# We Need Your Help!



## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

I have a bit more information to release about future plans for HobbyTalk and also a call for help.

As was announced before that HobbyTalk will become part of a group of web sites that will be integrated with Toy Collector. The main integration will be your HobbyTalk membership will be carried over to the other areas of Toy Collector and you will not need separate registrations for each area. There are a number of updates coming to Toy Collector that will allow you to have easy access to the large "toy" database that is being created.

Each item will have information such as different variations, number produced, production dates, etc. What this will be useful for is if you collect, for example, blue Trans-Am's you will be able to search for "blue Pontiac Trans-Am" and find every manufacturer that produced one. The catalog page for each will include "stock" photos and will also allow you to upload your own pictures of that item. But that is not all! Once you are viewing the information also displayed will be recent blog entries and forum posts that have to do with Trans-Am's gathered from all of the affiliated Toy Collector web sites. Plus there will be pricing information gathered from a new "swap and sell" area being developed and from other sources. This pricing information will include price history graphs so you can see if the value is increasing or decreasing.

I am sure I have missed some features and maybe a better way to explain the concept is for you to view the presentation at 
http://www.toycollector.com/index.php/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79195&Itemid=815

This is where we can use your help. While there are currently over 100,000 entries in the Toy Collector database, there are still 10's of thousands of holes that need to be filled. There is no better experts out there then our members and we would like to draw on this expertise to fill in those holes. Since Toy Collector started out as a U.K. entity most of the current entries are for manufacturers outside the U.S. If you go to 
http://www.toycollector.com/index.php/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=86997&Itemid=977
you can see just a few of the single items that need more information.

If you have a larger database already created or even have detailed information on just one specialized variation you can also submit that. Look at
http://www.toycollector.com/index.php/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=87009&Itemid=980 for the current format used for bulk submissions. Or you can contact Tobias at [email protected] and he can arrange to convert your current database of information to a useable format. If you have any information you would like to share and are not sure on what to do, just contact Tobias and he can help you out.

We are currently going to concentrate on Die Cast and Slot Cars but any information would be helpful. While we are currently getting a lot of information from manufacturers but only our members can fill in some of the missing information. I encourage even small part and accessory manufacturers to contact Tobias with any information they may have about their products so that can be entered into the database and then displayed in the catalog.

Hopefully this better explains some of the things that are coming in the future and why I am excited about being part of it.


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## gonegonzo (Jan 18, 2006)

Hi Hank ,

This seems very overwhelming to me . There is almost too must info in the links you provided and non of it seemed to apply to us (slotcar enthusiasts ) and also seemed to be UK based and oriented . Is this the case ? Are we goinmg to lose what we have here ?

This is the best forum for our hobby online . I hate to see anything change and interfere with it .

Thx , Gonzo


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## hankster (Jan 1, 1998)

Toy Collector started out and is based in the UK that is the reason for most of the info being from that region. There is little slot car info in there now. Nor is there much model or RC info. But with U.S. members help you can submit the U.S. based information slot car information.... you can have the greatest impact when you provide info on a new section rather then add info to an established database.

HT will be upgraded to the latest vBulletin forum software and cross registrations with other forums are planned.


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## Joschik (Dec 17, 2008)

Hi Gonzo,

Don't worry, the Toy Collector team values HobbyTalk and Hank as much as you do. We are also working on methods to make sure you see only what you want to see (say a blog like this one by our member DPR). We've got already got a few Slotcar entries in ToyPedia (quite a few Aurora, the early German Marklin ones and others). It would be great if you want to help out, just send me a PM.


Christian


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

I have to say I am not a fan of that newer format myself.

This is the best and easiest type of forum to navigate. The other forums that have upgraded turned me off so much that I don't go back to them anymore. Ok maybe once a month or two if that. I hope it's not what i'm thinking it is.

Sad news for me.


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## hbfatty (Dec 7, 2009)

*Keep It The Best Darn Forum For Slots*

I do not have a problem conglomerating as long as HT is just as accessible as it is now. I submit to several forums but HT is hands down "The Best" I was out of the hobby for 43 years and while getting back in, HT has been a super resource. Every Question I present gets fast and accurate information for me. There are a lot of good folks on HT that have taken a bit of their time to help me out with a response time of seconds occasionally Keep up the good work.


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## rbrunne1 (Sep 22, 2007)

Are all the old forum posts going to be migrated to Toy Collector? Will the URL's change? I have bookmarked many old threads for reference. Will I have to find them and start over?


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Will we be inundated with chronic spam, crappola, and a never ending pile of fertilizer in our mailboxes when our membership is turned over. 

I cant fathom how any of this will help our slot brotherhood at HT. So long as my privacy is respected and I dont have to wade through a bunch of trash to get to HT then I guess it'll HAVE to be okay. Right?


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## Joschik (Dec 17, 2008)

*Not to worry*

Just to chime in:


No, no change to the URL - HobbyTalk will stay HobbyTalk
No, Hobby Talk is not being merged into Toy Collector. HobbyTalk as well as Toy Collector will eventually get migrated to a new platform that we are building at the moment
There will be no changes to HobbyTalk for many months to come and we will communicate and discuss all changes with you guys - ideally some of you become part of our testing team when we are ready just to make sure it works the way you want it to
ToyPedia should proof a useful tool and we will start sharing some of the data in a separate thread leter today

After all HobbyTalk is very successful and about 15x bigger than Toy Collector. Everything we do or like to do gets discussed at length with Hank.

Christian


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## Joschik (Dec 17, 2008)

*Forgot to add*

Oh, and no chronic spam, crappola, and a never ending pile of fertilizer either...

