This article helps our Volunteer Squad keep the database clean and consistent! It pertains to members who have Contributor access and above. If you're interested in getting involved, read more about joining the Squad here. We'd love to have you aboard!

hobbyDB's mission is to become the ultimate reference for collectors of all kinds by documenting every collectible in the world accurately and neutrally, and to accurately represent the current Estimated Value of each item with Price Points from verifiable sources.


Most of the data on hobbyDB is added and curated by you as trusted members of our community of collectors known as the Volunteer Squad. We have lots of documentation here in the help section to help the you accomplish the hobbyDB mission, including detailed Database Item Conventions, Subject guidelines, and rules for adding Price Points, but with a mission as broad as ours it's impossible to document rules and guidelines for every situation that might arise. 



This is where editorial judgement comes in!




hobbyDB Squad Members are like editors of a news organization—you have to make decisions on what information to include based on its relevance, accuracy, and compatibility with the site's rules and guidelines. In many situations there may not be a clear answer of what you should do.


You have three options in those cases: 

  • Bring it up for discussion in the Volunteer Squad Facebook group (always good when the issue can have far-reaching effects) and use editorial judgement based on the outcome of that conversation.

  • Use editorial judgment to make a reasonable decision on your own.

  • Do both—make the decision and then run it by the rest of the Squad. Edits can always be made if the decision needs to be tweaked or reverted.



The BBC defines editing as "an exercise in selection and judgement: what to put in and — just as important — what to leave out." You're always welcome to ask questions and get help from senior Squad members or hobbyDB staff, but remember that we trust you, as a member of the Volunteer Squad, to make reasonable decisions in your areas of expertise!


Thanks for all you do to make and keep hobbyDB a fantastic resources for all collectors!