Posted By:
Al C.risafulliTed and Jim:
I'll offer you both some advice.
I'm younger than both of you. I haven't been collecting as long as either of you. I've had disagreements online with both of you, and at this point I think I get along very well with you both. Alas, I have no piece of information like relative age or knowledge or hobby experience or anything else that would give me the credibility that I need to give unsolicited advice.
But I'm going to give it anyway.
Stop arguing about this! Both of you, together, have more knowledge about the hobby than you do individually. There are areas of the hobby that you both know a lot about, and there are areas of the hobby that you don't. Together, though, you definitely have more info. So instead of trying to out-indifferent one another with invective about how unimportant you consider the other's niche of the hobby, why not learn from each other? You're both good guys, very intelligent, with dynamite collections.
All the drama is exhausting. The hobby is much more fun when you do it with buddies than when you do it alone.
-Al