OK, Subject to Harris' approval (or whoever is the approving person for Card Talk these days,) I would like to announce that I will be setting up the Mystery Box concept once again.

Here are the RULES:
1. There will be three boxes. Box #1 will be called Promos, Box #2 will be called Inserts New and will contain just those insert cards dated 2000 to modern day Box #3 will be known as Inserts Old and will contain just those inserts dated 1999 and older.
2. Each box will contain 50 assorted cards.
3. Each box can have up to 20 subscribers (but no more)Depending on uptake it could be less.
4. No box shall have a duplicate card in it.
5. Condition of all cards must be Near mint/Mint.
6. Exchange rate will always be 1 for 1
7. Please do not take cards for their resale value, Only take cards that you need for your collection.
Eligibility
1. All subscribers must have been on Card Talk for a minimum of 6 months.
2. All subscribers must have made a minimum of 50 posts.
3. All subscribers must be honest and fair at all times.

Sending & Receiving
1. On receiving a box of cards the recipient must email me to state that he/she has received it. Then they must email me again to say that they have sent it to the next recipient.
2. In the interests of privacy all mailing addresses will be held by me.
3. As soon as you have sent me an email to say you have received the box I will send you an email with the next recipient's street address.
4.On receiving a box you have seven days to take what you need and to send me an email to say that it has been sent.
5. You can hang on to a box for an extra week only under exceptional circumstances and only where it is absolutely necessary.

The order of send
1. The first boxes will be based on a first in first served basis.
2. The first box having been gone a week before the second box is released and another week before the third box is released. This will stop all three boxes arriving at one destination and will generally speed the process up.

Finally, this system will only work of people are consistently honest and genuine. The whole concept will crash and burn if just one person decides to rort the system.

I anticipate the first box to leave here about Feb 1.

Penalties and Punishments
Any breech of these rules will mean unless you have got a very good reason why, you will be listed as a defaulter after three weeks
If you are still holding on for four weeks you will be shipped off to Latvia forever and after five weeks of default without good reason you will be required to post a picture of yourself on Card Talk wearing the underwear of the opposite sex and have a sign hung around your neck which states in bold lettering "I am a thieving douch-bag"
Finally all cards will be provided my me (initially). However the box called Inserts New will not contain 50 cards newer than 2000 because I simply do not have any. Instead I will pack it with Old Inserts and you should always replace any cards that you want for trades that are 2000 or newer. It should not take long before the box is completely changed over.
I am really looking forward to running this as I trust you are. Please do not take any action just yet. You will get a posting on this site saying when to register.
Good luck everyone

Cheers

Sean

While I appreciate the concept I think it's doomed to failure. Wasn't the old mystery box discontinued due to people abusing it? There are a few people on this site that have dubious character (no, I won't point any fingers at anyone, they know who they are)and I would find it hard to trust more than a select few. Good for you for making an effort and I hope it works out like you hope.

Well done for trying again, hopefully we know where the previous boxes were "lost" and those people won't be invited again!

I wish I could remember. There was one box and then 2 other people started up boxes. I was trying to keep up with all three.
1 box was taken out during Hurricane Katrina (I got it back and the contents has been soaked into a cardboard block).
I can't remember where the other two stopped.

Things I do remember is that at one point someone put a ton of singles in it which really raised the cost of shipping it which slowed it down.
I remember a cardtalker(can not remember who) who broke the rule of (take an insert leave an insert, take a promo leave a promo) and replaced the entire box with New Kids on the Block singles. I reloaded a new box and sent it out.

Still it was fun and I hope it works for you!

Sean - Thanks for bringing the mystery box back. Never did it before, but sounds fun

Sounds fun. Count me in.

Now that my collection is big enough to have holes to fill and I have enough to contribute back to the boxes, this sounds fun! I always enjoy participating in Secret Santa, so count me in.

Thank you all for your positive comments, I really appreciate it.
Some of the misgivings of some of the posters may be allayed with the knowledge that I will be managing this programme "hands-on" so to speak so that any delays in sending on boxes will be identified and dealt with almost immediately. Also I will be amending the rules to be strictly one card in-one card out (and of course multiples of that) So for postage cost reasons you will not be allowed to add in extra cards.
Can I please ask for more expressions of interest please. If I cannot get the peoples interest, this project is not going to fly!!

I would be happy to be a part of this .

Do you need contributions to fill up the initial boxes?

quote:

Originally posted by Triple-Frog:
I would be happy to be a part of this .

Do you need contributions to fill up the initial boxes?

No! Thank you very much for the offer but it is critical that recipients do not "add" to the boxes. Each box will have 50 cards in it and after it has done the rounds it should always still have 50 cards in it!
I have worked out that 50 cards in a plastic box inside a small bubble wrap envelope should not cost more than $5 when sent cheapest to anywhere in the world

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:
I have worked out that 50 cards in a plastic box inside a small bubble wrap envelope should not cost more than $5 when sent cheapest to anywhere in the world

Are you sure about that? I just recently sent a small mailer with a few cards to the UK. I asked for the cheapest method and was charged $13. It did get there within 8 days, so it was air mailed, but I was not given any other option by my PO.

