all sets in a theme and the CAGR or what have you. It seems that you can rack up a whole lot of points just for doing the charts because the review gets super long just listing each set. Is there a difference in the way they are scored, or are they more desirable than reviews which are all just a discussion of the set without the charts?

I've actually found doing tables takes a lot longer that just typing paragraphs. You have to do quite a bit of research to obtain the info you want to put in it. Plus You can't copy/paste the table straight in from a word document or spreadsheet that you might have been using to put the chart together and doing calculations in. You have to re-type in every cell in the table then format it.

Not sure how the character count works for tables, I don't really care that much. Just remember it's not the character length that counts it's the quality. Sometimes there is no need to write a paragraph on a point if it can be summarised in a sentence. Many of the long reviews are excellent, but like Ed said "Big reviews don

[Fcbarcelona101]

Also I think the competition is a great idea, but if you are doing it for the prizes then you really need to look at the time involved. Writing 100 reviews taking 2 hours a time to win a $200 set works out to be $1 per hour. I know I don't work for that much, lol. For me it's more about creating good content for the site on a subject I'm passionate about. I have loved reading all the reviews so far, I can't even keep up with doing that!

+1

[Jeff Mack]

Not sure how the character count works for tables, I don't really care that much.

All HTML code gets stripped out from the count. In the end its just basic text that is counted.

[Blackjack]

Also I think the competition is a great idea, but if you are doing it for the prizes then you really need to look at the time involved. Writing 100 reviews taking 2 hours a time to win a $200 set works out to be $1 per hour. I know I don't work for that much, lol. For me it's more about creating good content for the site on a subject I'm passionate about. I have loved reading all the reviews so far, I can't even keep up with doing that!

I thought about the time involved when this first started, and you could earn enough to double or triple the amount that the HH is worth just by sticking to your regular job. It's a little different for me because I'm just getting a summer job, and I'm only 16.

[Veegs]

All HTML code gets stripped out from the count. In the end its just basic text that is counted.

Jeff! Don't tell people this, they might stop putting charts in! They are a pain to put in sometimes, but I do like reading other reviews that have them, especially if it highlights a set in comparison I might not be that familiar with.

[Blackjack]

All HTML code gets stripped out from the count. In the end its just basic text that is counted.

Really? Not to bash mikeur86, but this review doesn't seem like it has 17,000 characters just in the text... ?

http://www.brickpicker.com/reviews/set.cfm?set=7682-1

[mikeur86]

Yeeeeaaaah, so maybe I should have done an EC article on my Indy sets =P . I am working on another theme right now, I'll submit it in an EC style instead of ten reviews. FYI, my job consists of me sitting at a computer for 8-10hrs so I have a note pad up and just jot stuff down every few minutes and on my breaks. I usually wait to submit my reviews until I have four or five done. I just looked at my brick points and it seems that the character count is basing it off the charts because about 7,000 characters(at least) of each of my Indy sets were characters inside the charts. I didn't think to much of it, but maybe that should be taken into consideration when handing out the points. Feel free to either A. Deduct the appropriate points from my total or B. Issue 0 points per review sent from this point on until I equal out. I definitely don't want to cheat the system here. Also, for the longest time I wrote reviews for movies on two High Definition forums. I was paid to write reviews and thus I did it as a part time job. Writing Lego reviews is similar, but definitely different. I try to get better with every set I review and I hope others feel I am as well. If you read my first reviews they are weak sauce. If you think I am slacking or need to add better/different content into a review let me know so I can fix it! My formula is basically: 1. My opinion of the set 2. Some basic info about it, possibly how unique it is and include what Lego's description of it was. 3. Compare it to other sets in either the same theme or similar priced items released the same year 4. Figure out from an investment point if this is or was a great investment. After-all this whole site is designed to help investors and I'd like to do my part as well. Anyways, that was a lot of rambling. Bottom line is if I am turning in half ass reviews PLEASE let me know! Also, I just noticed my spacing looks weird in some of my reviews. I wonder if that is from copying it from TextEdit to the form. I'll try and work that out, my bad.

[Grolim]

All HTML code gets stripped out from the count. In the end its just basic text that is counted.

Really? Not to bash mikeur86, but this review doesn't seem like it has 17,000 characters just in the text... ?

http://www.brickpicker.com/reviews/set.cfm?set=7682-1

Just copy pasted that into a word doc and did a Word Count on it, comes out with just over 12,000 characters... /shrug.

mikeur86 - lovin your reviews man, keep it up you're a machine!

[Jeff Mack]

All HTML code gets stripped out from the count. In the end its just basic text that is counted.

Really? Not to bash mikeur86, but this review doesn't seem like it has 17,000 characters just in the text... ?

http://www.brickpicker.com/reviews/set.cfm?set=7682-1

Just copy pasted that into a word doc and did a Word Count on it, comes out with just over 12,000 characters... /shrug.

mikeur86 - lovin your reviews man, keep it up you're a machine!

Whether its 12k or 17k, i personally don't care. I will look at my function for stripping the code. The tables are probably playing a part in it. All i know, its a lot of time and effort put in on his part. And as its been mention many times before, both Ed and I are not really looking at the character count once it gets to a certain point, its more about the quality and what you are doing to explain the set to other people as an investment or collection piece.