I must admit I have used this forum for several different things. Unfortuanley I have found that I have used it more for the negative aspects of the hobby. I found my self joing in on the "policing" of the hobby. Do we want to use this forum as a resource or more to look at all the problems? We all know there are problems. I admit I have been as bad as anyone in trying point all the negative, fraudulent actions of others. I have spoken about when I have purchased fake gamers, etc... We do have to educate each other on what is out there. Especially in a venue like ebay where there are a lot of peple who do not know what they are selling....I am going to try to use this forum for informational purposes and try to share my knowledge and gain from others. Hopefully I can have a positive influnce like Dave Grob, Chris Boyd and others do on this forum.

Splinters

Of course it is much more pleasant to talk about neat items we have acquired, or to share information on how to i.d. different items, display, etc.

But keep in mind that your board discussions about deception in the hobby have already had an impact - the perpetrators are reading this board and responding. Even if they don't change their tactics, at least we are now better aware of what they are doing, and how they are thinking. This is probably the best place to discuss such things, and it is important - I have taken AMI off my list of auction houses. Before the existence of this forum there was a good chance I would have started bidding on game-used pro items in their auctions.

The way this forum works best for me, is to share info on identifying items, show off our collections, and help each other out by policing the industry. We have been doing all of that. My points were, let's make sure we don't let emotions get in the way of dealing with the facts
I love this forum and I appreciate everyone's input. As I have said before, I have learned more from all of you in the last couple of months than I have in all of my years of collecting
Eric