2018!
I thought the world was supposed to be way over by now?!
And yet.. here were are.. we just keep on keeping on. We're like to cockroaches of the internet.
2018.. quickly approaching our 9th year as a thing. What do you get someone for their 9th anniversary? The internet tells me pottery. I'm expecting a lot of fancy pottery from you guys. Maybe a mug. Or get mugged?
We've lost a few more people since my last update.. Mandingo and XOC were lost in the Partisan Politics Wars of 2016, and have moved on to left'er pastures on Facebook. The ol' #TrumpEffect.
I am sure we've lost some other people, but it gets hard to tell if people are gone for good or just taking a long hiatus.
The hobby is still in the dumps.. a few bright spots here and there.. but overall "1:18 military toys" is in a pretty dire spot. When the high point in a while is new PTE stuff that probably won't come to the US.. you're in trouble! It feels like the 2008-2009 era was just a dream, with actual stock on Target and TRU shelves.. GI JOE out the wazoo.. online stuff.. eBay overflowing.. yeesh.
All that being said, I am happy to see that what we've made here has transcended the crappy hobby. Sure, we still like it, but our little Sewing Circle has managed to survive the storm, mostly. Now lets look towards the future..
I am thinking about ditching these forums.
... for new forums! vBulletin is dead and buried. Well, I mean, it's still around, but its overpriced and outdated. We're running 3.8-something and they're currently on 5.0-something.. and it costs and arm and a leg to upgrade. 3.8 is incredibly not secure, is buggy as heck, and isn't easy to add new features without breaking something else. However, it's mostly worked for us over the past.. 7ish years? Since The Crush.
There is another forum software I've used a little bit elsewhere, xenForo.. whatever the hell that is. It's cheaper, newer, and has more features. I'm looking into it to see how feasible it is. I may do another mid-year Officer donation drive or something to help cover the $140ish cost.
Apparently it has a migration feature, so we *may* not lose any date in the migration, which would be pretty neat. Losing all the old posts/etc would be my only real regret from moving on with the forums. Though, to be honest, a lot of the old posts have broken images, banned users, etc. It's nice to be able to look back.. but how much everyday value is there in it really? I can't really decide.
So, yeah. As we approach our 9th year.. lets see what we can do
As always, a big thanks to the people who continue to visit our stupid little site and post stupid little things. Extra special thanks to all the Officers who literally keep the lights on.
I thought the world was supposed to be way over by now?!
And yet.. here were are.. we just keep on keeping on. We're like to cockroaches of the internet.
2018.. quickly approaching our 9th year as a thing. What do you get someone for their 9th anniversary? The internet tells me pottery. I'm expecting a lot of fancy pottery from you guys. Maybe a mug. Or get mugged?
We've lost a few more people since my last update.. Mandingo and XOC were lost in the Partisan Politics Wars of 2016, and have moved on to left'er pastures on Facebook. The ol' #TrumpEffect.
I am sure we've lost some other people, but it gets hard to tell if people are gone for good or just taking a long hiatus.
The hobby is still in the dumps.. a few bright spots here and there.. but overall "1:18 military toys" is in a pretty dire spot. When the high point in a while is new PTE stuff that probably won't come to the US.. you're in trouble! It feels like the 2008-2009 era was just a dream, with actual stock on Target and TRU shelves.. GI JOE out the wazoo.. online stuff.. eBay overflowing.. yeesh.
All that being said, I am happy to see that what we've made here has transcended the crappy hobby. Sure, we still like it, but our little Sewing Circle has managed to survive the storm, mostly. Now lets look towards the future..
I am thinking about ditching these forums.
... for new forums! vBulletin is dead and buried. Well, I mean, it's still around, but its overpriced and outdated. We're running 3.8-something and they're currently on 5.0-something.. and it costs and arm and a leg to upgrade. 3.8 is incredibly not secure, is buggy as heck, and isn't easy to add new features without breaking something else. However, it's mostly worked for us over the past.. 7ish years? Since The Crush.
There is another forum software I've used a little bit elsewhere, xenForo.. whatever the hell that is. It's cheaper, newer, and has more features. I'm looking into it to see how feasible it is. I may do another mid-year Officer donation drive or something to help cover the $140ish cost.
Apparently it has a migration feature, so we *may* not lose any date in the migration, which would be pretty neat. Losing all the old posts/etc would be my only real regret from moving on with the forums. Though, to be honest, a lot of the old posts have broken images, banned users, etc. It's nice to be able to look back.. but how much everyday value is there in it really? I can't really decide.
So, yeah. As we approach our 9th year.. lets see what we can do
As always, a big thanks to the people who continue to visit our stupid little site and post stupid little things. Extra special thanks to all the Officers who literally keep the lights on.
Last edited: