Linda Blair FAIL

[MW1221]

Let's not make this a drawn out thing as I also believe the forums should be about collecting also. MW1221 is not the only one who helps with information. I can think of 3 others offhand -jason1980s, cjhanson, and stillluckas13canbe. It's just that MW1221 is being negative. What good is repremanding the OP after the damage is already done? Although I have to admit, as I have said before, that these forums can get boring. I pour it on thick with MW1221 because I believe him to be an intelligent person and I enjoy matching wits with him. He makes a lot of sense but could be less harsh and, let's get serious now - He's right about having a site that was well organized and truer to the hobby - but is there any way we get it back to the way it was before? It's so messed up. MW1221 - I don't believe you when you say you don't care - you are too passionate about it. Tell us how we can revert back to the way it used to be. I for one will stop with my wisecracks and get more serious and do what I can to help. Devise a plan and the members can act on it. Maybe we can petition a vote for new Mods. and Admins.

I didn't mean to reprimand the OP. I was merely making a point that it seems logical to me that one would be better off if they were proactive instead of reactive.

I don't believe in "would have", "could have", or "should have". I also, as I've said many times, believe the Feedback forum to be about everyone who isn't the OP, for that very reason. So my comments are always general and to the community at large.

For example, "[Name] doesn't usually sign authentically" is not saying "This isn't authentic", because if I meant that, I'd say it. What it means is that other posters shouldn't expect an authentic signature TTM from that person.

"It's better to make sure the person is in a position to sign your item before you send it rather than track it down after" isn't meant to berate anyone. If the OP made that mistake, others will make it too. OP is over and done with. That message is for everyone else who thinks they're guaranteed an autograph in exchange for a donation or their donation back or who plans on sending anything that can't be replaced. It's also for anyone who, after reading this, believes the opposite and decides not to try for their favorite celebrity by sending a donation to their charity.

The OP made their mistake. It's done and over. "No use crying over spilled milk."

The only time I direct my comments to the OP of a Feedback thread are when:
1) they get an RTS from someone who doesn't sign (such as Michael Jordan) and others are encouraging them to try again
2) I have a question with regard to their success, such as the address or send/receive dates
3) they ask a question that I'm providing an answer to
4) they say something totally out of line, such as complaining about how the celebrity doesn't sign

Even then, the first 3 are also for the benefit of everyone reading the post, not me or the OP personally.

That's the point of Feedback--to educate and benefit other collectors, not the OP.

Edited to add: I also, as stated multiple times before, have a low tolerance for stupidity, so I'm more inclined to get frustrated and show off that frustration in certain threads where people are asking stupid questions or failing to speak in a way that strikes me as uneducated, such as pervasive use of logical fallacies, failure to respond to what is actually written, and complete ignorance of what constitutes evidence to back up an assertion and failure to provide any.

Count the number of "International Postage" questions in Collecting Help.

The forum is beyond help, because the users don't care anymore than admin does. And nothing's going to change that.

During the mass exodus(es), the popular mods, etc. tried starting their own forum. It didn't last long.

This board may be poorly run, but we can't fix it.

[jason1980s]

Your letter is terrific. It is sure to turn off the inexperienced but to the experienced, it is spot on. I was a lurker on the address portion for years until I could take no more of people not pointing out (b/c of not knowing) that secretarials were fake.

There's nothing more disappointing than the few people who wish to find out about the secs, only to have very little replies because either people don't know (thinking everything not PP, AP or stamp is authentic) or don't care (well, it WAS signed signed by someone they know).

People get defensive, especially on the internet. Sometimes language doesn't translate like it would in-person or on the phone. They think we are taking shots at their whole lives when it's really just a small portion. People also put too much emphasis on having an autograph. They make it seem like, if we cite their autograph is fake, their life is shattered and they have nothing left to live for. The great thing about this hobby is that life does go on. You live and you learn and your collection and your passion continues to grow. I've nearly given up on collection big time. The prices at shows, attitudes of some collectors and celebrities has turned me off. Sometimes I do think it's a silly hobby. BUT, a lot of things that have happened in the past few years, I've received because I collected autographs.

It does seem like it's no use saying anything anymore. Most people don't care and even as they grow up (if they are young), their attitudes won't change much. What's 100 % certain in life is death. Whether it's a celebrity or a collector, we all are going to die. And while that is certainly sad, another sad thing is that fake autographs will wind up in the hands of unsuspecting people. There are a lot of people who bought Charlton Heston secretarials, not knowing they were fake. People will be buying Dick Van Dyke secretarials in a few years. And when the collector passes, their family will see the autographs as an unwanted commodity and a way to make a little money. They'll be putting the secretarials on ebay, not knowing any better and most likely probably never even knowing what the word "secretarial" is.

The funniest thing is, everyone does a secretarial signature at one point!
The percentage is probably 99 % as to how many people have signed a birthday, Christmas, holiday card from several of their family members. I can't count how many cards I have signed "pop and gram" and it's only one of them doing the signing.

LAUGH FREAKING OUT LOUD!

[MW1221]

Your letter is terrific. It is sure to turn off the inexperienced but to the experienced, it is spot on. I was a lurker on the address portion for years until I could take no more of people not pointing out (b/c of not knowing) that secretarials were fake.

There's nothing more disappointing than the few people who wish to find out about the secs, only to have very little replies because either people don't know (thinking everything not PP, AP or stamp is authentic) or don't care (well, it WAS signed signed by someone they know).

