How many AFOLS?

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Dragon Master
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How many AFOLS?

Post by Dragon Master »

Anyone have a rough estimate on how many AFOLS there are worldwide?

Thanks,

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Post by Emperor James »

Not enough.
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Post by doctorsparkles »

Emperor James wrote:Not enough.
Yet probably still more than we'll ever know. I bet most them haven't come out of hiding yet.
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Post by TwoTonic Knight »

There's something 2500 lugnet members. Then figure that there's probably more that frequent Lugnet who actually aren't members. Then figure that's mostly people who can read english and that, for example, there's a sizable German contingent that are off on their own. And then that exists for many countries to some degree. And then add all the people who don't know about all the stuff on the nets and aren't really accounted for. Safely over 10,000. Probably under 100,000. It's a number that would be really hard to pin down.
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Post by JPinoy »

There's about 25,000+ members in BrickLink. You also have to factor in those "in-the-closet" AFOLs.
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Post by Dragon Master »

JPinoy wrote:There's about 25,000+ members in BrickLink. You also have to factor in those "in-the-closet" AFOLs.
But some of those people strictly sell to make money, not to build.
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Post by TwoTonic Knight »

JPinoy wrote:There's about 25,000+ members in BrickLink. You also have to factor in those "in-the-closet" AFOLs.
I thought Bricklink would be a better source for numbers than Lugnet since you need to be a member to really use it and it would have a better representation for worldwide membership, but somehow I didn't think to look to see if it gave membership totals. Actual memberships issued is something like 38,000, though the current total is something like 27,000 (oooo, and I'm #206). I imagine some of those are not adults, but I would still guess more AFoL aren't Bricklink members than are.
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Post by Formendacil »

Lots...

And more coming (aka growing up).

But still a very small percentage of the world's population.

An elite cadre, so to speak.

Not that anyone but AFOLs would really agree with that. (Well, AFOLs-in-training, aka KFOLs, TFOLs, might...)

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Post by Emperor James »

TwoTonic Knight wrote:
JPinoy wrote:There's about 25,000+ members in BrickLink. You also have to factor in those "in-the-closet" AFOLs.
I thought Bricklink would be a better source for numbers than Lugnet since you need to be a member to really use it and it would have a better representation for worldwide membership, but somehow I didn't think to look to see if it gave membership totals. Actual memberships issued is something like 38,000, though the current total is something like 27,000 (oooo, and I'm #206). I imagine some of those are not adults, but I would still guess more AFoL aren't Bricklink members than are.
I think Lugnet would be better, as you actually have to pay money, therefore you won't get many people that have nothing to do with Lego. On the other hand, perhaps that also makes less Afol's join.
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Post by lil Jon »

I'll always be a KFOL

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Post by wlister »

I suspect the numbers of AFOLs in the world to be significantly higher than 100,000 people. A friend of mine works for the cable company and many homes he has been in have extensive layouts of Lego. A good chunk of those are people he said didn't even have kids. Other guys he work with say the same thing. Lots of houses with Lego and almost none of it ever hitting a garage sale. There have to be a lot of fans around. I would say there are probably a few million "sleepers" out there who are either not interested in becoming part of the fan community or do not have internet access. I would guess based on watching eBay auctions etc... that there are probably a few hundred thousand who are collectors or closet builders who are actively buying lego, but not active in the community.

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Post by Emperor James »

How many AFOL's must exist in the world
before, TLC listens to our demands.
The answer, my firend,
is blowing in the wind.
The answer is blowing in the wind.

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Post by The Blue Knight »

wlister wrote:I suspect the numbers of AFOLs in the world to be significantly higher than 100,000 people. A friend of mine works for the cable company and many homes he has been in have extensive layouts of Lego. A good chunk of those are people he said didn't even have kids. Other guys he work with say the same thing. Lots of houses with Lego and almost none of it ever hitting a garage sale. There have to be a lot of fans around. I would say there are probably a few million "sleepers" out there who are either not interested in becoming part of the fan community or do not have internet access. I would guess based on watching eBay auctions etc... that there are probably a few hundred thousand who are collectors or closet builders who are actively buying lego, but not active in the community.

Will

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Post by TwoTonic Knight »

Emperor James wrote: I think Lugnet would be better, as you actually have to pay money, therefore you won't get many people that have nothing to do with Lego. On the other hand, perhaps that also makes less Afol's join.
You don't have to become a member of Lugnet to partake in it. I was there for a couple of years contributing before I actually bothered to become a "member" (oh, and now I have to get it right...became member April 15, 2001, first message posted 15th Castle message 21 Sept. 1999). Further, there's a lot of people who aren't going to bother with lugnet, but virtually any serious builder anywhere in the world is going to find Brinklink useful, and the only way it will be of any use is by signing up, rather than lurking around. Just look at the numbers - 10 times as many active Bricklink members than Lugnet.

Paying money is simply a barrier, which makes Lugnet have more of an iceberg effect guessing game as to how many people really are involved. Bricklink is only going to have people who are seriously interested in Lego. Sellers who don't care beyond turning a profit? Count the number of shops - a very small percentage, and many of those are just feeding their own hobby.
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Post by JPinoy »

AFOL "sleeper cells". Im sure there's got to be more than 100,000. As Will said, you have those people who collect Lego but really doesn't show it off in the interenet or in anyway. Heh... everyone knows about Lego, but one must suspect how many of them are in-the-closet diehard fans, too ashamed of their "hobby" to let others know.

Good thing most of us here don't have that problem. I sure as Legoland don't. I even show my friends what my MOCs look like through BrickShelf, even on my college's Library computer lab. The Tank, and Guard Tower are the prime showoff MOCs. I try not to show my Ancients armies as that can be seen as "madness"... even by AFOL standards. :lol:
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