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)

Ho Ho Holiday Contest Winners

It has been decided that since there were so many entries, and all of them were so absolutely awesome, that EVERYONE who participated will be receiving some sort of a prize. It has also been decided that there will be an Honorable Honorable Mention prize as well, giving us 5 winners, and 7 losers who will still be getting cards.

The winners will be announced momentarily, but first I want to take a moment and thank everyone who submitted an entry into this contest, as well as everyone who voted for their favorite in the poll. 88 votes is a pretty impressive turnout. As I said earlier, the poll results are not gospel, and it is I who has the ultimate decision. Much like Dubya, I am the decider. I will say that the poll results are very accurate, and there won't be too many surprises. We had two cards that tied for first with 22 votes apiece, as well as two more cards that tied for second with 10 each.

We'll start with our newest category, Honorable Honorable Mention. While this card was tied for 2nd in the voting, putting up an impressive 10 votes, there were simply better entries, and people who put more time into their submissions. That not to say that this card isn't absolutely brilliant. My favorite thing about it is actually it's simplicity, and that is the main reason why it was selected for a prize at all. Congratulations to Thorzul, of Thorzul Will Rule, for winning the Honorable Honorable Mention prize! I am not 100% sure what the prize will be yet, but chances are it'll be your choice of the leftovers from the prize pool that the top 4 winners will be selecting from, or couple of random Brewers cards of note.


Next up we have the winner of our Honorable Mention category, which goes to Jeremy of No One's Going To Read This Blog. His Festivus card is excellent, and even though it only garnered 7 votes in the poll, the fact that he designed both a front and back to his card definitely helped his cause. I almost awarded this card third place, but didn't want to stray too far from the poll results.
The back of this card is as hilarious as it is well-done.


Now, on to the big winners. These 3 folks not only got the most votes in the poll, they obviously submitted some high-quality custom cards. It is my honor to award 3rd place in the First Annual Ho Ho Holiday Contest to Jim of GCRL. His entry combines a sound concept, with first class execution. The signatures look fantastic, and I can tell that a lot of work went into this card design. The fact that GCRL didn't design a back is the main reason I was considering flipping his entry with Jeremy's, but this card got 3 more votes in the poll, so the people seemed to enjoy it. If you rigged the poll GCRL, it worked. Congratulations on winning third place!


This is where things get difficult. There were 2 entries that between them garnered 50% of all poll votes. Each of them finished with 22, and they are both truly worthy of the title. I agonized over this decision for days. Both of them are exceptionally sound of concept, and well executed. Both of them took the time to actually assemble and physically mail their entries to me, and they will be unique pieces of my collection for all time. In the end, I decided to award second place in the First Annual Ho Ho Holiday Contest to Slangon of Condition:Poor.
The story behind his Krampus/Sinterclaas T202 relic is fascinating, and cultural folklore happens to be something of which I am a huge fan.


And then there was one. This is the moment we've all been waiting for (or not). It's time to announce the first place winner of the First Annual Ho Ho Holiday Contest. His entry arrived late, but the photos were sent in before the deadline expired, so I decided not to ding him for it. This card has been selected as the winner mainly because I didn't see it coming. Condition:Poor has a reputation that precedes him, especially after winning Thorzul's Nightmares on Cardboard Contest earlier this year. I knew what to expect from Slangon, and I knew it was going to be good. I did not however expect something as awesome as what this year's champion Dayf of Cardboard Junkie submitted. That's not to say that I have a low opinion of Dayf, because I can assure you I do not. The man is an inspiration to me, and one of the main reason this blog even exists. He's also a fellow beardy, but that ultimately did not factor into my decision. What did factor into my decision was the strong showing Dayf's card had in the poll. He and Slangon were tied when the polls closed yesterday at 4pm. Once again, congratulations to Dayf! You are the First Annual Ho Ho Holiday Contest Grand Prize Winner!!!
This card almost made me shoot egg nog from my nose at first glance. There is nothing nastier than a nose full of nog. What is "nog" anyway? I'd like to know what specifications a beverage has to meet in order to be officially classified as a "nog".


