Considering pitching my junk wax...

[jchcollins]

In my bedroom closet, I have about 2 or 3 1000-count or whatever boxes, that contain the bulk of the cards from my childhood collection that came out of wax and cello from roughtly 1986 to 1994. I'm considering going through these one last time, removing any remaining stars or rookies, and then just pitching them. Thoughts? I know the deal, I have no delusions of grandeur that they are worth any kind of money - today I have hung onto a select few 1980's sets for sentimental reasons, but other than that I'm mostly hard into vintage.

Would you pitch them if you were me? I haven't looked in the boxes hardly at all for the most part in the last 15 years. At this point it seems like they are just wasting space.

Thanks...

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

In my bedroom closet, I have about 2 or 3 1000-count or whatever boxes, that contain the bulk of the cards from my childhood collection that came out of wax and cello from roughtly 1986 to 1994. I'm considering going through these one last time, removing any remaining stars or rookies, and then just pitching them. Thoughts? I know the deal, I have no delusions of grandeur that they are worth any kind of money - today I have hung onto a select few 1980's sets for sentimental reasons, but other than that I'm mostly hard into vintage.

Would you pitch them if you were me? I haven't looked in the boxes hardly at all for the most part in the last 15 years. At this point it seems like they are just wasting space.

Thanks...

Yes pitch them after going through them for one last time. I have burned easily 100K junk era cards in the last 2 years I was tired of storing.

[silvor]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

It this point it seems like they are just wasting space.

Thanks...

What will you do with the gained space? Just fill it up with more junk? I find I throw out stuff all the time and that space isn't used for anything better.

Since they are cards from your childhood, and if you can find space for them (garage maybe?). Keep them.

That said, I've heard many card shop owners tell me junk cards go right to the recycle bin.

[fastfiat81]

I am in the same boat as you and have been trying to decide what to do with 20,000 1982-86 junk.

I will watch this thread with interest in the opinions.

Good luck!

[HasselhoffsCheeseburger]

Guess it depends on what you're looking to get out of the hobby. If this is strictly a fun thing for you to do, yeah, definitely keep them. I've gone through two rounds of "throwing everything out" and I regret each one; it'll never happen again.

If you're looking more to turn a buck, the odds of finding a hidden gem from the era are decreasing exponentially.

I think a lot of people throw junk wax era stuff out as a form of catharsis or out of spite. Junk wax era broke a lot of hearts back in the day.

Arthur

[NiceDocter]

I would suggest either donating them to the Goodwill or Salvation army and let some kid hit the jackpot cheap! I gave away over 100,000 cards to the Ronald McDonald House also and they were glad to get them.......

[pokerplyr80]

I remember a post a while back from a teacher who did something with junk era cards as rewards for students. Seemed like a cool idea. I'd call a local school and see if they want them before I would toss them away.

[AGuinness]

I'm still in the process of doing this. I'm keeping cards that really stood out from my childhood (the 1987 Topps set really roped me in), but donating most everything else. I found a nonprofit in my city that was interested in them a couple years ago, so I gave one 5k box to them (that was tax deductible).
Another option is http://commons4kids.org. I sent a large flat-rate box full of cards to them last month (including a Griffey Jr. 89 UD that Net54 member maximus35 sent to me for no compensation - thanks again!). They donate the cards to a variety of organizations (donations to commons4kids are not tax-deductible though).
I've found that finding a local nonprofit can take a little time. I'm going to put together another 5k box soon to donate, and reached out to a local group last night. The email I got in response noted that they wouldn't be able to use them and suggested I do an online search to find an organization that could (gee - where did they think I found their information to send them an email?).
As for the space it creates, I'm someone who prefers empty space to clutter, so even if I'm not planning on using it for anything else, donating and de-cluttering is the way to go.