JediDefender.com Forums
Collectibles => The Vintage Collection => Topic started by: Nicklab on November 10, 2023, 11:29 AM
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The folks over at BanthaSkull.com are running a new Vintage Collection figure poll. It's called Last Figure Standing. The format is similar to the vote-off format of TV reality shows. The goal is to try to find genuine consensus within the TVC collecting community over what may be the most wanted new figure in The Vintage Collection.
Collectors are being invited to submit their own Top Ten lists for consideration in the poll. The Top Ten characters from those submissions will be offered up to the community in the vote-off format until it works its way down to the Last Figure Standing.
Check it out here: https://www.banthaskull.com/story/news-launching-last-figure-standing-a-vintage-collection-fan-even
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The use of the word "consensus" for this poll everywhere is rubbing me the wrong way.
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I heard the Banthaskull guys talk about this on a livestream with the guy from MAKMCSWF on YouTube. Their general pitch was this:
Previous Fan's Choice Figure Polls had winners in fields of 5 or 25 contestant characters. The last example being a couple of polls conducted in cooperation with Hasbro, The Official Site and the defunct ToyFare magazine. The winner(s) would have something like 26% or 31% of the vote. That was enough to edge out the rest of the competition, but not enough to reach a 50% +1 level where there was a clear winner. Hence they're trying this elimination model of poll. The SWTVC IG page's March Madness poll certainly garnered a lot of attention in the social media sphere of collecting. This seems like a concerted effort to offer something different.
In the end I don't know if the results from this poll will make the whole TVC collecting community happy. That's because there will always be some sort of compromise where it boils down to an either/or scenario. And it's about which character(s) do you prefer over another - not which character is head and shoulders above the rest in the entirety of the community. To me that seems to be artificially guiding the process. And there's the potential for some participants to drop out because any characters they were interested in voting for were eliminated and they don't feel interested in continuing.
So what will it yield? We'll see.
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Agreed that this is a concerted effort by the March Madness team to provide a different style of poll. Doubly agreed that the results, while engineered to give a "consensus" result, will in fact not be a figure on the top ten most wanted by most collectors.
I submitted 10 off the top of my head yesterday, it wound up being 6 Andor figures, 3 OT aliens (Shasa Tiel, Wiorkettle and Treva Horme) and Therm Scissorpunch. I doubt any of those will make the next round, much less survive further.
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It's actually a different team organizing this particular poll. March Madness is administered by the guys that run the SWTVC Instagram page. This new poll is being run by the guys from BanthaSkull. I think they saw the heat that March Madness generated, and they wanted to offer a different take/approach to this particular poll. They also got a number of the top sites / social media pages to help promote this, including Yakface, Bossk's Bounty, the SW The Vintage Collection Facebook group and the SWTVC IG page. Hasbro is almost certainly going to take notice since I know they have been keeping track of March Madness.
This was my Top Ten. Almost all of them came from the Top 25 that I submitted for the March Madness poll. I was pleasantly surprised to get 5 characters from that list made or revealed since that poll launched. This was what I submitted for the LFS poll:
Palpatine - Office Duel / Jedi Arrest - ROTS
Han Solo - Takodana - TFA
Senator Amidala - Declaration of the Empire - ROTS
Baze Malbus - RO
Admiral Raddus - RO
Jedi Temple Guard - TCW
Asajj Ventress - TCW
Dedra Meero - ANDOR
Luthen Rael - ANDOR
Bannis Keeg - ANH
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IIRC submissions of Top Ten lists are open until midnight this Friday night.
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My biggest gripe of the March Madness poll is that the demographics and voting skews PT/Clone Wars
While many OT characters make the list they rarely make it past the Round of 32
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My biggest gripe of the March Madness poll is that the demographics and voting skews PT/Clone Wars
Do you think that is just because that is the Star Wars era that hits for the main Instagram user base? I guess maybe the old man collectors (like myself) just aren't on instagram as much as the younger PT/CW set?
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I think the demographics might be a part of the situation. But with TVC as well as past lines the Original Trilogy is really well represented. Aside from ultimate versions of the main characters (see the whole "Make the Mains" movement), it's getting difficult to come up with something truly new and exciting for the OT. Hasbro's just not going anywhere near as deep with background characters as they did before 2013. Things that seem important there now is the whole Finish the 96 concept, and I see an increasing amount of discussion around making things like a TVC Momaw Nadon so that Hasbro can get closer to having all of those original 20 back characters on a Star Wars card.
