... but as with anything else in life, routine maintenance is necessary to make sure that remains the case, Rich.

You are new to this hobby, but I wonder if you ever collected coins, stamps or especially trading cards. If so, you know that each of those hobbies was largely ruined for the average collector by several trends:

1 --- the proliferation of large numbers of "special" items, sets, etc., which made it impossible for the average collector to keep up with everything.

2 --- the issue of other "specialty" items (chase cards, for example) which are created instant "rarities" with high price tags.

3 --- detailed grading systems (for coins and cards, at least) designed to maximize the selling prices of so-called high-end material based on very small incremental differences in "condition" (sometimes so small that even the supposed experts can't agree on the proper grading).

4 --- slabbing of coins and cards.

We already have the first two in our hobby. The 3rd is a necessary prerequisite to the 4th. We don't need and I believe most collectors don't want either.

However, if we stand by and do nothing, both will come to pass and once they are in place, we'll never get rid of them. In short, we shouldn't wait until the waterline has reach the gunwales before we start patching the cracks! <g>

The hobby IS fun, Rich, and even the most active posters here, myself included, would prefer to be playing with our chips than engaging in contentious dialog here. The objective of our discussions here (for most of us, at least) is to try to insure that the hobby remains fun.

Thanks for your input. ----- jim o\-S