Hello, I would like for the Manufacturer Number to be treated in the same way as the Reference Number…
The Reference Number is visible on the Search screen (and can be sorted on). It also shows up in the Manage Database Items screen and in the Workbench, which can be very helpful when having to merge, variant or subvariant items.
The Manufacturer Number does not have any of these capabilities. This can be annoying in those cases where items in fact only have a Manufacturer Number and you want to perform any of the actions listed above…
When an item only has a Manufacturer number on the packaging (so, no Reference Number), I enter the Manufacturer Number in the Reference Number field.
But thinking about this a bit further (based on a chat with @Havok211), this also isn’t quite correct…
Therefore, my question: what does everybody think about the Manufacturer Number field? Should it have the same capabilities as the Reference Number field, or is the info in that field not relevant to you when you curate?
I think this is going to vary widely between subjects. For instance, I add a ton of Breyers, “manufacturer numbers” don’t really exist but the model horse community refers heavily to their reference numbers for IDing. I think that is key, does the collecting community for that subject actually refer to either number when collecting?
Do you have any examples of items that have different manufacturer numbers and reference numbers?
Yes, here is an example of a model car brand, which has both numbers:
Not all models of this brand have a Reference Number, but they all have a Manufacturer Number:
So essentially the ability to search manufacture ID’s to make it easier to sort items. If that’s the case then a lot of items are missing that ID and wouldn’t show up so that would have to be addressed. For Funko it’s super easy as it’s in the end of the UPC.
He is asking that the Manufacturer ID be treated as and given the same availability to be used as a sortable and searchable product identifier that the Reference Number has for cases when a product or item does not have a reference number but does have a manufacturer ID. So it’s not a matter of making sure all items officially have both of these Product Identifiers, it’s about treating them as equals in terms of features in the database that use them for sorting or searching in the case that an item only has one or the other.
It should, they are technically searchable identifiers like a UPC. I like it. They may come back with multiple items in the database but you’ll know what your looking for.
Yes. Fritz. I agree it should be able to be searched, sorted, etc. I think there is a lot of value in seeing both, especially since the Reference No does not apply to all things.
cars, trucks, and the like are great examples Fritz. It also applies often to CD, LPS, etc. I dont think it matters what subject, brand, category it is, sometimes and for some items and brands it is the go-to choice to have a Manufacturer ID