Taking a card dump
I've had various philosophies over common cards - every card was worth something as I was desperate to pick-up cards here and there.

In reality however, I was getting too many scrap cards that I was never going to use for anything [like getting randomly autograph in-person or through the mail]. You come across many 'stragglers,' you can't begin to know where to start as far as putting meaning to them. So, instead of trying to polish the turds - you have to try and systematically flush them down the toilet.

I'm hoping to fill a box full of cards [maybe around 5,000 cards in a computer paper box] - before one of the charity organizations comes by and picks the stuff up. My father has done it recently, discarding books, why can't I do it with cards?

It is kind of a sad commentary of the cycle of hoarding stuff - but I've got to cut bait, make a decision on cards I don't really need. It maybe a cosmetic fix, but I'm trying to lighten the load so I have more time to spend on cards I like looking at and can actually use.

I don't know if every card fits neatly into these categories - but I'm trying to explain the criteria for the purging process:

Cards of individual players - most of the time, cards just pile up for particular players. Sometimes I still have unsigned cards of subjects I've recently gotten successful autograph requests from in the mail and I'm not typically going to write someone over and over. For subjects I may see in-person or want to send an autograph request to, I may have too many cards and need to whittle it down to only the cards I really want signed.

Multiplayer cards - they are neat to try and get signed by the player's pictured, but I've decided to dump many of the unsigned ones I come across. If you get one player to sign one, then you have to worry about getting the other players' autographs. I'm not looking forward to doing more [unless I can do them at the same time].

Non-sport cards - I've come across some oddball cards fitting this category. You can all have them, because I don't want them.

Promos and other giveaway type cards - Sports Illustrated for Kids cards, et al are worthless to me unless they picture an athlete I care about. Hey, I admit I grabbed my share of cards just to have them, and have only have admitted [eight or nine years later] they are pretty much worthless.

Off-condition cards - cards with nicks and dings, often minor, some damaged out of the pack, some handled a bit too much.

Other sports cards - I dabbled in other sports cards and it is funny to think about the dreck you've come across like 1990-91 Skybox basketball and 1996-97 Upper Deck Collector's Choice. I collected hockey? Who the flipping F are these football guys? A lineman here, a defensive tackle there, a backup QB there.

Cards of deceased players - I bought packs of the 1991 Topps Archives set [1952] and found maybe a couple to send off for an autograph request [maybe five years ago], with the rest of the players having passed on.

Commons - like I'll need five or six cards of a guy whose career I was barely aware of.

Baseball star cards - I get so many that I want to throw every other card away, especially if they are subset cards or ones I can't get autographed because the player doesn't sign enough to make it worthwhile just to get a card signed. I've tossed out some modern retro cards of retired players because certain ones want so much to sign anything.

Obscure baseball players - I've given upon actually sending autograph requests to a selected number of guys pictured on Major League and minor league cards. Most of the cards I've collected are from the 1990s with a few stragglers from other decades. If you're a never-has been who played in the minors during the 1990s or played sparingly in the Major Leagues as a reliever/utility infielder/back-up, then you are too damn obscure to possibly track down and send an autograph request to.