General Forum

Hi everyone, Alan Schwarz here. I'm trying to thin out my collection -- I live in Manhattan and don't have room for everything -- and I have thousands of commons of 2012-2015 Topps base, 2012 and 2016 Heritage, all sorts of Archives years, Diamond Kings, etc. I don't want the bother of selling them on eBay. Trading them here doesn't make sense, either, because I simply don't have the time to enter them in and, even then, trades will be clumsy because all I want is 2017 inserts. SO......

Rather than try to sell them, which is basically impossible, I will essentially GIVE THEM AWAY. I will group things into sets -- 2015 Archives, 2016 Heritage, 2012 Topps base, etc. There will be anywhere between 100 and 600 of each group, probably. They are basically commons, of course, but there are plenty of mid-star players, rookies, etc., which might be worth something someday but no big deal. I doubt there are any short prints, as I try to be careful with those, but I'll bet there are a few I missed. Who knows.

I love this site and the collecting spirit, so what the heck, right? All I would ask is three things:

1) You're a collector, not a dealer. The idea is to either fill in your set or start the base of a new one.

2) The collector pays the postage.

3) The collector, upon receiving the cards, considers the possibility of sending me a little money they think is an in-the-spirit thank-you. IT CAN BE ZERO. NO HARD FEELINGS. But, if you say to yourself, "Hey, this stuff is awesome, I would have paid $20 for it," then maybe throw me $10? I don't know. Again, all in the spirit of collecting -- I'll just put the money toward a 2017 Series Two box or something. I ain't going to Aruba on it, you know?

I wanted to propose this as only an idea first -- perhaps people on the site think this it's not good for some reason, which is fine. Just wanted to throw it out there.

What do you think?

--alan.

I think it's a great idea. It's also very generous. For the record, I would be interested in taking part. Not a dealer, just a collector. 

I am also interested.. Not a dealer... How many cards appox. ???

I Do Mineesota Twins TTM Autos  So i'd love any twins cards.

Alan, 

A thank you ahead of times as I have holes in my Topps collect for years 2012 to 2014 in topps and Topps heritage.  Big holes in some Topps heritage as I don't have enoght to say I have some.  Example 2008  I have about 8 cards out of the set.  I was working on the regular issues I was missing from 2007 to 2015.

Robert

I can't see any downside to this at all.  I'd love to participate, if eligible:  I get a table at two or three shows a year to help feed my habit and I try to trade my commons for Buckeyes and Cardinals whenever I can, since that is my primary collection.  What a great and generous idea!

I'm interested too.  Here's a thought for you....what about maybe doing flat rate boxes... think small is something like $7 so maybe the cost is $10, this way postage is covered and you get a little towards your goal, and if a medium box is $12 then go with $15 etc... might make things little easier for you.

I am interested as well.  I am only in it for the fun of collecting, and have been very generous with the cards i don't want as well.  I am in the process of thinning my cards out too and have given away around 3600 cards away to young collectors so far this year that are kids of co workers or family members to try and spark some interest from the younger generations.  It would be nice to see the tradition of collecting cards to keep going. 

I'd be interested as well. I only collect STL Cardinals, but I like to help other collectors complete their sets. I'm willing to pay shipping to get a bunch of cards. I have tons of contacts for set and team collectors, so I'd be happy to move some cards around for you. I don't mind storing cards that don't get moved immediately either. I am NOT a seller, just a collector AND one who likes to help other collectors complete their goals. For example, I just had a NASCAR trade accepted on Thursday (which he proposed) on another site and then mentioned that he was trying to complete the 1st two 2016 Panini sets. I asked him what he needed and I was able to knock out all but 5 of the cards from both sets. I didn't make a new trade offer, just told him I would add those with the cards I was already sending him. He isn't even a NASCAR collector, just a set collector that wanted to finish sets he started after checking out the Panini Prizm and Torque releases. I am happy to help him reach that goal without gaining anything in return.

I would also be very interested.  I don't have anything form these years and would love to start putting some new sets together.  I even really enjoy just sifting through commons, as one of my favorite past times is just sorting cards and putting them in order, so this would be awesome for me.  I'd be willing to take anything and participate in any way.  I am not a collector either.  I even have a friend that lives near Paramus that is in Manhattan every now and then and might be willing to pick them up for me, since he drives home a couple times a year.

I am not a dealer either.  I think it's really cool of you to do something like this!