My poll has now been up for a week now and over 50 people have responded. I thought it would be interesting to see some of the results posted. Much of questions were answered "as I expected", but there were a few surprises.... Q1) Which is your favorite Generation of Transformers? This report is based on 53 respondents that have visited this page. 33 Respondent(s) Generation 1 0 Respondent(s) Generation 2 14 Respondent(s) Beast Wars 1 Respondent(s) Machine Wars 3 Respondent(s) Japanese G1 Series 1 Respondent(s) Japanese BW Series Can't say that there was much surprise here. G1 is clearly the favorite by better than a 2:1 margin. Still, Beast Wars is obviously developing a strong and loyal following. Will it ever get to the G1 level? Only time will tell. Q2) How many Transformer toys do you own? (For Micromasters, etc., if they were only sold as a set, they count as one.) This report is based on 53 respondents that have visited this page. 5 Respondent(s) 1-10 5 Respondent(s) 11-25 2 Respondent(s) 26-50 9 Respondent(s) 51-100 13 Respondent(s) 101-200 11 Respondent(s) 201-500 3 Respondent(s) 501-1000 3 Respondent(s) 1001-2000 1 Respondent(s) 2001-5000 That's a pretty good spread... But it looks like the majority of Transfans are serious toy collectors with collections numbering in the 100's of toys or better. Q3) How do you classify yourself: as a collector of toys vs. a fan of the stories and shows? This report is based on 53 respondents that have visited this page. 0 Respondent(s) I collect the toys and don't care for anything else. 6 Respondent(s) Toys first everything else a distant second. 4 Respondent(s) Toys first but the rest isn't far behind. 32 Respondent(s) Anything Transformer is A-OK. 5 Respondent(s) The media comes first but I still collect the toys. 5 Respondent(s) The media comes first but I have a few toys. 0 Respondent(s) The stories are all that matters. Who needs toys? I think it's kind of interesting on how balanced the results of this one are. No one was on the extreme either way. I think this give a bit of insight as to whether one side is really more important than the other. Maybe I'll make that a question on my next poll. Q4) How do you feel about selling Transformers? This report is based on 53 respondents that have visited this page. 1 Respondent(s) I am a dealer by trade. 3 Respondent(s) Reselling Transformers is a great way to earn some cash. 11 Respondent(s) I buy and resell only to support my own collection. 15 Respondent(s) I occasionally sell extras that I come upon by chance. 5 Respondent(s) I would never sell any but I might trade 17 Respondent(s) Once I have them they will never leave my collection. I put this one in to see how Transfans feel about the way the collector's market has taken such an interest in Transformers. We see the occasional post about how "wrong" it is for people to profit from toys and how "evil" dealers are... But it looks like there are more Transfans willing to take advantage of the market than not. Okay, enough talk if of "feelings", let's see who some favorites are: Q5) Who is the best Autobot leader? This report is based on 53 respondents that have visited this page. 37 Respondent(s) Optimus Prime 3 Respondent(s) Jetfire 2 Respondent(s) Rodimus Prime 2 Respondent(s) Fortress Maximus 5 Respondent(s) Grimlock 1 Respondent(s) Prowl 2 Respondent(s) Ultra Magnus Like there was going to be any doubt. Though, I'm surprised at the higher Grimlock votes. IMHO, Grimlock was far from a competent leader and would have run the Autobots into extinction. Q6) Who was the best Decepticon Leader? This report is based on 53 respondents that have visited this page. 39 Respondent(s) Megatron 4 Respondent(s) Galvatron 1 Respondent(s) Scorponok 0 Respondent(s) Thunderwing 1 Respondent(s) Bludgeon 7 Respondent(s) Shockwave Again, a no-brainer. And I'm happy to see that while Galvatron has some fans, few really think he was a better leader than Megatron. And, yes I realize the omission of Starscream. That was an oversight. Q7) Favorite Autobot Toy... not character, toy? (I could only list 10, so from this list) This report is based on 53 respondents that have visited this page. 10 Respondent(s) Jetfire 4 Respondent(s) Fortress Maximus 4 Respondent(s) Prowl 6 Respondent(s) Powermaster Optimus Prime 7 Respondent(s) Optimus Prime 6 Respondent(s) Grimlock 4 Respondent(s) Jazz 2 Respondent(s) Blaster 9 Respondent(s) Laser Rod Optimus Prime The toughest part about this one was that I had a 10 answer limit to work under! One thing that does surprise me is that Optimus Prime got more votes than PM Prime. IMHO, I've always thought that the PM Prime toy was far superior... purely from a play value standpoint. Maybe I'll take some of the higher vote takers and do a round 2. In hindsight, I think that I shouldn't have included any G2 toys in this and the next question, but rather made a separate question for the G2 toys. There were enough good G2's to merit that. Q8) Favorite Decepticon Toy? (Again, could only list 10) This report is based on 53 respondents that have visited this page. 3 Respondent(s) Megatron 7 Respondent(s) Shockwave 15 Respondent(s) Soundwave 5 Respondent(s) Trypticon 2 Respondent(s) Starscream 7 Respondent(s) Scorponok 6 Respondent(s) Doubledealer 7 Respondent(s) G2 Megatron I really don't get this one. Soundwave as the best Decepticon toy? Huh? I always though Soundwave was a pretty lame toy. It's almost impossible to