Here are the results and analysis to Rework's 3rd Transfan Survey: Q1) Are you going to Botcon 2000, and if not, why? (Pick the reason that best fits.) This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 31 Respondent(s) Yes! 15 Respondent(s) Haven't decided. 11 Respondent(s) No because of cost. 17 Respondent(s) No because of distance. 4 Respondent(s) No because I'm too young for the trip. 1 Respondent(s) No because I'm not interested enough. 6 Respondent(s) No for other reasons. If we get a good 50% of the fandom, this is going to be one HUGE show! I don't know if we'll really get that much, but we'll see. I think we all expect this to be the biggest, yet. Oh, and it was nice to see some of you being honest... I know we have a lot of younger (early teens and younger) fans, and I know my parents wouldn't let me trek halfway across the USA for a toy show at that age. 4 of you admit it. Q2) How many Botcons have you been to in the past? This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 60 Respondent(s) None 2 Respondent(s) 1994 3 Respondent(s) 1995 5 Respondent(s) 1996 12 Respondent(s) 1997 9 Respondent(s) 1998 10 Respondent(s) 1999 2 Respondent(s) All of them (Please still click on each year!) Actually, reading this does not bode well for us getting as many "yes's" this year as the first question may indicate. I am surprised to see that Rochester had the most checks on this. It was a good show, but far from the largest. Maybe the Hartmans can take this as a hint to come East with another show. Q3) Where would you like to see Botcon 2001 be? (We're talking BC in the USA, here) This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 17 Respondent(s) North East 4 Respondent(s) Mid Atlantic 7 Respondent(s) South East 23 Respondent(s) Midwest 3 Respondent(s) South Central 2 Respondent(s) Western Mountains 8 Respondent(s) Pacific NW 7 Respondent(s) California 14 Respondent(s) I'm interested in non-US Botcons Then again... maybe not....well, maybe. I understand that there was a little confusion as to what some of these regions included. For instance, North East was supposed to intended to mean everything north of NYC, while Mid Atlantic was intended to be from Northern VA up through NYC. Maybe I'll try this one again picking specific cities as options. OK. Enough about Botcon. It's a good show, but there's a lot more to Transformers than just one show. How about some "Favorites" questions... Q4) Which is you favorite Optimus Prime toy? (not counting Primals) This report is based on 85 respondents that have visited this page. 42 Respondent(s) Original Optimus Prime 22 Respondent(s) PM Prime 2 Respondent(s) AM Prime 2 Respondent(s) G2 Classic Prime 11 Respondent(s) G2 Laser Prime 1 Respondent(s) G2 Gobot Prime 2 Respondent(s) G2 Hero Prime 2 Respondent(s) MW Optimus Prime FYI: I left out the Primals for 2 reasons... He's really a different character... and I can only put 10 responses! I think the Original OP is a worthy choice as #1... Although I have to admit that I picked PM Prime. I think it's the most impressive looking Prime on my display shelf and I think it has a little more play-value and the Original. (Especially if you happen to have the Godbomber to go with it! Woo-hoo!) Q5) Which Optimus Primes do you own? This report is based on 85 respondents that have visited this page. 60 Respondent(s) Original Optimus Prime 56 Respondent(s) PM Prime 16 Respondent(s) AM Prime 35 Respondent(s) G2 Classic Prime 38 Respondent(s) G2 Laser Prime 13 Respondent(s) G2 Gobot Prime 26 Respondent(s) G2 Hero Prime 32 Respondent(s) MW Optimus Prime I kind of like to ask "who has what" after a "favorites" question. It kind of follows what you'd expect, right? I think PM Prime is one of the best "bang for the buck" toys in the G1 line. And none of the G2 and MW toys are still rather reasonably priced... except maybe that G2 Classic. The one surprise to me is how few people have the Gobot versions. Granted they aren't great toys, but they are cheap and common. I guess I'd just expect more people to have these than AM primes, which I see as uncommon and overpriced. Q6) Which is your favorite Megatron (not counting BW versions)? This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 55 Respondent(s) Original Megatron 4 Respondent(s) AM Megatron 19 Respondent(s) G2 Tank Megatron 1 Respondent(s) G2 Gobot Megatron 5 Respondent(s) G2 Hero Megatron 1 Respondent(s) MW Megatron About the only surprise here is that G2 Megs didn't get more votes. Not that I think he's the best (I think I selected the original), but because I always seem to be reading people posting on ATT how changing Megs to a tank was a great improvement. Q7) Which Megatrons do you own? This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 40 Respondent(s) Original Megatron 12 Respondent(s) AM Megatron 39 Respondent(s) G2 Tank Megatron 13 Respondent(s) G2 Gobot Megatron 31 Respondent(s) G2 Hero Megatron 29 Respondent(s) MW Megatron Wow. That's pretty good correlation with "Who has what OP". Again I expected to see more Gobot Megs out there... Q8) Which is your favorite Decepticon seeker jet? This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 34 Respondent(s) Starscream 20 Respondent(s) Skywarp 5 Respondent(s) Thundercracker 2 Respondent(s) Dirge 21 Respondent(s) Thrust 3 Respondent(s) Ramjet Starscream's a no-brainer to be tops, but Thrust beating out Skywarp? I didn't expect that one. Though Thrust probably would be my second pick, because he was the only Jet I had in my collection as a kid in the 80's. I'm curious as why others pick him. He wasn't exactly a main character in the show from what I remember... Q9) Not counting current toys, where do you buy most of your Transformers? Only MAJOR sources (at least 