State Of The Community

[🪦 dxfan ●]

Its been a while, hope you are all well.

Are we still alive and kicking? Has our hobby grown or decreased in the last 5 years?

Is there still any interest in hockey masks? I\'m thinking about selling again.

Besides NO what sites are still active hma? that guy with the knife . Net ?

[🪦 ullilein ●]

Hobby seems kinda dead in my opinion. I though with shows like faceoff we would have seen a surge of new artist but sadly this is not the case.

[🪦 JOEY ●]

Well, hopefully things eventually pick up. I first got in the hobby (as far as mask collecting) back in 2005. From my experience, 2005 to about 2008 or \'09 were very exciting times! Seemed like everyone around here were buying or selling masks. Then things started slowing down. Alot of regular members seemed to drift away.
There\'s definitely been some outstanding pieces/collectibles become available during this downtime , but overall - the hobby still seems very quiet.

[🪦 Chainsaw ●]

I agree 100% with Joey. When I started collecting in May of 2005, the scene was hopping: forums were very active and there were quite a few more artists around offering a wide range of pieces. I\'ve often thought several main factors have contributed to the apparent recent decline of the hobby. I believe the rise of social media sites had a lot to do with people moving away from a forum setting. I think a lot of other members simply outgrew collecting and moved on. Now I wonder if new people stop by the forum, see that it isn\'t very active and continue on their way. There are still many great artists around who produce some fantastic pieces, it just depends on what you\'re after. For me personally, with Jeremy Bohr taking extended breaks from time to time and Justin putting a lot of focus in to Trick or Treat Studios (and rightfully so!), my buying has slowed down considerably. I\'ll certainly still buy a piece that truely grabs my attention, but I guess that helps me be more selective.

In the end, it\'s up to the members to make the forum what we want it to be.

[🪦 puckface ●]

It\'s hard to explain to people unfamiliar with the forum or hobby, but NIGHTOWL 2005-2008ish on a Friday or Saturday night was pure entertainment. I\'d get home from school, grab dinner, and literally hang out on the board for hours. New topics/posts were nonstop, the chatroom was always full, and new scores were so excited to share with your online buddies. Even goofy/pointless threads were welcome and helped keep things mellow.

I hate to say it, but it seems like the problem was a select handful of artists/customers who arose and kind of ruined the hobby. (At least within our general "circle" if that makes any sense) Back then it was fun because it was all about the piece itself and the finish work done by the artist. Now it\'s all about blank origins, pure competition, and price.

I miss the old days for sure. I doubt it will ever get back to how it used to be, but this board is (and always will be) my favorite forum and Justin will always be my favorite artist. This is where the hobby started for me and I won\'t forget that. I\'ll frequent this board daily and try to keep it current as long as Justin is willing to keep the forum alive and accessible.

[🪦 Chainsaw ●]

this board is (and always will be) my favorite forum and Justin will always be my favorite artist. This is where the hobby started for me and I won\'t forget that. I\'ll frequent this board daily and try to keep it current as long as Justin is willing to keep the forum alive and accessible.

Here, here!! :thumbsup:

[🪦 JOEY ●]

I miss the old days for sure. I doubt it will ever get back to how it used to be, but this board is (and always will be) my favorite forum and Justin will always be my favorite artist. This is where the hobby started for me and I won\'t forget that. I\'ll frequent this board daily and try to keep it current as long as Justin is willing to keep the forum alive and accessible.

I\'ll sip my martini to that!
Same here Scott, NIGHTOWL continues to be the forum I frequent the most and will continue to as long as we\'re able to.
I do miss some those good old days though and alot of the people that used to hang out more often. I\'m looking down at my signature now at names of people i bought or sold masks with... I haven\'t seen many of them active on here in a long time... Pugsly, Cap10, knewby, terminallunch, etc.

[🪦 richardmalone ●]

Are we still alive and kicking? Has our hobby grown or decreased in the last 5 years?

Still alive, but not kicking. I think the hobby has decreased in the last 5 years.

Is there still any interest in hockey masks? I\'m thinking about selling again.

Yes, but the market is over saturated with hockey mask painters.

Besides NO what sites are still active hma? that guy with the knife . Net ?

HMA and MM.net are still active. MM.net is by far the most active
I think social media has caused all forums to slow down.
I wonder if over moderation might have caused a little bit of the decline in active members. When I first joined there were members that could come off as rude and there weren\'t any word filters. Members being rude or smart asses never bothered me, I thought most of it was funny. Now it doesn\'t take much to get a thread locked and we still can\'t type M ichael M yers without it saying "that guy with the knife". Even a ss gets filtered, that\'s just silly. hiney can be said in a PG movie, but not read in a forum where we celebrate fictional serial killers and monsters. Maybe grown men talking about masks and movies didn\'t want to be treated like little kids.

[🪦 Cap10Rhodes ●]

I\'ll sip my martini to that!
Same here Scott, NIGHTOWL continues to be the forum I frequent the most and will continue to as long as we\'re able to.
I do miss some those good old days though and alot of the people that used to hang out more often. I\'m looking down at my signature now at names of people i bought or sold masks with... I haven\'t seen many of them active on here in a long time... Pugsly, Cap10, knewby, terminallunch, etc.

Hey, I\'m still lurking around. I haven\'t bought a mask in a while but stop by the forums to see what\'s new. Unfortunetely there isn\'t anything stirring up any interest these days, not for me at least!

[🪦 imperialhockmaster ●]

Still alive, but not kicking. I think the hobby has decreased in the last 5 years.

Yes, but the market is over saturated with hockey mask painters.

HMA and MM.net are still active. MM.net is by far the most active
I think social media has caused all forums to slow down.
I wonder if over moderation might have caused a little bit of the decline in active members. When I first joined there were members that could come off as rude and there weren\'t any word filters. Members being rude or smart asses never bothered me, I thought most of it was funny. Now it doesn\'t take much to get a thread locked and we still can\'t type M ichael M yers without it saying "that guy with the knife". Even a ss gets filtered, that\'s just silly. hiney can be said in a PG movie, but not read in a forum where we celebrate fictional serial killers and monsters. Maybe grown men talking about masks and movies didn\'t want to be treated like little kids.

Exactly what i was thinking, it seems like people started dropping off as soon as all the censorship by the mods started, that at least for me was one of my reasons for a less pleasent experience than i was use too, not only on here but Fs, and MM.net! We should be able to talk like grown ups and not be hassled for saying POOP ! And ive actually been collecting for about 15 yrs, ive seen the biz boom, and fall a few times, im thinking it will bounce back in time!