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Does Gilmore's FCB store no longer sell sports cards?

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A_Pharis

Active member
A well placed PM would have done the trick instead of a sideways comment asking if I would like to contribute, especially since I was one of the ones contributing. This is the kind of thing that happened in the past and apparently is still happening. (Truth be told, one admin did PM me a few days ago and asked me about what happened previously which I certainly did appreciate).

Lets get a conversation going as to where the owners/admins of FCB want to move this place towards. I think it is time. Don't you?

The conversation has been had.

The #1 thing that drives a forum is participation, and there's nothing staff can do to force people to post. It's a broken record, but it's true -

Users drive traffic.
Users drive content.

I'm sure every staffer here would love to throw money and wax, but FCB (the forum) is not a retailer so we can't offer those incentives to people anymore. Believe it or not, a lot of stuff was attempted here as far as advertising and ad-driven revenue... but then we were barraged with how much of a detriment it was or how it was a pain to see highlighted ad words in posts.

Honestly, why ask staff what they want? We want the members here to be happy and to have the things we want. Unfortunately, the things that get asked for (content) are something that they are the best source of.
 

birdsfan85

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
3,319
0
A transaction board that has more sale threads and a lot less bumping the WTB and LTTF threads of obscure stuff nobody has.

MojoDan to start the morning thread daily. (Half Jokingly)

I previously before my group submission debacle had a well followed set build thread from my 1954 Bowman signed set quest and am currently working on a monster signed set but not financially smart to post this one up like I did previously.
 

AmishDave

Featured Contributor, Collector Showcase, Senior M
Sep 19, 2009
12,383
37
Ely, MN
Serious question:

People reading this thread - if you could have ANYTHING here on FCB (and I mean ANYTHING, forum-wise)... what would it be?

More participation.

I messaged about a 1/2 dozen folks, with the collector spotlight option. Nobody even responded back. I just want to get folks knowing each other, more than their wants, and it to become a family sorta board (which is one reason I love it here). But, when nobody wants to jump in and say, "Hey, interview me" I don't have anything to post (because nobody likes seeing my PC's ... hell, I cringe at the money spent with my JJ ****) and I'll post here and there, but there isn't anything I want to contribute on, since I'm solely a player collector who rips a blaster every so often, just because it's the kid in me opening cards. PLUS, I've posted my vids here with maildays and I get the "They're too long. 30 minutes ? **** that". So, if those don't interest many, if any, nothing I can do to bolster the boards except post when I feel it necessary.
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,187
4,087
It is interesting that although I don't come here for the off topic chat and I don't go into that area much at all, it seems to generated more interest and comments than sports related content. I never understood why it was even necessary to have general forums on a very specific site about a specific subject matter. why come to a music forum to talk about sports. What come to a political forum to talk about vehicles. I come to a baseball (or sports) forum for the sports, not the religious, political or current event talk. There are forums for all of those subjects I am sure. If those forums are more interesting, does that then mean either the site is getting boring with it's sports content or the people have lost their interest in the sports aspect perhaps?

Personally, I enjoy threads about product, finds, history of collectibles, stories or articles that teach us something or just remind us of a product we have forgotten. Not the new product and all of the hype about untested players, but what has come before us. It's enjoyable to see people showing off their collections, but most people are not adding items at such a rapid pace that there is a great deal new to see everyday. I see talk about BO being popular for example, but for me there might be 1-2 threads every couple of pages that even look interesting enough for me to click on and read. It is all about TODAY for the most part. Who is hot now, how much is my gold refractor worth, I just ripped 2 boxes of ***.

Take a look at the first couple pages of the baseball forum threads here and see what is there. A lot of "recent pick-ups", "official XXXXX thread", many general sports (but not card related) threads, etc. It seems we either have threads from 2-3+ years ago with 100s of replies or a few and the thread dies in a day or two. There are just too many threads (75k+ in the baseball section) and they either get forgotten quickly or sometimes they live on too long. That is just my taste though and there are plenty of differing opinions to what is interesting I guess. I'd rather see a separate forum for sports events and news and keep a hobby talk forum to talk specifically about the hobby. We can talk about player X collections, art made from cards, old sets that everyone forgot, etc. Those "hobby talk" forums have always been my go to areas on a site, but this one here is just too generic I guess, although I still look here first for content before wandering to 1 of 2-3 other sites I visit.