People get defensive, especially on the internet. Sometimes language doesn't translate like it would in-person or on the phone. They think we are taking shots at their whole lives when it's really just a small portion. People also put too much emphasis on having an autograph. They make it seem like, if we cite their autograph is fake, their life is shattered and they have nothing left to live for. The great thing about this hobby is that life does go on. You live and you learn and your collection and your passion continues to grow. I've nearly given up on collection big time. The prices at shows, attitudes of some collectors and celebrities has turned me off. Sometimes I do think it's a silly hobby. BUT, a lot of things that have happened in the past few years, I've received because I collected autographs.

It does seem like it's no use saying anything anymore. Most people don't care and even as they grow up (if they are young), their attitudes won't change much. What's 100 % certain in life is death. Whether it's a celebrity or a collector, we all are going to die. And while that is certainly sad, another sad thing is that fake autographs will wind up in the hands of unsuspecting people. There are a lot of people who bought Charlton Heston secretarials, not knowing they were fake. People will be buying Dick Van Dyke secretarials in a few years. And when the collector passes, their family will see the autographs as an unwanted commodity and a way to make a little money. They'll be putting the secretarials on ebay, not knowing any better and most likely probably never even knowing what the word "secretarial" is.

The funniest thing is, everyone does a secretarial signature at one point!
The percentage is probably 99 % as to how many people have signed a birthday, Christmas, holiday card from several of their family members. I can't count how many cards I have signed "pop and gram" and it's only one of them doing the signing.

LAUGH FREAKING OUT LOUD!

I'm going to speak very frankly, as I always do.

My goal is not, nor has it ever been, to alienate newbies on this website or in this hobby in general.

That said, I think there are some members here who are incredibly serious about the hobby and others who like to think they are. Personally, I'm one who has devoted a large amount of time to providing help on this website, including compiling this, now infamous, post. I've also spent time talking to celebrities about autograph collecting and helping them understand the difference between collectors and dealers, as well as helping those who don't quite grasp the point of the hobby understand it. In addition to all that, I've also written several papers and articles on collecting as well as my collection, and read numerous others. In that regard, cagneyfan is correct that I'm passionate on the subject, but sometimes its easier to let things self destruct, as this forum is going to. But that's another point entirely.

Back to what I was saying. Anyone who is truly serious about this hobby knows that fakes are a large part of it, and, though disappointing, are not cause to carry on or insult the celebrity. That's the easiest way to draw the distinction between the people who are serious and the people who just claim to be. Like in all endeavors, research is your friend if you're serious about this hobby, and this website is still an excellent research tool, when used properly.

The problem, though, which I attribute to stupidity and entitlement, is that very few people use it properly anymore. Part of that is due to a power hungry admin, who quit caring a long time ago, but a lot of it comes down to the individual members themselves.

"Request a Celebrity Address" is full of address requests for people who are in the database, because people feel too special to do their own searching. And other members, who feel they're doing a service to the community, do that searching for them! So the people just keep coming back and cluttering the forum with pointless requests.

"Collecting Help" might as well be changed to "Ask the same question about international postage that's been answered several times before", because that's all it is now.

Worst of all, though, is "Feedback". While at one time, it was Feedback, now I'd advocate calling "Look what I got! Tell me how great it is! And other miscellaneous questions, because I don't want to click the 'Board Index' button."

The people responsible for that deserve, in my mind, alienation, because I don't have time to teach those who aren't willing to learn. And I know that they're not willing to learn, because if they were, they would've tried harder to get the answers before wasting everyone's time.

I used to try to help, but now, it's become pointless. As I've said, if you're intent upon buying the Brooklyn Bridge, I might as well sell it to you, because you won't listen why I try to talk you out of it. At least if I'm the seller, I get the money.

People are going to do what they're going to do. I feel bad for the other collectors who lose money because they read the threads, but helping them is no longer worth the aggravation. The Feedback forum has turned into a case of "buyer beware", and, while it may seem like common sense should tell you not to believe the random guy who says his brother is close friends with Channing Tatum and Tatum totally signs TTM, the random poster who insists that, despite a misunderstanding of copyright law, Julie Andrews signs photos TTM through the address in the database, or the poster who insists that the Michael Jordan TTMs are authentic, people will also believe that a random stranger in Nigeria wants to send them money if they help out with something.

People will believe what they want to believe. No point in trying to use logic to talk them out of it.

[Normanbotts]

best chance to get a linda blair signed 8x10 is here. hurry they only have a couple left. hollywood show hold several big signing shows every year and are a very trusted company

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GJX ... UTF8&psc=1

Lol. Trusted company my ass.
The story's I could tell about them. lol

[MW1221]

best chance to get a linda blair signed 8x10 is here. hurry they only have a couple left. hollywood show hold several big signing shows every year and are a very trusted company

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GJX ... UTF8&psc=1

Lol. Trusted company my ass.
The story's I could tell about them. lol

I'd like to hear some.

[cagneyfan]

In case this may help some members who are new and aren't aware: The most helpful tool I have found from reading other members helpful posts (and I myself posted in the Collecting Help forum) is the SEARCH word at the very top righthand side of each page. Click on that and in the SEARCH QUERY box type in the name of the celebrity that you want information on and then click on SEARCH. This will bring up every former post with that person's name highlighted in yellow for easy reference. You should be able to get an idea of that person's signing habits TTM if any, the more current the info - the better.