10 toys) and please check only the top 3 sources! This report is based on 85 respondents that have visited this page. 36 Respondent(s) Internet dealers other than auctions 29 Respondent(s) Collectors toy stores/ Comic shops 25 Respondent(s) Used toy stores/ Thrift stores 29 Respondent(s) Flea markers/ Yard sales 12 Respondent(s) Private sales 45 Respondent(s) Internet auctions 18 Respondent(s) Toy shows including Botcon I think I've bought from every one of these sources at one time or another, but the bulk of my collection has come from flea markets, Botcon and some private sales. The latter being where you get the best deals (How do you think the online dealers get their stuff?) It's a shame that the ones most people use are also the most expensive. Q10) Do you consider your collection an investment? This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 25 Respondent(s) Yes 60 Respondent(s) No Just now, writing this, I realize that I should have worded this question differently. I put "yes", but that's a thin line. At current prices my collection is worth tens of thousands of dollars. It is all well cared for, cataloged and (should be) insured. But I certainly have no plans to sell it (well, maybe if I'm about to starve because it doesn't do me any good dead!), and "investment" implies that you will take a profit someday. Now I do buy extras that I find at flea markets for trade and to sell at Botcon, are they really part of "my collection"? I guess I still have to say yes, because I mix it all together and select things to sell right before the show. I don't buy things saying "Ooh, I can make a buck off this" or keep a "to sell" box. Q11) Do you save extras of toys for future sale or trade? This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 51 Respondent(s) Yes 34 Respondent(s) No Even with the market as hot as it is, there are still plenty of deals to be had out there. Transformers is still a niche market that lots of dealers overlook. I wouldn't begrudge anyone who finds a good deal on something they already have from using it try and get something they still need. While there are some who would say "leave it for someone else", I doubt many of those are the ones out looking regularly. Plus 9 out of 10 times, that "someone else" will be a dealer who just throws the item up on Ebay. Any profit to be made should at least go into a Transfan's pocket. Q12)If Hasbro were to go back to the classic Autobots Vs Decepticons, which would you rather see? This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 18 Respondent(s) Re-releases (or slight recolors) of the originals. 50 Respondent(s) Old characters redesigned using modern styles. 18 Respondent(s) Completely new characters and toys. What timing! This question was put up just before news of TF2000 broke. TF2000 appears to be the 3rd answer. But, IMHO, I believe that Hasbro will be bringing over these new toys to the US. They are already bringing over some BW Neo toys, so that ground has been broken. And I also believe that these toys will be tagged with the names and identities of the original TF characters, so I'm betting we will get what most people are asking for. Q13) Which is the "rarest" Transformer part, not counting import toys? This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 9 Respondent(s) Ironhide/Ratchet red peg 10 Respondent(s) Starscream missile 31 Respondent(s) Spike 3 Respondent(s) Cerebros 5 Respondent(s) Firebolt 9 Respondent(s) Jetfire gun clip 3 Respondent(s) Scamper's gun 3 Respondent(s) Cog's gun 4 Respondent(s) Piranacon's sword 9 Respondent(s) Roadbuster's Antenna I just put this up because it was a recent discussion thread. Spike is still considered the "Holy Grail" of parts... Q14) How many "serious" Transformer collectors do you think there are? This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 3 Respondent(s) Less than 100 9 Respondent(s) 100-249 8 Respondent(s) 250-499 7 Respondent(s) 500-999 22 Respondent(s) 1000-2499 8 Respondent(s) 2500-4999 11 Respondent(s) 5000-9999 8 Respondent(s) 10000-19999 10 Respondent(s) 20000+ This is the question I was most curious about. How many of us are there? I'm talking serious, long-term fans. Not the people who showed up after BW (and now BM) got hot and will leave the day after the last new ep airs. 2-3 years ago I used to think that there were about a thousand of us. It's grown since, so maybe about 2000 now. Seems to be the most common answer. Q15) Beast Machines: On a scale of 1 to 10, do you rate the direction Bob Skir has taken the Transformers universe? This report is based on 86 respondents that have visited this page. 11 Respondent(s) 10 (Great change!) 7 Respondent(s) 9 10 Respondent(s) 8 13 Respondent(s) 7 (It's not bad) 6 Respondent(s) 6 9 Respondent(s) 5 12 Respondent(s) 4 (Could have been better) 8 Respondent(s) 3 4 Respondent(s) 2 6 Respondent(s) 1 (Hate it!) Another hot topic on ATT. Now I realize that no series is going to please everyone, but I think that the BM series has clearly ticked off enough people (45% are negative on the show) to say that Bob Skir has done an unsatisfactory job on this project. He was handed the reigns of a very rich and successful sci-fi universe, and with those tool, many of us expect better. Not that I'm saying that it's a disaster by any means, but I can't see any way for a Transformers show getting less than a 75% positive response from Transfans to be considered an overall success. I see this as an average performance, and IMHO, we deserve better. Well, that's all for my 3rd Transfan survey. Thanks to all who participated. I will start working on the next edition, but have to admit that I only have about 2 good questions in mind so far. As always, I welcome submitted ideas. John