What I can see from the standpoint of the social media centered community is that Clone Wars presents some fresh territory with a lot of characters that just haven't been made in a realistic form before. If the budget for the TVC line wasn't so tight we almost certainly would have gotten Asajj Ventress and Savage Opress a long time ago. We're only just getting Count Dooku coming up in TVC in the next few months, and it's been at least 13 years since Hasbro made the last really good Dooku.
And on the flipside, the demand for Sequel Trilogy figures remains pretty low. And I think we can all get a good sense of why sentiments have developed that way. I see a lot more demand for figures from the Disney+ series, ROGUE ONE and even SOLO than the ST. Again, it's because of how little it's all been covered in comparison with the OT.
Where I do think the OT is going to thrive in the near term is with the Imperial officers. Hasbro is going to run that into the ground really fast! So I expect figures like Admiral Ozzel and General Veers to get delivered sooner rather than later.
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There are actually still quite a few characters from the Clone Wars they need to make in their screen accurate animated form too. They had at least 5-6 figures in early stages of production when they axed the line that they could still put out as a commemorative multipack or something. Pong Krell, Rako Hardeen, etc. I think that would literally be the most exciting thing Hasbro could possibly make for me.
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The Top Ten contestant have been revealed - this was the order of the reveals, not the rank order:
1 - Anakin Skywalker (Revenge Of The Sith)
2 - Shin Hati (Ahsoka)
3 - Baylan Skoll (Ahsoka)
4 - Luke Skywalker - Farmboy (A New Hope)
5 - Momaw Nadon (A New Hope)
6 - Asajj Ventress (The Clone Wars)
7 - Luthen Rael (Rebel Alliance)
8 - Cobb Vanth (The Mandalorian Season 2)
9 - Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (A New Hope)
10 - The Tonnika Sisters (A New Hope)
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I voted for the five figures that haven’t been made yet.
I’ll tell you that the social media thing is a definite challenge for us Gen Xers.
A - I’m almost never on social media
B - When I need to interact with it (like this voting process) I really struggle to figure out where I’m supposed to click
Now I know how my parents must have felt every time I had to program the VCR for them. ;D
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Here's a link to the first round of voting. You get to select 5 out of 10
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuoPbdW6vjOxz-sucGzKMq65VPCB8xvO6Wpa8bQeGxa5RLrQ/viewform
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Thanks, Nick. The link was helpful. I'm in the same boat as Dave with all of this social media. And I also voted for the unmade characters.
Now, someone step on my lawn so i can yell at you to get off.
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There were some big upsets in Round 1 of the voting. Check out the Top Six contestants (https://www.banthaskull.com/story/news-last-figure-standing-round-2-voting-is-open) following the first round of voting:
-The Tonnika Sisters
-Cobb Vanth (The Mandalorian Season 2)
-Asajj Ventress (The Clone Wars)
-Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead)
-Baylan Skoll (Ahsoka)
-Shin Hati (Ahsoka)
LINK TO THE VOTING FORM (https://forms.gle/CS5iowb9bHos11wA8)
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I hate these polls. The idea that top ten most wanted figures include Luke, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Hammerhead is straight up silly.
Get one on eBay. There are a dozen versions of the first one, and like 3 or 4 Hammerheads.
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I see it as a different take. And after that first round of voting? Obi-Wan - GONE. Luke - GONE. Anakin - GONE. I was disappointed the Luthen didn't make the cut. But in general the responses have been surprising. And it seems like the whole notion of "Make a perfect version of X character before I die" might be isolated to OT purist old farts.
As for the remaining 6? Hammerhead has been made a number of times, but the figure can't actually sit down to carouse with the other patrons of the Cantina. And with Ventress? There have been a few versions, but the last realistic one dates back to a comic 2-pack from around 2009. And that figure isn't very poseable,
The other 4 candidates would be action figure debuts for those characters in the 3.75" figure line.
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I'm with you two and glad Obi-Wan, Luke, and Anakin didn't get pushed through to the next round. Although I wish Hammerhead and Ventress would have also been dropped, and Luthen or some other all new character got the spot.
I do not need the "authoritative" version of every figure, and I'm not even sure most people could agree on what needs to be changed/included to be the "best ever". Most characters have versions that I find "good enough" even though many can't sit, or fit in vehicles, etc. I'm good if Hammerhead is forever stuck standing in my cantina scene and can't chill in a chair.
I just want all new stuff. 5POA, 14 POA. I don't really care about extra articulation, just get me new figures with good sculpts and paint apps.
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I think Hammerhead is the impact of the "finish the 96" carded collectors who want a modern TVC equivalent of everything Kenner. They don't care that there are multiple serviceable versions of Hammerhead out there, they want an all new TVC version so they can check off that box as 'done'. That's the drive for new versions of Luke, Han, Leia, Obi-Wan as well (since the TVC carded people don't consider VOTC as TVC for some reason).
I'm with you guys in that all-new, never before made stuff brings me the most joy. I do however admit that without the all the carded collectors buying things at 2-3 times the rate I buy as an opener, the line would likely die or be at $20 for a basic figure.
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Hasbro already promised to finish the '96, so voting for him here is silly. No?
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Well, a Star Wars team "promised" to finish the 96, but the team has changed since then so does the promise hold? I don't think Jing was in charge of the line back then...
I participated in the poll, and maybe I am not indicative of the standard participant, but 9 of the 10 I picked to start didn't make it to the first round, and the 1 I did pick has dropped out by round 2. They were all 10 never before made characters. So why do I care about these remains? When I vote for some of these remainders, there's very low priority to me and the results of the poll are artificially skewed.
I feel like I retired from collecting 15 years ago, and the things I pick up these days are mostly gravy outside of the very few OT figures I felt were missed in the first 30 years of collecting (I think the last one that checked a box for me was the Lars Gonk.)
This poll has evolved into something I have no investment in, and that's okay. If it comes down to Baylon vs Shin, I couldn't care less.
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I agree to an extent about the whole "Checking A Box" mentality. Because in some respects it seems to be more about the packaging than anything else. I think that 2006 Momaw Nadon is a great figure. But as we get further along, 2006 seems further and further away. Some figures hold up well over time. Others? Not so much.
I know you invoked VOTC, Jeff. And I do find the reasoning of some in the TVC focused part of the community to be a bit too rigid about their criteria. Hasbro always referred to VOTC and VTSC simply as "VINTAGE", and were always being asked about "When are you bringing Vintage back?" Out of that first wave of VOTC figures from 2004, I still think that Han Solo is one of my favorites of all time. And the Legacy Collection Ben Kenobi is a classic from 2008. But VOTC is almost 20 years old now! And I get the sneaking suspicion that Hasbro will be commemorating the 20th anniversary of "Vintage" in 2024. They've already announced at least 4 figures of characters that were part of the three VOTC waves.
I think a good thing that the poll has done is up-end some preconceived notions within the community. Especially the OT centric people who can't abide anything else. I love the OT. Ever since I saw the first film in 1977 I was hooked! But I also recognize that over 45+ years both Kenner and Hasbro have covered a lot of Original Trilogy ground in exhaustive fashion. Something beyond that seems worthy of attention.
As for the Finish the 96 movement? It still seems to have traction in collecting circles. But it doesn't seem like Hasbro is actively trying to move that forward quickly at all.
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For this round I only voted for the Tonnika Sisters. I've already customized Hammerhead with articulation to sit, so if they make a new one, cool, but I'm not going to waste a vote on it. The crazy thing is this was the first poll in probably 25 years where the Tonnika Sisters weren't on my initial list.
I feel like Baylan and Shin need to be a 2-pack. I don't really think I'd want one without the other, but I do want both. BUT, they are pretty beloved by the fanbase, so that felt like a throwaway vote since they're likely already in development.
I do want a really good farmboy Luke before the line ends, along with Ben (who could probably just be a new head on the existing Ben) and Han (who needs a true update). I'd also like a Chewbacca with the new hip articulation, so he can get in some action poses that don't make him look like he's struggling to contain explosive diarrhea.
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I think Baylan will ultimately win this. In my opinion, his character was the most interesting in Ahsoka and coupled with Ray's passing, there will be those that want the figure in his memory. And I'm fine with it. Plus, he'll be a new character. As Skeezler said, I'm sure he along with Shin are already in the works.
