Heh I'm not a veteran although I don't consider 
myself a newbie anymore.

One distinguishing feature of not-a-newbie and 
becoming a veteran is exactly your comment Chi. I 
feel that part of shedding one's newbie status is 
knowing where to find information when you lack 
it. For example, if I started collecting 
Dragonball cels, I know of a couple people I 
could email and ask -- even if I've never spoken 
to them before. If I wanted to buy a hanken cel, 
I know of several people I could bug as well. 
Most people are very open with their expertise 
and I've gotten over my shyness a long time ago.

So to combine a lot of ideas in this thread:
newbies often don't know when they don't know 
something.
Veterans do and can ask the right person the 
right questions.

Wendy