Sunday, May 10, 2020

ARPSmith Contest Winnings ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ

I don't enter many contests and when I do take the time I don't really expect to win. I'm a math teacher nerd and I'm not one to take risks when it ultimately could cost me something. I'm pretty boring that way.

Adam, at ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession, is back from a brief blogging hiatus and he recently held a contest asking for guesses on the total for a purchase. With losing to lose I tossed a number out there. Somehow I wound up being only 43 cents off with my guess.

Shocked as I was at the time, I was doubly so when Adam sent me an email saying he wiped out my Top 5 Most Wanted Cards list from my blog.

Say what?

I don't load up my wanted list with pricey cards so I'm not shocked when one finds its way to my mailbox in a PWE. But, all five? At once? That's just some super generosity right there.

Let's take a quick look at what Adam planned to ship me as a prize package:
Top 6? Poor time for a typo!
I've seen nearly all of these around at local card shows and I specifically remember seeing the Sandberg SP with a $20 asking price. Dealers love to mark up their Cubs (and Cardinals) cards in my neck of the woods.

The package arrived yesterday and boy was I hyped up when the mailman drove off! (Yes, I've kind of been rushing to the window, like a six year old, waiting to see if my prize package had arrived.)

Here we go, in order:

#1) 2018 Diamond Kings, #25 -- Ernie Banks "Let's Play Two" Variation
Ernie Banks' most famous quote on a card. Most Excellent!

#2) 2019 Topps, #525 -- Ryne Sandberg SP
 This one features a pretty unique photo of my favorite Hall of Famer.
Full stats!  Woot!

#3) 2019 Topps 150 Years Greatest Players, #GP-13 -- Ryne Sandberg
 Greatest Players? 10 All-Star Games, 9 Gold Gloves, 7 Silver Sluggers and one MVP. Yeah, I think he qualifies.

#4) 2019 Topps Faces of the Franchise, #FOF-6 -- Bryant/Banks/Sandberg
 I'm not sold on Kris Bryant being the current face of the franchise. Rizzo and Baez are definitely in the conversation, but it's still a pretty neat card.
Bryant has a long way to go to catch up to Ernie and Ryno!

#5) 2019 Topps 150 Years Greatest Moments, #GM-22 -- Anthony Rizzo
 Oh, I've been saving a space in the World Series binder for this one. I wish Topps would have used a photo from the moment right after he caught the last out of the 2016 World Series. But, you know, Topps is gonna Topps.

Here's the picture I'm referring to:

Those five cards, by themselves put me on cloud nine. I mean, how much awesomeness can one Cub fan endure from a package?

But, wait. There's more!
 A new card for the Baez binder! I love his action/fielding cards. The batting ones are okay, but his athleticism as a shortstop just flummoxes me on a daily basis during the season.

1985 Topps is such an underrated design and Willson is my favorite current Cub.

And what's this?
 A manu-relic commemorating Ryne Sandberg's first career home run?
How cool is this? Wow!  I'm up to 962 unique Sandberg cards in my collection now. Woo-Hoo!

Last card and it's a jaw-dropper:
GLORIOUS! It's a relic-auto card of Wilson Conterars from the 2017 Panini Donruss Promising Pros insert set. The card design is top-notch and this is my first certified auto of Willy.

Wow. Just wow.
"Enjoy these cards?"  Um, yeah, that won't be a problem whatsoever. Thanks for the superb prize package, Adam!

7 comments:

  1. As a fellow Cubs fan, I have to say this is a great group of cards! I have about a third of the total unique Sandbergs you have, but don't think I've seen the helmet toss on any of them. 1985 is an awesome set and yes please replace the Rizzo photo and watch it become my #1 must own.

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  2. I've always liked Rizzo and feel like he is the face of the Cubs current franchise

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  3. I like the photos on the two Sandbergs in #2/3 (esp. the Greatest Players card), although it looks like they applied saturation editing to the SP a la Stadium Club and GQ, which always puts me off for whatever reason. The Faces of the Franchise card is clever (wish the players appeared chronologically). I would most definitely have Bryant as the current "face" of the Cubs (whatever that means), although I also live nowhere near Chicago, so my finger is hardly on the pulse.

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  4. 5 for 5 with bonuses? Now that's a prize package. Congratulations!

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  5. crazy generous! love it! And that Ryno SP??? THAT is a card I'd still want to add to the collection. Not that I don't enjoy collecting him anymore, I have to be choosy. I'll be adding to my WL.

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  6. Congratulations on the contest win, and the great group of winnings!

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  7. Glad you got them and liked them. Thanks again for reading the blog!

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