I know people think that the Tonnika Sisters are a waste of a vote and that they will never happen, but I ended up voting for them. I guess I feel that if I (and others) quit voicing this, then we'll certainly never get them. I'm not giving up hope.
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I feel like Baylan and Shin need to be a 2-pack. I don't really think I'd want one without the other, but I do want both. BUT, they are pretty beloved by the fanbase, so that felt like a throwaway vote since they're likely already in development.
As Skeezler said, I'm sure he along with Shin are already in the works.
This is what bugs me most about having Hasbro split things across 6" and 3.75" lines. So much of the original top ten list (Shin, Baylan, Luthen, Asajj, Cobb) has already been done in Black Series 6" in the past couple years.
The "fan choice" ends up being an attempt to get something that BS6" already got and should be a no brainer for TVC. Like seriously Hasbro, you've done TWO versions of Cobb Vanth in BS6", but can't get around to doing something in TVC yet? How many years or polls is it going to take?
Hey TVC fans, I know you want Luthen and Marrok like BS6" got, but how would you like a photoreal repack of Finn and another version of Axe Woves instead?
(I know repacks/repaints are important for TVC price point, I'm just in the mood for an old man collector rant, I guess :P).
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I'm with you Jeff. I voted for Cobb, Tonnika Sisters (never gonna happen), and Shin (seems more interesting as a figure than Baylan and I've already got a ton of Jedi figures and kinda bored by them).
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I went ahead and voted Tonnika Sisters as a protest vote, then Baylan and Shin. Just because one without the other would be a bummer... I expect they'll make Cobb eventually too.
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There's a livestream tomorrow to reveal the results of this round of voting. I think there's going to be two characters eliminated, leaving 4 for the next round of voting.
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Here are the results from the previous round of voting.
-Tonnika Sisters
-Hammerhead (Momaw Nadon)
-Baylan Skoll
-Cobb Vanth (TM season 2)
ELIMINATED - Asajj Ventress & Shin Hati
LINK TO THE GOOGLE BALLOT (https://forms.gle/ZKBVebSnnG1UE8LS7)
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I voted just for the Tonnika Sisters again.
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Down to Hammerhead and the Sisters.
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Quoting myself the SW The Vintage Collection Facebook group, because I simply can't bring myself to go through this again:
I can’t express how much IDGAF about these finalists. We’ve got one candidate that might be interesting, but is largely in contention because Momaw Nadon (Hammerhead) checks an O96 box.
And the other(s)? A masturbatory exercise that makes people in the collecting community feel better, but will likely not succeed in persuading Lucasfilm Licensing to change their position on the Tonnika sisters. I spoke with actress Christine Hewitt at Star Wars Celebration 3 about this - in 2005. She couldn’t explain the situation, and neither could Hasbro at their SWC3 panel - when the guys from Sandtroopers posed the question to Hasbro with Hewitt in attendance they would not say anything. Fast forward to today? And the Star Wars brand team at Hasbro has turned over. The people at LFL licensing have not. I stopped banging my head against the wall on this topic years ago.
I thought I understood the general concept of this poll at the outset. But I don’t think it’s achieved its goal. I haven’t had a candidate from my list in contention since the first round. I liked some of the top ten, and was persuaded to stay in it until there were 4 left. But the structure of the poll makes me feel like it’s a card trick where the choice is being forced on you. I don’t feel like the goal of this poll has really been achieved here. It’s simply reaching that 50% +1 via artificial means. And I’m just not going to vote in this round.
I’m interested to see how the participation numbers look if/when that data is released. Did it increase or decrease over the course of the process?
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It does feel as if the methodology is missing something, like the character votes in each round should have been weighted to get a better measure of consensus.
But i've been voting and I applaud them for their effort to magnify our collective voice.
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I’m happy to keep voting for the Tonnika Sisters to let Hasbro know I think that a 50 year old photo that says Star Whores isn’t a good enough reason to not make the figures.
Does anyone have the link to the latest ballot?
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Although I didn't include them in my initial list for LFS, the Tonnika Sisters are a huge need, and I'm actually pretty happy to see them moving forward, to be honest. Think about it, no matter how detailed and accurate your Mos Eisley Cantina is, it will always be conspicuously missing these two. They appear in several shots, and are characters that most people recall when they think about the scene.
