Contest Winners!

After nearly a month of comments, follows, and pimps, it's time to announce the contest winners. After tallying everything up, there were a total of seventy-one entries from thirty-two different folks, and the blog gained ten new followers. Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter and read.

Now let me recap a few details before we get to the winners. Per Sports Cards Collectors' comment on yesterday's post, I will be randomizing the list of names seven times. Your place on the list will coincide with the prize number (i.e. the fifth name on the list will get Prize #5). The goal is to spread the prizes out as much as possible, so each winner will be eligible for only one prize--if a name pops up more than once in the top 15, that person will get the prize associated with the first number and and everyone else will move up one number. Finally, there will be fifteen prizes total, including five prizes I added today. 

One last important note: if you are one of the listed winners, please email me with your name and address (alexmarkle05@gmail.com). Feel free to also include the team/players you collect or a want list, and I'll do my best to toss in some extras. 

Now on to the winners! 

After randomizing the list seven times, we get the following fifteen names. Matt over at Diamond Jesters landed in the Top 15 twice, so we're extending the list of winners down to Swing and a Pop-Up at 16. 

Prize #1 - 2020 Topps t206 Series 1 Box/Pack (Peter @ Baseball Every Night)

Prize #2 - Allen & Ginter Relic Lot (Fuji @ The Chronicles of Fuji)

Prize #3 - Bowman's Best Mookie Betts Blue Parallel #'d/150 (Gavin @ Baseball Card Breakdown)

Prize #4 - First Edition HOF Baseball Hall of Fame Heroes 12 Card Set (Matt @ Diamond Jesters)

Prize #5 - 2019 Topps Hi Tek Lance McCullers Jr. Autograph (Bo @ Baseball Cards Come to Life!)

Prize #6 - Assorted Pink Refractors from 2018 Topps Chrome (Comatoad @ Comatoad on Cards)

Prize #7 - 1988 Donruss Baseball Hanger Pack (Rod @ Padrographs)

Prize #8 - 2019 Topps Hi Tek George Springer Green and Purple Parallels (GCRL @ Cards as I See Them)

Prize #9 - Topps Gold Label Blue Parallels (Nate @ Bucs Stops Here) (Matt from Diamond Jesters already won prize #4)

Prize #10 - 10 Cards from 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Set (Jafronius @ A Pack to be Named Later)

Prize #11 - Assorted #'d cards, including the three seen below (Bret Alan) 

Prize #12 - Moncada and Votto Relics (The Angels in Order)

Prize #13 - Mother's Day and Father's Day #'d Parallels - (Adam @ Infield Fly Rule)

Prize #14 - Thames and Abreu Manufactured Relics (Madding @ Cards on Cards)

Prize #15 - Bryce Harper lot, including those in the scan below (Swing and a Pop-Up)

Congrats to the winners! Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to enter! 

Blog Notes: Trade Pile, Last Call for my Contest, and BFG Winnings

The typical summer slowdown at work hasn't happened, as it's actually been much busier than normal due to COVID and all the uncertainty around what's going to happen on college campuses this Fall. But as of 5pm, I'm officially on vacation for the rest of the week, so I'm turning my attention to the blog and a few things that new some catching up on.

1. Last Call on the Contest

If you haven't yet joined in on the fun, today's your last day to do so. The contest I've been running officially ends at midnight, and I'll be adding to the prize pool and announcing winners sometime in the next few days. I likely won't make it to my goal of 100 followers (currently sitting at 96), and that's okay. I appreciate all 96 (and everyone else) that takes the time to check out the blog. Thank you!

Regarding the contest, I was initially planning to hold a winnings draft, in which the winners chose which prize they wanted. But after thinking about it some more, that will likely take a ton of time considering the number of prizes I plan on giving out. Instead, I will add all of the entries into a randomizer, then match up the names with the prize number. Seem fair?

One question remains: how many times should I randomize the list of entries? First comment to answer this question decides it.

2. Blog Reader Bruce?
Trade Pile #3 was claimed earlier this month by a commenter named Blog Reader Bruce, but I don't have their contact info. Bruce, if you're out there, can you send me an email so we can exchange address info? If I don't hear back from you by this Friday, I'll plan to add to the pile.  

