Former favorite forums that fizzled

[Sideshow Spock]

10+ years ago, the Simpsons Collector Sector forum was a beehive of activity. Playmates' Simpsons World of Springfield line was going strong, and hundreds of users spent time daily at the SCS posting amongst its many busy forums. The site became so popular and influential that Playmates often made decisions on character choices and marketing strategies based on forum input.. the SCS even hosted a panel discussion at SDCC that Playmates reps participated in.

Then, in 2004, the Simpsons line ended. Traffic on the site gradually slowed, dwindling more and more over the years.

Today, days can pass without so much as a single post. It's a ghost town. Regardless, and at their own expense, dedicated site owners keep it up and running, if only to maintain an archive of once was.

What other formerly great forums can you name that went the way of the dodo?

[pmwasson]

I was on the Simpsons Collector Sector a lot during its hay day.
I also followed all the Famous Cover mailing lists, but they died off after the line stopped (plus they had a bit of drama).

[Mikey]

Mego Central

[HardyGirl]

Yesterdayland, (both versions), went the way of the dinosaur. Sad, really...I loved those forums. Now it's a Facebook site. Some of the YL folks moved to Memory Lane, which still exists, but I can't get in anymore, b/c a pop-up keeps preventing it. I guess that happens if you haven't posted for awhile. But the reason I haven't posted, is b/c most folks have gone to Facebook. I hate Facebook, and I'm not joining.

[jwyblejr]

The Wizard boards are the fist one to pop into my mind.

[megoscott]

The Lost sites were fun during the run of the show. In it's heyday the Lostpedia forums and similar sites were abuzz with obsessive activity. Once the show went off the air that went away, naturally, although there was at least a year's worth of griping about the finale.

[Allie Fox]

Yesterdayland, (both versions), went the way of the dinosaur. Sad, really...I loved those forums. Now it's a Facebook site. Some of the YL folks moved to Memory Lane, which still exists, but I can't get in anymore, b/c a pop-up keeps preventing it. I guess that happens if you haven't posted for awhile. But the reason I haven't posted, is b/c most folks have gone to Facebook. I hate Facebook, and I'm not joining.

Ditto on all counts. I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for my HG/YL connection. Although I think the newer version of YL (Retroland) went the way of the troll. Too many jackbutts acting like they "ruled" the place. It got hostile at the end.

I remember 98-03 a few Star Wars boards that I frequented including a few that are still around:

Sir Steve's Guide (Alot of folks migrated over to Rebelscum)
Rebelscum (Alot of the same folks then migrated over to The Bounty Hunter Collective)
The Bounty Hunter Collective (Which became Galactic Hunter)
Galactic Hunter
Countingdown.com (I was an administrator here until it was bought out by . . . someone?!?)
Liningup.net

[HardyGirl]

Ditto on all counts. I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for my HG/YL connection.

Thanks Allie. I'm here for ya, buddy.

[torgospizza]

Pointless Waste of Time. I guess I found it about the time Wong's "50 Reasons Lord of the Rings Sucks" article trolled the internet and it really started to take off, but once it was bought out by Cracked, it seemed to change and the sense of community waned (along with regulars growing up and moving on) making it less interesting for some of us. The thing I miss most was the "We Saved Hitler's Brain" sub-forum wherein you could discuss politics and religion, but had to adhere to strict rules about sticking to facts and keeping it impersonal and wholly about the topic, without name-calling. It was the only place I've seen Eastern European Communist Atheists and American Conservative Christians get along and actually admire each other, because of the shared goal of arriving at the truth and what was best for society. A rarity for a comedy site.

[convoy357]

The Beckett Sportscard forum of the early '00s. Back then it was totally unmoderated and very busy. It was fun, but kind of like walking down a dark alley late at night.....you never knew what would pop up on there. Eventually moderation came, which wasn't too bad of a thing, then it turned into a dictatorship which was a bad thing, then Beckett scraped their entire website and came up with this new thing that didn't make sense. it wasn't a message board, but they tried to say it was. You couldn't browse the conversations anymore, you had to search for something with the search tab and then read all things on the site related to that topic. It was an idiotic move and at that point everyone vacated. I took one look at it and never went back. They tried to come on other boards doing damage control and trying different things to get people to come back, but from what I heard it remained a ghost town. Sometimes a little change is good, but sweeping radical changes can destroy an online community in an amazingly short time.

[johnmiic]

I used to like to read stuff on Starship Builder but the owner closed it because he just didn't have time to moderate it anymore. Also Evan's Jedi Cinema was a great site as this guy made shorts using Kenner figures in Stop-motion animation. I only have a couple of those shorts. Wish I had downloaded more.

[thunderbolt]

I was on the Simpsons Collector Sector a lot during its hay day.
I also followed all the Famous Cover mailing lists, but they died off after the line stopped (plus they had a bit of drama).

A bit of drama is an understatement. I forget the name, but the guy constantly busted my customs because they weren't FC bodies. I got a similiar warm reception here from a few former members and a former mod.

[VintageMike]

It's still going but I would have to say Rebel Scum. I used to feel the same way about it as I did here. It's pretty bad now. Bad enough to form a real rift that community. Not the kind like you see here where a couple of members behave poorly and are shown the door. A real community split. I only pop once in a blue moon because it's shadow of what it used to be. It's very sad.

[thunderbolt]

Mego Central

was that anyone's favorite? Well, maybe one persons.

[pmwasson]

This thread prompted me to put up my custom Simpsons (mostly accessories) and Famous Cover figures back online if anyone is interested.