Happy Anniversary to The Shack!! It's been one year since I took the site off of Geocities and registered the dot com name. And things have been steadily growing and evolving since. I thought it would be fun to look back at all that has changed. By the way, does anyone remember that old banner above? It was the first one I ever made.

I would say that the site now is nothing at all like it used to be. Sure there is some content that was on the Geocities site, but the place back then was really nothing more than a trade/want list and a message board. The Daily Picture has always been a staple, and of course there were links to other sites. But beyond those three sections, there isn't much in common anymore. Once I registered the name, I decided that I should make this place a worthwhile visit for folks. And that's when things really took off.

The first step was to find a niche, something that the other diecast sites on the internet didn't have. And that was no easy task. Ken over at Diecast Illustrated had price guides, product reviews, new pictures, the works. Neal at NCHWA also has a price guide, and numerous Hot Wheels features. David's Wheels always has the latest Hot Wheels news and pictures. Chester and David at Collector's Database have the Collector Profile section. I began to think there was nothing left to cover.

But I did notice a theme on most of the sites out there. Hot Wheels. That was it. There wasn't much news about all the other toy cars out there. And even fewer pictures. So I set out to build a site that would cover all the bases. And yes, Hot Wheels does get a lot of air time on the site, only because there are more aspects of that manufacturer. But I think over the last year that a good deal of space has been given to Johnny Lightning, Muscle Machines, Matchbox, Jada, Maisto, and all the other smaller companies.

But building a site filled with pictures of cars isn't very interesting. I still needed something to spark some interest by the visitors, and get them to come back and visit again. So I enlisted the help of the Message Board visitors. And the two features that really stand out came from the same source. Keldog. He suggested both the Let's Compare and Inspiration features. When the Shack was very young, Kel used to do car comparisons on the Message Board. I asked if he'd mind if I used that as a page, and the first new feature of the Shack was born. And a couple of months later The Inspiration followed. Those two features can probably carry the site, but I thought that a place to let the visitors speak was also needed. Hence the Your Take On.... page. That's another of my favorites. I get a kick out of reading the thoughts of others, and their own unique views of collecting. And that was pretty much the beginning of the dot com version. Over the balance of the year, new features were added as I saw the need for them. One that grew out of a couple of emails is the Customizer's Showcase. A few guys posted their completed work on the Message Boards, and I would get emails asking for the address of the builder. Folks wanted to know how the car was done. So why not put it right up front, step by step? The next feature that was added again came from Keldog. Since he stopped doing the comparisons on the Message Board, and also since he has a true love for track sets, he put together the In The Loop section. And the final new addition to the site also grew out of a need. Raymond McKee has been writing his Keep It In Scale article for a quite a while. When Ken decided to close Diecast Illustrated, Raymond asked me if I'd like to host his feature. Being a huge fan of his writings, I'd have been a fool to say no. Of course, the Message Boards are the true anchor of any site, and The Shack is no different.

I can remember when the boards had about 10 registered visitors, and we were lucky to see 15 posts a week. And as of today, the Boards are still small and slow compared to the other sites out there, but that's OK. Quality versus quantity prevails in this case. The boards haven't become overburdened with flames and bashing. They've become a source of good diecast info and fun. The way it should be. There have been numerous contests and we even had a season long NFL/Diecast contest. If you never played in that, just wait until this season. I think it'll be better than ever. The boards have gone through changes as well, some added, some removed. And I'm sure as the months go by, there will be other changes. We'll just have to wait and see..... As I was writing this, a thought about the board visitors popped into my head. I was thinking back on that initial group of names. And most of those names are still active today. Keldog, Shawn, 65V-Dub, RatRod, Mojoqueen, PicturesUSA (in one of many names), Joey Elsbernd (in one of many names also),  and Tony Frey all come to mind as folks I remember from the early days. Days as far back as the now defunct Cool Boards days almost three years ago on the Geocities site.

Is The Shack finished in it's evolution? Of course not. There's always something new popping up, or a feature that has been overlooked. I do know that the place isn't going away anytime soon. I thank each and every one of you for visiting, and for your suggestions and feedback. Without feedback, I'd have no idea what you'd like to see or read about. And further, if I tried to do everything on the site myself, I'd burn out quickly. Phil's (Oldpole) continual links to help me with The Inspiration, the various Customizer's who teach us all new tips and tricks, and the folks who send me their Take On the diecast world keep the site balanced. It would get pretty boring if everything was my point of view. There are some new things planned for the coming months. I think you'll enjoy them, and if you don't, I'm sure you'll tell me.

Here's to another year of diecast fun at The Shack!!

--Joe

ps--One thing that will never change is the Car Bar. When I last revamped the site, I removed that picture. Boy, did I catch a lot of flak for that!! If there are anymore front page changes, rest assured, gang, that the bar will be used somewhere, LOL!!