Here is one I don't get though. A daily thread that is replaced each day, so whatever content was discussed is essential gone by the next day. I know it is popular enough, and no offense to those who use it and enjoy it but I never read them. Maybe it's just me and I am missing out, but it seems pointless to me.

http://www.freedomcardboard.com/for...-Good-Sunday-Morning-Thread-gt-gt-gt-gt-gt-gt
 

A_Pharis

Active member
It is interesting that although I don't come here for the off topic chat and I don't go into that area much at all, it seems to generated more interest and comments than sports related content. I never understood why it was even necessary to have general forums on a very specific site about a specific subject matter. why come to a music forum to talk about sports. What come to a political forum to talk about vehicles. I come to a baseball (or sports) forum for the sports, not the religious, political or current event talk. There are forums for all of those subjects I am sure. If those forums are more interesting, does that then mean either the site is getting boring with it's sports content or the people have lost their interest in the sports aspect perhaps?

Personally, I enjoy threads about product, finds, history of collectibles, stories or articles that teach us something or just remind us of a product we have forgotten. Not the new product and all of the hype about untested players, but what has come before us. It's enjoyable to see people showing off their collections, but most people are not adding items at such a rapid pace that there is a great deal new to see everyday. I see talk about BO being popular for example, but for me there might be 1-2 threads every couple of pages that even look interesting enough for me to click on and read. It is all about TODAY for the most part. Who is hot now, how much is my gold refractor worth, I just ripped 2 boxes of ***.

Take a look at the first couple pages of the baseball forum threads here and see what is there. A lot of "recent pick-ups", "official XXXXX thread", many general sports (but not card related) threads, etc. It seems we either have threads from 2-3+ years ago with 100s of replies or a few and the thread dies in a day or two. There are just too many threads (75k+ in the baseball section) and they either get forgotten quickly or sometimes they live on too long. That is just my taste though and there are plenty of differing opinions to what is interesting I guess. I'd rather see a separate forum for sports events and news and keep a hobby talk forum to talk specifically about the hobby. We can talk about player X collections, art made from cards, old sets that everyone forgot, etc. Those "hobby talk" forums have always been my go to areas on a site, but this one here is just too generic I guess, although I still look here first for content before wandering to 1 of 2-3 other sites I visit.

Here is one I don't get though. A daily thread that is replaced each day, so whatever content was discussed is essential gone by the next day. I know it is popular enough, and no offense to those who use it and enjoy it but I never read them. Maybe it's just me and I am missing out, but it seems pointless to me.

http://www.freedomcardboard.com/for...-Good-Sunday-Morning-Thread-gt-gt-gt-gt-gt-gt

Great thoughts, and you're right. The general board gets a lot of activity depending on the day. We have a lot of members that are very passionate about politics and off-topics issues that don't share the same enthusiasm for sports collectibles (not to say they don't participate in hobby talk). The problem is that type of conversation can be very VERY off-putting and is better served on its own board. Fun Fact: The General Board (for the most part) is un-moderated when it comes to throttling arguments, etc (save for explicit content or hate speech). We just can't have that in Hobby Talk, though.

Combining Hobby boards is always an acceptable point of discussion.
 

A_Pharis

Active member
More participation.

I messaged about a 1/2 dozen folks, with the collector spotlight option. Nobody even responded back. I just want to get folks knowing each other, more than their wants, and it to become a family sorta board (which is one reason I love it here). But, when nobody wants to jump in and say, "Hey, interview me" I don't have anything to post (because nobody likes seeing my PC's ... hell, I cringe at the money spent with my JJ ****) and I'll post here and there, but there isn't anything I want to contribute on, since I'm solely a player collector who rips a blaster every so often, just because it's the kid in me opening cards. PLUS, I've posted my vids here with maildays and I get the "They're too long. 30 minutes ? **** that". So, if those don't interest many, if any, nothing I can do to bolster the boards except post when I feel it necessary.

We do have a few people that carry more than their fair share. The effort doesn't go unnoticed (as with [MENTION=2442]mchenrycards[/MENTION]), and I hate that anyone feels unappreciated by the staff. I do understand that it does happen, though, as it's never the intent.
 

AmishDave

Featured Contributor, Collector Showcase, Senior M
Sep 19, 2009
12,383
37
Ely, MN
We do have a few people that carry more than their fair share. The effort doesn't go unnoticed (as with @mchenrycards), and I hate that anyone feels unappreciated by the staff. I do understand that it does happen, though, as it's never the intent.

