Contest Winners Revealed

Randomization is done. I apologize as I attempted to do a full screen capture but it would only let me scroll down so far on the screen so I could not get the time stamp.

You'll have to trust that I'm presenting these in order of randomization.

I truly hope I have not violated some cardinal rule of contest blogs. I thought about starting over but I just felt it was better to go with what came up the first three times rather than start over.

But, as random would have it, I'm in the middle of preparing thank you posts involving two of the four winners.

So here we go. And, as previously announced, the third time is the charm.

Here's the first random:

Here's #2:

And, finally, the winning randomization:

Thanks to everyone who entered this much-delayed first contest celebrating my 100th post a month ago.

Congrats to Robert! Congrats to Hackenbush! Congrats to A2 Wolverine! Congrats to Jeff Laws!

#1 - first choice goes to Robert 
#2 - second choice goes to Hackenbush
#3 - third choice goes to A2 Wolverine
#4 - fourth choice goes to Jeff Laws
#5 - Robert gets to choose another prize
#6 - Hackenbush
#7 - A2 Wolverine
#8 - Jeff Laws

Trading of picks or prizes is allowed. Both parties should notify me though. Taking into account the holidays, I hope to have this wrapped up with prizes going out a week from today.

Below are the prize choices. As you can see, I picked up a few mini and/or traded sets recently.

1. Signed 8x10 of the somewhat troubled Dwayne Jarrett. I won this at The National in August.

2. 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.

3. 1989 Fleer record-breakers from the below year (full set)

CLAIMED BY HACKENBUSH 4. The below card set from the 2011 National

CLAIMED BY A2WOLVERINE 5. 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.

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

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


8. Complete set Kmart Dream Team.

9. Fleer 1989 Update set (regular size).

CLAIMED BY JEFF 10. Choice of three relics from this modest grouping (if three are taken, the other three cannot be selected, sorry)

CLAIMED BY ROBERT 11. The lovely 2008 UD Masterpieces featured here two posts ago. This prize will include 65 cards of the 90-card base set. A nice starter set for anyone who missed these great cards.

12. Set of 1986 Fleer Minis

13. Set of 1987 Fleer Minis

14. Auto racing card set distributed at The National. For some reason, mine included 9 of the 10 card set but not card #1. Be advised

15. 1987 Fleer Baseball Award Winners Set



16. 1987 Fleer Baseball All Stars

17. 15 minis from my available GQ and Allen&Ginter 2011 lists

Gypsy Queen minis
23 - Johnny Cueto
114 - Chris Coghlan
117 - Dallas Braden
122 - Derrek Lee
124 - JJ Hardy
129 - Aaron Hill
135 - Ryan Dempster
137 - Ricky Romero
146 - Melky Cabrera (red back)
169 - Orlando Hudson
173 - Adam Dunn
183 - Rafael Furcal
189 - Mike Aviles (red back)
193 - Carlos Beltran
195 - Bronson Arroyo (red back)
220 - Tyler Colvin
222 - Heath Bell
224 - Drew Stubbs
227 - Cameron Maybin
241 - Brian Roberts
267 - Jake Arrieta (red back)
281 - Juan Pierre
299 - Andruw Jones
319 - Elvis Andrus
346 - Shane Victorino
347 - Konrad Schmidt

Allen & Ginter 2011 Minis
94
279 (black parallel)
310
321
331


18. Skip selecting a prize and instead claim two additional entries for my next contest, planned for my one-year anniversary in February.

19. 1988 Fleer Baseball Superstars set

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.

Details About My First Time ... No, Not That, A Contest!

When I started this blog, I didn't put any thought behind it.

Talk about stating the obvious.

Wow. Harsh. So, I called it "Potch Wheeler and The Cardboard Heroes" based on an inside joke here at home. The plan then was to come up with a real name at some point. I also planned to start writing something interesting. Still working on that.

No doubt.

For a few months, I kept PW&TCH (that stands for Potch Wheeler and The Cardboard Heroes but I shortened it right there to save time). The name grew on me - quirky and all. Then, after our Chicagoland house sold and we made our big move back home again to Indiana, I changed it to "Indianaland" briefly and, finally, "Indianaland Picture Cards".

