2014 Bowman Contest Winner

There's nothing like a quick and easy contest to generate some blog traffic.  The linked contest post has already generated more views than all but one of my previous one hundred post.  Maybe there will be more contests/giveaways in the future around here?

On to the re-gifting!

Here's a list of everyone participating in the contest:

RAZ

RedsCardCollector

JeffJones

TheLostCollector

CaptKirk42

Cynicalbuddha1

Cybicalbuddha2

Defgav

Comatoad

Dan

PATP

John Hazen

Jupiterhill1

Jupiterhill2

OnceACub

Superduperman99

Hiflew

Rivera42jeter2

DanielWilson1

DanielWilson2

DimeboxNick

TheProwlingCat1

TheProwlingCat2

RichardNebeJr.

JWilden27

ShaneKroeker

RedCardboard

MattStupienski

TheAngelsInOrder

BMan1

BMan2

MatthewScott

JohnMiller1

JohnMiller2

Wilson1

Wilson2

I will copy and paste the list into random.org and randomize the list three times.

Winner #1 will appear at the top of the randomization screen and will be awarded the following:

A near set of 2014 Bowman and some bonus cards from Bowman Chrome.

 Winner #2 will be the last individual listed after the third randomization and their prize will be:

80+ cards short of a 2014 Bowman set and LOTS of duplicates.

And, here we go!

Daniel, advertising the contest on your blog seems to have netted you a win!
Raz, if memory serves, you were the first entry into the contest and the last in the randomization.  Somewhat ironic, no?  In this case though you'll be rewarded!

Once I confirm the address of the two winners I will regain some space in the man room make a run to the post office.  Thanks for participating, everyone!

A Fun Night and Contest Reminder

Currently, I'm in the middle of a six hour road trip to Kansas City to meet George Brett this evening.  Yes, you read that right.  He doesn't know I'm coming, nor who I am, but I plan on shaking his hand while not totally clamming up.  Wish me luck.  My track record of being tongue around professional athletes is gruesome.

Tomorrow is the deadline for my super easy 2014 Bowman contest.  There will be two winners and all you have to do is comment on this post.  Do it.  Now!

Last night Laura and I went down to the river front to hit the gondola wheel at Steamboat Days.  Steamboat Days is a nice little festival on the river which corresponds with the Steamboat Classic, the self-proclaimed fastest 15K run.

This year we've had one of our rainier Junes in P-town and they brought in the sand to help keep the fairgrounds dry.  Yep, there's the steamboat in the background, which is made for water.  Those waste receptacles and park bench are not meant to float on water.

Keep Off the wall of sand!

I was thankful for the sand wall, because that meant I could enjoy sitting atop the gondola wheel (ferris wheel) with my beautiful wife.  Earlier there was some doubt in the community that the river waters would wash out this year's festival.

And, I could also try deep fried Oreos for the first time.  Yes, they were a little pricey at 5 for $4, but so worth it. 

 Thirty-seven years on this planet and I've just NOW enjoyed my first deep fried Oreo.  How is that possible.  I can promise you this, I will not wait another thirty-seven years to have my second helping!

Lastly, please enjoy Hugo and his attempt to kick the snot out of my Chicago Cubs hoodie wearing stuffed dog. 

First he had to knock the dog from it's shelf in the man room.

Then he noticed I was snapping pictures so he sprinted for the door.

 He slipped on the tile while trying to make the turn up the stairs.

He managed to spring up the stairs while carrying the stuffed dog in his mouth, but he had to recollect himself once he made it to the top.

  Showing off his wresting moves on the hallway rug.

He's done wrestling, because he has successfully pinned his competitor.

This is the third time he has dragged this stuffed animal in Cubs garb up the stairs to wrestle with it.  I'm thinking I may have a Cardinals fan on my hands?

Thanks for stopping by!

One Good Contest Deserves Another

Amazingly, I won a recent contest from My Cardboard Habit involving a medium-size flat-rate USPS mailer full of 2014 Bowman. 

I opened up the box from the bottom side and got to sorting!  And I sorted . . . and collated . . . and sorted some more.  I haven't had this many cards to sort since eleven-year-old me went whole hog on 1989 Topps.

Here's some of the highlights as I saw them:

 A future Cub in Jon Lester and two future minor leaguers in Milly McKinney (chrome and paper) and Victor Caratini (chrome).

 These were two of my favorite cards in the lot.  The uniform Lowrie is wearing is just remarkable, although the jury is still out deciding if it's remarkably bad or good.  And hey, what's not to like about a smiling and dirty Mike Trout?

I found a healthy stack of Jose Abreu's first Bowman card.  That was a nice surprise!

It seems like 2015 has been the year of the rookie and here's a quartet of guys who have made their debuts this year: Correa, Buxton, Swihart, and McCullers. 

Oh, and there was definitely a healthy stack of Cubs, including a couple Kris Bryant cards.

In all there were over 2,500 cards in the box, which is just silly.  Judson must have broken open a boat load of '14 Bowman!

After collating I found that I had the makings for nearly three complete sets.  In this case, I'm talking about the veterans (1-220), the paper prospects (BP1-BP110) AND the chrome prospects (BCP1-BCP110).