And I fully know that the spectrum that I live in is one that most don't care about or they stay far away from. I know this. I've known this since making Natrone Means my main PC in 1993. My PM's were sent to potential interviewees for the column, which, nobody wanted to respond. If they don't want to be interviewed, I have no problem with this, as, again, to each their own. I would've just enjoyed a PM response, from said members, saying, "Hey, not interested (or just don't have any free time now, maybe down the road) but thanks for the offer". Again, just me and my way of thinking.
 

Brewer Andy

Active member
Aug 10, 2008
9,634
21
People don't seem to start new discussions for some reason. I bet there's at least 3 threads on BO right now about Utley getting suspended and here there's nothing yet. And that's big ass news


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

phillyfan0417

Well-known member
Administrator
Aug 7, 2008
43,551
43
Greenfield, Wisconsin, United States
I'd like to thank everyone who has posted in this thread. I want you to know i've ready every single post and the feedback has been great! When we took the site over about a year ago the biggest issue at the time was one of credibility. We had quite a few people who were waiting for payments and other things and we spent a good amount of money making those things right.

A year plus in and we're struggling with getting a footing and part of it is many of those people who i loved interacting with have moved on to other ways of communicating about the hobby or left it altogether. This last national was the first one we havent been present in numbers to and that occurred because the investment to have a booth at the event is a 5 figure investment and we simply didnt have the resources to make that happen. On top of that, lofe definitely got in the way as well. Personally speaking, my father is very ill and i chose to spend those days with him in NJ. One thing for sure is we all plan to be in AC in big numbers next year but i dont know in what capacity. One thing is for sure...I want to see those people i've gotten used to seeing every year and meet some new people.

As [MENTION=1794]A_Pharis[/MENTION] has mentioned, the site is nothing without its members and the content they bring. I want to thank [MENTION=2442]mchenrycards[/MENTION] for responding to my PM and filling me in on what happened that caused the issues. At this point, I'd love to figure out how we could make this place more lively and I'm willing to listen to any suggestions either in this thread or through PM's. I love this site and would love to see it be around for a long time in what ever format that may be.

Thanks all!
 

Gwynn545

Well-known member
Aug 29, 2008
5,526
44
North Seattle
It's almost Halloween...remember that Halloween Trick-or-Treat Code program that one year?? That was literally the most fun I had on this forum! Along with [MENTION=3744]cjedmonton[/MENTION]'s contests, of course! For me, there's quite a few player collector and 90's collector threads around, and although there are many, MANY members that have moved on, they're still here and used enough to keep me coming back pretty much daily. I appreciate the Hotlist, and I appreciate the BGS Submission threads, I absolutely loved the Collector's Showcase threads and I am shocked more people do not want to participate. I want to apologize to [MENTION=3743]AmishDave[/MENTION] as I have muttered some things under my breath about his not following through on these, and now I know why!

Remember that Let's Make a Deal thread that guy used to have? Who was that? [MENTION=2157]pudge1760[/MENTION]? Those were awesome, also! How about @Beefychedder's Q & A thread? The Free To A Good Home thread is great, the Thrift Store Thread is still great. The Morning Thread is a little weird now, as I agree with [MENTION=4047]mrmopar[/MENTION] about the redundancy of it now. I appreciate it for what it used to be, (along with the Night Thread (RIP, :cry:) and the Late Night Chat thread (RIP, :cry::cry:) as there is no denying the friendships that used to be forged in those threads. But six "G'mornin!"s and then start a new thread? I don't really read it, though, I mean, ever since they denied my membership because I wasn't "cool" enough... Maybe there's more to it. The National threads were some of my favorite content, too, especially as FCB was a presence there. As a Forum we were "the" presence! I was proud of that!


I guess what I am trying to say is, ever since [MENTION=1759]magicpapa[/MENTION] stopped collecting, things went downhill! :lol:Ha! I love to blame [MENTION=1759]magicpapa[/MENTION]! I mean, I remember walking into the FCB lunchroom, and seeing [MENTION=1759]magicpapa[/MENTION], [MENTION=2418]George_Calfas[/MENTION], [MENTION=2080]bouwob[/MENTION], , [MENTION=2413]MojoDan[/MENTION], [MENTION=2180]blitzerlover[/MENTION] and [MENTION=2141]blanning71[/MENTION] in their Member's Only jackets, playing banjos and singing about Nolan Ryan beating up Robin Ventura, and we'd all join hands in a circle around them and join in song; smiles, passing bottles of coke, we'd turn off our Walkmans and put the extra large Combs into our back pocket, and we'd just talk.
And that was just a normal Wednesday!

Times have changed! While many members have been "driven off", many more great members have just moved on because of families starting, and priorities changing. While we have some amazing members who have joined lately, it gets fewer and fewer, and fewer. Turnover is expected, but it seems FCB experiences loss w/out replacement.
 

BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
Anyone ever cash in their FCB Bucks?

Yeah, remember that?

Think I had like 30.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

magicpapa

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
10,057
1,347
It's almost Halloween...remember that Halloween Trick-or-Treat Code program that one year?? That was literally the most fun I had on this forum! Along with @cjedmonton's contests, of course! For me, there's quite a few player collector and 90's collector threads around, and although there are many, MANY members that have moved on, they're still here and used enough to keep me coming back pretty much daily. I appreciate the Hotlist, and I appreciate the BGS Submission threads, I absolutely loved the Collector's Showcase threads and I am shocked more people do not want to participate. I want to apologize to @AmishDave as I have muttered some things under my breath about his not following through on these, and now I know why!

Remember that Let's Make a Deal thread that guy used to have? Who was that? @pudge1760? Those were awesome, also! How about @Beefychedder's Q & A thread? The Free To A Good Home thread is great, the Thrift Store Thread is still great. The Morning Thread is a little weird now, as I agree with @mrmopar about the redundancy of it now. I appreciate it for what it used to be, (along with the Night Thread (RIP, :cry:) and the Late Night Chat thread (RIP, :cry::cry:) as there is no denying the friendships that used to be forged in those threads. But six "G'mornin!"s and then start a new thread? I don't really read it, though, I mean, ever since they denied my membership because I wasn't "cool" enough... Maybe there's more to it. The National threads were some of my favorite content, too, especially as FCB was a presence there. As a Forum we were "the" presence! I was proud of that!


I guess what I am trying to say is, ever since @magicpapa stopped collecting, things went downhill! :lol:Ha! I love to blame @magicpapa! I mean, I remember walking into the FCB lunchroom, and seeing @magicpapa, @George_Calfas, @bouwob, , @MojoDan, @blitzerlover and @blanning71 in their Member's Only jackets, playing banjos and singing about Nolan Ryan beating up Robin Ventura, and we'd all join hands in a circle around them and join in song; smiles, passing bottles of coke, we'd turn off our Walkmans and put the extra large Combs into our back pocket, and we'd just talk.
And that was just a normal Wednesday!

Times have changed! While many members have been "driven off", many more great members have just moved on because of families starting, and priorities changing. While we have some amazing members who have joined lately, it gets fewer and fewer, and fewer. Turnover is expected, but it seems FCB experiences loss w/out replacement.

AWWWWWWWW @Gwynn545 Your Way Too Kind......................hehe

fakefriends1.jpg
 

cgilmo

Well-known member
Administrator
Aug 6, 2008
37,213
35
Alpharetta, Georgia, United States
That Halloween "code" was actually me going around manually hiding things and rewarding the first person to find the trick or treat.

Was exhausting :) hella fun though.

I think there was one where [MENTION=3478]bradical[/MENTION] set up code, but I think that was easter.

All of this was insanely fun.
 

tramers

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
23,286
2,284
hickory nc
I don't golf , fish , hunt , smoke , drink ,I do work ten plus hours a day , spend time with G/K's , go to local minor league games and have OFFERED FREE TICKETS TO SOME ON FCB no takers YET . At my age [63] can't do a lot else - EMS stated I was dead once so being thankful we do have this site .
I do over spend on cards and this relaxes me by sorting them --500,000 and counting .
I do read lots of threads but not posting unless I know about topic . MT is one group that I post with even if only saying I need COFFEE .
BTW ; refill of coffee needed now .
 
Jun 30, 2010
726
0
I agree with you on everything and only want to comment on the presence at the Nationals. That takes money that the board doesn't make. Chris put a lot up front for this forum and everyone here, and even his trips there were costly for him.

Even though we all know that there are expenses that come with promoting a business with advertising or setting up at the National' that is something that we have to factor in with our business plan. We have heard so much about Chris not having the time to devote to the site( has another job etc), it costs too much to set up at the national( it costs for all of us to set up there), not enough ad revenue etc. In spite of the same factors with my business I make the decision to set up in spite of the cost; according to Adam, Chris decided to not set up because of the cost. One thing that I have learned is that, if something is important to us then we will make the time for it as well as put in the resources(money) for it. How many times do we hear from people that they don't have the money for something but then have the same money to go on vacation, buy a new car etc? Generally, when all the reasons are given to why someone cannot devote their time, energy and resources to something, it means that they don't have the fire in their belly for it. There are exceptions of course( family tragedy, loss of job etc). It just seems to me that the fire isn't there like it used to be and therefore explaining why Chris is AWOL. Just an observance as to why the site has taken a few steps backward. This has been a great site and I would love to see it back to the informative site it used to be.
 
Last edited:
Jun 30, 2010
726
0
It is interesting that although I don't come here for the off topic chat and I don't go into that area much at all, it seems to generated more interest and comments than sports related content. I never understood why it was even necessary to have general forums on a very specific site about a specific subject matter. why come to a music forum to talk about sports. What come to a political forum to talk about vehicles. I come to a baseball (or sports) forum for the sports, not the religious, political or current event talk. There are forums for all of those subjects I am sure. If those forums are more interesting, does that then mean either the site is getting boring with it's sports content or the people have lost their interest in the sports aspect perhaps?

Personally, I enjoy threads about product, finds, history of collectibles, stories or articles that teach us something or just remind us of a product we have forgotten. Not the new product and all of the hype about untested players, but what has come before us. It's enjoyable to see people showing off their collections, but most people are not adding items at such a rapid pace that there is a great deal new to see everyday. I see talk about BO being popular for example, but for me there might be 1-2 threads every couple of pages that even look interesting enough for me to click on and read. It is all about TODAY for the most part. Who is hot now, how much is my gold refractor worth, I just ripped 2 boxes of ***.

Take a look at the first couple pages of the baseball forum threads here and see what is there. A lot of "recent pick-ups", "official XXXXX thread", many general sports (but not card related) threads, etc. It seems we either have threads from 2-3+ years ago with 100s of replies or a few and the thread dies in a day or two. There are just too many threads (75k+ in the baseball section) and they either get forgotten quickly or sometimes they live on too long. That is just my taste though and there are plenty of differing opinions to what is interesting I guess. I'd rather see a separate forum for sports events and news and keep a hobby talk forum to talk specifically about the hobby. We can talk about player X collections, art made from cards, old sets that everyone forgot, etc. Those "hobby talk" forums have always been my go to areas on a site, but this one here is just too generic I guess, although I still look here first for content before wandering to 1 of 2-3 other sites I visit.

Here is one I don't get though. A daily thread that is replaced each day, so whatever content was discussed is essential gone by the next day. I know it is popular enough, and no offense to those who use it and enjoy it but I never read them. Maybe it's just me and I am missing out, but it seems pointless to me.

http://www.freedomcardboard.com/for...-Good-Sunday-Morning-Thread-gt-gt-gt-gt-gt-gt

Agreed.....Coming to the boards for hobby info and not finding a whole lot, I even found myself into the off topic forum way too much......Sure would love to see more hobby related topics...Hot list, interesting stats, pulses and changes within of the hobby,autograph and fraud alerts etc.
 

A_Pharis

Active member
Even though we all know that there are expenses that come with promoting a business with advertising or setting up at the National' that is something that we have to factor in with our business plan. We have heard so much about Chris not having the time to devote to the site( has another job etc), it costs too much to set up at the national( it costs for all of us to set up there), not enough ad revenue etc. In spite of the same factors with my business I make the decision to set up in spite of the cost; according to Adam, Chris decided to not set up because of the cost. One thing that I have learned is that, if something is important to us then we will make the time for it as well as put in the resources(money) for it. How many times do we hear from people that they don't have the money for something but then have the same money to go on vacation, buy a new car etc? Generally, when all the reasons are given to why someone cannot devote their time, energy and resources to something, it means that they don't have the fire in their belly for it. There are exceptions of course( family tragedy, loss of job etc). It just seems to me that the fire isn't there like it used to be and therefore explaining why Chris is AWOL. Just an observance as to why the site has taken a few steps backward. I would love to see the site to where it used to be.

Chris isn't at the helm of the forum. That's why he didn't set up for us at the National. See Philly's response. This isnt a business venture. It's a hobby forum. The physical Shop that Chris runs is a separate entity. There's no way that the current staff could have foot the bill for the National this year. Real lives outside of the hobby were, are and always will be far more important... I'd even go so far as to say that I'd refuse to allow any of the current staff to shoot themselves in the foot financially for the sake of having a booth with no content at the show.

Honestly, the membership here is WORTH the cost to someone that has the money, but you can't compare someone making family decisions to making the decision to pay thousands of dollars for an empty booth at a card show. There's countless steps for increased traffic between here and that point.
 

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