Mailday, Michael Jordan and a Request

Aloha, everybody, 

Good news for Al Kawamoto, the winner of my 100,000 views contest, and a few other folks.  That good news looks like this...

Yesterday I hit the post office and sent out the first prize (I hope you dig it, Al), and I also sent packages to the second and third prize winners, as well as to Jim from GCRL, who was the last place winner. 

I also sent out a few packages and PWE's because...why not? So check yer mailboxes, because a Happy Cards in the Mail Day package may be coming to you. 

All of that said, unfortunately, I couldn't send one package out, because I realized I didn't have an address...

This lonely fistful of cards is waiting for you. Just grab my email from my profile page here and shoot your addy out to me, and I'll get those cards out to you. 

Speaking of cards, I recently had some luck with one of those repack boxes of cards...

 While standing in line at the local Rite Aid, I spied one lone box sitting on the rack. So I took a chance to see if I still had some repack mojo. I didn't score a hit, but I did pull two little cardboard joys...

 This Mantle is a very handsome card in hand. It's shiny, but not too, and it contains Mantle's career stats on the rear, with league leader stats in red. Very cool. 

The other card is from a player that I've secretly always wanted on a card, but never came across, so it was another small thrill to pull this guy from the box...

I guess I still had a bit of repack mojo in the tank. 

Aloha! 

On One Hand The Card Show Was Disappointing. On The Other - SUCCESS!

Aloha, everybody, 

I headed out to the world famous Frank and Sons Collectibles show in order to find a nice prize for Al, the winner of my recent 100,000 views contest - and hopefully some other cool stuff for my regular trade partners.

Back in the day, Frank and Sons was a card collector's paradise, with rows upon rows of tables stacked high with cards, packs, and boxes of cardboard, from the shiniest new stuff opened there before your eyes, to the most vintage and obscure cardboard from just about every sport and endeavor they made cardboard for. 

It had been a couple of years since I set foot in there, and I was absolutely looking forward to slowly sauntering the aisles, enjoying all of the wonderful cards (that weren't under glass), as I used to. 

Of course, the day I planned to go was twice as busy as I wanted it to be, so I ended up screeching into the parking lot one hour before the show closed, which I knew meant a good 20% of the tables would already be closed and covered. 

And then I walked in. The show is in the same industrial-sized building occupying the same huge floor space, but at least 70% of the tables were devoted to comics, figurines, super hero memorabilia, stuffed mini-figures and who knows what, that wasn't related to sports cards. 

*Imagine me with a huge frown at this point.*

 That said, I still had a mission to accomplish, so I dove in to what sportscard dealers were still open for business. Time and choice factors were working against me, so my purchases were extremely limited.

I ended up buying just a few cards from a quarter box. Sorry Nick, there's pretty much no such thing as dime boxes out here in the LA area. Here they are...

  
One can't go wrong picking up a card from the greatest catcher ever. Anybody need/want this one? 

The next are from  a couple of subsets that I collect, so I was already partial to the designs. The players weren't too shabby either. Any takers? 

Finally, a little something I figgered Tony might like, but then again, he may already have five copies of this one...

 

Tony gets first dibs on the Yount, but if he passes, it's open to anybody else who may need it. 

Oh yeah, I also found something related to the Toronto Maple Leafs that I hope Al will dig. But I'm keeping that a secret. Here's a hint, Al - it aint cardboard. 

All in all, I found something for my primary objective, so the trip was successful. 

Even though the choices are fewer these days, I'll head back to the show in a couple of weeks for a deeper foraging. I just gotta get there early!

A note for Jeff from I Wish They Still Came With Bubblegum: I saw you wanted the Chipper from my GQ packs. All yours. My email is in my profile. Just shoot a mail to me with your address, and we'll get our (believe it or not) first trade going. 

Aloha!

Contest Winner! And Heartfelt Thanks

Aloha, everybody, 

Juuuuuuust a bit late, but here comes the winner of  ATBATT's 100,000 Views Contest. 

I dropped the 15 contestants names into the ol' randomizer, in the order you all entered, and it looked like this..

 Also on the list, but below the window sit: The Dutch Card Guy, Tony L., Adam K., and gcrl. Better late than never, boys. Welcome to the contest. 

I randomized three times, and here was the final screen, with our winner...

 Congrats go out to Al Kawamoto!Ypu'll find my email in my profile here. Just shoot me an email and let me know what teams and players you collect. I think you're a hockey collector, right? 

I planned to stop by the weekly Frank and Son's card show and pick up a couple of things for the winner, so I hope you can be patient with me Al, as I'll get there as soon as things normalize with mom's condition, and I can escape on a Saturday to the card show. 

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest. Lot's of players doesn't help your chances to win, I know, but it makes the contest a bit more fun with more contestants. 

Humble - but large - THANKS to everyone who sent your sincere thoughts and prayers out to mom and I. She's bouncing back slow but steady, and the plan is she will leave the hospital later today. She'll then go to a nursing home for about a week, where she will receive physical and speech therapy. After that, it should be her homecoming. 

