Help please...

OK blgosphere, BA Benny and Spankee could use your help, and your vote in Nachos Grande's contest.
Go on over there and read the GReat entries for this round, then vote for Spankee and Benny, if you think they are worthy...

Shamelessly stolen from Benny's site, I'm bettin he won't mind though!!

Just don't wait til...

cause voting ends tomorrow at 8pm EST.
Carry on with your weekendly-like activities!!
have a GReat night!
Dawgbones

Got a new set of balls to show off!!

While shopping at Wally World the other week, I came across these little bad boys in the Action Figure Aisle. And I figured, at $0.97each, I'd get a few to see what they'd contain:

Each ball is 1-5/8" diameter and contains one mini-figure from either DC or Marvel. I find  that interesting. DC and Marvel released in the same bin!

Breaking them open, 1 at a time reveals:

The fastest man alive! As well as my favorite DC superhero, the Flash! 

My wife's favorite superhero, the Almighty Thor.

Ironman

My Spidey-Senses are tingling!!

The Dark Knight.

On a whim, I picked up three more before this post happened, revealing:

Martian Manhunter - don't follow him at all.

Batman in the attack pose, very cool!

My first duplicate, curiously ALSO in a blue colored ball!

So, there you have it. Not a bad little haul for less than $8 plus tax. Or at least until I get back by another Wally World! If anybody is interested in the duplicates, or the Manhunter, let me know. And keep yer eyes peeled, cause I'm probably not done buying these little spherical bits of superhero-ey goodness!! For you statistically minded readers, the ball in the picture with each figure is the color that it came out of, I don't know at this point if any pattern can be derived.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the votes for Benny this week, he moved on to the next round!
Have a GReat week! It's supposed to rain here most of the week!
Dawgbones

Contest Update, Vote for Benny...

If you have not heard, yep, knocked out in the first round! thanks for the extra votes at the end, especially the ones after the deadline. But you can still help out.

How, you may ask? Go here, and

for B.A. Benny!! I am officially throwing in the towel and fully endorsing him for winner!
Good luck Benny, you're gonna need it when you go up against FOOM, the Junkie

thanks for reading,
have a GReat night!
Dawgbones

A Plea for votes, and a question...

Voting for Round 1 of Nachos Grande's bracket Challenge is currently underway, ending tomorrow night at 9pm E.S.T. If you haven't voted yet, would you consider popping over there and putting in a vote for me. If you think my competition's composition is better, forget I said anything...

and now for the question:

There is a card on eBay with a buy it now price of $18.00. The seller has also listed "or best offer" as an option. Shipping is $3. How much do you think is a decent offer? One that might be accepted, but not low enough to be an insult...

I'd like to spend no more than $10 total or less. 2 completed recent auctions were $5 w/$2.65 shipping and $8.02 w/$2.50 shipping.

Thanks for taking the time to read my humble little blog.
Have a GReat Sunday!
I'm off on another ride to raise money for my local SPCA!
Dawgbones

Ridiculing McGuire, in all his Glory

Update, Voting is now LIVE. Please vote for me.
Posting for the bracket contest going on over at Nachos Grande's blog.

disclaimer: the views expressed in the following post are pulled directly from the sarcastic recesses of my feeble little mind and are no reflection on actual fact what so ever:

Round 1 card:

Mark McGuire Collector's Choice Cover Glory:

Or, how steroids turned me away from my true life-long dream:

A: Superstar and runway fashion model, as evidenced by my perfect poise and grace as I sashay to and fro in my pristine white Athletics uniform. Unfortunately, performance enhancement also comes with massive weight and muscle gain, which does not go over so well when trying to pass another on that tiny stage, and his dream quickly faded the night he hip-checked Calvin Klein 3 rows off the stage in Paris.

B: Olympic gymnastic protege, too bad men don't complete in the balance beam...

C: Tightrope walking, look at that balance, I SOOOO could have walked across the Falls!

and now for some Op-Ed, and these are based, in part, on the actual facts:

Dialing Long Distance, Bet he's wanting to call up 1980 and tell his younger self to stay away from the PEDs!  and wipe that cheesy grin off his face while he's at it...

He's looking up to where the ball landed when he should be looking down for where his career was headed, right down there somewhere with his dignity. He may have come clean, but dirtied the sport we love so much in doing so.

he's been quoted:

"This is a great thing that's happening in baseball. We don't know if it will ever happen again."
Mark McGwire

one could only hope so, dumba_ _!

he's also said that he wished he'd never played baseball during the steroid era, For the sake of baseball and America's favorite past time, I could wish that he'd never played baseball, period!

