Friday, July 5, 2019

Yet Another PAD Circus Update! (07/04/2019)

Whew! You would not believe how many cards I've been sorting through... Or, maybe you would if you've been around for the several PAD Circus projects we've had over the years.

Because of the holiday, I was actually able to knuckle down and just get the sorting done.  Or, mostly done. I still have oversized and oddball-sized items to sort (A&G box loaders, Bowman big, Topps Big, Donruss large cards, an 8x10 or two, Topps coins/chipz, MSA discs, etc etc).

I did a VERY rough estimate of the cards which are sorted into team boxes (pictured below). At roughly 600+ cards per team (except Indians as noted below), the total for that is nearly 20,000 cards! Note, team names are upside down because they are written on the lids for the "drawers." Oh, and Mariners are lower right, unlabeled because the Mariners box is adrift somewhere...

Oversized/Oddball Items
Team Boxes

Add to that the non-baseball items (note: also includes players for which I could not find a team due to only being minor league, japan-only, etc). How many cards are there of those? I have no idea right now, but we could conservatively guess more than 2000 easy. Those are contained in the two photos below:

Non-Baseball/No-Team Cards
More Non-Baseball/No-Team Cards

Then, we have the myriad of Indians cards that I have scattered about. The Indians team box (above) had cards in it, but the majority of Indians cards (shown below) have not been sorted - meaning I have to take inventory and see which ones I need and which ones will be sent off. Frankly, after seeing all these, I am tempted to simply ship them ALL off...

The 2nd and 3rd boxes are full of Indians

This box is full of Tribers

Yes, those are ALL just Indians cards!
Altogether, we're easily talking about 30,000+ cards sorted or to be sorted! Holy smokes!!

Since we're on the subject of sorting, here are a few observations I've made:

  1. I have always loathed sorting, and this endeavor did not change my mind about the process.
  2. Sorting with purpose and determination condensed the bulk of the process into about two-and-a-half days' work (meaning roughly 20 hours or so, approximately, I think).
  3. I am not sure where some of these cards came from - not from PAD breaks and not from various packs/boxes I've opened myself that I can recall. Oh well, maybe my memory is going.
  4. If I have to see one more 1988 Topps Giants Leaders card, I will probably just burn the whole lot of cards. I feel for the person who selected (or will select if they are not already taken as I write this) the Giants.
  5. There were WAY more "hits" than I ever imagined: autos, relics, rip cards, and others. I think, though don't hold me to this, each team has at least one "hit" card. Many teams have several!
  6. I discovered cards that had already been sorted and marked for previous PAD Circus programs. I will get those packaged up and send them out after the 4th holiday weekend! I have no idea what's in some of the packages, so enjoy!
  7. There's a good chance I put some of the wrong players with the wrong teams. Consider those "collating errors." 
  8. There were a ton of Team USA cards (or something similar). I just gave everyone I could at least one of them. The rest went into the non-team box. You're welcome or I'm sorry, whichever applies to your cut of those.
  9. Yankees dominated the sorting with the Red Sox falling in a close second. Seriously. How many freaking Yankees cards could I possibly have!? My estimate: 1100+ easy.
  10. I have a LONG way to go for the Indians. Those will be sent out once I decide how the sorting will go. 
  11. Finally, to those who may feel "ripped off" or "gypped out" of their PAD Circus cards from the past 6 years (talk about procrastinating!), I am very deeply sorry. I know this isn't how all this was supposed to go down, and I can only ask your forgiveness and hope future giveaway programs will bring you much better and more timely cardboard for your collections.