This contest was more fun that I had ever imagined it would be. It looked for a while like I would be lucky if there enough entries to even have a legitimate contest, but my blogosphere brethren got down to business, and absolutely made this the best contest I have held all year. Take that Gint-A-Cuffs! Once more, I want to say a big "thank you" to everyone who entered, and to everyone who voted in the poll. You made this contest what it is, and it is awesome.

Just to recap, here are the winners in list format:

1st Place: Dayf (Cardboard Junkie)
2nd Place: Slangon (Condition:Poor)
3rd Place: Jim (GCRL)
Honorable Mention: Jeremy (No One's Going To Read This Blog)
Honorable Honorable Mention: Thorzul (Thorzul Shall Rule)


To ALL contestants: Please email me your addresses, and a list of teams/players of your choice so I can put together a little prize package for you. For best results, stick to baseball & football, since that's pretty much all I got.

To the WINNERS: There will be a list of prizes posted on my page in the coming days. Dayf will get first crack at it, and gets to select 3 autographed and 5 relic/refractor cards, Slangon will be up second, and will select his one autograph, and 7 relics, followed by GCRL who gets first crack at the leftovers, to select his 5 relic and 3 refractor cards. Finally, Jeremy and Thorzul will each be receiving 6 random refractors and one relic of my choice. I will try accommodate both of your collecting preferences when selecting your prizes.

That Santa Claus Is One Lucky Dude...

Just because I'm holding a custom holiday card contest doesn't mean I can't make my own anyway. There was someone missing thematically, so I went ahead and took care of that.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVERYONE!

Don't forget to cast your vote for the winner of the Ho Ho Holiday Custom Card Contest. Entries can be found HERE, and the poll is posted on the right.

Ho Ho Holiday Contest Entries (For Real This Time)

I want to start out by saying that ALL of these entries are absolutely incredible. When I announced this contest a month or so ago, I would have been impressed if 5 people had entered. After all, it wasn't the kind of contest for everyone. You had to be creative, and make something. You had to not be self-conscious about your creative skill level (or lack thereof). Never did I ever think that 12 people would enter, and as a result, this contest will likely return for next year as well. Don't forget to vote for your favorite card in the poll that can be found on the right sidebar. Let's get to the entries, shall we?

First up is Omega Cardboard, who went above and beyond the call of duty by actually hand-making a card, and mailing it to me. I am now the proud owner of an O-Pee-Chee Santa Claus relic autograph card. I really like how Santa's signature incorporates a Christmas tree to cross the "t". I also like the Upper Deck appropiate chipping on the relic window. Classic!
Here is a scan of the back. You can never have too many fuzzy hat relics, especially ones that are one of a kind.


Next up to bat is Condition:Poor, who made a most excellent fold out card. Just like Omega Cardboard, Slangon also put in the extra time and effort to manufacture his card, and mail it to me. This card may score some extra points with me for being so well put together. Here is a scan of the front, when the card is closed:
Here is the back, while the card is closed:
Here is the front once the flaps have been folded outward. You'll most definitely want to click this photo to view it full-sized. There's a relic in there, one that mildly offended me.
Here is the back view of the card while it's open. Once again, click it to truly appreciate the details, and read each story.


Next up is a card submitted by reader Alec. I'm not sure if Alec has a blog or not, and if he does, he should let me know, so I can post a link. Alec submitted a New Year's themed Then & Now card, which is extremely sound of concept.


Not to be outdone by Alec, GCRL also submitted a New Year's themed card, and this one has some mojo to it. Dual auto mojo to be exact. I love it how Father Time's signature is shaky. The guy is quite old, so it only makes sense. On the other hand, Baby New Year's signature makes me think that he thinks he's Chris Johnson or something. What a great card!


