you have to live and learn. those of us who have been around for a while have argued this ad infinitum. And we seasoned members are more than willing to help newer chippers.
Slabs have permeated and ruined many a hobby.
The people on this board will be more than happy to help out a newbie....but it's all about being educated before making snippy remarks.
Do your reading..on this board and on the CC>CC official site.
It's not in the code of ethics per se, but it's all over the CC site; David has taken a large part of the responsibility of maintaining the club's fake pages etc. to help people from getting screwed over by repaired chips, fakes, and many other problems.
Slabbing is seen by many as a vacant attempt by grading companies whose only goal is profit...and the slabbers don't have a uniform code to abide by.
Please, don't bite the hand(s) that feed. We'd like to get to know you and educate you; remember that you will catch more flies with sugar than vinegar, so try not to alienate us early on.
And the slab-free chapter must exist as a seperate entity....the club is a 501(c)(3) not for profit....a conflict of interests could lead to the non profit status being revoked.
That's why there are no longer "official' sub-chapters of the club.
Live and learn....and listen to Archie, David, Gene, myself and all the others. This is not some kind of insider's clique...it exists to keep our hobby a "hobby." Aside from the fact that "slabbin' ain;t chippin'," as the saying goes, holds true. But it's ultimately your choice of course. Jumping all over the good guys will NOT help you in the long run...
A wise man once said "buy the book before the chip." It'd be a good idea for you to explore all angles and read up on this before rushing to any conclusions.
And that's my two cents.
Mike