What do you want to see on FCB to make it ...

[magicpapa]

...ever since @magicpapa "retired", we are struggling to find an identity. Let's blame him!!!

I look at it heavilly from a player / 80's-90's point of view, I know, and that us only part of this collecting "world", and the thing that drives me the most nuts is the drop-out rate of respected, knowledgable and productive members. Some of them leave because the crap that goes on here, some have life changes and sell, and some just quit collecting because they they grow up and get new hobbies. There are many people that post only ever so often anymore, it is hard ti get that community feel that BMB once had, or FCB once had. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing newer members, too, but I am thinking about the "flow" of the community keeps changing, and it's just not what I expected after years and years... It's hard to blame anyone or anything when it's just life, I guess, and the state of the hobby OVERALL, (like putting bAseball players in basketball products!!)
Man, when I think about alll of the great, great members who never, or hardly ever post anymore, it makes me sad.
I don't have all the answers, but consistency is the key to any community, and keep people coming back. The Collector Spotlight would be a great start (which I offered to start-up and maintain but never even got a reply). It would take many consistant things like this, though, to build up the community...

[MENTION=2477]Gwynn545[/MENTION], I'm Just Retired, Not Dead......... hehe

 

[DaBaddestHic]

Hmmmmm.

I'm really new here. I only joined recently (even though I knew the forum existed before that) because someone alerted me to a '98 Topps Tek break that was going on. I got back into collecting around 3 years ago and have mainly been on BO since then. I must be missing something, because the negativity and general jackassery that I've seen on BO in that time has been much greater than what I've seen on here, at least so far.

What I've seen here are welcoming people in the MT threads, a lot of other crazy super collectors, some cool group breaks that I will continue to participate in, and random other stuff. Yeah, it's true that there aren't as many new threads here daily as there are on BO, but there seems to be a deeper knowledge of older/oddball cards than there are over there. (It seems like there's so much emphasis on prospecting over there, which I really don't care about personally.)

I'm hoping I can contribute on here and make some trades with people to help out my Delgado collection. I love trading, and only take a break from it at times so that my one 'dining room' table isn't a complete mess of piles of cards to send out to people. Already went through my cards and pulled out everything A-Rod for someone on here, and will gladly do it for other players as well. I guess what I'm saying is that maybe it's not as bad as people think. Or maybe I'm just not seeing all the bad things XD.

 

[A_Pharis]

Hmmmmm.

I'm really new here. I only joined recently (even though I knew the forum existed before that) because someone alerted me to a '98 Topps Tek break that was going on. I got back into collecting around 3 years ago and have mainly been on BO since then. I must be missing something, because the negativity and general jackassery that I've seen on BO in that time has been much greater than what I've seen on here, at least so far.

What I've seen here are welcoming people in the MT threads, a lot of other crazy super collectors, some cool group breaks that I will continue to participate in, and random other stuff. Yeah, it's true that there aren't as many new threads here daily as there are on BO, but there seems to be a deeper knowledge of older/oddball cards than there are over there. (It seems like there's so much emphasis on prospecting over there, which I really don't care about personally.)

I'm hoping I can contribute on here and make some trades with people to help out my Delgado collection. I love trading, and only take a break from it at times so that my one 'dining room' table isn't a complete mess of piles of cards to send out to people. Already went through my cards and pulled out everything A-Rod for someone on here, and will gladly do it for other players as well. I guess what I'm saying is that maybe it's not as bad as people think. Or maybe I'm just not seeing all the bad things XD.

And we're glad to have you here. What we are really working on, though, is getting more people like you to come see that we're not a bad place to be. The hard part of that is pulling that traffic here. We are trying to find content that really grabs new people so we are always open to anyone who wants to contribute. This site is fueled by members like you and everyone that really cares.

Anytime any member feels like they have a piece of content that will be a real grabber, I (and most any staff member) will support it 100%.

 

[bcubs]

I would be happy to run a PSA sub based on their monthly specials. I'm not sure I could do it each month but if there is interest we could make it happen. I don't often post but I have some references such as [MENTION=1770]Jaypers[/MENTION] and [MENTION=1903]goldenegg1[/MENTION] who can vouch for me. Maybe that could generate some forum traffic.

 

[Brewer Andy]

I would be happy to run a PSA sub based on their monthly specials. I'm not sure I could do it each month but if there is interest we could make it happen. I don't often post but I have some references such as Jaypers and Goldenegg1 who can vouch for me. Maybe that could generate some forum traffic.

We need one!

 

[ThoseBackPages]

As has been mentioned,

Condense the forums. There is no need for dozens of sub-forums.

Card Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport)
General Chat (ZERO need to break it dow)
Buying Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport)
Selling Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport)
Trading Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport)

Five Forums, thats plenty. Dont like a thread? DONT READ IT!

Also, the "time" of message boards is over. Sure they still exist, but times change. its 2008 anymore, thats almost 6 years ago now.

 

[Gwynn545]

As has been mentioned,

Condense the forums. There is no need for dozens of sub-forums.

Card Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport)
General Chat (ZERO need to break it dow)
Buying Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport)
Selling Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport)
Trading Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport)

Five Forums, thats plenty. Dont like a thread? DONT READ IT!

Also, the "time" of message boards is over. Sure they still exist, but times change. its 2008 anymore, thats almost 6 years ago now.

Card Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport) AGREE!!
General Chat (ZERO need to break it down) AGREE!!
Buying Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport) AGREE!!
Selling Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport) AGREE!!
Trading Chat (ZERO need to break it down by sport) AGREE!!

**edit to ad: Get rid of the ridiculous "Manufacturers" thread, and the "Leaf Customer Service" thread... I know someone already pointed that out, too... at least throw them in at the bottom.

**edit again to add the sub forums, the date of the earliest POST of page 1, and approximately how many days it took to fill the first page:

General Chat, earliest post on pg. 1: 9-2-2013, time to fill up one page: 5 days
Baseball, Today 4:49, 5 hours
Baseball Box Breaks, 8-21-2013, 15 days
All Sports Vintage Trading Cards Discussion, 12-11-2012, 270 days
Football, 8-31-2013, 6 days
Football Box Breaks, 7-24-2013, 42 days
Basketball , 6-20-2013, 76 days
Basketball Box Breaks, 5-20-2013, 106 days
Hockey, 4-21-2013, 136 days
Hockey Box Breaks, 8-24-2012, 350 days
MISC/NASCAR/Nonsport, 2-21-2013, 196 days
MMA, 2-6-2012, 570 days
Group Grading Submission Forum, 10-17-2012, 320 days
Through The Mail and In Person Autographs, 6-20-2013, 76 days
Baseball - Transactions, 9-3-2013, 3 days
Basketball - Transactions, 6-13-2013, 80 days
Football - Transactions, 8-11-2013, 20 days
Hockey - Transactions, 2-12-2013, 200 days
eBay Spam , 7-25-2013, 41 days
Miscellaneous, 11-26-2012, 280 days
Trader - Info , 7-20-2012, 406 days
Misc. / Non sports Transactions, 1-18-2013, 260 days
MMA - Transactions, 6-30-2011, 786 days
Event Tickets, 3-27-2011, 879 days

 

[Super Mario]

Read page one.

Not reading all five. Not necessary.


People take this stuff too serious. Who freaking cares man? It is an Internet message board. And people want to treat it like it actually matters. No. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to anybody the members here. We profit from it zero.

The one person it actually matters to is Chris Gilmore. The one funding it, and the one profiting from it. And his business partner.

He can run it as he sees fit. As he sees can make him money and support his family. Plain and simple. Nobody wants a 2006-ish BMB up in this XXXXX. I don't. You don't. Gilmore doesn't I am sure.

But to my original point, it's just a message board, don't take it too serious. Have fun. That's what it's here for.

 

[rum151man]

Think I might have seen something like this before on here, but what about a running online garage sale thread with misc items. I know it's a sports card forum but I think it would be pretty cool. Obviously nothing too big for shipping purposes but might be pretty interesting to see what junk everyone has laying around.

 

[Austin]

I agree about consolodating forums, to a point.
The vintage, TTM, baseball box breaks, etc. forums should all be merged into the baseball forums.
I usually forget to look at the TTM and vintage forums, despite them both being huge parts of my collection.

But I'd rather keep the sports separate.
I understand I can just not read the basketball and MMA threads, but I'd rather not wade through stuff I'm not interested in, especially during the offseason when baseball threads dwindle.

Most people on this board are baseball-only collectors (otherwise the football and other sports boards wouldn't be dead), so why make the baseball board cluttered with topics most members aren't interest in?

Just my opinions and I respect all of yours.

 

[cartersprings]

I agree about consolodating forums, to a point.
The vintage, TTM, baseball box breaks, etc. forums should all be merged into the baseball forums.
I usually forget to look at the TTM and vintage forums, despite them both being huge parts of my collection.

But I'd rather keep the sports separate.
I understand I can just not read the basketball and MMA threads, but I'd rather not wade through stuff I'm not interested in, especially during the offseason when baseball threads dwindle.

Most people on this board are baseball-only collectors (otherwise the football and other sports boards wouldn't be dead), so why make the baseball board cluttered with topics most members aren't interest in?

Just my opinions and I respect all of yours.

I agree. I don't like the idea of merging the sports, as it'd be overly cluttered and all that much harder to keep track of topics.
[MENTION=2443]Fandruw25[/MENTION] Do the Alexa ratings capture data for the mobile app users? Many, myself included, have migrated to the mobile app and use it almost exclusively.

 

[AmishDave]

If FCB were to put in, like in the trade forum, with the WTTF, Selling or WTB, in a non-baseball chat forum, using whatever sport is being discussed or in a box break forum.

I know that makes little sense, so I'll give an example;

MMA - GSP Retires
Hockey - Ovechkin scores 6 goals
Basketball - Jordan resigns as Bobcats GM
Football - NC State escapes vs Richmond
NASCAR - Truex in, Jeff Gordon & Ryan Newman out of 'The Chase'
MMA - Eddie Sanchez defeats Wideman to win UFC Heavyweight Title

With that format, folks could easily identify a topic they either have interest in or one they would want to read and getting rid of the not-so-often used chat forums.

Just a thought.

 

[padremurph]

I used to only come to FCB however I now find myself going to blowout more. One of the main reasons is the transaction board. The transaction board here is dead. Maybe one to two new threads a day w some random stuff? Another is the group breaks. I've had nothing but great experiences w Andrew but he usually only offers team breaks that start around $60, that's usually more than I want to spend on a break. Blowout has a wide variety of breaks, 10 case player drafts, etc. or single case player drafts.

There's also just a lack of new material. Seems like every thread is bashing Topps (deserved) or complaining about Leaf. I would be more interested in talking about player performance and how it relates to cards. That's why I love the daily milb thread. We need new things to talk about and performances change daily. Maybe we could start a rookies in the majors thread and track their performances and how it relates to card prices?

 

[mchenrycards]

I used to only come to FCB however I now find myself going to blowout more. One of the main reasons is the transaction board. The transaction board here is dead. Maybe one to two new threads a day w some random stuff? Another is the group breaks. I've had nothing but great experiences w Andrew but he usually only offers team breaks that start around $60, that's usually more than I want to spend on a break. Blowout has a wide variety of breaks, 10 case player drafts, etc. or single case player drafts.

There's also just a lack of new material. Seems like every thread is bashing Topps (deserved) or complaining about Leaf. I would be more interested in talking about player performance and how it relates to cards. That's why I love the daily milb thread. We need new things to talk about and performances change daily. Maybe we could start a rookies in the majors thread and track their performances and how it relates to card prices?

Good idea about the rookies in the majors thread. Any thoughts on maybe you starting it? (Please dont take that as a sarcastic comment as it is not meant to be). I know I would read this type of posting.

 

[padremurph]

Good idea about the rookies in the majors thread. Any thoughts on maybe you starting it? (Please dont take that as a sarcastic comment as it is not meant to be). I know I would read this type of posting.

Sure, ill start tomorrow. I think it could be a good thing.

 

[P_Manning 18]

Am I the only one that thinks the constant discussion of how to improve FCB and how to increase traffic might actually be part of the problem?

How many lurkers do you think read all those kinds of threads and then say to themselves... This is da forum I wanna join!!?

BOOM!!!!!!

Threads should happen when they happen. Some will do good and others will get lost in the shuffle.

All these threads about manufacturing threads to create posts/activity.... are only good for the 2-3 days we care about it. After that it's back to the same ole s**t.

 

[Austin]

I think what many members fail to realize, is that this great hobby is slowly withering away. It's not the board's fault.
Collectors aren't all leaving this site because they dislike the board or its content.
They're leaving the hobby entirely.

Sure, there are many ways to make this site better; most notably more member contribution and better content.
However, this site and others like it will never be as strong as it was even two years ago. And it has nothing to do with site content.

Too many sports card collectors who pine for the "good old days" fail to realize or accept that this hobby will never be what it once was, whether that be the '80s or during the Beckett message board's heyday in the early 2000s.

The negativity and sarcasm that is so frequent on this and other boards is not because collectors have become bigger dicks.
It's because we're so fed up and bitter about high prices, fake patches, eBay crooks and the way the hobby and most of its manufacturers have become.

It's not a collector-friendly hobby anymore. But we can at least make this board feel that way to new and current members.
All it takes is more effort than before. When I clicked on the Baseball forum, it said "162 viewing."
Yet no one, including me, was starting new threads.

We all have collections we're proud of. Let's start excited about them again.
Post pictures of random cards you love. Start conversations about weird card stuff. Talk baseball and its players.
Don't be afraid to ask questions because you think a member will give a rude answer. Man up and don't be offended by the occasional cranky member.

Let's merge the slow vintage, TTM and box break forums with the main baseball forums to get members excited about them again, and maybe re-introduce them to the great hobbies of sending cards to players for autographs and collecting old vintage cards.

But let's not blame this site's demise on a few grumpy members or other petty stuff, when it's the hobby overall that is in demise.
We may not be able to re-ignite the hobby, but we can re-ignite this message board and make it something we're proud to be a part of.

 

[mchenrycards]

I think what many members fail to realize, is that this great hobby is slowly withering away. It's not the board's fault.
Collectors aren't all leaving this site because they dislike the board or its content.
They're leaving the hobby entirely.

Sure, there are many ways to make this site better; most notably more member contribution and better content.
However, this site and others like it will never be as strong as it was even two years ago. And it has nothing to do with site content.

I apologize for being negative, but it's the truth. Look at Gilmore's store. It would be dead without Magic the Gathering and other gaming card sales and tournaments.
Too many sports card collectors who pine for the "good old days" fail to realize or accept that this hobby will never be what it once was, whether that be the '80s or during the Beckett message board's heyday in the early 2000s.

The negativity and sarcasm that is so frequent on this and other boards is not because collectors have become bigger dicks.
It's because we're so fed up and bitter about the way the hobby and most of its manufacturers have become.

It's not a collector-friendly hobby anymore. But we can at least make this board feel that way to new and current members.
All it takes is more effort than before. When I clicked on the Baseball forum, it said "162 viewing."
Yet no one, including me, was starting new threads.

We all have collections we're proud of. Let's start excited about them again.
Post pictures of random cards you love. Start conversations about weird card stuff. Talk baseball and its players.
Don't be afraid to ask questions because you think a member will give a rude answer. Man up and don't be offended by the occasional cranky member.

Let's merge the slow vintage, TTM and box break forums with the main baseball forums to get members excited about them again, and maybe re-introduce them to the great hobbies of sending cards to players for autographs and collecting old vintage cards.

But let's not blame this site's demise on a few grumpy members or other petty stuff, when it's the hobby overall that is in demise.
We may not be able to re-ignite the hobby, but we can re-ignite this message board and make it something we're proud to be a part of.

There is no doubt there is a "shaking out" of collectors in this hobby but to be honest this happens all the time. When you have a group that is basing their hobby participation on making money as many prospectors are the shake out rate is going to be higher because they dont want to lose any more money and they may not have been as into the hobby as other collectors who do it for pure enjoyment. Yes, collectors are going to come and go for many reasons but there will always be a core group that will hang in there no matter what and this is the group that will remain here and on other boards.

I have started 4 or 5 threads in the last 24 hours with the intent of jump starting various discussions about this hobby we all love. I would love to see others quit talking about traffic here on the boards and start threads that they think are interesting. Lets get this place headed in the right direction and get conversation going instead of stagnating it. Be a part of the solution not a part of the problem. I, for one think it will be interesting to see what we all come up with. Hopefully this type of call to action will bring the lurkers off the bench and into the game as well.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Clutter? LOL

WHAT clutter? LOL

the site is on life support and you guys are worried about "clutter"? LOL

 

[cgilmo]

Get a professional athlete to become an FCB poster. It worked before on the old BMBs (i.e. Phil Hughes), making it THE place to be. He wouldn't have to post nearly as often as the regulars do.

If @cgilmo can organize signings at his store, I don't see this next step as being far-fetched.

players just don't wanna do this.