I realize it was somewhat less original but I sort of liked the sound of it and thought it reflected the new life and, well, was just a little bit more legit sounding. But, apparently when it comes to blogging and, well, life in general, I'm a bit fickle. I've started to realize the obvious - that the initial choice may have set me apart a bit more. 

And, after all, it's all about the catchy name to help fool readers into thinking you have anything interesting to post. It's all about that, right? No? My bad.

In any case, as I've mentioned, I've decided to let my three readers decide. So, if you haven't noticed, there's a poll on the home page. Do you see it? It's right over there. No, on the left. Right, the left. Up top! There you go. So go ahead and vote if you please.

Many of you have already done so and, for that, I thank you.

And, oh wait, there's more. I'm celebrating my 100th post.  

Happy for ya. When?

Right now. This is the 100th post!

*crickets*

Wow, don't get too excited.

Sorry, you've been around for what seems like forever.

Um, anyway, I'm celebrating by holding my first contest. And, what's more - I've decided you don't need to plug it on your blog to get an extra entry. I mean, sure, I wouldn't mind if you did - and I'll be taking notes - but no pressure.

Oh, I'm kidding about taking notes.

Or, am I?

Wow, you're a jerk.

Sorry, I'll admit it. I'd love to get some more followers.

So, I'm giving away prizes. What follows is both specific and vague and I of course will narrow down the final full prize list in my next contest post. But, for now, I wanted to get the early word out.

I'll random the entries and award prizes to the top few on the list. (I'm not sure how many yet.) #1 gets first choice, etc.

Ways To Get Entries:

1) So, like I mentioned in the previous post, those of you who commented on that post already get an extra entry. That window for an extra closed with this post.

2) Entries also will go to those of you who comment on this post AND follow my blog. With your comment, you will need to please mention you follow my blog. And while I'm stopping short of asking for contest pimping, and won't give entries just for that, I will give an extra entry if anyone comments here and mentions they read about it on your blog.

So, basically, you're asking for contest pimping, only in a roundabout passive aggressive way?

Yeah, that's pretty accurate.

3) Between now and the official Official Contest Post, I will post maybe a couple of routine entries to the blog - perhaps a trade bait post, such as what I have to trade on the Topps Chrome front. In one of these entries, I'll mention that anyone commenting will get an extra contest entry.

4) Currently there is no fourth way to get an entry but I might come up with something because apparently the whole point of this contest is to complicate both my life and the fun you attempt to have by reading card blogs. You're welcome.

Below are a few of the possible choices. Actually, I'll likely include all of these and some more - short of receiving a whizbang trade offer between now and then. You know, if someone wants to complete my 78s or 80s or 81s or 82s or 83s.

The Prizes

a) complete set of 1987 (the wood grains) Topps minis (77 cards)

b) complete set of 1986 Fleer minis (120 cards)

c) Michael Pineda, Heritage (numbered to 300). This card was only available as a redemption giveaway at The National in Chicago in August (read on);

d) Various relics/autos (no HOFers or anything like that but a few decent ones - but ones that don't fall into my preferred collections.) This prize choice might be something like "choose three relics from this list" - followed by the list.

e) 50 to 100 random cards from your team (fyi: I'm tapped out on a couple of teams. Please check with me before selecting this prize - and I know this might not be a "prize" to many longtime collectors but perhaps for a newbie it will.)

f) signed 8x10 of some NFL player. I won this at The National in August.

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


h) Fleer record-breakers from the below year (full set)

i) A couple of The National giveaway card packs issued by the various card companies, including an auto racing set. And, this one:

j) Complete set of this thing pictured here.

k) This Leon Durham autographed card. Durham signed a couple of cards for me at The National, including this one below. Sorry I didn't get it certified or anything. I think I took a pic of Durham right before he signed though, if you're questioning me. And if you are, how dare you! Sorry, I can be a real d-bag. Eh, no worries.

l. Complete set of a Kmart collection from the 80s.

And, so there you go - some likely choices for prizes or "prizes" if you're less than impressed. Meanwhile, I might see what else I can scrounge up around here between now and the Official Contest post.

- Potch, Out

Who are you Ryan Seacrest now?

(Alas, the search continues for a trademark sign-off.)