How Many Transformers Do You Have? (UCM poll 2011)

Please Read Carefully Before Voting or Posting on this Thread!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I count my Transformers for this poll?
In order to participate in this poll, you are required to count your Transformers as best you can according to the Universal Counting Method (UCM). You then round your count to the nearest hundred and vote accordingly.

What is the purpose of this poll?
To determine the average size of a Transformers collector's collection and observe any changes year by year. Like so:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...comparison.jpg

Who made the Universal Counting Method?
The UCM was not made by any individual Transformers collector, but rather by the community. In 2006 and 2007 a series of polls was conducted among TF collectors from around the world deciding on what people thought should and shouldn't count in a common method of counting Transformers. The articles in the UCM are based on the results of those polls. There have been a few new polls since then, and the articles in the UCM continue to reflect what the majority of participants voted for. Thus the UCM is based on a majority consensus.

What if I don't agree with one or some of the rules of the UCM?
Whether you agree with all of the rules or not is up to you. Not everyone will agree with all the rules in the UCM - not even I agree with all of the rules, but the rules are based on a majority consensus. If you choose to participate in this survey, then you are required to adhere to the Universal Counting Method, whether you personally agree with all of the rules or not.

Can the rules of the Universal Counting Method be changed?
No. That would render the data from previous years' surveys useless for comparison. Rules can be clarified as new toy concepts come in. In most cases the existing rules can cover new stuff, but in exceptional cases where it cannot, then a new poll will be formulated to create a new rule - but the existing rules cannot be changed.

I don't like this. I don't even agree with this survey thing.
Then you're welcome not to participate! This annual survey is completely voluntary. Nobody is forcing anyone to participate in this project and count according to the UCM if they don't want to. If you choose to participate in this survey, then you also choose to accept the rules of the survey - if you don't like the rules, then just don't get involved.

I have less than 100 Transformers, or I have over 1000 Transformers - yet this poll only adequately counts collections numbering between 100 to 1000 toys. How are collections smaller than 100 or larger than 1000 more accurately represented?
There will be two parallel polls have been set up. Anyone who clicks on "100 or less" or "1000 or more" will be required to also vote on the relevant parallel poll so that more accurate information about collection sizes in those categories may be obtained.
For example, here's last year's results for collections under 100:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...survey_100.jpg
And for collections over 1000:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...urvey_1000.jpg

* If you have voted on "100 or less" then please proceed to vote on the less than 100 poll

* If you have voted on "1000 or more" then please proceed to vote on the more than 1000 poll

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Please do NOT troll this thread by posting any criticisms or vents against the Universal Counting Method or the annual poll project, or how much you disagree with the UCM rules etc. -- if you don't like this sort of thing, then just walk away from this thread.

Participation is voluntary - but if you choose to "play the game" then you need to stick by the rules of the game. If you don't like the rules, then don't play.

Thank you.

500 voted for. It's been a good year

If there is one thing I have learned from this years poll it's that I haven't spent nearly as much money as previous years. Aside from the Generations / United line, it's been a slow year for me.

Well there's not much I spent on TFs so I still havent passed the 1500 mark, still just 1200s mebbe when The DOTM line subsides and some more goodlooking bots get made

Counting the TF's I can find and can get to I will call my entry around 500. I don't foresee my collection hitting over 550, at least not yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aqua Prime

Counting the TF's I can find and can get to I will call my entry around 500. I don't foresee my collection hitting over 550, at least not yet.

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Oh it'll get there, one morning you'll wake up and go F%#@ there's just no room anymore :D:p!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by liegeprime

Oh it'll get there, one morning you'll wake up and go F%#@ there's just no room anymore :D:p!!

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LOL there's almost no room as it is.
I didn't word it clearly in my above post. I still have some TF's I can't find, I'm not sure where they are but Sixshot and some other G1's are in there with Energon Scorponok. I also have some MIB and MISB stuff that I can't physically get to in our spare room, so my count at the moment being just over 450 (rounded up to the nearest 100), I doubt I have another 100 transformers in storage, but I could be wrong.

I won't be collecting the results from this polls until later anyway - so no need to rush atm. Take your time to do a proper count. :) I'll let you all know when I decide to start gathering data.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aqua Prime

LOL there's almost no room as it is.
I didn't word it clearly in my above post. I still have some TF's I can't find, I'm not sure where they are but Sixshot and some other G1's are in there with Energon Scorponok. I also have some MIB and MISB stuff that I can't physically get to in our spare room, so my count at the moment being just over 450 (rounded up to the nearest 100), I doubt I have another 100 transformers in storage, but I could be wrong.

