Originally Posted by GeneV 
I just don't realize there being so much buzz about good and bad copies of lenses 20 years ago, but maybe we just didn't have the communication.
Bingo. We live in a 24/7 news cycle, and an online world where everyone is an expert and 3rd-hand rumor becomes "fact" by a combination of good-intentions, stupidity and spite.
Wow, sounds like my first marriage...