ok guys. yhea its my party and Ill rant if I want too. 

As i said in the bday thread, this is to the new guys and gals coming in. From what Ive seen here so far, all of you have given respect to us old farts who have been around for awhile the kudos we tried to earn in this hobby. Wolff for his COO guide and other things he's working on (besides his fun in chat  ) , AJ for his fetish for ewoks. ( ), Artoo-Detour for is advert contributes, me and Hyver for our oddball love that not many will venture in, Dengar and those who contributed on the OOTB thread (highest regards to Emil), our head honcho for his insight on foreign items he worked with, Tim for the coin section, Joe_Y for the bootleg section, and those that are no longer here, Chris_B, Shawn, Joe_O, Jay-massive (our original leader), and a few others i cant remember right now (alzheimers kicking in. hehehe). We thank you all for putting up with us and our ways. Its just that when some come in without knowing the hobby, who never looked into what the hell they are collecting and call themselves experts kinda rub the wrong section. We all started somewhere. I started asking the right questions to the right people and thanked them for their advise and guidance. i never told any of them "oh your wrong about that. this is what it was" when i knew nothing about it. I went to the guys who knew what i wanted to know and asked the right questions where i gained their respect for asking them. They felt good that a new comer to the hobby who was around the time all this came out was willing to ask their advise on something. I couldve been burned so many times over items i wasnt sure about unless I asked guys like the old pros. That is what us original guys to this site would like to see more of, new comers ask us older guys who have been around awhile questions to whatever you need to know. Not only will it expand your knowledge to the hobby, but it will give us a chance to spread what we know to those who dont really know much on whats out there.

But there are a few who came into the hobby who thought they knew it all, but found out the hard way they didnt. Please dont be like them. No question is a dumb question. I helped out a few in private on things they knew they could come to me on variants and saved them alot of cash. If you dont feel comfortable to ask it in public, thats what the pm system is for. ask away. some of us may not be here tomorrow to give advise, so ask while you can. it might help broaden your horizens in this hobby and help the next guy or gal who comes along you could help. I know Im more straight forward than most, live my life and find out why,  but Ill be straight up and honest with anyone who asks anything of me. All of us will be if you ask the right way and think about what we told you instead of acting like we dont know shit about what we are talking about. For me, respect is earned, not given. you give me respect, you will get it in return. Respect your elders in this hobby and you will learn a shitload that will help not only you, but the next gen who come in when we arent here. I was around when this site got started, one of the original 10 who was here before 99% of the mods, devs, etc, came here. I know for a fact that those who left before me took alot of knowledge with them that wont be shared any more. Its a shame all that info is now lost to the new people coming in. They could use it to better themselves. I know of 2, maybe 3, left from the original members here left. One day we wont be, then what? What will the new members be left with? Figure that out and let me know.

I for one hope that you older fellas (long time members/collectors) stick around for many more years to come. I will say that not enough thanks is given to you guys, your contributions and knowledge of the hobby is priceless.
I am so glad that there still are members who will help with questions, but most important, help with the correct information. I have picked the brains of older members frequentlly, (in my case its been the Vader collectors) and was always treated with respect, but always i found that the persons helping me were more than happy to help with my questions.
Your help (older members) has allowed me to collect correct and quallity items, instead of buying just for the sake of it.

Amen Chris.....but wtf got into you??  

Hope you had a nice birthday mate!

Although i've been a Star Wars fan all my life I only became a serious collector in the early 90's, in which I spent most of my time as a "closet" collector and kept away from the forums, why I don't know?!?!
 
After finding TIG's Ledy guides I signed up and have never looked back, infact today is my  1st TIG BIRTHDAY
 
Respect goes without saying, be it in real life or on the forums. I live by the rule that you should treat people in the same way you would like to treated in return....simple!
 
Information should be shared, god knows i've asked enough questions of my own and feel it only right to help others in anyway I can, be it guides, photos, shipping whatever.
 
Long live the OLD FARTS!!!!

wbobafett wrote:

Amen Chris.....but wtf got into you??  

what got into me? a bottle of gin and a bottle of hot damn schnappes.  

Chris_J wrote:

wbobafett wrote:

Amen Chris.....but wtf got into you??  

what got into me? a bottle of gin and a bottle of hot damn schnappes.  

    I KNEW IT!!!!  

glad you had a great Bday Chris and I couldn't agree more this place is great I to have been a star wars fan since I first seen it in 77 but have only been seriously collecting since the mid 2000's, I had no idea of the vast amount of different star wars lines there were. I have learned lots from my fellow TIG's and still am this is a great forum with great people and to the newbies never fell bad about asking questions that's what we are here for to get more people to fall in love with this hobby.

Chris_J wrote:

wbobafett wrote:

Amen Chris.....but wtf got into you??  

what got into me? a bottle of gin and a bottle of hot damn schnappes.  

When did it come "out"?  

What the gin and hot damn? Monday night. Hehe.