Ho Ho Holiday Contest Prizes Pool

Here is the official prize list for the Ho Ho Holiday Contest. If we need more cards, I'll see what I can round up, but this should be enough. We can get the prize machine rolling once Dayf selects his prizes. Please leave a comment stating which cards you are claiming, and they will be removed from the list.

To everyone else who participated in the contest.... I will be sending each of you some cards, and you may get some of the leftovers off of this list, once the winners have chosen what they want. I need ALL contestants to please send me your addresses, so that at some point I can drop some cards in the mail for you.

Dayf gets first pick, and will be selecting 3 autographs, and 5 game used relic cards of his choice.
Slangon picks second, and will receive the 1 remining autograph card, and 7 game used relics of his choice.
GCRL is up next, and will be choosing 5 game used relics and 3 refractors.
Jeremy & Thorzul will then be receiving random relic & refractor lots most likely from the leftovers on this list. Once everyone has chosen, if there are some cards you guys want, leave me a comment, and I will set it aside.

Autographs:
2008 Donruss Threads Luis Cruz #'d 44/975
2004 Topps Chrome Mike Gosling (on-card)
2008 Topps Allen & Ginter's Burke Kenny framed autograph (on card)
2006 Upper Deck SPx Ryan Shealy autograph

Relics:
2008 Allen & Ginter's Carlos Marmol framed jersey relic (w/ pinstripe)
2008 Allen & Ginter's Bobby Crosby framed jersey relic (gray)
2008 Allen & Ginter's J.J. Hardy framed jersey relic (white)
2008 Allen & Ginter's Garret Anderson framed jersey relic (white)
2008 Allen & Ginter's Casey Kotchman framed jersey relic (white)
2008 Allen & Ginter's Wily Mo Pena framed bat relic
2009 Allen & Ginter's Fred Lewis framed bat relic
2009 Allen & Ginter's Ryan Ludwick framed jersey relic (white)
2009 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Ryan Garko jersey relic (white)
2009 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Kerry Wood jersey relic (white)
2009 Upper Deck Piece of History "A Piece of Hollywood" William Hurt pants relic from Outlander (leather swatch)
2006 Topps Turkey Red Rich Harden jersey relic red parallel #'d 110/150 (green)
2007 Upper Deck Masterpieces Garrett Atkins "Captured on Canvas " jersey relic
(white)
2008 Upper Deck Masterpieces Eric Chavez "Captured on Canvas" jersey relic (white)
2008 Upper Deck Goudey Jered Weaver jersey relic (gray)
2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Jered Weaver jersey relic (gray)
2005 Upper Deck Origins Mark Prior jersey relic (w/ pinstripe)
2006 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Scott Rolen jumbo swatch #'d 154/299
2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Chien-Ming Wang jersey relic (gray)
2009 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Chris Young (D-backs) jersey relic (gray)
2009 Upper Deck Ballpark Chone Figgins/Yunel Escobar "Emerging Stars" dual relic #'d 299/325
2009 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection Ohlendorf/Carmona/Kelly Johnson/Albaladejo "Emerging Stars" quad swatch #'d 344/400
2004 Upper Deck Legendary Cuts Wade Boggs "Legendary Swatches" jersey relic (gray)
2004 Upper Deck Legendary Cuts Paul Molitor "Historic Swatches" jersey relic (dark blue)
2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom Daric Barton ticket relic #'d 16/110

Refractors:
2004 Topps Finest Jose Vidro refractor
2004 Topps Finest Scott Posednik refractor
2009 Topps Finest Luis Valbuena refractor
2009 Topps Finest Wade LeBlanc refractor
2009 Topps Finest Eric Chavez refractor
2009 Topps Finest Jon Lester blue refractor #'d 69/399
2009 Topps Finest Chris Lambert blue refractor #'d 396/399
2009 Topps Finest Miguel Tejada blue refractor #'d 126/399
2009 Topps Finest Ryan Ludwick blue refractor #'d 311/399
2009 Topps Finest Carlos Quentin blue refractor #'d 214/399
2009 Topps Finest Stephen Drew green refractor #'d 35/99
2007 Topps Turkey Red Roger Clemens refractor #'d 520/999
2007 Topps Turkey Red Hideki Okajima black refractor #'d 36/99
2005 Topps Finest Football Matt Jones blue refractor #'d 181/299
2005 Topps Finest Football Santana Moss green refractor #'d 30/199

Misc.
2008 Upper Deck Piece of History Hunter Pence red parallel #'d 50/149
2009 Allen & Ginter's Aramis Ramirez no number mini #'d 35/59 (hand numbered)

Of Turk-Offs, Law Breaking & Drunkeness

Precisely a week before Christmas there was a blizzard predicted to blanket the mid-Atlantic region with between one and two feet of snow. Predictions were correct, and last Friday night, it started snowing at my house. The good news is that last Friday afternoon a box arrived from Motherscratcher. It was my Turk-Off 2 winnings, and arrived in the nick of time.