get him to stand up straight, and his alt mode has very little play value. (Look out Autobots, that giant walkman might fall on you!) But, I am obviously not in the majority here. I'd think that this was swayed by the character, but since Starscream (an equally popular character) got far less votes, I doubt that is the case. Q9) Favorite Gestalt? This report is based on 52 respondents that have visited this page. 15 Respondent(s) Devastator 17 Respondent(s) Predaking 1 Respondent(s) Superion 1 Respondent(s) Menasor 3 Respondent(s) Defensor 4 Respondent(s) Bruticus 5 Respondent(s) Computron 1 Respondent(s) Abominus 4 Respondent(s) Piranacon 1 Respondent(s) Monstructor The ever popular Gestalt question! A thread that comes up every few months like clockwork. And this time, it's Predaking over Devastator by a nose. Q10) How many years have you been collecting (buying at least 5 in any given year)? If you collected as a child and re-started as an adult, add the total years. This report is based on 52 respondents that have visited this page. 1 Respondent(s) Less than 1 year. 5 Respondent(s) 1-2 years. 4 Respondent(s) 2-3 years. 11 Respondent(s) 3-5 years. 10 Respondent(s) 6-7 years. 3 Respondent(s) 7-10 years. 8 Respondent(s) 10+ years. 10 Respondent(s) Non-stop collector since 1984. Just seeing how many of us have been around since the G1 days and how many are BW era. The fact that there are so few "less than 1 year" collectors could indicate that the recent growth spurt of the Transfandom may be over. But maybe the show's move to Fox and new BM series will change that. Okay, two questions about the newsgroups that go together: Q11) How often do you read the TF newsgroups? This report is based on 52 respondents that have visited this page. 16 Respondent(s) Multiple times daily. 14 Respondent(s) Every day. 11 Respondent(s) Every other day. 1 Respondent(s) Twice weekly. 0 Respondent(s) Weekly. 10 Respondent(s) Less than weekly. Q12) How often do you post to the TF newsgroups? This report is based on 52 respondents that have visited this page. 4 Respondent(s) Multiple posts daily. 5 Respondent(s) Daily. 9 Respondent(s) A few each week. 1 Respondent(s) Once a week. 8 Respondent(s) A few each month. 14 Respondent(s) Very seldom. 11 Respondent(s) None. I prefer to be a lurker. So what? I think it's interesting that the posting traffic on the ATT newsgroups is dominated by a minority of the readers. Out of 30 daily readers, only 9 post that often. And fully half of the respondents post "very seldomly" or never. I think that we should do out best to encourage more people to participate. One way might be to make it a more friendly and less insulting (less flames, even small ones) atmosphere. Q13) Favorite Non-TF toy line. This report is based on 52 respondents that have visited this page. 11 Respondent(s) Star Wars 1 Respondent(s) Power Rangers 5 Respondent(s) Robotech/Macross 2 Respondent(s) Shoguns/Godaikins/Older Japanese Robots 3 Respondent(s) Star Trek 4 Respondent(s) Pokeman 2 Respondent(s) Sports/Wrestling toys 0 Respondent(s) Die-cast toys 4 Respondent(s) GiJoe or other war toys 20 Respondent(s) Other Okay, bag this one. Any question getting 40% "other" isn't worth beans. Maybe I'll try and come up with a new version for the next poll. I suspect that many of those "other" votes might have been for Diaclones, and I kind of wanted to disqualify them since they are pretty much the same toys. What other "other"s did people vote for? Q14) How much would you really pay for a Unicron toy like Takara has shown? This report is based on 52 respondents that have visited this page. 8 Respondent(s) Bah. Who needs it? 6 Respondent(s) $25-$50 18 Respondent(s) $51-$100 9 Respondent(s) $101-$200 4 Respondent(s) $201-$499 4 Respondent(s) Yes. I would pay the rumored $500 price. 3 Respondent(s) I would pay MORE than the $500 price. 0 Respondent(s) I would pay $1000+ for it (and really should seek help)! Even with all of the excitement about seeing this, it seems unlikely that American collectors would go a long way in helping to convince Takara to build this thing. With less than 15% of collectors willing to pay the big bucks for this (and no, I'm not even one of them) we need to hope they decide to go to full production to make the price more reasonable. I'm sorry, but IMHO unless this toys is 3 feet tall, $500 is ridiculous. Q15) What is your job? Whichever best fits. This report is based on 52 respondents that have visited this page. 28 Respondent(s) Student 7 Respondent(s) Technical Professional - Engineer- Programmer 1 Respondent(s) Sales/Marketing Professional - Incl full time toy dealer. 1 Respondent(s) Business Professional 0 Respondent(s) Education/Teacher 1 Respondent(s) Service/Gov't Employee. incl. police/ medical/ legal 3 Respondent(s) Skilled Trade 0 Respondent(s) Military 1 Respondent(s) Non-professional/Temp work 10 Respondent(s) Other Well, that told us a lot didn't it? Like we didn't know most of us are students. Maybe I'll redo this question, expanding the "student" entry. BTW, I'm curious as to what some of the "other"s are. Hopefully not unemployed! And I don't think anyone here is old enough to be retired. So anyone have any opinions on this? Is it worth it for me to do another qroup of questions in a few weeks? (Although this one is still up and running!) Comments are welcome. I have plenty of new questions in mind, but if anyone has any other ideas, let me know.