Jim and Don,

I agree with both of you! And it's heartwarming to see that the Prodigy BB and auctions still hold a place in the hearts and minds of those of us who were "cyberchipping pioneers"!

The lack of activity on Prodigy may well be due to the accessibility of the Internet these days. Back when we started, there really wasn't an Internet. And there certainly wasn't anything like Greg's board, on which he's done a fantastic job, and which he spends hundreds of hours maintaining.

As for the Prodigy auctions, the regular Thursday night "instant auctions" are great fun, and if the Big October Auction works well (and so far it seems to be doing phenomenally), the concept will be repeated every other month for a while, and then perhaps monthly.

The weekly pre-listed auctions were a lot of work, and when attendance and consignments began to dwindle from 25-35 members a week down to 10 or so regulars (the same regulars who still show up every Thursday, BTW), it just didn't seem to be worth the effort. Perhaps on a monthly basis they'll pick up again.

I think we saw something else happening on Prodigy. The members there became (and I'm pretty proud of this, frankly) a rather sophisticated group of collectors. The trading opportunities were myriad, and we all traded with each other. The consequence was that most of us already had the lots that were being consigned to the auctions, so there was little bidding. The Big October Auction has a phenomenal group of chips, though, and because some non-Prodigy members have consigned lots and are bidding, the action is better as well.

Hopefully this concept will revitalize Prodigy. I'd be sorry to see it go too!

-=Michael the Chipper=-