Chrome in the back, paper in the middle, veterans up front

The first set is missing four cards, which I'm hoping to find at my LCS later today.  This set and a few other cards will stay in my collection.  You guessed it, they are mostly Cubs.  I'm nothing if not predictable.

The rest of the cards will be randomed off to two lucky participants.

Here's the scoop on the CONTEST:
1) Leave a comment and you're entered . . . it's that simple!
2) Want and extra entry? Make a plug on your blog and let me know you have done so.
3) Do so before this Sunday, noon CDT

WINNER #1
I will random the entries three times and the person at the top of the list after the 3rd randomization will receive:

What you see in the picture above is 400 of the 440 cards in the set (including a Bryant), plus some parallels and a nice stack of Bowman Chrome pictured below.  Oh yeah, and you'll get the handwritten checklist seen in the picture above.

Lots of shininess!

WINNER #2
Since the person at the bottom of the list never seems to receive any love, you'll win this:

Think of it as a consolation prize!

Again, a wantlist for the third 2014 Bowman set I collated, which has 358 of the 440 cards.
Plus: two stacks of prospects labeled with a TP or DP from the Bowman Draft and Prospects set AND all of the duplicates after trying to complete three sets.  Um, yeah, about that . . . I don't have room for that nonsense in my man cave. In some cases we're talking about 6 or 7 duplicates AFTER cards had been pulled for the three sets.  That's just too much. So yeah, if you're into Bipping people then this is for you.

One last heads: I use unopened junk wax for filler in boxes when shipping.  Fun-fun!

Judson, thanks for your contest, which has given me a 2014 Bowman set and allowed me to host a contest of my own!

Good luck, everyone!

David Delivers Dos PWEs & a Brick of Bowman

David, our friendly Alaskan blog reader, sent me a pair of PWEs which promptly got lost in the home office remodeling project.  I thought everything was back in its proper place until earlier this morning when I found a stack of odds & ins.

These were definitely ins.  As in, they definitely belong in my collection!  Let's take a look!

I already have the Szczur Diamond King in my collection and I'm really excited to add the Soler and Baez.

 Speaking of Baez, here's a couple more which will fit nicely in my Cubs binder!

 Ooooooooh!  I bust a bunch of S&S, but I never did find the Longevity parallel of Mr. Schwarber.

 Did you know Schwarber was part of a double steal last night with The VOGELMONSTER?

Here's he proof:

That's a quick 35 seconds of my life which registers in the "happy" column.  :-)

Lastly, David surprised me with a 2013 Panini Select autograph of Darwin Barney.

So very Shiny!
David, thanks for the cards!  I'm still working on a return package for you and it appears I will have to work a little harder than I originally thought!

And now for a little tease:

Holiday has been hanging out on top of a USPS box from My Cardboard Habit.  I actually caught her mid yawn.  Poor thing... it's a rough life when one chooses to sleep on a brick of Bowman.

I'm looking forward to sorting through the cards and posting in the near future!  Stay tuned!

A Golden Girls Moment

I received a PWE from defgav of the much heralded Baseball Card Breakdown blog. I'm always up for a PWE, especially when a note is attached:

Instantly, the Golden Girls theme song started playing through my head, but instead of "friend" I replaced it with "bro."   You know, because I'm a bro!

Seriously?  Why are the Golden Girls stuck in my head?  I think I'll blame my sister and our trip to Milwaukee on that one.

Enough with the oddities, on to the cards!

Ahhhhh, some late 90's Bowman.  Isn't that refreshing?  You never see this stuff on the blogosphere these days.

Pat Cline was going to be the Cubs' version of Johnny Bench.  Yeah.  That didn't work out.

Whatever happened to Classic? 

 I never actually played the game, but I enjoyed tracking down all of the Ryne Sandberg cards I could find. The '90 design is actually one of my favorites, as it beat '91 Fleer and all of its yellow glory to the shelves by a full year.

Here are the questions from the back. 

 I'll reveal the answers at the end of the post. Try to channel your inner 1990 self.  Or don't . . . I'm pretty sure I was wearing parachute pants and wristbands.  Dimebox Nick and Zippy Zappy, you guys didn't miss much.  Trust me.

2013 Gold Paper Parallel of a hustling Brett Jackson.  Meh.  Brett Jackson and I had an awkward encounter in Arizona last spring.  I. AM. NOT. A. FAN. 

Cha-ching!

 Woo-Hoo!

My Kerry Wood PC gets a two card boost with a pair of serial numbered cards.  Both cards are from the 2004 Playoff Honors set, but the top card is numbered to 1995 while the bottom is out of 100.  I'm now only five cards away from hitting the 400 card mark!

Alright, we ready for the answers to the Ryno classic card?

By the way, I have no idea if Sam Horn and Tommny John still hold those accolades, and frankly, I'm too lazy to look them up. Yet, I can verify that the Nasty Boys were downright nasty. 

Norm Charlton, Randy Myers, and Rob Dibble, right?

Thanks for a fun PWE, Gavin!  As soon as I muster up some cards for your PCs this bro will drop another PWE on you.