Where do you see the hobby in 25 years 4 4

[lou_fine]

21 minutes ago, Myowncollector said:

1 hour ago, lou_fine said:

Well, I would say it's all pretty much relative, but if you compare it to the good old days of yesteryear, yeah it's pretty much dead. 

I was looking at a thread that was old, but not that old 2012 2014 or so and good information, went through 20 pages of it. Only 2 member names that I recognized. Look at a 2017 2018 one and majority of people I never seen. Late night early morning threads will have last post 5 hours ago, 9 hours.

Well, if you are mostly hanging around the Comics General Forum, it's usually the hangout spot for the speculators and flippers and these kinds of boardies usually come in with a big flash (i.e. lots of posts), but usually they are gone within a couple years, if that.  They seem to either lose interest or lose money and they usually move on to something else and never heard from again.  

Now, if you go over to the Golden Age boards, that's the home of the long term collectors and most of them have been around for years.  Even here though, they definitely still don't post as oftem as they used to in the old days.  I guess there is only so much you can say after awhile when it comes to these funny books.  

[Myowncollector]

2 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

Well, if you are mostly hanging around the Comics General 

I like to spread my wealth of knowledge and charming personality to all of the areas. General is most active so I like it. I like the modern just to hear what lame book people are paying crazy $ for. Newb forum gets like 3 hits a day. Restoration is pretty dead and usually is just can this huge color breaking crease book benefit from a press? Copper dead. Bronze silver do so so. Gold I never see much that catches my interest but it's my favorite age. I think the general just has click bait to get me. You are killing it though loufine, you are in my top 10 of mvps 

[kav]

27 minutes ago, Myowncollector said:

I like to spread my wealth of knowledge and charming personality to all of the areas. General is most active so I like it. I like the modern just to hear what lame book people are paying crazy $ for. Newb forum gets like 3 hits a day. Restoration is pretty dead and usually is just can this huge color breaking crease book benefit from a press? Copper dead. Bronze silver do so so. Gold I never see much that catches my interest but it's my favorite age. I think the general just has click bait to get me. You are killing it though loufine, you are in my top 10 of mvps 

wait there are other forum areas?  This opens up a whole new world for kav-

[Ken Aldred]

Kav isn’t quite as prolific as he was back when he first joined.  Very enthusiastic and posting non-stop.

[Buzzetta]

5 hours ago, kav said:

In my opinion moderation has simply cracked down too hard and some of the life has gone out of the forum.  This makes for a less interesting atmsophere overall.  The things you can get a strike for nowadays is a bit mind boggling.
@Buzzetta

Well yes and no.

What JB got a warning for was very questionable in my mind. 

What I got a point for was very understandable since it could be read as a threat or insinuation of violence or harm or disruption of one's life by merely posting that there will be 'consequences'.  That is why I tagged the mods and explained in a follow up post what I meant by that.  (Some of us would never do business with a particular group of others due to what they say and write.)

Just because I was a recipient of a point does not mean my viewpoint on reality has changed.  Places like the CGC Boards, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon Reviews... It's their sandbox.   There is no such thing as free speech on these platforms.  You conditionally post at the will of whoever administers the guidelines of that platform.  If you don't like it, then find a new sandbox or build your own. 

Edited June 19, 2020 by Buzzetta

[Buzzetta]

2 hours ago, Ken Aldred said:

Kav isn’t quite as prolific as he was back when he first joined.  Very enthusiastic and posting non-stop.

I think they would love him in "Gold"

[NoMan]

14 hours ago, lou_fine said:

Reminds me of the early 90's when the younger new generation of Oriental collectors in this city really had the hots for the latest Valiant and Image books being hyped by Wizard and were chasing after them like no there was no tomorrow.       

Definitely not so much for the more expensive vintage SA and GA books though, or even the BA books for that matter.  They figured all of those kind of books were for the old timers or nearly deads and would have only declining value in the future as more and more of them go to that big old comic shop in the sky.    

