What was the culture of this forum a decade ago?

[rainier2004]

I have been here for a short time now and have collected for over 25 years. I read on this forum how the discussions used to better, less drama, less personal attacks and overall a great sense of a collecting community. So I am curious to know what it was like.

How many of the threads were truly about cards, how often was new knowledge brought into the hobby relative to the current forum?

How much was corruption or the bad part of the hobby discussed in comparison?

I know there were personal attacks, archive has a big mouth, but how were they different then now?

Where is the knowledge of the average person on this forum relatively speaking? How would the average guy of 2013 compare to someone from 2005?

I guess some of the collectors here evolved and changed quite a bit, I would assume some you can see that in other members on this board?

I just really want to get the feel for the board from 2005 or older. Weird thread, thanks for any help.

[ullmandds]

I'm not sure if I've been here that long...BUT...I remember a climate maybe 5-7 yrs ago where amazing things would pop up on BST on a somewhat regular basis...at very reasonable...even "steal" type prices to the extent that things would sell within minutes of being posted.

I miss that!

[Griffins]

This board was formed when John Spencer closed the Full Count board amid fighting and threats. Overall it seems a bit calmer now.

[drcy]

Roughly the same. Similar topics. We don't have many fight anymore. A few, it's just they're highlighted. And Leon doesn't allow political fight anymore-- which I think is good.

Didn't have the autograph, memorabilia, other cards sections back then.

I think there's a bigger crowd now, and larger number of very knowledgeable people post now and on a larger variety of topics-- just because of the overall volume of members. Before it was a smaller number of hardcore Pre-War guys only. I regularly see brand new people I'd never heard of before adding smart information to the threads.

2005's not that long ago. I'm thinking 2000.

P.s. I dislike board fights and high volume controversy. I can live without that stuff. As they say in sports, 'It's just a kid's game.' If you want to argue about what is or isn't a rookie card and whether or not a post card counts as a baseball card, that of course is fine. I'll probably voice my opinions on those baseball card topics ("Hell no" for the first and "You're kidding, right?" for the second.)

The previous paragraph was my personal commentary. Disregard if you wish.

[barrysloate]

Echoing what David said, 6-7 years ago we had far more personal attacks, and they often got really nasty. And even nastier were the political debates, which we seemed to engage in pretty regularly. One poster might make a comment about some newsworthy topic, and it would go on for days and hundreds of posts. That is no longer allowed.

There were always discussions about fraud, about the same as it is today. Fraud is as old as this hobby, so it was always something to expose.

One way the board has changed is how T206-centric it has become. Back then T206's were discussed among many other baseball card topics. Today, every bit of minutia is dragged out in a new thread, to the dismay of many. If you're a t206 fanatic I guess that's a good thing, but collectors who don't like them find it off-putting.

But at the end of the day it's always been about baseball cards and memorabilia. That doesn't change.

[drcy]

It was the same cards back then as now, but I bet viewpoints and ideas about the cards have change somewhat. To start, far viewer buying graded cards in 1998. I bet most people bought raw. More information about specific issues in the hobby too. Some card dates and makers have been corrected or identified.

[chaddurbin]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

I'm not sure if I've been here that long...BUT...I remember a climate maybe 5-7 yrs ago where amazing things would pop up on BST on a somewhat regular basis...at very reasonable...even "steal" type prices to the extent that things would sell within minutes of being posted.

I miss that!

you're saying you don't check the completed ebay auctions, cross-check that with vcp, then triple-confirm with cardtarget before pricing your t206 common?...or if you're a buyer after doing all that lob the seller a 40% lowball to see if you can "get a deal"?

[ullmandds]

quan...i still usually don't! that's why I've been known to sell purple E94's dirt cheap!!!!!

[Peter_Spaeth]

No banner ads.

[JEFFV96MASTERS]

Post/opinion no longer available

[1880nonsports]

lost 25 minutes I'll never get back - except - Leon's quote "You don't see me running an auction, do you? " and figuring out that adding an "S" to Peter's name spells chaos...................

[Cardboard Junkie]

I suspect the forum was much gayer before my arrival.Dave.

[wonkaticket]

Ahh the old Crandall and Saucier party. How did that whole Kevin as the grade master general of all TPGs work out again I forget?

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Ahh the old Crandall and Saucier party. How did that whole Kevin as the grade master general of all TPGs work out again I forget?

I'm pretty sure all of Jim's cards are now double slabbed.

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by wonkaticket

Ahh the old Crandall and Saucier party. How did that whole Kevin as the grade master general of all TPGs work out again I forget?

Kevins posts actually were quite interesting. I see he still posts quite a bit on CU.

The forum used to have and still does to a much less extent...quite a bit of angst. I remember it being quite intimidating for newbies trying to learn all of the abbreviations and slang I now take for granted. The board was not real gentle on new posters. Fortunately that has changed.

I actually remeber reading through quite an involved thread on some intimate details of a particular set that I was interested in and had no idea what the hell they we're talking about. I've come a long way since then.

And yes Chao with an S at the end spells Chaos. He was an interesting poster. He had a good heart but perhaps lacked much in basic social graces.

Z Wheat