It is almost two years since Golly was officially retired by Robertson's. New Golly designs flood the market from clubs, charities and private enterprises. Some of these designs even seem to have drawn inspiration from the suggestions we made here on Golly Corner pre Golly's retirement. Much sought after badges from the 1980's such as HMS Crichton and Cystic Fibrosis have been copied without permission and inaccurately labelled as 'reissues'. They are sold for more than the originals when they were first issued, but for a fraction of what the originals were worth before the 'reissues' hit the market. It is hard not to be cynical about Golly brooch collecting in 2003.
In this climate it has taken over 18 months to collect the next 50 replies. Along with the cynicism we have to admit the survey is contending with fewer new collectors along with clubs issuing unapproved Robertson's style Golly badges and offering a different kind of "grape vine" for Golly Collectors.
The following analysis was taken from 150 responses received over a period of 2 years and 4 months to June 2003. Replies were solicited only by the survey's presence on this web site. No emails or off-line promotion was used to request responses.
The survey remains open but it seems unlikely we will reach the next 50 new replies. I would like to think collectors who first entered the suvery quite a while ago, will renter again. Time has marched on and their original answers may have significantly changed. Plus I have introduced a few new questions regarding unofficial badges. If you would like to re-enter then I will supersede your original answers. I will therefore re-analyse if 50 responses are received including updated responses.
How many took part? 150
What was the gender split?
51% Male, 46% Female, 3% Unknown.
A fairly even split between the genders.
Where are you from?
94% UK, 2% Australia, 1% New Zealand, 1% United States, 1% Canada, 1% Unknown.
A few overseas replies but most people replied from within the UK. All areas have been represented: Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England (from Cornwall to Yorkshire).
How many have WAP enabled phones? 12% Yes, 85% No, 3% Unknown.
The percentage of people with WAP access has increased since the last survey. However, it seems clear that WAP has not caught on in the way the Telecoms industry predicted. The Golly Corner WAP site remains open for fun but not as a serious communication tool.
What is collected?
|
Golly brooch collecting is still the single most popular area of collecting by participants. As stated in the previous surveys, possibly the results are influenced by the fact Golly Corner targets brooch collectors. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Were the participants regulars to the site?
|
Still many of the responses were from visitors who regularly check the site. I have noticed that the hits on the site have now returned to the levels pre Golly's retirement. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When did the participants get Internet access?
|
Seemingly 1999/2000 was the period most collectors joined the Internet. This suggests we are unlikely to see vast numbers of new collectors adding their voice to the survey. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year Collection Started
|
A fairly even spread of long term and newer collectors. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Size of Collection
|
This is probably the question with the most inaccuracy as it is a constantly moving target. Since the results have been taken over nearly 2.5 years, it seems likely that many of those collections which were sitting at around 100, are now much larger. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Golly's Golden Era
|
Golly's Dark Era
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The 1980s remains collectors' favourite era for Golly. The variety of merchandise produced around this time along with the popular 1980s brooch set have to be major factors. Obviously, 'Now' is becoming the only answer to the dark era question, so time to re-phrase the question in the survey. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Favourite Set
The first survey (50 people) came out in favour of the Historical Events set. The second survey (100 people) favoured the 1996 Limited Edition Set, but this time (150 people) the 1980s set has come out on top. Interesting to see the Pre-war fruits up there amongst the favourites. It didn't even rank in the previous surveys.
| 1980s Set | 11% |
| 1996 Limited Edition | 9% |
| 2001 Historical Events set | 8% |
| Pre-war Fruits | 8% |
| 1993/4 Set | 6% |
| Gollympics 2000 | 6% |
| Golly's Diary 2001 | 5% |
Least Favourite Set
The over sized Gollies of the rapidly yellowing 1993/94 set have won this dubious honour, taking over from the 1998 set. It is quite surprising the 1980s is the favourite and yet the 1998 set which was clearly an attempt to revert to the 1980s style, won so little approval.
| 1993/4 Set | 17% |
| 1998 Set | 12% |
| 1996 Set | 5% |
| Golly's Diary 2001 | 5% |
Favourite Brooch
The Silver Millennium remains favourite. Despite reports that some of these badges have started to tarnish, it is still receiving enough votes to keep it ahead of the field. Indeed, very little movement in these top few favourites.
| Silver Millennium | 12% |
| Standard | 6% |
| Santa (in his 2 incarnations) | 6% |
| 1999 Wizard | 5% |
Least Favourite Brooch
A tie for the top (or should that be bottom?) again. With the exception of the Juggler, all the least favourites are Golly in female form.
| Juggler | 6% |
| 1993/4 Ballet Dancer | 6% |
| Keep Fit | 5% |
| 1999 Mermaid | 5% |
| 1996 Wren | 3% |
Will Roald Dahl badges now be collected?
There were 98 replies to this question since it only became relevant on 23rd August 2001. Only a 1% swing towards collecting the badges has taken place since the last time the results were analysed. It seems peoples' resolve not to collect these badges remains firm.
| No, will not be collecting | 74% |
| Undecided | 13% |
| Yes, will be collecting | 12% |
Conclusions
The rate of replies to the survey has slowed right down. However, since it was nearly 2.5 years since the survey started, some of the replies are probably out of date and any 'refreshed' entries will be welcome.
The questions in the survey have now been revised to probe a little more into collecting habits post Golly's retirement.
Thanks to those who have continued to send in entries to the survey over the last 18 months. It has been a long wait to see the results!
Golly Corner: Golly Survey / revised June 2003
Photographs & Text Copyright Liz Prigg © 1998–2009