If you haven't looked into those packages going to China, my bet is that they are most probably CGC 9.8 graded copies of the latest hot book or variant that just arrived at the LCS's the previous week.  If they were actually copies of AF 15's, they would most likely be shipped via TNT or DHL (and not the regular post office) which seems to be the courier of choice for most residents of China.  

AF15 are mailed at the post office. This is a known fact.

[Hollywood1892]

[F For Fake]

Regarding the relative lack of traffics on the boards:

We lost a chunk of boardies with the migration. A lot of folks signed off and never bothered to sign back on. That was the first huge cull.

In addition to that, there has been a culture shift on the boards over the years. It used to be fairly heavy with gatekeepers who would chase thin-skinned newbs away. This was the price of admission to one of the greatest repositories of comic book knowledge on the internet. If you stuck it out, you could learn SO MUCH. The general consensus seemed to be that it was best to spend a little time reading the room, learning the culture of the boards, before you started running your mouth. I myself lurked for a year or more before I even bothered registering and beginning to contribute (what little that I have. I've been here 11 years and still count myself as a newb.)

Over time, there has been an influx of new posters who had no compunction about coming in hot and flooding the board with posts. There seemed to be a feeling that our little world of dedicated and lifelong collectors and experts was being invaded by the types of folks who frequent Facebook groups.This shift seemed to have chased a few of the older folks away. Personally, it didn't bother me, because if I don't care for someone, it's easy enough to ignore them. I don't even use the block feature. Just scroll on past, it's easy enough to do. Life is too short to fret over conversations with strangers on a comic book forum.

The boards are very different from what they used to be. I'm not saying it's good or bad. I personally don't really care. For me it's a place to kill time during the work week, chat with some buds, share some cool stuff, and look at some cool stuff. And, I can see both sides. It definitely used to be much stuffier and it was easy to be discouraged by the old heads who didn't want to hear from new folks. On the other hand, I do sometimes roll my eyes by the newer folks who can't be bothered to do even a basic search before they start posting countless threads about topics that we beat to death several years ago. But, again, I'm not going to complain about it, because at the end of the day, who cares?

It's a message board, the stakes are very low. There's no right or wrong way to engage. But there are several reasons why traffic has slowed down, and I don't think it really has anything to do with the relative health of the hobby. These little communities pop up, thrive, and then die out. It's how it tends to go. I can't count how many forums I used to participate in that eventually faded to nothing. It's entropy. The CGC boards have trucked along longer than most, and I'm glad. Lots of great folks still kicking it here, and still lots of cool stuff to share.

 

[World Devourer]

1 hour ago, F For Fake said:

Regarding the relative lack of traffics on the boards:

We lost a chunk of boardies with the migration. A lot of folks signed off and never bothered to sign back on. That was the first huge cull.

In addition to that, there has been a culture shift on the boards over the years. It used to be fairly heavy with gatekeepers who would chase thin-skinned newbs away. This was the price of admission to one of the greatest repositories of comic book knowledge on the internet. If you stuck it out, you could learn SO MUCH. The general consensus seemed to be that it was best to spend a little time reading the room, learning the culture of the boards, before you started running your mouth. I myself lurked for a year or more before I even bothered registering and beginning to contribute (what little that I have. I've been here 11 years and still count myself as a newb.)

Over time, there has been an influx of new posters who had no compunction about coming in hot and flooding the board with posts. There seemed to be a feeling that our little world of dedicated and lifelong collectors and experts was being invaded by the types of folks who frequent Facebook groups.This shift seemed to have chased a few of the older folks away. Personally, it didn't bother me, because if I don't care for someone, it's easy enough to ignore them. I don't even use the block feature. Just scroll on past, it's easy enough to do. Life is too short to fret over conversations with strangers on a comic book forum.

The boards are very different from what they used to be. I'm not saying it's good or bad. I personally don't really care. For me it's a place to kill time during the work week, chat with some buds, share some cool stuff, and look at some cool stuff. And, I can see both sides. It definitely used to be much stuffier and it was easy to be discouraged by the old heads who didn't want to hear from new folks. On the other hand, I do sometimes roll my eyes by the newer folks who can't be bothered to do even a basic search before they start posting countless threads about topics that we beat to death several years ago. But, again, I'm not going to complain about it, because at the end of the day, who cares?