I know it might seem like a pointless exercise, but this also isn't an official poll, so I'm glad that all characters have a shot.
Anyways, I'd rather have never-before-made characters, so I voted for the Tonnikas.
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And Hasbro could even make these Deluxe figures. Give them two bar glasses and put them in an oversized box and charge $25 each. Call it world building. I don't care, just make the Tonnika Sisters already.
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The answer is so easy here - A Cantina Goons 4-pack.
Go with the same format that was used for the recent Jabba Goons 4-pack:
- Tonnika Sisters take the two "obscure human" slots (like Taym/Velkin)
- Momaw Nadon/Hammerhead takes the "redo" slot (like Tessek)
- Ponda Baba/Walrus Man takes the "repack" slot (like ReeYees)
Hasbro gets to run around boasting how they filled three top fan choices in one set, the 'finish the 96' get Hammerhead, the "give us new" folks get Tonnikas. Everyone wins (except people who hate paying $80 for 4 figures if they don't want them all).
I’m happy to keep voting for the Tonnika Sisters to let Hasbro know I think that a 50 year old photo that says Star Whores isn’t a good enough reason to not make the figures.
Yeah, after 25 years of asking for them in the modern line, it's kind of mind boggling that the party line is still "LFL said no, no further comment". Like Nick said, seems to be a really hard sell at LFL which is just so dumb at this point.
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The answer is so easy here - A Cantina Goons 4-pack.
Go with the same format that was used for the recent Jabba Goons 4-pack:
- Tonnika Sisters take the two "obscure human" slots (like Taym/Velkin)
- Momaw Nadon/Hammerhead takes the "redo" slot (like Tessek)
- Ponda Baba/Walrus Man takes the "repack" slot (like ReeYees)
Hasbro gets to run around boasting how they filled three top fan choices in one set, the 'finish the 96' get Hammerhead, the "give us new" folks get Tonnikas. Everyone wins (except people who hate paying $80 for 4 figures if they don't want them all).
I’m happy to keep voting for the Tonnika Sisters to let Hasbro know I think that a 50 year old photo that says Star Whores isn’t a good enough reason to not make the figures.
Yeah, after 25 years of asking for them in the modern line, it's kind of mind boggling that the party line is still "LFL said no, no further comment". Like Nick said, seems to be a really hard sell at LFL which is just so dumb at this point.
Love it. I'd buy that in heartbeat. I'd be fine swapping Dr. Ezavan for Ponda, too.
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I voted for the Tonnika Sisters #lostcause
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Lost cause or not, I can't wait to get the Stan Solo vintage-style sisters.
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I would be happy to be wrong about the Tonnikas, or Lucasfilm, or Hasbro's stance. I just feel like there are more constructive things that the community could rally behind that are attainable.
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I would be happy to be wrong about the Tonnikas, or Lucasfilm, or Hasbro's stance. I just feel like there are more constructive things that the community could rally behind that are attainable.
Agreed, but I don't need a redo of Hammerhead. Neither of these choices are that great - lost cause vs. redo.
I was hoping for something all new and attainable...
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I guess with all the holiday hubbub we didn't post about the winner - The Tonnika Sisters (https://www.banthaskull.com/story/news-last-figure-standing-2023-winner-the-tonnika-sisters).
As I posted before this would be a fantastic addition to the collection, but feel that its probably never gonna happen because it would have already if Hasbro/Disney is open to it. If they can't make figures from shows that are active and "hot" I don't know how they would find it possible to make figures not seen on screen since 1977. Let's hope the next HasLab is the cantina and they can include these as unlocks since its not a mass market item.
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Looking through all the data they posted is kind of interesting. For example, Hammerhead. Momaw was the weakest pick to advance from each round but yet he made it all the way to the final two?
- Was #6 in round 1 (only 6 advance)
- Was #4 in round 2 (only 4 advance)
- Was #2 in round 3 (only 2 advance)
That's kind of crazy. Also really interesting to see the interaction with this poll drop way off as it continued. Seems like quite a few people dropped out after the stuff they really wanted was eliminated. Or maybe the novelty just dropped off. High of around 1650 votes and a low at the end of about 1150 votes. That's a 30% drop off in interest. Also makes me wonder how representative of a sample ~1150 votes is to the TVC Community as a whole.