[Rob D.]

I post the following with absolutely no intent of sarcasm (hard to believe, I know).

I think the first step in trying to understand many of Bruce's posts is to understand where he's coming from. I get the feeling that to him, collecting is a very fierce competition -- and he might very well assume that others have the same mind-set.

I've lost track of how many times he has e-mailed or PM'd me with the message, and I'm paraphrasing: "You'll never be an important collector ... " or "Your pathetic attempts to become an important collector ... " or "Our contacts in the hobby dwarf yours ... " The thing is, I have no aspirations to be an "important" collector -- whatever that is -- and have never claimed to be one. Yet Bruce automatically assumes that's the goal of many, and because that's obviously his goal, most everyone else is a competitor.

I think many on this board look at the hobby in a way that's 180 degrees away from how Bruce views it. Hence, when he feels the need to virtually mark his territory, such an act is a foreign one to many within this group.