[mouschi3]

I believe others have chimed in on this as well, if book value is anywhere in your vocabulary, you will definitely be disappointed. It is not unusual to get 2-5% of book value for bulk stuff, though it can even be less ... or more, depending upon what you have.

When selling off a collection like this, there are 2 ways to go about it:
- Sell in a lump for less, which = less time invested
- Sell off piece by piece for more money, which = more time invested

Typically, the more time you spend, the more money you will get out of the deal, however, that isn't to say you will get more $ per hour on average. Cards are a tricky thing, because people typically won't be willing to pay for all the hours you have invested in hunting down and cataloging cards.

Now, with all that said, here is what I would do: Take a BOAT load of *good* pictures, market it as one of the largest Astros collections around and put it on ebay! Set a high BIN and take offers. I would do that before doing anything else. It will give you national exposure, while giving you a platform to educate your potential buyer as to what you have. I am not sure i would advise driving a thousand miles to Houston for the show to sell these as a first resort; I would do that as a second resort after Ebay. At the show, be prepared to get a whole lotta $500 offers.

Best of luck!