I see where you are both coming from but again, I tend to disagree to a point. I believe that this really is where a lot of the problems stem from in our hobby being that most seasoned collectors are of an older age while the newer collectors that we are trying so hard to attract to the hobby are a younger demographic.
Between the two groups they see things VERY differently and they are at completely different stages in their lives. The older group has all of the time in the world to do whatever they want, go anywhere they want, and the money to spend to constantly work on adding chips to their collections. The younger group tends to have full time jobs, less income, young children, and less disposable income to put into the hobby.
My main point is that for the younger demographic the main way to add chips to their collections and learn about this hobby is from the internet and these message boards. We want to add more people to this hobby and I really fell like if they find the chipboard and see lower dollar chips that they can afford and or possibly trade for we have a better chance of them becoming more serious collectors. If newer collectors find this board and only find topics they don't understand, higher value chips, and unwelcoming people odds are they won't stick around. I agree that most people in this hobby are great and very helpful but on many occasions I have also seen people that are brand new to the hobby who come to the board asking questions or want information on chips they have just to be greeted by unfriendly collectors who in my opinion drive these people away from the hobby. This needs to stop and people need to be aware of the differences between the new and seasoned collectors and understand that everyone is at a different point in their collecting. Some people are going to need the rare / hard to find chips when just as many people are going to need the newer or less expensive chips - all I am saying is post anything you have and see if you can help anyone out. Sorry for rambling on and I hope this makes some sense to people. Thanks a lot, Dan R-8220
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