11.17.2011

Contest Time: This. Is. Happening.

Is it just me or are one-word-sentences-for-impact kind of douchey? Yet, I still insist on trotting them out every so often.

I guess that says a lot about who you are, fella.

So, I've been taking names and checking them ... oh, I'm lying, I haven't really checked them yet but I will - and, hey, I just made you think of Santa Claus, so some lies are good amiright?

So, thanks again to those of you who entered my first contest a couple of weeks ago. I'm finally getting back to it.

Yes, the long-awaited, but probably really not all that interesting 100th blog post contest here at Potch Wheeler and The Cardboard Heroes will finally get started ... soon.


I've been busy. Trying to buy a house, traveling for work, taking on extra work, what not - but enough excuses.


At the moment, there's at least one other contest wrapping up at the moment here in our nerdy corner of the blogosphere CLICK HERE!, so I don't want to steal her thunder but in the next day or so I'll tally the entries and hit the ol' randomizer.


But first, I'll offer one more - no two more - ways to enter. You folks who managed to get past the ridiculousness up top are in luck!

In the comments, and your answers can be short, please let me know:

1) Your age when you first start collecting? Who got you started and how?
2) Your favorite MLB team(s)?
3) Your favorite set or insert set? You are welcome to provide more than one answer.
4) List your favorite players (past or present). List up to 10.

You must answer at least three of the above questions to get an entry into the contest. Answer all four and you get two entries. By the way, I'd love to have everyone post their age as I'm interested in the demographics of this hobby. However, you aren't required to do so for entry.

Once I tally the final entries, including the entries that came in a few weeks back, I will do three randoms. The third will determine the winners. I will send eight prize packages to four people. If a repeat name comes up in the top four, then I will move down the list.

#1 - first choice 
#2 - second choice
#3 - third choice
#4 - fourth choice
#1 - will get to choose another (fifth choice)
#2 - will get to choose another (sixth choice)
#3 - will get to choose another (seventh choice)
#4 - will get to choose another (eighth choice)

In the randomizer post that will come in the next couple of days, I will list the full set of prizes. Here's a peek at a couple of them.


1) Leon Durham autographed card. Back in August I wrote about how several players, including Durham, signed a couple of cards for me at The National. Sorry I didn't get this certified or anything.
2) 1989 Fleer record-breakers from the below year (full set)

3) The below card set available exclusively at The National in August.


4) Michael Pineda, Heritage (numbered to 300). This card was only available as a redemption giveaway at The National in Chicago in August. Bonus: It was touched by a Topps official representative - who handed it to yours truly. What? That's not a bonus? Well, it happened.

5) Complete set of 1987 (the wood grains) Topps minis (77 cards)

6) Fleer 1987 All-Stars (full set). Here's a sample...


7) Complete set 25-year Kmart oddball collection.




8) Fleer 1989 Update set.

9) Choice of three relics from a small grouping. No HOFers or anything.

10) The lovely 2008 UD Masterpieces featured in my previous post. This prize will include 65 cards of the 90-card base set. A nice starter set for anyone who missed these great cards.


I expect to have up to 20 choices total so stay tuned for the other choices. I'll also likely add some cards from your favorite team(s), unless you tell me not to do that.

I'm committed to wrapping this up and getting packages out before Thanksgiving.

16 comments:

  1. 1. I was 8 years old when I started collecting. I saw them at 7-11 and bought a pack for 25 cents and I was hooked.
    2. The name says it all-- Seattle Mariners
    3. 1980 Topps is my all time favorite set
    4. Tony Gwynn, Willie Stargell, Dale Murphy, Nolan Ryan, David Ortiz, Alvin Davis, Roberto Clemente

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. I remember collecting at age 6. I assume my Dad got me started. I remember the Topps 1965 cards with the team pennants. You do the math.
    2.Cubs fan. "In Theo We Trust".
    3. Favorite insert set would be 2005 UD Signature Decades. I love the 1967 Topps set but hardly have any of them.
    4.Ron Santo is #1 then (not necessarily in order)Ryan Dempster, Sandy Koufax, Hunter Pence, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Ryan Braun, Billy Williams, Darwin Barney, Walter Johnson. I'd have about another two dozen but you said ten. Goodnight Rusty Staub wherever you are.

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  3. 1. I was was 14 when I officially started collecting cards. 1987 Topps baseball to be precise.
    2. Milwaukee Brewers.
    3. My favorite set is probably 1981 Topps, which I am currently trying to complete and my favorite subset or insert has to be Diamond Kings.
    4.Robin Yount, Rollie Fingers, Reggie Jackson, Ryan Braun, Bo Jackson, Frank Thomas, and Hank Aaron.
    Hey Good luck buying the house, it's well worth it this coming from a guy who just bought his first about a year ago. Oh and if you did the math from the #1 I'm now 38, jeez really. I feel 50 and act 14 so it all works out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1. I was 9. My best friend hooked me into it.
    2. Cardinals
    3. Favorite subset is Diamond Kings, duh. I also like 1964 Topps!
    4. Mark McGwire, Rod Carew, Pete Rose, Willie Mays, Ozzie Smith, Rickey Henderson, Wade Boggs, Dwight Gooden, Stan Musial and Jose Canseco.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1) I was 6 when I got my first pack of cards in 1976, but didn't really start collecting until the following year.
    2) Indians, unfortunately.
    3) 1977, that first year I collected, is still my favorite. And its funny, I still get a thrill when I pull a '77 in one of those $5 re-pack packs from Target.
    4) In no particular order: Jim Thome, Kenny Lofton, Duane Kuiper, Rick Manning, Buddy Bell, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tom Seaver (yes, the Indians sucked in the late '70s, so I'm a bit of a Reds fan as well), Josh Hamilton, Nolan Ryan.
    Oh, and somehow I'm 41 now, but you knew that already from #1.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm 30-yrs-old now and started collecting basketball cards hardcore when I was in 4th grade. My friends BJ and Bubba and I would spend hours trading cards and then shooting hoops.
    I started collecting baseball cards when I was 26 because there were baseball cards of my friend Luke Hochevar, which is why the Royals are my favorite team. My favorite baseball set is the 1981 Topps issue.
    My favorite players include Luke Hochevar, Dexter Fowler, John Stockton, Ed McCaffrey, John Elway, Troy Tulowitzki, and everyone from the 80s with a mustache (especially Goose, Rollie, and Eck).

    ReplyDelete
  7. 1. I was around 10 when I started collecting, pretty much because all the other kids in the neighborhood were.
    2. Toronto Blue Jays have been and always will be my favorite.
    3. My favorite set is one that I'm putting together right now, '77 Topps
    4. Favorite Players, in no particular order. George Bell, Adam Lind, Andrew McCutchen, John Olerud, Mark McGwire. Hockey favorites are Darryl Sittler, Joe Sakic, Phil Kessel, Lanny McDonald and Borje Salming.

    I'm 44 years old, but still act like a kid.

    ReplyDelete
  8. 1) I started over 40 years ago, when I was 8 or 9. My next oldest bro (I'm oldest) and I started together.
    2) Twins. Duh.
    3) Any set or insert set with Twins cards in it
    4) Rod Carew was my favorite growing up

    ReplyDelete
  9. 1) Your age when you first start collecting? Who got you started and how? seriously started with baseball cards late - when i was about 30. dont remember how - it just happened.

    2) Your favorite MLB team? los angeles dodgers of LA
    3) Your favorite set or insert set? i liked the donruss dominators from the 90's
    4) List your favorite players - kershaw, koufax, dodgers piazza,johnnie bench,ol' no. 42 who would rather retire than be a giant.

    ReplyDelete
  10. 1. My dad used to buy me cards when I was about six or seven years old.

    2. The Reds are my favorite team.

    3. My favorite set is Allen & Ginter, though this year's edition was probably my least favorite of all the Ginter sets.

    4. Barry Larkin is the only player who I actively collect. I enjoy watching Brandon Phillips play (and Ken Griffey Jr. in his prime). Older players that I never got to see play but are still considered favorites would be Johnny Bench, Roberto Clemente, and I would have liked to see guys like Big Klu and Jackie Robinson.

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  11. 1. I talked my mom into buying a rack pack of Topps in early 1989 (no, really, Mom, I'll stick with this hobby, unlike all the others!), so I would have been 10.

    2. Giants, A's

    3. Diamond King series

    4. Nolan Ryan and Tony Gwynn are my top two, though there are plenty of others (Pujols, Lincecum, Ichiro, Griffey Jr, Frank Thomas, Maddux, Chipper, Felix Hernandez...)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am 37 now but was 6 wen i started. My fave team the red sox. Fav set 1974 topps My fave players are steve garvey ron santo roberto clemente carlton fisk fred lynn jim rice tony conigliaro dom dimaggio yaz and josh hamilton

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  13. 1) I'm 22 now, and I started last year at 21. I went to a Kevin Love autograph signing at what would become my LCS. I went back later, bought a Chris Withrow autograph, and got hooked.

    2) Dodgers

    3) Any Allen & Ginter set. 1989 Topps also holds a special place in my collecting heart.

    4) Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw, David Wright, Cole Hamels, Mike Piazza, Sandy Koufax, Roy Campanella, Russell Martin, Jerry Sands, and Al Rosen. I know you said ten, but I'd be remiss not to at least mention Carlos Santana, Jay Bruce, and Jonathan Broxton as well.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 1) I was probably four or five when I got my first packs. My older brother collected, so naturally I wanted cards too.

    2) Yanks

    3) Old school - Upper Deck Collector's Choice You Crash The Game. I loved these. They were always bright and colorful, and the concept of a player hitting a HR (or scoring 30 points or a TD) on a given day and then exchanging it for a special card or set was awesome.

    4) Hmm, Tino Martinez is my all-time #1. Then I'll go with Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Robinson Cano, Paul O'Neill, Jorge Posada, Yogi, The Mick, and Rizzuto.

    ReplyDelete
  15. 1)I started in summer of 1992 at the age of 9 (I'm 29 now) after seeing a friend's cards, a few weeks after going to my first ever Cardinals game.
    2) St. Louis Cardinals. Also liked the A's in the past so still follow them a little.
    3) Tough to list a favorite, but the insert set I'm seeking out most is 1992 Topps Gold.
    4) Mark McGwire, Todd Stottlemyre, Nomar Garciaparra, Ozzie Smith, Pudge Rodriguez, Barry Zito, Matt Morris, Mike Matheny

    ReplyDelete
  16. 1) I'm going to say 8. I know 81 Topps was the first cards I bought and I was 8 in 1981. I really don't remember anyone in particular getting me started. If I had to say somebody it was probably a neighbor because we all traded all the time.

    2) Chicago White Sox (was NY Mets when I was a kid)

    3) I had to think on this one, I love baseball cards and don't really compare sets as far as favorites. But if I had to pick one I'd say 1981 Topps just because the floods of memories that come back.

    4) Paul Konerko and Tom Seaver are my top 2.

    ReplyDelete

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