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A letter to mcch moderator Jim McNa11y:

Collectors around the world have been dumfounded by the closing of two particular threads on the mcch. The threads in question concern the single largest find of New Old Stock in decades. It is literally the stuff that Vintage Matchbox collectors and Matchbox dealers dream about. The subject deserves plenty of exposure as everyone in the Vintage Matchbox hobby is completely buzzing about this find. The subject also deserves "special handling" for many reasons.

In the past, the mcch has set precedence by giving significant topics a wide berth of the voluminous and overbearing rules that govern their discussions. I can think of no other topic that has generated more interest and that is more significant than this single find. It deserves "special handling" in every regard. This particular topic and thread is by far at the top of the list of any such topics handled by the mcch in the last 13 years. In spite of the significance of the topic and contents of the find, the subject seems to be treated like some newbie who's just discovered a dozen play worn toys in his fathers attic (and who thinks he can sell them at inflated prices).

Like so many of the poor decisions, utter lack of planning and non-existent leadership of the mcch ... the closing and locking of this topic has caused an uproar in the collecting community. In the last few years, most of the hobby population views the mcch as a blight on the hobby and this latest action (closing and locking the threads of the most historic and significant Matchbox find in decades) only reinforces those feelings among collectors.

The mcch forums have had tumble weeds rolling through them for several years. Low and behold, along comes an important subject that has received 3,534 views (at last count) and countless hits on the mcch web site. Collectors around the world are waiting with excitement and baited breath to learn How, When and Where the massive historic collection will go on sale or auction! With all the excitement and buzz, with the renewed high readership and site views, what is does the mcch leadership do? They Close & Lock the threads! Congratulations Jim M., you've just become utterly reviled in the collector community. It amazes me that so called leadership of the mcch continues to be very people driving the nails into the mcch coffin!

Not to worry Jim, the Vintage British Diecast site (thanks to its members) has stepped up to the plate and will gladly host all of Dave's future announcements regarding the collection. Dave can post here without fear of being "closed and locked," without being "edited," will never be "censored" or in any way restricted from getting out the news about the massive vintage find of models. Jim, the fear and dread of hosting a thread of interest is now lifted from your sholders and you can resume the peaceful viewing of tumble weeds rolling through the mcch forums.

So to sum up Joe, you are saying that the MCCH is rendered totally irrelevant and of no further consequence? Or is it just me saying it? Jay

I am certainly not as eloquent as you Joe, But I hope Jim gets the message. Best Regards, Jay

I havnt used that site for years or should I say I was unofficially banned. I really used to enjoy posting on the mcch and had many many internet friends on there and then one day I got on the wrong side of the big chief who I am told changed my password to lock me out and the rest is history. The funny thing is that it's suppose to be a non political site that for me just got to Political lol.

I have to say that since coming over to Nick's wonderful forum, I haven't once returned to MCCH - not even to look at the thread about this discovery. The "loss" of many member friends such as Joe and Tim completely took the gloss off MCCH for me - and Joe is right about the tumbleweeds over there. Much as I used to enjoy it in the past, I do not miss it now.

Cheers,
Gavin

Best to ignore those folks and let them cut their own throats rather than tip them off which can only encourage another hack attempt here as happened the last time their big cheese got upset.........

Please don't blame group over at mcch, their members were very helpful in getting us in contact with the right professionals. We didn't know how much excitement this find would cause. To be honest we were told by local auctioneers the collection was was worth only $1,000 USD and some of the major auction houses were not interested handling the collection.

To be fair, on MCCH, our threads were starting to violate the site's terms and my message box was getting filled with messages. So I don't blame the admin for shutting them down. I have not been banned from the site, and I stopped posting so I would not get banned. We will post there again when things get moving again trying to keep in spirit of the stated terms and conditions of the site.

We have not posted much more information based on advice from members on both sites and the people that did the validation. Since the boxes have never been opened and have been stored for 50 years on their ends and not on top of each other, there is little or no shelf wear. The boxes are extremely crisp. We were given special instructions on how to open them very carefully with a dull letter opener to preserve the box flap. We have not opened most of the boxes to preserve them for their future owners. I know this is frustrating for the collector community not to know what is in the boxes and what the variations are within the collection. Don't worry, prior to being sold, each box will be opened just once to take pictures and document contents for the sale. Unfortunately this will take a while to do correctly.

Thanks to everybody that is helping us with this project!

Me, I just went out with a big bang over there hahahahaha. The owners a lying twat who thinks no one else can use a computer to find out what he does. No regrets and it expanded my net viewing and friends

thank you tinman !
With the post I made on the MCCH Dave posted a photo of the actual mill.
Hugh Stiles has to be congratulate to find the mill and contact Dave.
So Dave now knows about this forum and will post here all the information.
The MCCH, once being one of the most important Matchbox forums has lost it's glance long time ago unfortunatly.
I still look there and it is good that I and others did otherwise we would not know about this collection here at Vintage British Diecast.

marcel

You are very right about that Marcel, Thanks for alerting everyone here as to this International 'Treasure Find' only four hours away from me.
Joe, A Great job on the above Post, well written and straight to the point. Dave may not understand that all his information at MCCH as well as future comments on this find may never be allowed. HE may not be banned, but his future plans for the models' disposition seem to be of no concern to those running MCCH. Perhaps your letter will open their eyes as to the importance of this find to some of their remaining members.
Dave, Any true collector will enjoy getting one of your models with a certificate as to it's provenance and a picture of your Mill they were found in. The Buyers like myself may be very interested in an UNOPENED model, not caring at all what variation it may be, and pay top dollar for it that way. Please consider that option to save you a lot of time and work on these models. kwakers