Where did I go wrong?

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:

quote:

Originally posted by Triple-Frog:
I would be happy to be a part of this .

Do you need contributions to fill up the initial boxes?

No! Thank you very much for the offer but it is critical that recipients do not "add" to the boxes. Each box will have 50 cards in it and after it has done the rounds it should always still have 50 cards in it!
I have worked out that 50 cards in a plastic box inside a small bubble wrap envelope should not cost more than $5 when sent cheapest to anywhere in the world

What about Customs duty? Will it be exempt. The UK Postal authorities charge £8 just to collect the duty even if it is £1. In addition it appears that various officials are more inquisitive than necessary in some postal concerns. I have had packages in the past opened so that the contents can be determined.

Despite the comments I am also interested.

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:

quote:

Originally posted by Triple-Frog:
I would be happy to be a part of this .

Do you need contributions to fill up the initial boxes?

No! Thank you very much for the offer but it is critical that recipients do not "add" to the boxes. Each box will have 50 cards in it and after it has done the rounds it should always still have 50 cards in it!
I have worked out that 50 cards in a plastic box inside a small bubble wrap envelope should not cost more than $5 when sent cheapest to anywhere in the world

I was actually referring to the initial 50 cards to be put in the boxes, not adding to the 50 already there.

@ Triple Frog. Sorry, I misunderstood your offer. In anycase, no, I have plenty enough of the cards to fill the Promo box and the insert old box. As noted elsewhere I have had to load the inserts new box with older cards initially but if recipients swap old for new the box will soon be what it says it is.

@ Well that is the cost quoted for the parcel to go from NZ to US but I have no idea what it may be us to Uk, We will see.

@ John Levitt I must admit I have no experience with customs duty. We will just have to cross that bridge when we come to it

@ To everyone else interested in this scheme - Can you please start to send to me your snail mail address plus your Card Talk login name. My email is btlfan@ihug.co.nz and all correspondence should start here. The first of the boxes will leave here on Feb 1st and I will need everyone's details.

Do we sign up to receive all 3 boxes or can we only ask to receive one or two. I'd be more interested in just the promo box than the other two.

quote:

Originally posted by RevJay:
Do we sign up to receive all 3 boxes or can we only ask to receive one or two. I'd be more interested in just the promo box than the other two.

Well your in luck then! While assembling the boxes I found that I had thousands of Promos over so made a management decision...... There will now be four boxes. Two promo (Promo #1 & Promo#2)as well as a Insert Old and an Insert new boxes You can enter to get all four boxes as you wish but only one request each for the four boxes.

Excellent idea. I won't be signing up as I no longer have space for random sets but I just wanted to add my support. Also, I hope you are enjoying your retirement

quote:

Originally posted by tangent:
Excellent idea. I won't be signing up as I no longer have space for random sets but I just wanted to add my support. Also, I hope you are enjoying your retirement

Thanks for your kind words Tangent but unless I get more people sending in their registration, this is not going to fly. C'mon Wolfie, Raven. Chesspieceface, Hammer, Triple Frog, Will, AWR, Barobehere and everyone else. YOU MUST REGISTER TO PARTICIPATE.

Please register at btlfan@ihug.co.nz with your delivery address, your CardTalk login name and what boxes you would like to receive.
Promo #1
Promo #2
Insert Old
Insert New

E-mail sent .

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:
I have worked out that 50 cards in a plastic box inside a small bubble wrap envelope should not cost more than $5 when sent cheapest to anywhere in the world

Are you sure about that? I just recently sent a small mailer with a few cards to the UK. I asked for the cheapest method and was charged $13. It did get there within 8 days, so it was air mailed, but I was not given any other option by my PO.

Where did I go wrong?

I'd be happy to join up, but Raven's right as rain on the shipping rates out of the USA. Once it gets over 2 ounces, it costs $13 for us to mail it. That rate applies up to 8 ounces, but then goes all the way up to $22 if it's even a feather over 8 ounces. Things change...

The international shipping increase is probably the main thing that prevents these friendly exchanges between the continents, but I'd like to be a part of a successful one. I certainly have the cards around here to take a few I could use AND make the box better, which should be the goal of all. That's how everyone wins with these.

I don't know if it takes the "fun" out of things, but for purposes of limiting shipping costs, it might be a good idea to keep the initial mailing to 3 boxes, one of old inserts, one of new inserts, and one of promos, but all three boxes increased to 75 cards each, as I think that would at once be more cards to choose from yet still be under the 8 ounce weight limit to at hold it down to $13 for any of us Yanks who happen to be sending them back to Europe/Australia/NZ.

Indeed, it might be a good idea for you to initially send these to American addresses first and have us can pass them back and forth amongst each other in the USA, as that's still cheap, $4 or so for 8 ounces, and delivery confirmation included. At some point, though, even were there only three boxes, three different US based members (or one of our more loaded members with $40 to spare) would have to bite the bullet to get these back across the ocean.

Also, just saw this was happening. Sorry for the delay in my response...