After a long conversation tonight between Lynn and I and in view of the people that are turning in people left and right..Lynn and I have decided to leave the casino collecting field. That does not mean we will discontinue our ashtray and history site.

It is going to be hard to unload a world class collection. But, we will be beginning soon. Some will be on Ebay and much will be off of Ebay to people that have more intestinal fortitude than we have. This is turning vicious and we want no part of it.

Our decision has been based upon Anthony Valvo turning in James, Mike Christiansen, constantly going after anyone and everyone and other accuasations by the great "Angela", Not that she has anything to do with anything, but your responses just showed how little you know about the subject. ...I cannot believe that thread today..For crying out loud, they are auctions. Shills, who cares...Of course they are illegal, but think about it...Under Ebay rules if you bid on an auction and you know the person...you could be coming down. See the Ebay tutorial on shill bidding and look at one question in particular. Who doesn't know just about everyone in this collecting field and bid legitimately on their auctions? OOPS, Under Ebay rules if one of these boneheads turns you in and says, "I saw John and Ernie talking at a convention and now Ernie is bidding on John's auction." They are going to take one out. Bid what you want. If you get outbid, who the heck cares. There will be another one. Archie was the only bastion of sanity in the whole mess.

The other observation I have to make is that this hobby is turning into the same crap that goes on with coin collecting and sports stuff. Back stabbing, character assination and on and on.

You guys need to be ashamed of yourselves. For crying out loud what happened to the fun of collecting? Was it because this crap started selling for high dollars? Looks like it to me...Maybe the guys that collect the junk still seem to be happy. You high dollar collectors are in the process of ruining the hobby. Think about your juvenile crap you keep posting and what you are doing. (Hey Mike (Spike1209) this doesn't apply to you...you and your wife are two of the nicest people I have ever met.)

"Oh, boy, Mr X did this so I will turn him into Ebay." Like they could give a rats you know what.

Every collecting field should have the ability to police itself. Especially one as narrow as chip and gaming memoribilia collecting.It's not like the whole world collects this stuff. When I tell people about the prices this stuff is currently commanding they look at me like I am nuts. You know what, I think they are right!! I think the bubble is about to burst because of the actions of a few. That will be sad, but hide and watch...

When there is noone left that wants to and can do a price guide or keep up on the hoards found.. Or other chip news, Where will that leave you all..Obviously with a bunch of high dollar stuff that you can't give away. Think about it. Call me a crack pot, but I have seen it happen in other "narrow" collecting fields. This stuff definitely qualifies as a "narrow collecting field."

Please understand my respect is immense for many I have met in this collecting field. If you look at my ashtray site and look at the contributors list...Thay are all great folks and I am very happy to have made their acquaintance. I will continue to be active in regard to the ashtray site but there are several contributors that are getting deleted immediately.

Lynn and I thank all that have helped us in our endeavors and we still plan on maintaining the Ashtray site and adding all the history and other things we have to post.

So, several of you, think about what you are doing to this great hobby...All the back stabbing and name calling just isn't worth it. If you think it is, well maybe you need to take a look at what you have become because of what you collect. That is very sad...

I guess I just can't shut up...After reading that whole stupid thread that Angela brought up reminded me of something that Albert Einstein said:

"Brilliance has it's limitations, Ignorance knows no bounds."

Ok, now, FRY ME, I am out of here...

Mark & Lynn