As many know I am a Norweigian and quite often don't think like I should.

A mentoring program should have nothing to do with interferring with Ebay auctions and telling some poor soul, "What are you doing, you fool, that chip is only worth $3.00." It makes people feel foolish and can get you banned from Ebay.

To me a MENTOR is a teacher and a provider of knowledge and guidance to a new collector. It is something one does out of love of the hobby. Hopefully, because of the foolish things we did we can save a newbie from making the same mistakes and in the process make some very valuable friendships, that will last a lifetime.

I have several folks I have been helping with what I know about. I picked up 2 more today. Granted it takes time in this busy world, but I love the stuff I collect and share what knowledge I have. One deluges me with 30-50 Emails a day. I answer them to the best of my knowledge and if I don't know I call on my mentors.

I commend Terry for trying to get this started. I am not sure how he plans to set it up but it is a wonderful idea and I hope many participate.

The other thing that kind of bothers me is the "average age" of the gaming collectors. I see alot of gray hair(myself included), or in James's case, no hair, but hey, what a friendship we have developed. I love our phone conversations and Emails, as I do with many others I have met on this board.

Mentoring, I believe can keep newer collectors involved for a lifetime. Many newbies in any collecting field lose interest because of lack of knowledge. This is a great opportunity to keep them involved.

As always, just one man's opinion.

Mark & Lynn