I'll start with what was clearly the highlight of the package:
Yeah, that's right, Motherscratcher sent me a six-pack. Not just any six pack. This stuff is like 7.5% alcohol! What Motherscratcher doesn't know is that he is now a criminal, and I am outing him. You see my friends, it is ILLEGAL to send alcohol through the mail to Maryland. Way to commit a felony dude. It really means a lot to me that you go to such great lengths to ensure that I would not be without the proper libations during such a time of need as blizzard. If they have internet access from prison, maybe you'll post more often.

Packing up this six-pack for shipping was clearly a labor of love, as each bottle was individually bubble-wrapped and placed in a Ziploc freezer bag, which was also once again bubble wrapped. It certainly appears that Motherscratcher has done this before, and is most definitely not an amateur. Wouldn't that also make him a repeat offender?

As if an unexpected sixer the day of the biggest snowstorm in the past 5 years wasn't enough, Motherscratcher also sent over a few great cards, and some random packs, which has become his modus operandi. If you've ever traded with him, surely you catch my drift.

2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear Derrick Mason Player Timeline #'d /500

2009 Topps 206 Nick Markakis Old Mill relic

This completes my Markakis 206 framed relic rainbow. You haven't seen the Polar Bear framed version yet, but you shall. Oh yes... you shall.

2009 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection Nolan Reimold rookie autograph

Shweeeeet! As if the Markakis relic wasn't already enough. Reimold put together a pretty solid rookie campaign, after playing his way onto the team with a strong spring season. Whether or not he is "the truth" will largely be determined by his performance next year.

In amongst the pile of old Stadium Club and Fleer Ultra packs that Motherscratcher sent me, were a few packs of '08 Stadium Club retail. I ripped the first one, and found this puppy waiting for me inside, begging to be redeemed.

Thanks a lot for one of the most excellent and timely packages in the history of mail service, Motherscratcher. I enjoyed the Great Lakes Christmas Ale very much, but I do have a question for you. Is it normal to walk into walls and stuff after you drink it?

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE CUSTOM HOLIDAY CARD! ENTRIES ARE POSTED HERE, AND VOTING IS OPEN UNTIL TOMORROW AFTERNOON.

Ho Ho Holiday Contest Reminder

Hey dingleberries, don't forget that you've only got 18 more days.... 17 now I guess... to submit your entries for the first ever Ho Ho Holiday Contest brought to you sincerely by yours truly, the Wonderbeard. Motherscratcher called me that earlier, and it made me feel "Hobbs-ish" for a few brief moments. I want to thank him for that, and for being a formidable Turk-Off 2 opponent. So far it's still pretty close, with exactly half of each box posted. Motherscratcher holds a 1 pack lead, but in the overall points category he's getting destroyed at the moment.

Why am I talking about Turk-Offs? This is about the Ho Ho Holiday Contest people! All YOU have to do is design your best holiday themed custom card. There are other rules (only a few), which can be found HERE. You can only submit one card, and it must have a Fall/Winter holiday theme to it. That's pretty much about it. You can print them, you can send them as digital files, you can fax them to the Kinko's down the street. As long as it is in my hands, or my inbox, by 11:59PM (All US time zones.... and Canada too.... I guess) Sunday December 20th, 2009. No purchase necessary. For complete rules read this post by looking at it backwards in a mirror while standing on your head.

Here are just a few of the cards you could win:


This is only 10% of what I'll be awarding to the top 4 card designs. If 2 Hall of Fame relics and a sweet beard don't motivate you, I don't know what will. So far 2 entries have been received. A new one showed up in my mailbox today, but I haven't looked at it yet. If there were a favorite in this competition, it would most likely be this particular entrant. Let's see if that serves him/her well, or if it just ends up being a letdown.