Winnings from Collector’s Crack “Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web”

Last month, I entered the “Almost the Easiest World Series Contest on the Web” run by Mark at Collector’s Crack: Alaska’s #1 Sports Card and Collectibles Blog. Out of 43 entrants, I was the only one who correctly picked the San Francisco Giants as the winners of the 2014 World Series. (And that turned out to be a good thing, because I would have missed all the tie breakers.)

My prize arrived yesterday, complete with a certificate recognizing me as the grand prize winner.

Mark included an autographed card from a former San Francisco Giants player (which I will show you next week along with the other recent additions to my autograph collection), and a relic card of former Kansas City Royals star Mike Sweeney from the 2003 Topps Finest set to commemorate this year’s World Series match up.

Mark also included a pair of “limited edition” sets from Pinnacle. It’s hard to believe now, but in the early 1990s 100,000 really didn’t feel like a huge print run. It was fun to look back and see who the “big names” were in the last year before realignment and expanded playoffs changed the game.

I enjoyed the “New Generation” set a little bit more for a couple of reasons. First, it had three Mets players. Second, the players who remained stars throughout their careers were spread more evenly throughout the checklist. The “Power Surge” set also has its share of potential Hall of Famers, but except for Frank Thomas, most are clustered near the end of the set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, Mark included some cool Mets cards (a few of which I’m going to save to show you next week.)

Topps Museum Collection features a classy design, but I can pretty much guess without checking that it’s too expensive for me to think about collecting. This is the nicest Travis d’Arnaud card in my collection, not counting the two autographs.

 

If I was going to start collecting parallels, I’d start with the blue-bordered ones found exclusively in WalMart’s retail packs. Blue and the Mets go together well. Nice to have two of my favorite Topps Update cards in this format.

And Mark included a pair of non-card Mets items. I’ve been curious about the baseball “poker chips” ever since they started appearing in Target’s card aisle, but I’ve never bought them. The mini Mets player (who’s about as tall as a quarter) has found a home among the mini Doctor Who figures on my desk.

Thanks for the fun contest prizes, Mark!