As we're celebrating the 4th, our hobby should remember 1976 and guys who took collecting slots out of the shadows by standing up to silly government regulation like Jerry Kenzer, who had his collection confiscated (valued at $50,000 even back then!) but fought back and, with the help of guys like Dick Bueschel, eventually got the California law changed. Leading to others all across the country to get states to move toward common sense for collectors. As seen in another thread posted on this Forum, it continues to this day in the remaining backward states.
In a way, I miss the early days when collecting slots was legally shady and the hunt was often the most enjoyable part of the find. Back then, the common comment was "look what I found; let's see how it works" rather than "look what I got; how much is it worth." But I guess the wealth of good information and speed of communication available today, makes it worthwhile to put up with the misinformation on all the silly Facebook groups.
This may seem trivial on the day we celebrate real patriots who risked it all for their countrymen, but it's not; with the incredible foolishness we see in all aspects of our government today, we need more people willing to stand up for common sense!