From: MHIGH@VM1.TUCC.TRINITY.EDU ("net.spy!")
Newsgroups: alt.fan.furry
Subject: Random comments from the survey
Date: 10 Apr 92 21:33:15 GMT
Organization: And one for Jenny and the Wimp.

Okay, here are some random babblings o' mine in response to comments
  dropped in the furry survey.

<9.) Antarctic press being on time

Funny you should say this.  To the best of my knowledge, Antarctic Press
  has NEVER been more than a week or two late on ANY of its publications,
  EVER.

<Naw, I'd say that probably what I'm most looking forward to is:
<3)  Furrlough #2

It came out a little over a month ago.

<> 9.  What are you looking forward to the most in the future?
<All these damn books that MU press has be promising that haven't come out.
<This company that we have been looking to as the next glorious source of
<furry comics has been losing so much momentum I'm beginning to feel abandoned.

AMEN!  Look at all the 'new' stuff that MU Press has been pushing lately:
  Beauty of the Beasts, Wild Kingdom, Zu, Furkindred mag, Shanda the
  Panda, a new Mike Kazaleh series (name escapes me...), and the next
  Rhudiprrt.  Oh, and the long-awaited LFIH.

But - what have they put out recently?  Desert Peach - that seems to
  be the ONLY title they can get out on time.  I'm getting sick and
  tired of MU Press being late on EVERYTHING, and I'm coming close to
  just writing them off and ignoring Edd Vick and Co. altogether. *sigh*

<     Gip. And did anybody on the net get Update 0.2? My net access
<was all screwy that week. And I'm granting an extension for standalone
<artwork subs, I don't have enough to make me happy yet. 1/2 :-)

No, it didn't.  But I forwarded a copy you sent me a few days later,
  to a.f.furry, just in case.

<10.  Why ask the first 4 questions?  We all know the answers

Turns out you were right.  Same this time as last.  Shon likes to call
  that 'statistically significant'.

<     How about a category for "Favorite FurryMuck character not your own?"

Seeing that I don't care much for FurryMUCK, no.

<     As for prizes, offer an original sketch by somone down there.  It
<        would be more appreciated than a comic somone may already have.

Because sketches cost money - money I don't have.  But the 'spare comics'
  I am offering (have offered - they are rapidly being snatched up) I
  was able to get virtually for free.

< Anyone have an adress for the fantastically talented Tress
<MacNeille?  Attention, attention, drooling fanboy alert...

<How about "when I can finally get Ciao! #4 out?"  B-)  (Actually, it should
<be out in a couple weeks.  Really.)

Ciao #4 - the 'anthropomorphic' issue...

<        Jimmy Chin sampler #2's sold out. Reprints upcoming!

<btw, what is that you said about Xanadu:Across Diamond Seas? Is it a new
<series from Xanadu coming out? That would be GREAT news.

Not new, well, not really.  Xanadu: ADS has been planned since 1989, and
  was mentioned in Amazing Heroes Preview Special as early as 1990.
  From what I hear, it has gone from a 5-issue B&W limited series, to a
  3-issue color limited series.  The B&W art was available for viewing
  at SDCC last year, and the book is *still* looking for a publisher.
  Back in February there was some talk of Antarctic publishing it, but
  that's on hold.  Scuttlebutt has it that Lex is insisting that it
  must be published in color, which means it will NEVER be printed.
  There's just not enough demand for color independents.  *sigh*

  Anyway, Xanadu fans (which, based on the survey, is most of ya'll)
  will have to settle for The Everchanging Palace (most recent issue
  is #4;  next issue is latelatelate).

<    You might want to add a category next time, "Favorite medium through
<which you get your Furry Fix.  I.e. TV, Movies, books, 'Zines, comics,
<Mucking, alt.fan.furry, etc."

My furry net.survey days are over, at least for now.

<    The fandom is trying its damndest to split over *SOMETHING*, but
<it just can't quite decide what.

Amen to that!

