Chain Mail: Charter Rules and Official Sign Up

 

 

Good evening folks.  A few weeks back, I asked for some feedback regarding a new idea I had.  Well the idea was new to me anyway.  I got several positive responses regarding participation and even the responses that didn't want to participate had some good thoughts about the idea.  So I have decided to give it a try.  Of course in order to try a new game, you really need some rules to play by.  The first half of this post will be to set things up.  Sure it might be a little dry, but it's better to have everyone know what is up before anything begins.  

QUICK OVERVIEW

In case you forgot or just didn't feel like clicking the link above, what I am talking about is a box of cards which follows a group of 6 willing participants much like a chain letter.  Each participant will go through the box(es) of cards and take what they want.  Whatever they take, they replace with similar cards.  Then the box is shipped to the next person on the list and he/she does the same thing until it all comes back to the original sender, in this case me.

DETAILED SET UP

The box will be a medium flat rate Priority Mail box.  Inside I will have 3 400 count boxes with somewhat specific limits and 2 200 count boxes filled with delicious randomness.  

1 400 count box will be baseball from 2011 - present

1 400 count box will be baseball from 1995 - present

1 400 count box will be baseball from 1957 - present

1 200 count box will be miscellaneous baseball

1 200 count box will be anything and everything non-baseball, could be football, basketball, hockey, soccer, MMA, wrestling, non sport.  Basically any cards that aren't baseball.  Let's get crazy with this one folks.

If you want to include cards that are not standard sized, such as pre-1957 Topps or 1989 Bowman put them in top loaders somewhere in the box.  But I figured the boxes would be best kept as standard size.  Any mini cards you want to include, put them in penny sleeves first and then put them in the regular boxes. 

I figure that setup can give us the greatest mix where everyone can get some stuff they want.  And we can hopefully avoid stuff like someone taking everything and filling the boxes with a bunch of 1988 Donruss.

I will also include 6 plastic boxes, each labeled with the name of a participant and their specific collection(s).  When the box arrives to you, you may take all the cards from the box with your name.  When you refill the box, you may add any cards you specifically want to go to a specific person to the plastic box.  

I did this in order to equalize the order a bit.  Being 2nd on the list gives you 1st pick at everything, but it also means you get specific cards from one person.  Being 6th on the list means you get a lot of leftovers, but you should have a full plastic case of specific cards for you.  And being the original sender, you get what you get, but you'd also get specific cards from everyone else.  

The final inclusion will be an envelope for each participant.  Inside the envelope will be a prepaid mailing label already addressed and return addressed.  Each person will remove the label that was on the box when they received it and will put the label from envelope in its place.  

I figured if everyone paid shipping before we started, it would make sure everyone was invested in the completion of the project.  It would also give the entire group all of the tracking numbers beforehand to eliminate any real possibility of less than honorable practices.  Not that I think anyone from this community would do that, but you never really know.  Better safe than sorry.

When you get the box, don't dawdle but don't be in a big hurry either.  Take a few days and really enjoy looking through the cards.  I figure a week is plenty of time, so we should probably try and limit it a week after you get the box before you need to mail it again.

GETTING STARTED

As I mentioned, this project will require six people.  I will be one of the six and will be Participant #1 meaning the box will start with me and I will fill the boxes myself.  What we now need is Participants #2, #3, #4, #5, & #6.  I will give a reserved spot to anyone that wanted in with the first feedback post.  Tentatively we have four spots claimed already.  Those four people are not obligated to play, but they do have a spot reserved unless they say otherwise.  The cost will be $15.  For that 15 bucks, you will get the opportunity to look through 1600 cards at a minimum. Even if you only keep 10%, you are basically paying a dime a card and can be much cheaper if you keep more.  

PLEASE DON'T SEND ANY MONEY UNTIL WE GET ALL SPOTS FILLED

1. hiflew - CONFIRMED

2. jeremya1um - CONFIRMED

3. gcrl - CONFIRMED

4. The Diamond King - CONFIRMED

5. (Matt G)

6. OPEN

After we get all six spots filled, I will randomize the names on random.org.  I will randomize the list as many times as necessary.  The first time that hiflew is in position #1 on the randomization will be the exact mailing order since I am going to be starting the mailing regardless.  

Keep in mind, I am just making this up as I go.  I have no precedent to guide the way, so I may have forgotten something.  If there are any points that I did not cover, please ask.  If there are any questions at all, please ask.

If you want to play, let me know.

Thanx for reading.

New Idea: Chain Mail - Feedback needed

 

 

Hey guys.  I missed my regular Sunday appointment here due to basic sluggishness.  But while I didn't really have the energy to type out a post, my brain was still working on an idea that I figured I would try to get feedback on.  This idea actually goes back a long time to a swap between myself and Tom from the recently retired (hopefully not permanently) blog The Angels in Order.  He sent me a 1000 count long box full of glorious randomness that I fully enjoyed sifting through.  It was one of the better trades I have had and to be honest I don't even remember all the cards I ended up keeping.  But I do remember the enjoyment of going through random cards.  Which brings me to my idea.

For some reason I was sitting in my recliner and remembered being 16 years old and falling for an old school snail mail chain letter scam.  For those of you that have no idea what that is, it was basically a pyramid scheme where you sent $1 to six names on a list and then sent 200 copies of the chain letter to new people with your name added to the bottom of the list with the #1 name removed and everyone else bumped up.  At the time, I thought it was a can't miss way of making money.  Oh how sad I was.  In reality, the only people that made any money was the company that I bought the 200 names and addresses from for like $50 and the Post Office.  I mailed all 200 letters including the stamps which set me back another $25 or so.  In short, I never received even a single dollar bill in the mail.  I don't regret doing it.  In all it was about a $100 investment that taught me a lot about swindles and legal con men.  That lesson was worth $100.  

 

The reason I told those two stories was that they inspired me to a trade idea.  I call it Chain Mail.  The idea is to get a list of six willing participants along with one flat rate box and fill it with cards that don't fit into my collection.  Then I would send however many cards I can safely fit into that box (preferably in smaller boxes to prevent damage) to the first name on the list.  That person would look through the cards, hopefully have a lot of fun, and take whatever he or she wants.  Then that person would replace all the cards they took with cards from their own trade box and ship to the #2 name on the list.  Then that person would repeat the process.  Then the 3rd person, then 4th, all the way to the last person on the list.  The last person on the list would also take what they wanted and refill the box from their trade stuff and ship it back to the original mailer.  My thought is that six people (counting the original mailer) would be the perfect number because it would probably take about six weeks from start to finish. From there I now have questions.

Do you guys like this idea?  Do you think it would actually work?  Do you think it would be a fun experiment?  Is six the best number in your opinion?  Would you want to participate?  How much money would it take for you go out in public wearing the question mark suit and bow tie combo?  

I realize it would take a lot of trust in the rest of the people on the list, especially for the original mailer.  This is why I would suggest not sending anything other than cards you wouldn't really miss. But I have faith that the blogging community is still trustworthy enough to pull something like this off.  You might get some cards for your collection.  You might get ideas and starter stacks for new sets to tackle.  You might get rid of some cards that are cool, but you don't have a trade partner for.  I shouldn't have said that because I now feel the original mailer will end up with about 1000 Miami Marlins cards.  But hey it could still be fun.

Let me know your thoughts because I think could be a lot of fun.

Thanx for reading.