Larry; I don't think I've drawn such a hard line as you have suggested. I was asked my opinion in a previous thread some weeks ago of what my personal definition was of the term "rare", and I gave it ... as I reply candidly to ALL questions posed to me.... whether on this bb or the club message board or by snail mail.

I've not applied my own definition of "rare" to these obviously deceiptful descriptions on ebay of chips that can't get a $10 - $25 bid on a chip which the seller calls rare. In this case.... an obsolete, plentiful $25 Vegas chip that currently has a $9.99 bid and is known to be around by the box fulls. Hardly not what you've termed, "this chip never existed" and "we know it existed but nobody's ever seen one."

As for lack of responses to your previous posts, one in October, and another three weeks later in November .... have you given up so easily after only two posts?

"I first complained about his "rare" auctions last October 15. Long before you got on your anti-rare crusade"... is your posted response to me. Larry; I've only been a registered bidder/seller on ebay for a reatively few short months. I was not aware of the extent of this run-a-way abuse that seems to appear only in the chip collecting category on ebay. I've cited several other ebay hobby/collectibles categories in which the term "rare" is very seldom used ... and when it is used, it is usually legitmate for the most part. Why is it that common everyday chips have to be termed "rare" in order to sell them, but such is not the case with other collectibles that are just as important to those collectors as chips are to us? Are sellers in other hobbies more honest than some sellers of chips?

Some chip collectors and dealers (it would appear to this novice ebay subscriber) have a long way to go to improve their credibility within our hobby if this abuse and hype is allowed to continue. No wonder our ranks are not increasing to the levels predicted by some candidates in the last club election. Who would want to join such a group of perceived liars and frauds, and those who would sacfifice their personal reputations for the sake of turning an extra buck by deceipt, as demonstrated in their ebay chip offerings? And several of these hypesters many of us know personally. Many of these sellers are not obscure individuals that one has never heard of before.

I still believe that if more chippers would email these frequent ebay sellers who insist upon mis-stating fact, and state their opinions honestly and forthrightly, eventually the problem will lessen simply through peer pressure. Problem eliminated? Certainly not.

Regarding the ebay offerings I've been highlighting on this bb recently, I have no problem with many of these ebay seller's descriptions ... except for the intentional over-use of the word "rare". Call them obsolete, call them no longer available, call them withdrawn from play, call them scarce, call them seldom seen, call them whatever. The bottom line is; THEY AIN'T RARE and the sellers for the most part damn well know it!

Larry, you've previously described yourself as an activist" in your home town.... I like to think of myself as an "activist" in this hobby. That's one of the reasons I served as an elected club officer for eleven years. Yet you prefer the term "crusader" when it applies to others... and so be it. Chippers who would like to see the ebay-hype curtailed even more so, can't simply be content by only complaining on this bb if they truly want to see improvements. They must become more involved.

Of course all this involvement takes some time and effort and criticisms .... choices that many would-be activists don't want to give, but will take credit for the results in the end.

I'm off my soapbox now for the remainder of the weekend. Will check in with y'all on Sunday eve.....