As I said, a million thanks to you all, because your wishes and thoughts really boosted me up at a time that I needed it. Our cardboard community is generous with much more than cards and such - good thoughts and good friends are the most valuable collectables I've ever received from all of you. Thanks again. 
Aloha! 

Good News, Bad News: ATBATT Contest Update and Some Site News

Aloha, everybody, 

I've got some good news and some bad news...

The good news is for you hundreds of readers and fellow bloggers out there who wanted to get in on the 100,000 views contest, but missed the deadline last night. I'm giving you all one more chance to get an entry in. 

That's right, for the next 24 hours I'll reopen a window to enter the contest. It's totally free and easy to join. Just check the contest details here, and drop in an entry - on that same page. The contest will close to all entries at midnight PST tomorrow, Sunday night.

That said, the reason for extra time on the contest is the bad news. I didn't finish out the contest and randomize a winner yet because Thursday night my mother suffered a stroke. Needless to say, the contest and the blog have taken a backseat to this unfortunate situation. 

However, there is also a bad news/good news aspect to all of that. She had a stroke, but luckily it did not affect her physically. She can still move everything just like before, but her speech abilities are impaired. She has difficulties finding the right words and is sometimes confused about how to answer us when we speak to her. Time will tell how much she will recover. 

Since then, I've been spending a lot of time at the hospital, and that may continue to be the case for the next few days. Soooo...I apologize for not completing the contest quickly, but I think you can all understand. 

I'll do my best to randomize and announce the winner on Monday. 
With that, I gently remind you all to give your moms a hug as soon as you can. 
Aloha! 

ATBATT Gets 100,000 Views And You All Get A Contest

Aloha, everybody,

The Dodgers are starting off the season strong, with two shutouts against the San Diego Padres. Hope your team is doing great - unless of course (sorry, Arpsmith), it's the Giants. 

As noted in my previous post, my humble little blog has passed the magic number of 100,000 views. I suppose that number means little in these days of million-view sites, but it sure is big to me. 

I started ATBATT in September, 2011, with the hopes of drumming up a few trades across the country. Little did I know I would help the USPS, and the US economy in general, by eventually shipping and receiving more cardboard than I can count, and making gen-yoo-ine friends along the way. 

For you nostalgia nuts, here are the first words I wrote as a rookie blogger:

"I'm gonna post cards here with no presumption that i'm a witty writer like all you other guys. i love baseball and baseball cards, but i cant even compete with the bloggers who know what year the 'c' on the cubbies caps was changed."

And here's the first baseball card I posted...

I wrote, "Is it me, or do the fireworks look like an asterisk?" 

In honor of many great trades, being welcomed into our wonderful cardboard community, and meeting so many cool people, I'm putting on a humble little contest. 

It's not terribly complicated to enter, but you will have to do a bit more than click below and say "Hello". 

I figure since I did some lifting to get to 100,000 - entrants for this contest should put forth a bit of effort and mention an ATBATT first in your comment below. For example, the first person to ever comment on ATBATT, the first card shown for a particular team, and so on. Any first will do, the only requirement is you cannot repeat what someone else already mentioned. 

I'll take all the comments and randomize them to get a winner; you know the drill. The prize will be a fistful of cardboard and some other collecting goodies to make your research worthwhile. I'll keep the contest open until Friday of this week, midnight PST. 

Well, what'r you waitin' for? Get to enterin'. Aloha!
  

 

It's Opening Day - So Let's Open Some Packs! (BTW - 100,000 views for ATBATT)

Aloha, everybody, 

Happy Opening Day to all of you, my fellow baseball fans, on this most excellent day. 

I even wrote a baseball haiku. Here it is, in case you didn't see it on Twitter (with apologies to any haiku purists out there)...

Hot dogs and beer, 

A Spring celebration 

It's Opening Day 

With that, my team isn't playing today, so I figured the next best thing would be to OPEN a few packs. Luckily my old lady was headed out to the local Target and she asked me if I wanted anything. You bet! 

I put in an order for a few packs, and here is what she returned with...

Welp, it turns out she also has the knack of choosing packs just like me. The Topps Series One pack followed the same pattern that I've been pulling since the start of the cardboard season. The first card from the first pack I opened...

 Wouldn't ya know it? An Angel. I also got the usual assortment of inserts, Cubs and Yankees.

The 2016 Heritage pack followed the same pattern as usual - way too many Giants, nothing for my collection, and something for ZZ.

Here are the highlights (?) from the Opening Day pack...

Yet even more Yankees...

And some kinda insert...

 In the end, my old lady chose well, because I pulled one of the cards I've been wanting since we all opened our first packs this year...

 It's extra cool because I got it from Opening Day, on Opening Day. 

Finally, Opening Day 2016 is a little extra special because ATBATT quietly passed a milestone today - 100,000 views. Not bad for a humble little blog. More on that next time. 

The Dodgers open their season tomorrow! Aloha!