3. BFG Winnings from Johnny's Trading Spot 

It feels wrong to post without including at least one card photo, so now is as good a time as ever to catch up on my past winnings in Johnny's Big Fun Game. I've participated the last two months and come away with some cool stuff, and I'm looking forward to this Friday's game as well. (Thanks for hosting, Johnny!) If you haven't yet participated, head over and sign up now!

Pimping My Own Contest and Adding to the Prize Pool

It has been a hectic week at work--well, from my kitchen table actually--so I'm a bit behind on sharing many of the new cards that have come in over the last few weeks. (Thanks Nick, Bo, Gavin, Greg, and Johnny.) I'll be catching up on that front soon, but I figured now was a good a time as ever to pimp my own contest and add a few more prizes to the prize pool. I'll likely add a few more prizes before the end of the month, so stay tuned. 

You can earn multiple entries in this contest, so here's what you need to do:

1 entry - Comment on the original contest post with the card(s)/set/etc. that jump started your collection.

1 entry - Subscribe to the blog! Most of you reading this are probably already subscribers, so just let me know you are in the comments. If you are new here, welcome! Give me a follow if you'd like. At the time of writing this, the blog sits at 87 followers. I'll plan to add additional prizes if we can get that number up to 100.

1 entry - Pimp this contest on your blog by June 27th then post a link here in the comments.

That's a maximum of 3 entries per person. I plan to keep the contest open until the end of June, so you have plenty of time to spread the word and get your entries in

Below you will see a list of of some of the prizes that will be up for grabs. I'll likely add additional prizes between now and the end of June and definitely will if the blog reaches 100 followers. I'll end up randomizing the list of entries and we'll hold a prize draft. The plan is for winners to pick their prize on a separate contest results post at the beginning of July. I'll also be tossing in some assorted goodies for all of the winners.

Prize #1 - 2020 Topps t206 Series 1 Box/Pack

Prize #2 - Allen & Ginter Relic Lot

Prize #3 - Bowman's Best Mookie Betts Blue Parallel #'d/150

Prize #4 - First Edition HOF Baseball Hall of Fame Heroes 12 Card Set

Prize #5 - 2019 Topps Hi Tek Lance McCullers Jr. Autograph

Prize #6 - Assorted Pink Refractors from 2018 Topps Chrome

Prize #7 - 1988 Donruss Baseball Hanger Pack

Prize #8 - 2019 Topps Hi Tek George Springer Green and Purple Parallels

Prize #9 - Topps Gold Label Blue Parallels (Stanton and Strasburg)

Prize #10 - 10 Cards from 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Set 

The Card that Started it All

When I was 9 years old, I opened up a box of cereal and watching a plastic-wrapped baseball card drop out of the box and onto the floor. I picked it up and placed it on the counter, poured my bowl of cereal, and went on with my morning.

I had always liked baseball, and I often played catch and Wiffleball out in the front yard with my dad and sister. But at this point in my life, I still didn't follow professional baseball in any kind of real way. I wore my Dodgers hat everywhere, but I wouldn't have been able to tell you a single thing about the team or players.

At some point later that day, I saw the packaged card on the counter and decided to open it. I suppose it was the first pack of cards I ever opened (though there was only one card inside, so I guess it was a pack of card?). Inside sat the 2002 Topps Post Shawn Green you see below.

I remember rushing over to my dad and asking him if Shawn Green was any good thinking I hit the jackpot. "He's alright," my dad, ever the pessimist, told me. As the card back shows, Green's 2001 season was more than "alright." He hammered 49 homers (still a Dodgers record) and batted .297. Definitely better than "alright."

I don't exactly remember what happened next, but Shawn Green very quickly became my favorite player and I began to pay very close attention to Dodgers baseball. I started to fall asleep to Vin Scully calling Dodger games on the radio, and I convinced my dad to buy me baseball cards every time we went to Target. My fervent love for baseball, the Dodgers, and Shawn Green only grew from there, all the result of a flimsy baseball card falling out of a box of cereal.

I thought about this story last week and decided to go and take a look through my Shawn Green cards. Lo and behold, I discovered that at least one or two of my binders must still be with my dad back in California, including most of my Shawn Green PC. I'll coordinate with him to have them shipped over to me in New Jersey, and I'm looking forward to their arrival. As such, the Shawn Green scan above was taken from ComC.

What card(s) got you into collecting? 

What better way to solicit answers to this questions than by holding a contest?