It's a message board, the stakes are very low. There's no right or wrong way to engage. But there are several reasons why traffic has slowed down, and I don't think it really has anything to do with the relative health of the hobby. These little communities pop up, thrive, and then die out. It's how it tends to go. I can't count how many forums I used to participate in that eventually faded to nothing. It's entropy. The CGC boards have trucked along longer than most, and I'm glad. Lots of great folks still kicking it here, and still lots of cool stuff to share.

 

Well said. I am also a member over at gamefaqs, and have been since the early 2000s. I visit less and less, as many of the old posters have disappeared, and many of the new posters seem very young and unwilling/unable to discuss anything of weight at length. We had some really good times discussing games like Vagrant Story, Prince of Persia, Summoner etc. But, unless there is a movie or a revamped version for the PS5, the new arrivals aren't interested. The moral is nothing is forever.

That said, a small amount of nostalgia from time to time is nice - a happy memory you can take out and polish like a fine gem.

 

[World Devourer]

In answer to the original question, I suspect the market for back issues will be considerably reduced. There seems to be far more emphasis on modern variants, with more and more older issues up for sale but withering on the vine (the Gold and Silver Age's days are numbered). That's only an opinion, and while there are some sales that occasionally defy this view, I believe we are seeing the start of a decline. The lack of interest in comic history is the beginning.

 

[Hollywood1892]

8 minutes ago, World Devourer said:

In answer to the original question, I suspect the market for back issues will be considerably reduced. There seems to be far more emphasis on modern variants, with more and more older issues up for sale but withering on the vine (the Gold and Silver Age's days are numbered). That's only an opinion, and while there are some sales that occasionally defy this view, I believe we are seeing the start of a decline. The lack of interest in comic history is the beginning.

 

Can you provide some evidence to your opinion?

[Keys_Collector]

1 hour ago, F For Fake said:

In addition to that, there has been a culture shift on the boards over the years. It used to be fairly heavy with gatekeepers who would chase thin-skinned newbs away. This was the price of admission to one of the greatest repositories of comic book knowledge on the internet. If you stuck it out, you could learn SO MUCH. The general consensus seemed to be that it was best to spend a little time reading the room, learning the culture of the boards, before you started running your mouth. I myself lurked for a year or more before I even bothered registering and beginning to contribute (what little that I have. I've been here 11 years and still count myself as a newb.)

Over time, there has been an influx of new posters who had no compunction about coming in hot and flooding the board with posts. There seemed to be a feeling that our little world of dedicated and lifelong collectors and experts was being invaded by the types of folks who frequent Facebook groups.This shift seemed to have chased a few of the older folks away. Personally, it didn't bother me, because if I don't care for someone, it's easy enough to ignore them. I don't even use the block feature. Just scroll on past, it's easy enough to do. Life is too short to fret over conversations with strangers on a comic book forum.

The boards are very different from what they used to be. I'm not saying it's good or bad. I personally don't really care. For me it's a place to kill time during the work week, chat with some buds, share some cool stuff, and look at some cool stuff. And, I can see both sides. It definitely used to be much stuffier and it was easy to be discouraged by the old heads who didn't want to hear from new folks. On the other hand, I do sometimes roll my eyes by the newer folks who can't be bothered to do even a basic search before they start posting countless threads about topics that we beat to death several years ago. But, again, I'm not going to complain about it, because at the end of the day, who cares?

It's a message board, the stakes are very low. There's no right or wrong way to engage. But there are several reasons why traffic has slowed down, and I don't think it really has anything to do with the relative health of the hobby. These little communities pop up, thrive, and then die out. It's how it tends to go. I can't count how many forums I used to participate in that eventually faded to nothing. It's entropy. The CGC boards have trucked along longer than most, and I'm glad. Lots of great folks still kicking it here, and still lots of cool stuff to share.

