posted 07-20-2004 09:23 AM               

I am appreciative to each and every one of you that has taken the time to post here, or e-mail privately, approach me at an event or even have written an old fashioned letter to express what collectSPACE has meant to you. It is because of your support that the site flourishes today and will do so for many years into the future.

A very special thanks to those who have contributed their knowledge and expertise, experiences and advice through articles and guides posted to the news and resources sections of the site. My gratitude to Stephen Beck for our first cross-link to his autopen guide and astronaut address information; to Donald and Tamara Boggs for their excellent series on NASA publications; Ray Cartier for sharing his knowledge of covers; Ben Cooper for his impressive photography; Joe Davies for his passion for lunar artifacts; Eugene Dorr for introducing us all to patch collecting; to Wayne Edelman for contributing his thoughts to a series of editorials; to Jürgen Esders for his sharing how to write to cosmonauts; to Francis French for his interviews and more recently, behind-the-scenes look at Apollo 9; to Roger Guillemette for his Dyna-Soar review; Joe Gutheinz for volunteering his legal expertise; to Ed Hengeveld and Philip Corneille for their dedicated index to astronaut portraits; to Bernie Hogya for his treasure trove of NASA documents; to our most recent contributor, Rick Houston and his soon-to-be regular series of DVD reviews; to Tracy Kornfeld for expressing his passion for model building; Larry McGlynn for his collection of book reviews; to Bob McLeod for his past and future contributions that inspire new interest in cover collecting; to Kim Poor for sharing his experience as both a world-class artist and a world-class dealer; to Matt Scherzi for our first book recommendation; to Jake Schultz for demonstrating that you really can live in a museum; to Dave Senechal for his model reviews; to Chris Smith for his Russian patch guide, one of our first; to Rob Sumowski for reminding us all the great feeling of sharing our collections with our communities; to Karl Tate for his love of space toys; and Howard Weinberger for his expert research on the history of Robbins Medallions.

A special thanks to Russ Still, whose "Relics of the Space Race" was not only an inspiration for collectSPACE since its beginning but who graciously volunteered his time to be our first contributing columnist.

And to Ken Havekotte for his tremendous support throughout these past five years and several beforehand. It is his passion and knowledge for space history and memorabilia that I have tried to emulate on cS.

To John Sisson, Dan Mangieri, Curtis Roos, Scott Schneeweis and Steve Zarelli for being the first five to list themselves in the collectSPACE Directory of Collectors and Dealers.

To Leon Ford, Cindy Schellenberg, Matt Miller, Dan Lorraine and George Motley for joining this very message board five years ago first. And to Bill O'Donnell for being our 1000th member.

To our regular posters, including Al Hallonquist, François Guay, Scott Cornish, Chet Diamond, Hart Sastrowardoyo, Jacques van Oene, Brian McKay, David Hitt, James Brown, Doug Henry, Colin Burgess, Kris Stoever, Noah Bradley, and many, many, many more who make reading the message boards daily both interesting and enlightening.

To Superior Galleries, Aurora Galleries, Christie's and Swann Galleries for inviting cS into their auctions and assisting with our coverage.

Thanks to our partners Florian Noller (Spaceflori), Scott Bleisath (Countdown Enterprises), Steve Hankow (Farthest Reaches), Gregg Linebaugh (AVD/The Space Source), and to our friends at the National Space Society, SPACE.com, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, the Association of Space Explorers and Space Adventures.

Thanks to the astronauts and former/present NASA directors that read and contribute to collectSPACE, you know who you are.

And finally, thanks to you, who is reading this post right now.

Hopefully what this long list of people will impart is that cS is more than just my site as its editor. It is yours, read by you, made by you, shaped by you and furthered by your interest. It is the accomplishment of a community and for that you are all due my thanks and gratitude.

With luck, this list will have doubled, if not grown exponentially by 2009, when cS reaches 10. Until then, keep collecting space!

posted 07-20-2004 10:24 AM               

THANKS ROBERT!

posted 07-20-2004 10:28 AM               

One day, there will be www. friendsofCS. com, where there will be a message board where we and our daughter and sons will be debating the historical importance and circumstances of CollectSPACE!

posted 07-20-2004 11:52 AM               

Thank you, Robert. Thank you for not only furthering the hobby, but in your way for helping to further my journalism interest. I've met many cSers on-line and a few in-person, and I hope at Burbank a bunch of us cSers can meet at the bar and swap stories and a have a drink to you.

posted 07-20-2004 11:57 AM               

And thank you, Robert, for establishing our own Tranquility Base here on the 'net!

posted 07-20-2004 02:48 PM            

Way to go!

