[Michael Curl]

Many of the weapons on their are no longer manufactured, and I was wondering how much effort it would be to replace them? If it just means updating the images and stats it doesn't sound like much effort.

[Nathan Robinson]

[Chad Arnow]

To elaborate on what Nathan has said, it's actually a huge under-taking. Here's some of what's involved, as far as I understand it:

-Getting a good image. This needs to be a full, straight-on shot with no perspective distortion. It also needs to be relatively clear enough that people can see the general form of the item. Therefore, it needs to be a relatively high-quality shot. Getting them will be a problem. Many makers don't have good photos or a way to take them. Perhaps we could source some from existing reviews or from other readers, but that takes work to track all those down.
-Image processing. Any image needs to be corrected for light and color at least, assuming there are no other issues like blurriness or a super-bright flash spot that washes out detail. So there's Photoshop time involved in that aspect. Then each image needs to be cropped down to a size that makes the scale aspects of the comparison tool relevant. Then the image needs to be given the proper background against the ruler (see the image below for an example). That usually involves masking the entire object (a time-consuming process from what I gather) and getting rid of whatever background it was shot on before replacing it with the ruler background.
-Stats collection. The stats need to be collected and entered into the database. Even this seemingly simple step is more complicated than you'd guess. Not every maker publishes the same stats, if they publish them at all. So you'd have to source stats from other locations, too, and that creates other issues and take time.
-Keeping it up. This last is the biggest challenge. Makers change products, make new ones, etc. all the time. We're in the midst of unprecedented variety in the replica market. Chasing new or revamped products and collecting and doing everything above is a huge job.

We're actually very aware of how out of date that tool is. Nathan and I have had many conversations about the tool and our many ideas for its replacement (all of which would blow this tool out of the water if we just had the time to do them). Our limitation is in manpower, not in ideas. All of these undertakings involve a lot of programming time from Nathan at the minimum. If we were to open it up to helpers to help enter data or process photos, we'd still have to manage all those people and do quality control on the work they perform to say nothing about the interface(s) Nathan would have to write to allow them to enter the data.

We're always short on the time and number of people willing to help. Nathan and I have grand ideas about the future of this site and community, but we'll need a lot of help if we're to accomplish them. Expect to hear more later this year about future plans and what we'll need to make them happen. We have so much we can do if we can just get the help to make it happen. Stay tuned!

Completed image example: