VBD2 is closed. Please go to https://vbd3.co.uk instead.

Tinman wrote:Those of like minds with mutual interests always find each other. From the Usenet, to ISP bulletin boards, to the mcch, and up to present day, we all make connections that further our interests in collecting and our enjoyment of the hobby. The golden days of the mcch were exciting with a large number of collectors coming together in one place.

Many of the people here and in other forums can thank themselves and should be thanked for making each new virtual stepping stone greater than the last. For pioneering ever better ways to enjoy the hobby and to inform, educate and enrich the enjoyment of a hobby.

The hobby landscape was once dominated by landed insular clubs that had geographical boundaries. Clubs that members joined via the postal service, received news and information in a mailed out newsletter which were also subject to regional and/or national boundaries.

Shows and club meeting were the main source of new additions. Buying and selling also took place by way of club newsletters, magazine advertisements and personal networking. Information was slow to travel. Printed newsletters, magazines and books/catalogs ruled the day when it came to "instant resources."

I remember the first time I saw the Holy Grail of Matchbox collecting: Michael J. Stannard's "Matchbox" 1-75 Series 1953-1969 Collectors Catalog! I thought the man was pure genius. His book and guide were surely the largest single window into the hobby I had ever seen or read. Next came the book commonly called "The 40 years book." Another masterpiece of information for the collector. Still today, I look up to those who helped write and compile the contents of this book.

While I can call out the names of several individuals who have had wide reaching positive impacts on the hobby, without the masses ... the average collectors who fuel this hobby, there would be no hobby. There is no one book, no one authority, no single club, bulletin board or web site that shapes this hobby as much as the desire of individual collectors to come together and share amongst themselves.

Time shapes all things, and as one hobby venue expires another will come along to fill the gap. The shape of the new collective will be determined by progress which is both technological and generational. Collectors, all of us as a group of members, shape each new venue. If a particular venue does not meet the needs or mind set of it's members, it will die out and a new collective will emerge. It's fun to look back and remember, it's also in our human nature to go forward and make each new collective venue better than the last.

johnboy wrote:Did I miss something?

http://www.mboxcommunity.com/

shockwavediecast wrote:Mark Curtis has reappeared - seems to be getting quite involved with the Matchbox Fakes Revealed page on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/matchbo ... .revealed/