The future of this autograph forum
 

Hey Guys,
With a main person leaving and probably a few others gone too, is there going to be enough activity to keep the autograph forum separate? Should it be kept separate? To me it's mostly about the amount of activity. If you guys want to keep it separate I suggest you either post in it or don't say anything if it is merged back into the memorabilia section. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other. We shall see...

Please keep it separate, I check this sub-forum way more frequently than the others

I thought that one of the reasons for keeping it separate was also so that the bickering and debates inherent with autograph discussions wouldn't continue to take over the Memorabilia forum...? Kind of our own little back-room Fight Club. I wouldn't take a quiet period in between bouts as a reason to shut the club down and/or bring the usual brawls out into the front offices of the Memorabilia forum.

So my vote would be to keep things where they are, and assume that regular posting will resume once the dust settles.

+1

I guess that would all depend on who left.

In Jim, we lost a knowledgeable gentleman who had great stories. I don't personally know the man but he seems like a very good guy. Pretty sure everyone is sorry to see him go and I doubt anyone TRIED to run him off. The board apparently became something he didn't feel comfortable with anymore.

Others start threads against "ABCs", auction houses ect.. left and right bad mouthing every chance they get. Which, in turn, creates controversy and emotional responses. As Mr. Newton would say: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." If one is going to throw sh*t, expect some in return. Not everyone is a follower and there will always be different perspectives. This is what the board became and why IMO.

If it were simply collectors, I would say merge. However, after all these emotional threads.. I would definitely keep it separate.
I am assuming we lost some very vocal people or you would not have even asked this question based on the heated discussions thus far in 2013. If that is the case, I find it all very ironic; board devoured itself.
I hope that it becomes a place collectors can openly share information and learn from one another. After all, this is supposed to be fun.

Man,

This place existed years before I even started collecting......finally come across it and bam, now this. I suggest keeping this forum separate. Just because there aren't as many posts doesn't mean nobody's on it. I visit this page daily. This is the only 'good' autograph forum I've found on the net thus far...All others deal strickly with TTM stuff, which I can care less about.

Leon, when this site started Jim was not even a memember. He is my friend but there is no main person on this site then and there is still no main person now.

I wasn't initially crazy about creating the autograph subforum, but I have come to like it. I'd keep it as-is.

There will be natural ebb and flow, but as far as I can see, it's still a relatively active forum even during the "slow" times.

Also keep in mind that when all of the Autograph drama was taking over the Memorabilia boards before, several seasoned Memorabilia posters either had stopped or were threatening to stop posting because they were tired of what they saw as infighting and bickering in the autograph threads. So if the intent is to retain those who tend more towards helpful/informative discussions rather than infighting, I'm not sure what shutting down the autograph sub-forum would accomplish that at all, and would likely exacerbate the situation. If it's strictly a matter of the number of posts being made, I expect things will pick up again, just as they did after the initial lull when the sub-forum was first established.

+1

Leon, if serious about rolling the Autograph forum back into the memorabilia forum, it might be a really good idea to let the primarily Memorabilia focused members weigh in on whether they support that action. I have my own ideas as to what their overwhelming response is going to be. And I have to agree with Shelly in that Jim Stinson, like myself, was a relative newcomer to this forum (although I personally value Jim's opinions and experiences above my own).

Just my two-cents worth.

Not sure why the question was even asked. This forum has far more posts and views then any of the others. If some people leave, so be it, others will come and life goes on.

I'd vote to keep it separate so that the rancor here doesn't infect the memorabilia section.

+1

The latest series of events proves this section needs to be segregated from the rest...

Leon,

I'm with the majority. Keep it separate for all the above reasons.

Is a signature required to cast a vote on this thread?;)

Segregated and quarantined.

LOL

While I agree personal attacks and incivility should not be tolerated, is it really that bad here? :confused:

I've seen much, much worse elsewhere, and even at it's most vitriolic, this section is relatively tame.

Wouldn't it be kinda boring if we all agreed and sang Kumbaya all day long? We have some passionate people here... it's going to lead to dust ups. :D

i agree with that. there is a thread with 27,000 views with 589 replies and 59 pages long. yeah, we have been real quiet.

Jeeze Zip why do you always want to start a fight:D

there is a separate forum for game used 1980-present which last post was three days ago. why pick on this one?

Agree with keeping separate...weren't we basically kicked out of the memorabilia forum anyway?

While I'd certainly like to see less infighting, it comes with the territory. Kinda funny how people want to see the drama threads die, but yet they go on and on...like a soap opera. You tune in to see how it's going to turn out then the story goes off in another direction.

For my part I will make a better effort to follow through on my threat to post more "old-time" stories...:eek:

I've been a member of this and earlier versions of this board for over a decade, and there have been and will be fights and brew ha ha's on the good ol' baseball card section. They tend to be more isolated, but do happen. Perhaps one thing is that since the card side has been in existence for so long, many have grown tired of cat fights.

One thing of note about the card side is, while fakes and forgeries and scams and bad grading are topics, a majority of the threads aren't about those things. Take a look. A majority of the threads about authentic baseball cards people like to look at and discuss. If every Net54 baseball card thread was about a fake, forgery or scam, I'd quit visiting it, because it would be depressing and boring.

ok guys.....it stays. Thanks for the feedback.

Does this qualify as a "Feel Good" thread?

I just saw the thread and was going to post let this forum stay the way it is and I see Leon has already made that decision.
Way to go Leon.

Zip has been a troublemaker since I met him years ago :D:D.

+1

Lol...Thanks for not letting that die....:D:D:D

You must have me mistaken with someone else.

http://www.comiccollecting.org/forum...on_e_angle.gif

If you need someone's argument arbitration services, Scott (Rusnscott) was a bouncer back in Texas.

:D

Good call! Count me as one more late vote for keeping separate. Easier to navigate the whole forum with more sub categories and will keep fights contained in one area.

Congratulations, Leon!

You proved that it WAS POSSIBLE for everyone on this subforum to agree on something! :D

haha. Except for the 'non-autograph' guys using it as a chance to take a shot at autograph collectors, it is sort of 'feel good'.

I personally don't see any reason for anyone who doesn't collect autographs, to have an elitist collector attitude, and feel that their level of drama is more 'correct'.

It's a lot easier to collect a slabbed card with a grade number and a slot in the VCP catalog, etc., without drama, than an autograph. If you don't agree, then you are probably one of the blind zillionaires who buys from AH catalogs based on JSA and PSA tags, and doesn't think this forum is worth reading. Hopefully your buddies are giving you the ego-rub you need when they see your 1990's Babe Ruth ball on your mantle.

Sort of. Basically, I used to start bar fights, then claim to be a bouncer and throw out the other guy.

Leon - thanks for letting this stay as-is.

Scott doing some of his best work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVACVY4DBew

Mike, that was awesome, but my best work was because someone was sitting on the empty Lone Star cases and ignored me when I told him to move. It wouldn't make youtube.

I totally agree with Lance on this, FWIW

Is it possible to make a second autograph forum for people that actually want to talk about autographs and can conduct themselves like adults?

well, there is a book called autograph hell.