All those home runs. we'll never know whether it was him or the PEDs.

Well, there you have it. My take on the Collector's choice Cover Glory and the man himself,  Mark McGuire. All the glory that only a true scandal could uncover!
Thanks for reading,
Have a GReat day! and remember,

I want you...................................

to vote for me in my bracket!

and you could throw another vote Benny's way too since we are not competing directly against each other... 
Thanks,
Dawgbones

Another neato Contest!!

This one by Martyn, over at Arbitrary Crap.

He's asking:
Have you joined a Box break & What's the best card you've got, If not why not?
We could take this several ways..
Sam, over at the Daily Dimwit, always puts on great breaks. The best one I've entered was last year, in which I received:

yep, three awesome hits.

(Sam, don't read this...)
Or the best hit in one of his breaks that I didn't get due to Upper Deck's asinine card design. A truly awesome Jim Thome, in a Phillies uni, with a Phillies star patch swatch, that went to the White Sox?!?

Yep, break rules send all cards to the team stated on the card, and this one, ALL evidence to the contrary, went to Arno with the White Sox as stated on the card!!
Arno, if you do read this, and are interested, let me know what I can find you in trade for this one, I'd love to have it in my White Sox Phillies collection

Or the absolute best card in a break that I joined over at Dan's Other World, that did not randomize in my direction:

yeah, Justin posted on this one earlier.. I had the Phillies in this break, but the randomizer took a dis-liking to me and sent that one his way. 

That's cool though, cause at least it went to someone, like myself, who could not afford to buy it, and will genuinely appreciate it for what it is, One GReat looking card!!

Glad you like that card as much as I do Justin. If you do decide to part with it, give me a shot at it first, please.

That's it for this post, and Martyn's first question, sort of!!
Thanks for reading,
Have a GReat night!
Dawgbones

Voting over at Nacho's...

Hey gang,
If you haven't taken the opportunity to swing by Nacho's Grandes and looked at our contest offerings. Go on over.

And as BA Benny says:

  I want you...................................

to vote for me!


you could throw a vote Benny's way to, at least until we are in the same group and going head to head...


Thanks my friends.
Have a GReat weekend!
Dawgbones

Shipping, a blessing or a curse?

Fuji's last question for this year's edition comes to us from SpastikMooss:
Which method do you find best for shipping cards? Could be a nice way for people to share their strategies.


You've got to start with the right supplies, without them, your done before you even start:

Padded envelopes in several sizes, mostly used (I re-use EVERYTHING, including the blue painters tape!) Boxes for bigger items, and penny sleeves, knock, knock, Penny, knock, knock, Penny, knock, knock, Penny, and hard sleeves. I use two hard sleeves on the ends of larger stacks or multiple sleeves in the case of nicer cards or fewer cards.


Next, addresses: my blog trade box is full of them. Each blogger or person I've traded with has their own spot in the box, seperated by raised index cards.

each of these has the name and address of the blogger/reader on it as well as that particular person's specialties. Benny has New York teams and U.S. Flags
written along the bottom of the card. Helps me to sort some of the "set asides".

How many times have you come across the perfect card, featuring a cup for instance, only to struggle to remember, "Who collects card with cups on them??" A quick peek through the box reveals our very own Spastikmooss!


I've sent and received items in a PWE many times, but with the clear understanding between all parties involved that it is to be this way. I don't always use confirmation or insurance (depending on the value of the items) but will if the situation warrants it.


In the case of other items, Spankee's cubee, I've found some small boxes that worked out awesome for holding the assembled person plus a few extras.

And I make sure to include any special markings according to the shape/size/weight of the package in question.


Mostly, "Do Not Bend", "Hand Sort Only, Please", or the old Italian, "Fragile".

Thanks for the subject there Mooss.
Thanks for reading,
Thanks for another great summer contest Fuji-San!!
Have a GReat weekend!
Dawgbones


P.S. Quite a few of us are involved in another neat contest over at Nachos Grande's blog, Please support us and him by reading, commenting, and voting for your favorites.

Body Found in Local Bowling Alley Positively Identified

The Body of Leonard Theodore Guttman, owner and founder of Guttman's Gutters, was found in his business, dead of apparent blunt force trauma.