Thorzul submitted this next card, entitled "How the Lynch Stole Christmas". The expression on his face is perfect, and this card is pure comedic brilliance. Out of all the cards featured this far, this one is the simplest, but it's so hilarious that it doesn't even matter. Oh, and the whole play on words thing is great too. Nice work Thorzul!


Next up is a 2009 Topps Heritage Chrome Festivus card submitted by Jeremy of No One's Going To Read This Blog. This is yet another great looking card with a an equally great concept. I laughed out loud the first time I saw it, which was a fairly common theme throughout this contest. Wanna know what's better than the front of this card? It's the back! Excellent work indeed, sir.


Our next entry is one of the main reasons the contest deadlines had to be stretched a little bit. Dayf, being the procrastinating legend that he is decided to email me on the 18th and ask if entries had to be postmarked by the 20th, or mailed by the 20th. It was the first time anyone had asked me, and I wanted as many entries as possible, so an exception was made for Mr. Cardboard Junkie. It'll definitely not work in his favor when judgment day arrives, but that might not matter much anyway, since his entry is pretty solid. I waited this long to post, and yet today Dayf's card still didn't arrive. You'll have to judge his entry based on these crummy cell phone pics, at least for now.
The back is classic Dayf, and also made me giggle.


Let's move along to our next entry which was submitted by Rod of Padrographs fame. So far this is only our second Santa card, and Rod has chosen to depict Santa as a Player/Manager, which is pretty cool. I imagine you'd have to be pretty fast to track down fly balls in those boots. Please click on the image to view it full-sized. Blogger is lame when it comes to image sizing.


SpastikMooss of The Great Sports Name Hall of Fame submitted this most excellent Topps Heritage Pablo Santaval card. I hope my beard gets white like when I get old. That way when retirement finally arrives, I'll be able to make some side cash as a mall Santa during the holiday season. Could Topps have made that rookie card logo any bigger. Geez! This is yet another card that made me LOL, and I find it quite clever.

This next entry is most certainly an attempt at brown-nosery. It was sent in my reader Mark W., and depicts yours truly as some sort of Santa Claus. Beardy Claus to be exact. Yet another card that cracked me up. You guys are killin' me!


Up next is a card submitted by 2008 Allen & Ginter Cardscape that I am quite fond of. It draws it's theme from the famous Christmas carol "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer", and models it's design after my favorite insert of 2009, the Topps Propaganda Posters from Updates & Highlights.
Is that Mimi from the Drew Carey Show?


Finally, and last but not least is a wonderful card submitted by Mark's Ephemera. He also decided to do a tri-fold card, and since he was the first one to submit his entry, technically beat Condition:Poor to the punch. Mark also tried his hand at suck-upery by designing an Orioles card. In this case, it works out in his favor since this card also delivers a sound concept. It's a play on the famous Charles Dickens tale, A Christmas Carol. Nice work Mark!
Here's a look at the back. Just like all the rest, please click on the image to view it at full size.


There you have it, all 12 entries. It's going to be very tough to pick a winner with so many great designs to choose from. As I said earlier, the fact that 12 people took the time to enter my silly little contest is totally awesome! There's some real nice stuff here people, and I thank you for it, especially those who sent a physical card in as their entry. You've given me some of the rarest cards I own. Please don't forget to vote in the poll for you think is the winner of the Ho Ho Holiday Contest. Polls will remain open until Sunday afternoon, and the winners will be announced not long after that. Even though your vote alone will not decide the winner it does matter, so be sure to select your favorite.

Ho Ho Holiday Contest Entries

Ha! Fooled ya! They will not be posted until tonight or tomorrow. Between the snow and the beer and having to unexpectedly work yesterday, there just hasn't been time to get everything together.

As a result, the polls will be left open a little later, and instead of declaring a victor in Xmas Eve, the winner shall be chosen the day after Xmas.

Stay tuned to catch a glimpse of all the wonderful custom cards that were submitted for this contest.

