Name tag that says "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."A standardized format for Database Item names is very important — it helps us keep the hobbyDB database clean, accurate, and easy to navigate. When creating or editing a Database Item be sure to follow the standards described in this article.

If you find an item with a name that doesn't follow these guidelines, please flag the item so one of our Volunteer Squad members can fix it. If you have the Creator role on the Squad and know what the name should be, please edit the name according to these guidelines.


TABLE OF CONTENTS



Names


The name given to each Database Item should ideally be its official name in English (or its native language if it doesn't have an English name). Don't include additional information like the brand, series, or year of release. Here is the order of preference for the item's name:

  1. The Database Item name should ideally be exactly what is printed on the packaging (including punctuation and mistakes or typos, if any), and nothing else.
    Luke Skywalker action figure box with name misspelled "Skywalkwer"
  2. If there isn't a name on the packaging, enter the name used by the Brand elsewhere, for example in a catalog or price list.

  3. If there is no known official name, enter what most collectors call it.

  4. If a common name among collectors is not known, enter a name that could have logically been used by the Brand. 



Alternative Names


Alternative Names are either in a different language than English, another name the item is commonly known by, or a correction to an error in the official name.

Here is an example of a model car with the name in both German and English:

Siku model car with both German and English names

There are dozens of items officially called "Freddy Funko," so this one is generally known by another name:

Funko Pop box with "Freddy Funko" as the official name on the box. Caption text pointing to the name with additional note that the figure is known as "Freddy Funko as Willy Wonka"


Backslash and Pipe character on a U.S. layout keyboard Keep the use of Alternative Names to a minimum. If an item has multiple Alternative Names (and that should be rare), separate them with the vertical pipe character: |

For example, this VW Kleinlieferwagen model has "Käfer Kombi | Small Delivery Van" as its Alternative Name. Note that this item does not have an official English name, so its German name from the Brand's catalog (since the name isn't on the packaging) is used as the item name. The two Alternative Names are another commonly used German name and an English translation of the official name.

"VW Kleinlieferwagen" model car with "Käfer Kombi | Small Delivery Van" Alternative Name

Other Guidelines & Tips


  • Do not use Alternative Name as a catch-all field for keywords. Relevant keywords should already be included if the Database Item's Brand, Series, and Related Subjects are properly added, and from other fields such as Model (for model cars). Find tips for searching here.

  • Use standard English title capitalization for both Names and Alternative Names, regardless of how the name is styled on the item's packaging. 
    • There is one exception to this rule — If a word in the name is typically written in all-caps (for example an acronym, certain Brand names like LEGO, or an artist like ABBA), then it should be all-caps in the Item Name.

  • You can set a custom name for items you add to your Collection — for example, you could rename a model car by the year, make, and model of the 1:1 car it's based on, or add an attribute of the item that isn't part of the official name, like "Glow in the Dark" or "Chase".