<    Some effort should be made to reach out to the non-computer
<accessible furryfans across the world.

There is.  Ed Pegg (hi, Ed!) used to publish a list of names of people
  who received the Centaur's Gatherum - and that list grew to several
  hundred entries.  BTW, has there been an issue of CGN since #25?  I
  haven't heard a peep about this 'zine in a long time.

  The Fandom Directory lists ALL types of fandom, including 261 entries
  for funny-animal fans (down from 300+ in last year's edition).

  The ConFurence folk also have a couple hundred names, as do the
  Yarf! folk.

  So - the sources are out there.  What exactly do you mean, 'reach out'?

<I've been in furry fandom too long; when I see a good looking girl, instead
<of mentally undressing her, I mentally add a tail...

Does anything more need to be said?  :-)

<The major thrust of furry activity seems to be in the fanzine area.
<Nobody is really trying to do any 'professional' graphic art any more,
<and by that I mean going through the usual comics distributors.  Can't
<say I blame them, either.  Furries are just too widely scattered for
<that distribution mechanism to work in a profitable manner.

A bit of an overgeneralization, but on-the-whole true.  I've come to
  the conclusion recently that furry fandom is *shrinking* - or at least
  becoming less active.  Sales of furry comics are dropping, and have
  been for some time now.  New Albedo now has a print run well below
  4000 - the lowest it's been since issue #2 (1984!).  I don't think
  there has been a furry comic with a circulation above 10,000 since
  early Critters (around issue 10 - before the B&W implosion).
  Anthropomorphics just aren't profitable.  Nowadays it's a labor of
  love to get anything out at all.

Every publisher is shying away from the funny-animal publishing biz
  EXCEPT Antarctic, which is expanding it's line to AT LEAST 3 furry
  comics (details later), and possibly as many as six.

On the OTHER hand - there's the amateur publications, ranging from
  minicomics (like Ted Sheppard's Rossweisse, with a print run of 30)
  to Everchanging Palace (at 500).  There has been an EXPLOSION of
  fanzines of late - at one time I sat down and wrote them all out.
  From memory alone, I came up with two dozen fanzines/small press pubs
  that are seeking submissions.

I have argued that there is actually a GLUT of fanzines out there.
  So many exist that they cannot all scrape together enough submissions
  to survive.

What does this all mean?  I dunno - maybe it's just a natural downsizing
  of the furry publishing market (much like the 'correction' of
  the Japanese stock market of late).  Anthropomorphics may be returning
  to the same level that it once was before the B&W explosion.  Then
  again, I'm too new to this fandom to make such rash judgements - it
  all just my opinion.  (gads - I'm babbling - better stop!  :-))

<Sure -- does furry fandom seem more net.connected than other fandoms to
<you?  It does to me, but that may be mostly because (a) I'm not really
<involved with other fandoms, and (b) I got into furrydom via the net.

Probably because 1) furry fans are generally more intelligent people
  overall - thus more prone to be computer literate.  2) Furry fandom
  really is quite tiny - the only way to keep in contact with one another
  is over something like the computer networks.  Only in places like
  California, where the furry population is relatively dense, are
  computer networks unnecessary.  But for places like Nebraska, or
  Georgia, or Oklahoma, where furry fans can be counted on your hands
  (no kidding!).....

Which brings up another point - just HOW BIG IS furry fandom anyway?
  Ray Rooney recently estimated 500 hardcore fans worldwide;  I person-
  ally up that to around 1000.  Hard to tell...

<What email address can I send messages to to get posted on alt.fan.furry?  I
<would *like* to be able to edit a file and then post the text file rather than
<having to go through the editor all the time...

Mail to:  alt-fan-furry@ucbvax.berkeley.edu.  I've used that address
  for close to a year now, with few problems.
_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.-
Aleph Null, net.spy!   |  Internet:  mhigh@vm1.tucc.trinity.edu
 aka Matthew High      |  Freenet:  bn510     GEnie:  M.HIGH
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