Hey guys. I have been really tied up for the last week but have been keeping an eye on the posts. I have received several emails about issues which I will try to address.

#1-Over the weekend someone new joined us and took the conversation in a direction most did not like. I received numerous phone calls and emails about this, here is my view:

A moderator is not a dictator. I will jump in and cut off someone that is here only to cause trouble and anyone that is posting on contraversial subjects anonomously. Even though the poster in question did not use a real name, I do not believe he was causing trouble. He was just misguided. On a public forum there will always be people that the majority will not agree with, I think there are 2 ways to handle this. You can either try to guide them in the right direction or ignore them. I do not really want to see this group go in the same direction as the N54 baseball forum where a small group decided to form an informal lynch mob and gang up on anyone new that came around whom they did not agree with.

#2-When I started the forum, one of the first rules was not to "out" any active auctions especially on ebay. There are a lot of guys that do extensive searches and it is not fair to them. Some had issues with the O'keefes thread and felt that it outed the auction. I do not think that the person who posted it was intentionally outing the auction and I know for sure he was not self promoting. There were issues with those listing(and there still are) which I believe is why the auctions were posted. In the end, I do not believe that this board had any influence over the high bidder finding these auctions(correct me if I'm wrong) and I do not think anyone would of been willing to outbid his max.

#3- The reason I started this forum is because i figured out that there were quite a few newer collectors or people with an interest in starting out a vintage hockey collection but had nowhere to turn to get advice or thoughts from more experienced hockey collectors. There is a nice mix so far of new and seasoned collectors and I'm sure the community will grow with time. I never want a new collector to be afraid to ask a question, as basic as you may think it is. I ask stupid questions all the time.

#4- A couple of weeks ago I started a thread asking for opinions, ideas or general comments with little response. The reason I did this is because I know there a few people with some things to add and I tried to give them the opportunity to voice thier opinions and concerns. It is the people that participate that dictate which direction a forum will go and how vibrant the community will become. This forum will become as good as you guys(and girls if we have any) want it to.

If anyone has any comments or anything they would like to see addressed, please post it. Thanks, Jim.

Just a general comment(s) Jim - having spent quite a bit of time on the Beckett boards I have found this forum to be a welcome change; I haven't posted a lot but have been reading all of the threads since joining. I am impressed with the level of experience/expertise represented here. I have noticed that the focus seems to be on pre-war issues, not sure if this is always the case or if the last few weeks of threads are necessarily representative of this bias (no negative connotation intended). Probably because of this I would put myself (a self-described "vintage" collector) in your group #3 - someone who will probably ask some dumb ones but is very interested in learning about this (really) old stuff.

I would agree with your assessment of how a forum like this should be conducted, we had some interesting discussions at Beckett about what constitutes a "community" and what role the moderator should play in forming/maintaining it, but I think that in the long run it comes down to the members and from what I've read so far I like what you have here.

Thank you bringing this forward and to the attention of the forum
I too like to absorb information about the vintage material but have been holding back as sometimes I feel there is no interest to discuss as most conversations have been about "high" profile card and slabbed and graded HI--as I feel I have nothing to add--AND feel inadequate
I wish more people would be realistic that vinatge collecting is not about the "grade" of a card from a company that is taking your money and telling you what you have.--With a little homework most people will know what they have and regardless of condition should enjoy that the card survived over the years-
YES the number of vintage collectors are dwindling but as collectors NOT investors we should help encourage the few that gain an interest in something that helps the history of hockey--no matter how small the item--
AGAIN as when I introduced myself--any questions or anything I can help with I am more than willing to help--
My forte is vintage hockey autographs--I don't try to "push" my collection on anyone-- or try to step in unless I know I can help BUT will never make anyone feel inadequate in their questions .
I enjoy the Vintage forum as compared to the others I've visted and would like to think the word vintage is also associated with our maturity .
Sorry for the long rant and if it seemd cluttered--the mind and typing don't match speeds--
POINT--HAVE FUN--KEEP it FUN and help others--

I am a big fan of Fred Shero and hope this helps when opinions are expressed--
"I do not condemn the judgemnt of another because it differs from my own.WE may both be wrong." FRED SHERO

Ron,

No comments, just !!!
The History of hockey, love of the game, not just a valuable piece of paper.

And great quote considering that Fred Shero would be wrong if he didn't have either Parent or Clarke.

Jim,

I agree with your rules and on behalf of everyone reading this we do thank you so much for taking the lead and starting up this site!! You've helped people learn more about this amazing thing we call collecting, you've helped people make some sales, finish sets and find some hard to get cards and really we do all appreciate it!!

About the auctions, Do you mind if we post about auctions AFTER ITS OVER, Like what do you guys think of this price, etc?

Thanks,
Andrew

Just would like to say that I played hockey all my life and still do. I just love the game and its history. Big fan of the leafs. (Born, raised and still living in Toronto).Vintage Hockey card collecting from the 50's to the 70's is my passion since I was around 8 years old, 40 years ago. I have learned alot about prewar cards from this forum and still learning.

" GENTLEMEN KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. LIVE AND BREATH HOCKEY"

Actually, I didn't know that there was a rule about discussing current auctions. I don't think that I have posted any new questions about auctions, but I have discussed a couple. If someone would clarify this for me, I would appreciate it.

I also spent some time on the Beckett boards before finding this one. Pretty much everything discussed on the hockey page was about new cards. Not just "newer" cards, I mean completely new cards. If it didn't come out in the past month, it was old news.

I really love this forum and have enjoyed talking to more vintage collectors than I have ever met in the past. I really appreciate all the information that I can gather here and the advice that I have received from a few of you.

I personally love collecting vintage hockey and learning more about the players. When I buy a card, I intend to hold it in my collection on a long term basis. At the same time, I feel that there is room to discuss value and price to some degree. I'm not particularly interested in talking about hockey cards as an investment, but sometimes it's nice being able to get advice as to how much I should pay for a specific card. The price guides are often no real help, and experience is a much better teacher.

Personally, I can't thank Jim enough for starting this forum and I look forward to spending time here for years to come!

Earl

Thanks to everyone who responded so far. Here is some follow up to the posts.

The reason why running auctions aren't brought up: Bidding is competitive enough without waking up everyone to an auction. Guys put alot of work and time into the searches they do. Imagine you were following an ebay auction that seems to be slipping through the cracks and someone outs it and all of a sudden there is more competition. I think this rule should apply to ebay and small auction houses. The exceptions would be Mastro, REA, and Lelands. Talking about completed auctions is fine with everyone.

The only point I disagree with is Ron saying that vintage collectors are dwindling. I think it is exactly the opposite, the vintage part of the hobby is getting stronger.

The reason there are more threads about pre war cards is because that part of the group seems to be participating more. There are alot of guys here working on 50's and 60's sets, and there are many scarce issues that don't get discussed(seriously, when was the last time you saw a 1971 Bazooka?

I'm sure I forgot a couple of things but I will reread the posts. Jim.

A few more things.

Andrew brought up a C56 set in Mastro in another thread. That is exactly the type of networking that can be done on a forum like this. Andrew wants a few cards from the set and was looking for others that may want to go partners and maybe he found a couple.

Dumb questions: Never be shy to ask a question, everyone has to start somewhere. As basic as a question may seem, every single one of us asked it at point!!

Jim--
I was looking in all the wrong places for the right collectors--Anyway--I do like the pre-war--just wish I hadn't "bailed" out on some of my collection to help others out--am missing some of the cards but knowing someone is close to a complete set does bring some satisfaction--