posted 05-22-2019 12:44 PM               

In the spirit of ongoing Apollo anniversary festivities over the next few years, a grab bag is starting up for a journey around the US. There will be no set end date at this point. This thread will be used for discussion, comments, and updates as the Grag Bag is progressing. You can also share what items you took out, just keep what you put in a secret. The Grab Bag is live as of now, and I will mail the box out to the first person this week. Please follow the instructions below and have fun!

What to do:

1. Sign up on the Grab Bag Roll Call list here.
   
2. Wait for the cS member directly in front of you on the list to email you.
   
3. Respond back when asked for your name and mailing address.
   
4. Wait for the box to arrive, track package delivery using USPS.com.
   
5. You should plan on a turnaround time of a couple of days.
   
6. Look through the box, remove items you want to keep and add items you'd like to share.
   
7. Re-pack the box, adjusting the amount of packing material (more or less) to fill the void.
   
8. Contact the next person on the Grab Bag Roll Call list. An example email:

   Subject: collectSpace US Grab Bag

   Hello, this is cS member [XXXX].

   Congratulations, you are next in line for receiving the Grab Bag, please send me your name and mailing address. I will send you the USPS tracking number when I ship out the box on [Month-Day]. Enjoy!

9. Ship out the box, covering up all old labels, and email the USPS tracking number to the recipient.
   
10. You are done. If you want to get back in line, simply re-add your name to the Grab Bag Roll Call list.

1. There is nothing special about the box itself. It is a USPS Large mailing box, which may be obtained for free at a Post Office or online at USPS.com. Past runs of the Grab Bag have shown that after a handful of shipments, the box will need to be replaced. Use your best judgement, and when it doubt just replace it with another Large Flat Rate box.

2. If you are on vacation, away for work, in the hospital, or otherwise unable to attend to the Grab Bag, don't worry, get to the Grab Bag as soon as you can. It would be a good idea to email the next recipient and let them know of your situation and an estimate of when you can get going on it.

3. For those who haven't participated in the past, here is a list of typical grab bag items to give you an idea. Anything space related is welcome, so let your imagination do the work, you'll never know what may await you inside.

   Some examples: patches, pins, decals/stickers, flags, photos, press kits, trading cards, autographs, badges, books, bookmarks, models, coins, medals, postcards, philatelic covers, and flown/unflown artifacts.

posted 10-05-2019 12:16 AM               

Among the items I was thinking about adding to it is a patch I designed and had made for a fictional STS-136 mission. The names include myself and my friends.

posted 01-19-2020 09:37 AM               

With the help of a few cS'ers, I've now restocked the box with some fresh items and the second circuit will be starting this week.

posted 08-09-2020 04:56 AM               

I had some personal matters come up and the weekend that I planned to send package off I was exposed to a co-worker who tested positive for COVID-19. So I have been in quarantine.

posted 10-06-2021 06:25 PM               

I received it, took what I wanted, added a few items, then shipped it to the next person in line. So I do not have it in my possession.

posted 10-07-2021 11:28 AM               

I do not know where the grab bag is, but hopefully members here will see the post and can help track down its most likely location.

I had sent a few emails out at the beginning of 2021 but did not get any responses back and had not resumed the hunt. Thanks to those that have already posted. Overall I was happy with how well Round 1 went and how Round 2 was going.

I apologize that it has been lost, which is disappointing to me and those waiting on the list. I have a box full of stuff ready to replenish it but it has not made its way back to me either.

I've learned a few things from hosting the first two rounds:

1. I should have probably asked people to post here publicly when they mailed it to the next person as a way to formally close out their role. Even if a few forgot to post, we would still have a better idea of where it was at any given time. We could have changed our sign-up posts to "completed" or something like that, as a different way to log that it was mailed on cS itself.

2. I should have probably created a dedicated sign-up post for Round 2 instead of tacking it onto the end of Round 1, which as my 5 year old would say "caused confusion and delay on the railway!"

3. While items that are placed in the box, duplicates, freebies, etc. naturally have some nominal value, the purpose is to allow others to pass along these items to people who genuinely want to keep, enjoy or re-gift them. Unfortunately, several items from the box were removed merely to re-sell. I noticed through my usual eBay searching that on several occasions items that I put in the box or had known to be in the box were listed soon after being removed from the grab bag and placed on eBay. I would make it more clear in the future that while no one can prevent this from happening, its not really the spirit of the grab bag process.

posted 10-27-2021 11:00 PM               

I am in contact with Michael/Bill and will have the box shipped back to me as the next step.

Then I will restock and restart the grab-bag. I will post all the details shortly after I get it back in hand.