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You should go check on em every now and then, heaven forbid any damage or whatever but just to be sure and also to jumpstart the memory that you already have em so no need to go looking for em on the net heheheh:D

Ah, I thought it had come to this point in time - I only wish I had recorded my 2010 count somewhere, I'll have to make sure I do that this time around. :p
(I think I was somewhere between 340 and 350 last year :o)

Well, just performed my UCM count and it has come to a grand total of 463 figures sans 3rd party stuff - Hence I voted 500. :eek::cool:
I'm quite content with that as it would suggest that roughly 100 figures, since last year's count, have joined the collective in an eternal pose war. :p

I have no clue how many toys I have...

I put down 200.

Ill have to do a quick count as my collection has gone from around 500 to something way under that.

I've never bothered doing this before, but after a day of counting recent acquisitions and stuff I have for sale I'm up to 318 and have had enough for today. I haven't gotten to my actual collection yet, which involves hunting through boxes and a storage container. I guess that's a job for tomorrow...

Okay, results are in...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...esults2011.jpg
So in 2011...
9% of respondents reported having 100 Transformers or less.
18% of respondents reported having approximately 200 Transformers.
3% of respondents reported having approximately 300 Transformers.
1% of respondents reported having approximately 400 Transformers.
30% of respondents reported having approximately 500 Transformers.
1% of respondents reported having approximately 600 Transformers.
4% of respondents reported having approximately 700 Transformers.
8% of respondents reported having approximately 800 Transformers.
0% of respondents reported having approximately 900 Transformers.
26% of respondents reported having approximately 1000 Transformers or more.

Amongst those who reported having less than 100 Transformers:
25% reported having approximately 50 Transformers.
50% reported having approximately 60 Transformers.
25% reported having approximately 80 Transformers.
0% reported having Transformers outside of these ranges.

Amongst those who reported having 1000 Transformers or more:
67% reported having approximately 1000 Transformers.
17% reported having approximately 1500 Transformers.
6% reported having approximately 2000 Transformers.
5% reported having approximately 2500 Transformers.
5% reported having approximately 3500 Transformers.
0% reported having Transformers outside of these ranges.

This collection survey project now has been conducted for 5 years now (with 2 years prior to that voting on the rules for counting, making it a 7 year project all up!). So here are the results from 2007 to 2011:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22..._2007-2011.jpg

And so when we average the results out, we get this:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...1_averaged.jpg
So on average, between 2007 to 2011 we have had:
34% of respondents reported having 100 Transformers or less.
19% of respondents reported having approximately 200 Transformers.
6% of respondents reported having approximately 300 Transformers.
6% of respondents reported having approximately 400 Transformers.
10% of respondents reported having approximately 500 Transformers.
1% of respondents reported having approximately 600 Transformers.
1% of respondents reported having approximately 700 Transformers.
3% of respondents reported having approximately 800 Transformers.
1% of respondents reported having approximately 900 Transformers.
19% of respondents reported having approximately 1000 Transformers or more.

In 2009 we started holding separate concurrent polls for collectors with collections numbering under 100 and over 1000. So when we average these results we get:
Amongst those who reported having less than 100 Transformers:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...eraged_100.jpg
16% reported having 5 Transformers or less.
1% reported having approximately 20 Transformers.
15% reported having approximately 30 Transformers.
15% reported having approximately 40 Transformers.
18% reported having approximately 50 Transformers.
17% reported having approximately 60 Transformers.
12% reported having approximately 80 Transformers.
9% reported having approximately 90 Transformers or more.
0% reported having Transformers outside of these ranges.


Amongst those who reported having 1000 Transformers or more:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...raged_1000.jpg
51% reported having approximately 1000 Transformers.
31% reported having approximately 1500 Transformers.
6% reported having approximately 2000 Transformers.
6% reported having approximately 2500 Transformers.
2% reported having approximately 3500 Transformers.
0% reported having Transformers outside of these ranges.

After five years of surveying Transformer collectors, we can see that:
+ Collectors with collections number 100 or less are the biggest group.
+ Collections numbering 200 or 1000+ are equally the second largest.
+ The majority of Transformer collectors have 200 Transformers or less in their collections.

So there you have it. This year's survey is also the last one that I'll be conducting. I think a 5 year sample is enough to give us a reasonable picture and ultimately answering the question of what the average Transformers collection size is.

Thank you to everyone who have supported this project since its inception as well as everyone who's participated. Your cooperation has been most appreciated.

I like pie :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

This year's survey is also the last one that I'll be conducting.

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2012 won't be the same without a UCM poll :(

Interesting to see how it doesn't follow a normal distribution pattern, but peaks at two ends and in the middle, every year.