Just thinking about it, feathers can be done for pretty cheap these days :shock:

Two drill motors: ~£20
Two 'blue' wheels: ~£15
2.4GHz RC gear: £40
Potentially Tom W's low-cost speedo: £30
Batteries from drills: no extra cost
HDPE (as an example) for chassis/armour: £25 (guesstimate)

So that's ~£100 for the major parts. Add a bit of extra cost for fixings or wire and that's really not that expensive. And then you've got something that you can throw into a whiteboard and have some fun with. Has it ever actually been that cheap to build a FW using entirely new parts?

As for the FWs vs AWs debate, its all down to personal preference. The best way to decide, if possible, is to go to a FW event and an AW event (or one event if both classes are running) and see which one you get more excitement from watching, then opt to build for that class. I would go for featherweights because I feel their larger size enhances the joys of battle, but others would argue that you can get just as much enjoyment out of antweights. So all down to what you prefer