Through this site I've collected not only space artifacts, but friends, ideas and a wealth of information from the folks that post and contribute here.

Thanks to you Robert and everyone at cS!

posted 07-20-2004 03:25 PM               

I stumbled across Collectspace a few years ago now...Living over here...across the pond..I never thought that I would get the chance to meet some of my heroes...least of all Al Worden, Neil Armstrong, Dick Gordon and all the other Astronauts and Cosmonauts that in such a short period of time I have had the privilege to meet.

I have also furthered my own knowledge through people who post here..I have also made some good friends, and have enjoyed their company at a number of events I have attended...that I would otherwise probably not heard about...so thank you for making all of this possible.

Well done...and well said.....

Andrew

posted 07-20-2004 04:03 PM               

Guess a similar slogan counts for every great community, especially this tremendous CS community - Robert said that in his message starting this thread ...

I second, third, fourth, ... all these nice words said about you, Robert, and collectspace ! What a wonderful place for all us space nuts to meet, share infos and advices, make (online, but maybe later IRL) friendships ...

Keep up the tremendous work Robert and everyone !

All the best, Kirsten

posted 07-20-2004 04:04 PM            

Congrats, Robert, and thanks for all you've done. Love this space place!

posted 07-20-2004 04:06 PM               

Massive thanks and appreciation to you Robert for all the effort you must put into this site daily. Nice one.

Thank you to everyone who makes up this community; you all brighten up my day and help me fill my house with priceless junk. Here's to five more years round the collectSPACE campfire, and many more in person meetings.

Cheers,
Matt

posted 07-20-2004 09:47 PM               

Today, after reading the lead post here from the founder, I can easily add that I wished I had collectSpace when I was a kid.....
I published an updated Space Primer back in 1973 and attempted to publish The Grand Tour as a monthly space collectors publication after that.....but lack of subscribers put me out of business after a couple-three years of off and on publishing.

collectSpace is a tremendous asset to all of our everyday space collecting lives and I wish it well on its' 5th birthday with many, many more to come.

posted 07-21-2004 01:29 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
What started as a hobby site has grown to be nearly a full time profession.- Robert

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Full time profession? How do I get a job like this?

Congratulations on 5 years. This has been one of the web sites that I check nearly every day (or more). I don't think I want to know how much time I've spent here while at work, I'm sure that would be a very large and somewhat embarassing number!
I've met some great email friends here, my collection has grown with the help of other members selling me their extra and/or unwanted stuff, and met a guy nearby (Jake) who is my inspiration for my own home musuem. Ha! (I'll never catch up though)

posted 07-22-2004 12:27 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by dss65:
You must be as nuts as my wife says (knows) I am!

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More nuts, if you count the hours we spent after the lecture (and finding his limo, but not him) waiting for Mike Melvill. I've taken NJ Transit to NYC and them Amtrak to Connecticut to meet Cady Coleman (successful) and Franklin Chang-Diaz (unsuccessful.) I've also taken Amtrak from Wilimington, Delaware to have a very expensive coffee with Bill Nelson (this was the day Charlie Bolden was to have been confirmed as deputy NASA admin, or something like that, but got pulled at the last minute, and I wasn't aware of that.) I spent just as much, if not more time, with Bob Phillips (who was eager to talk about Spacelab 4) than the main attraction at the National Science Teachers' Convention, Barbara Morgan. I've interviewed Jake Garn in NYC and then made a mad dash thru the Queens-Midtown and on the LIE - known as the world's largest parking lot - come literally to a screeching halt in Garden City, jumped out the car and ran to the Cradle of Aviation Museum, press pass in hand, for Fred Haise's lecture last year.

And this October, lured by a bargain air fare, I want to fly to North Carolina and back the same day (!) to see Sally Ride. And I've seen her once before....

posted 07-22-2004 07:19 PM               

I'm humbled that you included me in your list of thank yous, but hat's are off to you, my friend. You have been the singlest biggest boost this hobby has seen in the past five years. You're a spokesman, an enabler of opportunities, a unifier, at times an arbitrator, but always a friend to every collector.

I've met almost every fellow collector I know thanks to you.

Thank you.

posted 07-24-2004 07:59 AM               

Thanks for all your efforts Robert, and for your excellent moderation of this board. You have the perfect way of swooping in and calming the many passionate viewpoints that are expressed here. See you in Burbank.