Posted By:
Adam J. Baxter
Overall, I agree with the direction Leon is attempting to take the board to. I think that trying to get back to the board's original intent is a good idea.
The only point that I do have to disagree with (If I read Leon's post correctly,If not then I apologize) is the proposed policy of O/T posting. To allow regular contributers to occasionally post O/T threads, but to be stricter with newbies is just wrong. Shouldn't the rules of the board apply to all posters old and new? Isn't that keeping with the spirit of community? What about NO off-topic posts? How about we disallow O/T threads altogether and if a poster doesn't like it, then too bad. If this is a Pre-War Baseball site then what place do topics unrelated to Pre-War Baseball collecting have here at all..ever?
It's my understanding that this board was created to discuss Pre-War Baseball Collecting, not other sports, contemporary sports figures/issues, politics, movies, blah, blah, blah. I think a somewhat strictly moderated forum about Pre-1940 0r 1950 Baseball Cards, Photographs, and General Memorabilia should be sufficient. If folks want to to talk about 50's-80's cards, Barry Bonds,Other sports, etc., no hard feelings, just find another forum that suits your collecting interests. Contemporary topics related to grading, auctions and scams should be allowed ,at least to a point, as these issues do affect our hobby. I'm not trying to chastise anyone personally, just sharing my opinion as a forum contributer.
FINAL IMPORTANT NOTE:
O/T threads are hurting this board, but lack of pre-war baseball topics is what's really killing it. When I first came to this board in 2003 it was alive with discussion about pre-war cards, photos, finds, personal collecting habits, 19th century baseball, etc. If we can't come up with enough pre-war baseball collecting topics (I'm guilty of this myself), then nothing Leon or anyone else does will save this forum. Not that grading/scams/auctions topics don't have there place, but I would venture a guess that over the last few months to a year they account for the majority(3-1 in my estimation) of the threads posted on this board. I may be wrong about this too, but I also seem to remember a far greater number of veteran collectors posting here, who rarely seem to post anymore.