You can earn multiple entries in this contest, so here's what you need to do:

1 entry - Comment on this post with the card(s)/set/etc. that jump started your collection.

1 entry - Subscribe to the blog! Most of you reading this are probably already subscribers, so just let me know you are in the comments. If you are new here, welcome! Give me a follow if you'd like. At the time of writing this, the blog sits at 87 followers. I'll plan to add additional prizes if we can get that number up to 100.

1 entry - Pimp this contest on your blog by June 27th then post a link here in the comments.

That's a maximum of 3 entries per person. I plan to keep the contest open until the end of June, so you have plenty of time to spread the word and get your entries in.

Below you will see a list of of some of the prizes that will be up for grabs. I'll likely add additional prizes between now and the end of June and definitely will if the blog reaches 100 followers. I'll end up randomizing the list of entries and we'll hold a prize draft. The plan is for winners to pick their prize on a separate contest results post at the beginning of July. I'll also be tossing in some assorted goodies for all of the winners.

Prize #1 - 2020 Topps t206 Series 1 Box/Pack

Prize #2 - Allen & Ginter Relic Lot

Prize #3 - Bowman's Best Mookie Betts Blue Parallel #'d/150

Prize #4 - First Edition HOF Baseball Hall of Fame Heroes 12 Card Set

Prize #5 - 2019 Topps Hi Tek Lance McCullers Jr. Autograph

Prize #6 - Assorted Pink Refractors from 2018 Topps Chrome

Prize #7 - 1988 Donruss Baseball Hanger Pack

Prize #8 - 2019 Topps Hi Tek George Springer Green and Purple Parallels

Prize #9 - Topps Gold Label Blue Parallels (Stanton and Strasburg)

Prize #10 - 10 Cards from 2016 Leaf Babe Ruth Set 

Contest Winner Announced

We have a winner for the Cal Ripken Jr. Medallion card!

I randomized the list 8 times in honor or Mr. Ripken, and here are the results. 

Congrats to Adam! I've got your address already, so I'll be getting this card out to you soon. 

Thanks to all those who participated!

Contest Time: 2016 Topps Baseball Cal Ripken Jr. MLB Debut Medallion

I've officially been living in New York for a year-and-a-half. That calls for a contest. 

This contest is for a 2016 Topps Baseball S1 Cal Ripken Jr. MLB Debut Medallion. Contest ends 4/3/19 at 9:00pm EST. The rules will be explained below. Good luck!

To enter this contest, simply leave a comment on this post. You can enter once per day until the contest ends. 

The winner will be selected using Random.org, and will be notified via email. The winner will have one week to send me their mailing address. I will ship the card (along with some other goodies) to the winner for free. 

Good luck!

Ty Blach Auto Contest Winner

We have a winner for the Ty Blach Auto!

Bret Alan is the winner. I’ll be reaching out to Bret shortly for their contact info. Stay tuned for more contests in the near future.

Contest Winners Announced!

I finally had the opportunity to get all of the entries into the randomizer and I just randomized them 21 times. Before I announce the winner, lets take a look at the list of people who entered, and how many entries each person had. 

Now that we took card of that, let's announce the winners! 

Actually, before we do that, let me reiterate one of the primary rules that I have for all of my contests: You cannot win more than once. That basically means there will be 9 unique winners, because there are 9 different prizes. That being said, we can finally get on to those winners!

There was no nice looking way to organize those images, so I apologize for the unkempt look. 

Congratulations to Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown for winning first prize this time around! Becuase Skroeker appeared twice in the Top 9, I removed their second entry and moved up the 10th place entrant. 

EDIT: Apparently cpuJesse also appeared twice in the Top 9, but I missed it in my initial read through. The image is a bit off, but Ruben Lipsyzc moved into the Top 9. 

Here is a list of the winners that is a little easier to read.

1. Gavin (Baseball Card Breakdown)

2. Greg (Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle)

3. Caitlin Jennings

4. cpuJesse (Section 117)

5. Skroeker

6. Weston (Fantastic Catch)

7. Bo Rosny 

8. Matthew Wilson (Tenets of Wilson)

9. Ruben Lipsyzc

If you are a winner, please email me (chavezravining@hotmail.com) a list of which prizes you would like, in order, by the 25th of July. You can visit this link to revisit the prizes I am giving away. 

Thanks again to everyone who entered! I plan on holding another contest (albeit a little smaller) as soon as school starts.