I'm not sure if this thread is meant to be serious or not, but if it is then you're going to need an agreed upon way of counting toys for the purposes of comparison which would be the case if you want to determine the biggest collection. If we're not comparing then the counting method doesn't matter.
For example, let's look at these toys:
* G1 1987 Targetmasters
* G1 1988 Targetmasters
Do their Nebulans count separately or not?
If the answer is "No," then you have
20 figures
(Blurr, Crosshairs, Hot Rod, Kup, Pointblank, Sureshot, Cyclonus, Misfire, Scourge, Slugslinger, Triggerhappy, Landfill, Quickmix, Scoop, Quake, Needlenose, Spinister, Artfire & Stepper)
If the answer is "Yes," then you have
40 figures
(Blurr, Crosshairs, Hot Rod, Kup, Pointblank, Sureshot, Cyclonus, Misfire, Scourge, Slugslinger, Triggerhappy, Landfill, Quickmix, Scoop, Quake, Needlenose, Spinister, Haywire, Pinpointer, Firebolt, Recoil, Peacemaker, Spoilsport, Aimless, Nightstick, Nightstick, Blowpipe, Fracas, Caliburst, Flintlock, Silencer, Holepunch, Tracer, Boomer, Ricochet, Sunbeam, Zigzag, Tiptop, Heater, Hairsplitter, Singe & Nebulan)
That's a
significant difference. Imagine two collectors, both of whom own all of the G1 Targetmasters and their weapons. One decides to count the weapons separately while the other does not. Both collectors are reporting on the exact same toys in their collections, but one collector's count appears
twice as large as the other's.
Neither collector's method is more or less correct than the other. There is no inherently Right or Wrong way to count your toys. And as I said, if collection count numbers aren't being used for comparison purposes, then who cares? But if you
are comparing then differences in counting method can greatly skew numbers and yield false/incomparable data. Data can often be misrepresented by fudging criteria - politicians do it all the time. Like when they report increases in employment but without necessarily qualifying what
sort of employment is increasing or decreasing (e.g. part time vs permanent etc.).
So quite frankly,
IF the purpose of this thread is to compare collection counts, then I think that it makes sense for people to use a common counting method. You can just tell us what your criteria is and we can all follow suit, or you can use a
commonly agreed upon criteria, that's up to you. I personally use the UCM but if you want to use your own criteria, then that's fine but I'll need to recount my toys according to whatever that criteria is. My UCM count is in my signature, obviously. :)
P.S.: If anyone knows what Guinness World Record's counting criteria is then perhaps we can use that.
