Wargames Up For Grabs In BGG Benefit Auction

I've put about 100 wargames and expansions up as part of the auction to benefit the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. They're on pages 12 and 13 of the Geeklist, if you are interested. Most of the games are from The Great War At Sea, Great Battles of History, and the Panzer Grenadier series, but there are quite a few others. 

Apparently there was a thread on the 'Geek announcing that I'd done this that almost immediately turned into a discussion of altruism. And bitching that I'd put the games into bundles. If you are wishing I hadn't put the games into bundles, then you should consider being the guy who ships every one of these games. Do you want to spend a week addressing 100 packages? I thought not. Bundles (or "lots") of games sold at auction is a time-tested method, and I make no apologies for my choice. Don't want them all? Gift them, donate them, sell them, whatever. 

I'd also like to address the idea of this being an altruistic act. It's not, not entirely - most actions we take on this scale, bar the occasional impulsive act, contain many reasons. In my case, here is why I've put so many games up for auction:

• I own too many games. It's a problem. I've filled my entire game room, and while it's not a bonus room over a garage, it's a good sized room. It's also finite. I needed to purge some of my collection, this seemed like a good way to do it. I've already sold off most of the Euros to friends and donated the money, and sold a few more to people who wanted to buy at BottosCon last weekend, which I'll donate before the end of the year. 
• I am a fortunate man. I retired before I was 40, I live on a golf course, I'm in relatively good health, I have a delightful granddaughter, and I was born with more than a modicum of intelligence. Not necessarily good sense, but intelligence. I really don't need the money from these sales, the games will (hopefully) find a good home, and some people will be helped as a result. Maybe it's just me, but I see this as an obvious choice.  
• I like the JVMF for a couple of reasons, but primarily because I believe Tom Vasel is a Good Man who does Good Works. He has turned his personal misfortune, the loss of a child (no one should have to suffer this, ever), into a force for good in the boardgaming community. The Fund is still relatively small as these things go, so not so much goes to overhead but to the people who need help. I've also worked with Tom briefly on The Dice Tower as Mr. Whiney some years ago, so there's a connection already in place.
• I'm not getting rid of games I like. This is not some great sacrifice on my part - most of the games are either games that I just don't get to play or have played and found I was not that fond of (sorry, Avalanche Press, I'm talking to you), or from periods I'm not as interested in, or frankly because some of the games aren't that good. While I admit to being the kind of guy who doesn't like parting with portions of my collection, at the same time I will not shed a tear to see any of them go. I have lots of other games to play. 

I'm no saint, any more than anyone reading this. I'm just a guy trying to solve problems who found a way to solve at least two of them (one of them mine, the rest waiting to happen). To my mind, this is the sort of thing we should *all* be doing - reaching out and supporting our community, whether it's where you live, where you worship, who you work and play with. I hope that everyone reading this will check out the auction, check out the Fund, and help out someone else who is having a Really Bad Day (or, more likely, Days/Weeks/Months) who enjoys games just like you do. Thanks.