Lennie was an all around great guy. He'd do anything for anybody, would give you the shirt off his back. But he was not always that way, back in his high school days, he was the quintesential jock. Picking on the nerdy guys, those that didn't fit his image of the way things should be.

A big reason why he wondered how his son Jack turned out to be so essentially opposite, the quintesential nerd, more interested in playing chess or hanging out in the science lab. And equally shocked the day Jack brought Cyndi home, how the hell did the high school king of the nerds end up with the head cheerleader? Had to be helping her with her homework, silly girl was probably leading his son on so she could keep her grades up and stay on the squad. Only thing was, they didn't have any books with them. Weird, extremely weird?

And that was not the only odd thing that had happened lately. Ever since Lennie's original business mentor, Tommy L. had convinced him to clean up the bowling alley, things really seemed to be turning around. Remodeling had done almost as much for profits as banning that Furts kid for running book out of his establishment. His joy at seeing Joey hauled off to jail by Danny the day his 3-card monte scheme back-fired on him was more than equaled when the "loser" had taken a baseball bat to every peice of sheetmetal on Furts' yellow Camaro. That kid deserved it, but what a shame for the car.

It seemed that for every good thing that happened, something equally bad or worse would attempt to equal things out. The evening Price called and told him that Tommy had died, it rocked Lennie's world. Tommy was like a brother to him, helping him with more than just his bowling alley dilema. That homerun ball by Williams in game 1 of the '03 series landing in his lap was the highlight of the year for him. Less than 3 hours later, after having almost choked to death on olive 2 of his 3-olive martini celebration, Tommy stumbled out of the bar only to be fataly struck by a passing ambulance.

Things seemed to continue downhill for widow Laughton when she hooked up with that Klugman fellow. Lennie never liked him ever since Bruce's investment firm started buying up the properties in Willow Cove for "redevelopment".

Lennie fought the attempts by BK's Builders Inc to buy out the block on which Guttman's Gutters resided. When the break-ins started, followed by the night Mudlin got mugged in the lot after he'd finished polishing the lanes, (it was a Thursday ritual, to be ready for the weekend rush) Lennie turned to the sherrif's department.

Danny could never collect solid evidence of any wrong-doing by Klugman, and stepped up patrols in the area also failed to nab the guilty culprits.

Guttman thought things might be turning for the better again on the Tuesday night that Larry hit the Mega-Millions Jackpot. The 28 million would let Larry enjoy his life, though it would mean leaving his the Gutters for good. Sadly, this once again would be balanced when they found Lennie early the next morning, having been blugeoned to death on lane 17 of the very alley that he helped to found.

Though several suspects have been questioned, including Klugman, no arrests have been made. The investigation continues and anyone with information pertaining to the case is asked to contact Deputy Daniel Young at the Willow Cove Sherriff's office.

Fuji, via the Buffett...

Latest question, from Mike, over at BA Benny's:

Hey Fuji, what are the three most prized items in your collections? Value does not have to be a factor, but can be.

Three most Prized Minis:

Three most Prized Autographed Cards:

had to have a #17 autograph, and Pat is one of the best signers, ever 

once again, the minor Logos are awesome

Three most Prized Manufactured "Relics"

There's your #7, at least the first one!

Three most Prized Non-Sports:

What a GReat lady! Such a tragic loss for the world!

Three most Prized Relics:

Three most Prized Large Scale Die cast Models:

My wife got this one cause she thought I'd like it. She was RIGHT!

Three most Prized Small Scale Die cast models:

Three most Prized figures:

Three most Prized Elephants:

I liked Righty so much, I have several version, and 2 of this one.

Three most Prized Jerseys:

There's your second #7.

The Halladay Star and Stripes is an instant classic

The Utley was my first.

Three most Prized Ballcaps

St. Cloud State, Minnesota. Who else would the ole Dawg root for?

Loved the Mudhens from watching M.A.S.H. on T.V.

Portland Seadogs, from their Marlins affiliation,

were you surprised there's no Phillies cap here?

Three most Prized Banks (Piggy or otherwise):

Three most Prized Photos:

Three most Prized baseballs:

Three most Prized Possessions:

My wife,

My Dogs,

You, my Friends!

There's not much "Value" here, except to me, and the last three are Priceless!

Thanks for another great topic, Mike

thanks for reading,

Have a GReat day!

Dawgbones