Great post and there's a lot to unpack here with much of what I can relate to.  

Long time collector and lurker who created my account in 2018 so I am rather a newbie much more then you by board standards.  I held off on creating the account for so long because I did feel like there was an air of elitism for board members and you still see that from time to time with some of the guys that have high post counts.  Some people need to be reminded that a low post count doesn't mean that you lack knowledge or you just started collecting.

I see the decline in the boards from everything that you said in addition to newer people just not using this resource and rather spending their time on the 20 other different mass consumption social media avenues of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.  I think it'd help if the board could be used in some type of app structure.  The first question i've had from numerous collectors who i've told about the forum is "can I use it on an app?".  I'd also agree about some of the folks who are even newer then me on the boards do seem to post some questionable things about collecting that make you scratch your head and dominate the boards at time when they don't have much substance to contribute.

The boards are a small part of my life as well and its a great time waster when i'm on the clock at work.  The BST section is a great community of trust worthy people to do business with which is a big draw (although I would say that i've had a few surprising problems there).  There is a wealth of knowledge especially about more niche items like Golden Age, Pulp, PCH, OA, etc.  I'll continue to spend my time on here to contribute when I can because of the great forum members that I do get along with and the wealth of information that is present here.

I agree again on the board not being any sign on the health of the hobby.  The hobby is thriving in many avenues and 1 forum is not an indication of where it is headed.  The hobby is alive and well and will continue to be for years.  Any slope or downturn in the hobby has usually had a rebound effect.  My guess is that there will be peaks and valleys over the next 25 years but the hobby will continue to thrive 25 years from now.

[valiantman]

2 hours ago, F For Fake said:

I do sometimes roll my eyes by the newer folks who can't be bothered to do even a basic search before they start posting countless threads about topics that we beat to death several years ago.

The internet is just reaching "generation two" and the 20-year-olds today are joining the conversation at "the adult table" after always having the internet in their lives. 

Search engines have existed their whole lives, so what do they do?  Ignore search engines.

I don't think it's a new phenomenon, though, because every house in the 1980s had a set of encyclopedias, but no one ever cracked them open either.

Edited June 19, 2020 by valiantman

[lou_fine]

1 hour ago, valiantman said:

Search engines have existed their whole lives, so what do they do?  Ignore search engines.

I most certainly would when it comes to this totally convoluted Search function on these very boards here.    

[valiantman]

2 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

1 hour ago, valiantman said:

Search engines have existed their whole lives, so what do they do?  Ignore search engines.

I most certainly would when it comes to this totally convoluted Search function on these very boards here.    

You may already know this, but for those who don't...

Go to Google...

Search for:             site:cgccomics.com Whatever You're Looking For

The Google results will all be from cgccomics.com 

[lou_fine]

37 minutes ago, valiantman said:

40 minutes ago, lou_fine said:

1 hour ago, valiantman said:

Search engines have existed their whole lives, so what do they do?  Ignore search engines.

I most certainly would when it comes to this totally convoluted Search function on these very boards here.    

You may already know this, but for those who don't...

Go to Google...

Search for:             site:cgccomics.com Whatever You're Looking For

The Google results will all be from cgccomics.com 

Well, it's definitely a sad commentary on the inadequate woefulness of your own Search function if you have to go all the way back out to Google in order to conduct a search on your own website.  

[valiantman]

Just now, lou_fine said:

Well, it's definitely a sad commentary on the inadequate woefulness of your own Search function if you have to go all the way back out to Google in order to conduct a search on your own website.  

To play devil's advocate... there's no way CGC has the resources or desire to improve upon Google's automated search capabilities.  CGC should incorporate a "Google this site" link and be done with it. 

[kav]

Edited June 20, 2020 by kav

[Hollywood1892]

10 minutes ago, valiantman said:

To play devil's advocate... there's no way CGC has the resources or desire to improve upon Google's automated search capabilities.  CGC should incorporate a "Google this site" link and be done with it. 

CGC could sell CGC for a few billion if its search engine was half as good as Google