OK, quick question:
So, "973" is the part number, "p" stands for "Patterned", and the "s" stands for Star Wars, correct? After that, I assume you used "0-9" and "a-z" as identifiers resulting in a total of 36 possible patterns for "s", right?
Here's a thought: wouldn't it simply be easier to use double-char identifier for this? Basically, this would mean 973ps00 - 973ps99, which would allow for 100 possible patterns. Then, if that wasn't enough, you could always resort to 973psa0 - 973psz9 which would give you another 26*10=260 patterns, which would very likely be more than enough, but in the unlikely event that it wasn't, you could move on to 973psaa - 973pszz which would given you an additional 26*26=676 more parts, easily covering it. All told, you would have a total of 1036 possible patterns.
Now you may ask, what theme is going to have over 1000 torsos? The answer is, likely, none. However, consider this: When looking at the current naming conventions, which consists of a single-letter folled by a digit or letter, this only allows for 26*36=936 total possible combinations. Heck, even if we allow for a digit followed by a digit or letter, this results in 36*36=1296 total combinations. Think that's a lot of combinations?
Now consider this, if we look at Bricklink's list of torsos, we see that there are CURRENTLY 1292 torsos, which is only 4 shy of that number. By the end of 2012, I'm sure we'll be past it as LEGO is constantly releasing new torsos. So I ask you this: is it not better to start preparing for this eventuallity now? It is only a matter of time before a 3 letter/digit identifier is needed. Why not get ahead of this now rather than having to have a massive re-naming later on?
So, "973" is the part number, "p" stands for "Patterned", and the "s" stands for Star Wars, correct? After that, I assume you used "0-9" and "a-z" as identifiers resulting in a total of 36 possible patterns for "s", right?
Here's a thought: wouldn't it simply be easier to use double-char identifier for this? Basically, this would mean 973ps00 - 973ps99, which would allow for 100 possible patterns. Then, if that wasn't enough, you could always resort to 973psa0 - 973psz9 which would give you another 26*10=260 patterns, which would very likely be more than enough, but in the unlikely event that it wasn't, you could move on to 973psaa - 973pszz which would given you an additional 26*26=676 more parts, easily covering it. All told, you would have a total of 1036 possible patterns.
Now you may ask, what theme is going to have over 1000 torsos? The answer is, likely, none. However, consider this: When looking at the current naming conventions, which consists of a single-letter folled by a digit or letter, this only allows for 26*36=936 total possible combinations. Heck, even if we allow for a digit followed by a digit or letter, this results in 36*36=1296 total combinations. Think that's a lot of combinations?
Now consider this, if we look at Bricklink's list of torsos, we see that there are CURRENTLY 1292 torsos, which is only 4 shy of that number. By the end of 2012, I'm sure we'll be past it as LEGO is constantly releasing new torsos. So I ask you this: is it not better to start preparing for this eventuallity now? It is only a matter of time before a 3 letter/digit identifier is needed. Why not get ahead of this now rather than having to have a massive re-naming later on?
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I'm theJude! So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, his Judeness, or uh, Juder, or el Juderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
I'm theJude! So that's what you call me. You know, that or, uh, his Judeness, or uh, Juder, or el Juderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.