Ho Ho Holiday Contest Update

Judgment Day has arrived! Once I get both cars dug out from yesterday's blizzard, and watch a football game or 4, all submissions will be posted. Being the gracious contest host that I am, I have extended the deadline. There are still one or two submissions in the mail that haven't made it to me yet, so as long as your entry is postmarked by TODAY, 12/20, it will be allowed into the contest. Because of this exception, all entries may not be posted until Monday or Tuesday. However, if you are planning on submitting a digital entry, please submit it my 11:59pm TONIGHT!


UPDATE: It has been decided... by me... that all entries will be posted on Mon. 12/21 for everyone to view, and a poll will be posted, allowing you to vote for your favorite card. The poll will be open until the morning of December 24th, and the winners will be announced that night. Much like when you vote for President, your vote is meaningless, and the decision will ultimately be made by "the machine", which in this case is me. I will however take the popular vote into account when making my final decision.

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 6 entries have officially been received, so your odds of winning something are still fairly high.

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.

Ho Ho Holiday Contest Entry Received

The contest was announced less than a week ago, and already we have our first entry. While I won't post it and ruin the surprise, I will tell you that it's pretty awesome, and was submitted by none other than Mark, of Mark's Ephemera fame. I can always count on the Commish to come through in the clutch.

The rest of you have been put on notice, and better get your entries in soon. You don't want Mark to win ALL 30 of the cards in the prize pool, do you? Well that's what's going to happen if his is the only entry.

All entries are due by December 20th 2009, at which point they will be posted, and your fellow bloggers & readers will have 4 days to vote for their favorite. Not that it matters much, since the ultimate decision is up to me.

Ho Ho Holiday Contest Rules Update

I am expanding the rules to include ANY holiday ocuring in the months of November, December & January. Get as obscure as you'd like. There's a couple of easy ones in there. That might work to your advantage, then again, it might not.

Oh, and you are only allowed to enter one card. Yeah, that's right, uno cardo amigo.

Email your submissions to the contact address found on my blogger page, or contact me through the same address for mailing instructions.

HERE'S THE DEAL:

Yes, that's right, another custom card contest. Not that I'm trying to rip off Thorzul or anything, but a good idea is a good idea. Besides, I want to see if anyone can touch the awesomeness of the 1990 ProSet Santa Claus.

It's that special time of year again, and I want to see your most creative custom holiday card. It can be Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, or New Year's themed, and it MUST be awesome. Submissions will be accepted in both digital & printed formats. As the sole judge, jury & executioner of this contest, I will be basing my decision purely on creativity, and design, and not on whether the card is printed or digital.

THE PRIZES
Here is a list of preliminary prizes. These are the absolute baseline worst that the prizing will be, and are subject to change (for the better if possible). Chances are I'll throw in some cards the winners specifically collect as well, or at least try my best to do so. First & second place winners will get their choice of cards from a list of availables to be determined in the next few weeks.

First Place: Lot of 3 choice certified autos & 5 choice game used relic cards
Second Place: 1 choice certified autograph & 7 choice game used relic cards
Third Place: Lot of 5 random game used relics & 3 random refractors
Honorable Mention: Lot of 6 random refractors

THE DEADLINE
All entries must be submitted by December 20th, and the winners will be announced on Christmas Eve.

This could be epic people! Make it happen.

Ho Ho Holiday Contest Prizes

Here is a list of preliminary prizes. These are the absolute baseline worst that the prizing will be, and are subject to change (for the better if possible). Chances are I'll throw in some cards the winners specifically collect as well, or at least try my best to do so. First & second place winners will get their choice of cards from a list of availables to be determined in the next few weeks.

First Place: Lot of 3 choice certified autos & 5 choice game used relic cards
Second Place: 1 choice certified autograph & 7 choice game used relic cards
Third Place: Lot of 5 random game used relics & 3 random refractors
Honorable Mention: Lot of 6 random refractors

Now get to work so you can win some cards!