Curious if any bitcointalk securities old timers still even check this forum.
I do. I'm also one of the few people left around here that has experience with each of the mentioned schemes.
It is interesting to think we're witnessing the same events repeating over and over again at larger scale. Also of note is that while a vast majority of the old "classical bitcoin securities" were indeed nothing more than scams, I can personally say that their harm spread to legitimate offerings as well. NastyFans for example, I consider to have been a 'baby thrown out with the bathwater' as a result of the widespread scamming in this community. When I think of what could have been built if people had trusted the right individuals, it really makes the current state of the trust network here beyond depressing. Being one of the few that experienced all of this and lived to tell the tale, I can say that it is unlikely we'll ever witness that golden era of community supporting developers with new projects here again. There are just too many people focused on negativity that are unable to create anything of value and instead focus their energy on teaming up to gain control for their own nefarious purposes (typically to have control over getting their alt accounts into signature campaigns).
Anyway, getting back on topic, I worry that maybe as these "same events" repeat themselves, there may be a danger of Bitcoin being the baby thrown out with the bathwater next. Toxicity is difficult to contain...