PS: What is crappola, could only find it with one p at http://crapola.us? :freak:


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Urban Dictionary says...*



Joschik said:


> What is crappola, could only find it with one p at http://crapola.us? :freak:


... *and no offense intended by the way :wave:*....

Crap that has delusions of grandeur.

*ie: This new cell phone is crappola. It takes pictures and plays music, but it does not make phone calls because it can't get a signal!*

One question I have is what about copyrighted material? Should you "warn" HT contributors here on *these* initial posts to "plagiarize check" entries? Although well meaning and well intentioned, I think people have to be mindful not to lift content owned or previously presented by another person. How could a person sell his/her book (or steer visitors to their site) if portions thereof are offered on Toypedia? Kinda takes the wind outta the sails (and sales) for anybody who did the work, researched, and then published the info. Just wondering.


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## PT737 (Jul 14, 2004)

Yum!!! I gotta gets me some of that Crapola! Thanks for the link Joschik!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

I do apologize for my careless use of slang and any subsequent confusion. 

Thanx for covering my back TJD.


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## Joschik (Dec 17, 2008)

> One question I have is what about copyrighted material? Should you "warn" HT contributors here on *these* initial posts to "plagiarize check" entries? Although well meaning and well intentioned, I think people have to be mindful not to lift content owned or previously presented by another person. How could a person sell his/her book (or steer visitors to their site) if portions thereof are offered on Toypedia? Kinda takes the wind outta the sails (and sales) for anybody who did the work, researched, and then published the info. Just wondering.


We are asking contributors to own the copyright of what they write, same like Wikipedia. Some of our contributors have written elsewhere and are re-using their own content which of course is absolutely fine. Use the discussion section on the ToyPedia page or PM me with any copyright infringements.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

One of the attributes that makes the HobbyTalk site so successful is that it does not get in the way. It may not have all the latest bells and whistles, but that's okay. The crown jewels of HobbyTalk reside in the member contributed content and the sustained high level of contribution by its long term and loyal membership. The broad base of topics and hobby centric focus areas create a little something for everyone, whether as a participant or as a spectator. It's a formula that is working pretty darn well. 

If I could update one thing it would be along the lines of making HobbyTalk more friendly to mobile and "touch" based devices. Using HobbyTalk on a smartphone or iPad type device is fully possible as long as the device supports a standard web browser However the user experience is a challenge because many of the interactive UI elements (like links) are designed for a mouse, not a fat finger. While a native and deeply immersive UI model that some mobile apps exhibit on some mobile devices would be nice, just some well placed tweaks to the basic web based format would help a lot. I see a lot of value in making HobbyTalk consumable from other devices, especially when I'm on the go, on the sofa, or on the deck. 

As long as the focus of HobbyTalk remains on the human-to-human dialog I think it will stay strong. Do explore some technology upgrades but don't let the technology get in the way. We don't need another YouTube, but there may be a place for some richer interactive capability. We'll keep generating content...


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## gonegonzo (Jan 18, 2006)

Call it whatever but i have a strong guttttttt feeling that Hobby Talk is better off like as it is . Somehow I feel it will be used as a sacrificial lamb for whatever reasons .

Why would anyone want to change "PERFECT" . Hobby Talk as is is an down to earth , easy to navigate , no nonsence and "perfect" and friendly for our hobby .

If we merge with another website , we will then be giving up what we know and have to do whatever the other website institutes to carry on our discussions and correspondence as we now know it . 

I know that Hobby Talk is owned by someone that can and probably will do as they lease as of the merge . I ask myself , why did the start this post saying they need our help ? I feel that it's probably a done deal and probably was before the posting .

I hate being negative as I am . However , I have seen many slotcar in particular forums turned to shambles by changing their format . Does anyone remember Slot Car Racing Center from about 15 years ago . A pioneer website for our hobby turned to jelly by change and rift by others wanting to force their website on the participants of that forum .

I'll go one step further and say that if we , the members of this forum want to stay a close nit family , we better start exchanging e-mail address' now . The day we turn on Hobby Talk and it isn't there for whatever reason or in the name of good , bad or even advancing with times , it will be too late .

For the sake of our slotcar family I would urge you all to start the address exchange now . If Hobby Talk crumbles , at least we can pick up the pieces member wise and start our own website .

May address is : 

[email protected]

I hope my Gut feeling is wrong and I apologize in advance for any wrong accusations I may have brought forth . 

As an example only , take your favorite hot dog shop , coffee shop or even dinning spot . We've all seen it when the ownwers try to expand for more buisiness or any other reason , the whole business was ruined and suddenly there was an out of buisness sign in the window .

Sorry , just my guttttt feeling . Let's all start banking our e-mail address'. For those opposed to this merge , add your address as a sign .

respectfully , Gonzo


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## rbrunne1 (Sep 22, 2007)

Joschik said:


> Just to chime in:
> 
> 
> No, no change to the URL - HobbyTalk will stay HobbyTalk
> ...


Christian - Thanks for taking the time to ansmer our questions - Bob B.


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## tomhocars (Oct 19, 2005)

I love HT just the way it is.I feel like I know everyone on here personally.Some people don't like change.I saw what happened to another site when it was changed by someone purchasing it.The success of HT is because of its members.The saying goes,If it ain't broke ,Don't fix it I'll stay with HT because I would miss breaking nuts with my SLB's,Slot car buddies.Good luck Hank ,and thanks for all your hard work. 
Tom Stumpf


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

what Tom said!


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## eastside johnny (May 13, 2008)

An old and very wise saying...."NO BROKE....NO FIX!"


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## DesertSlot (May 8, 2009)

I don't think I will like this change either.


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