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There is so much strange stuff and posts going on...We need new collectors but some of there egos are something else..I really do not feel like giving my 2 cents anymore and I'm sure some will say it is not missed. They collect this stuff for 1 or 2 years and they think they are the 2nd coming. This is why a lot of the knowledgeable collectors hide in the wings rarely posting but are logged on... Regards: James

We WILL be missing any posts you would have made!

Most of the new colletors don't even take the time to read a simple reference book on the subject.
They want all of the answers NOW and without any efforts on their part.

You must earn someone's respect, it is not given at random.

They've been collecting for only a year and they already have the divine truth.

Damast, I know excatly what you mean and it can sometimes be a pain in the behind.

Jim,
It's a slippery slope. The danger in an ambivelent approach is that a newer, less-than-knowledgeable collector's opinion can and will be eventually taken as scripture by virtue of his volume and tenor, by those collectors even less senior than he. Without the check and balance of senior collectors providing alternative or corrective opnion, it will serve to create a new paradigme in the gen-Y hobbyist who are slated to be the inheriters of our collections. Fresh blookd and fresh perspectives are an important and good thing, but the inherent danger is they can alter opinions based on decades of research by thier predacessors who did not have the luxory of the internet. The internet itself has changed the landscape of the collecting field, for the better, and in the case Jim describes, for the worst. Unfortunately, some of the gen-y-ers "me only" attitude and ego prevent them from gracfully demuring to the fathers of the hobby.

Tom

As a relatively new collector, I think that is a pretty wide brush stroke statement to make. You can see that my posts are very light but I have been on the site for sometime. I have several books, have access to many more through other collectors. I have talked with numerous vets from a lot of countries involved in WWII and for the most part think I am very good when it comes to researching things. My post numbers are low because I know I don't know everything so if I'm not 100% on something I don't want to give an opinion. Not all the new collectors are here just to spout random things, some of us are here to use the knowledge parted by those who have been collecting for a long time to make our own collections just that better.
Mark

Mark, very true, I ( we ) shouldn't make any generalisation either.
There are always exceptions.

Most new collectors are history clueless, and it shows with wrong dates, ranks, names, units on various items (all areas) that are instantly sooo obviously bad. The time to read a $30 is to much. But they do scream to get a refund.