Drumroll Please Cuz Someone Gets To Say "Neener Neener Neener!"...

Okay, it started with me trying to build suspense, but it has since turned to me just having zero time... I had hoped to slowly pull each winning card and THEN announce the winner, BUT I think I have made y'all wait long enough... I had shown off the Al Kaline card already. Joining Mr. Tiger are 2 Hall of Fame hurlers. I wish I had scanned each card individually, but alas the time issue... Plus, since I no longer own these, it wouldn't be right for me to post them - that is the WINNER'S job!

The total prize package ended up containing, from 1956 Topps Baseball, card #20 Albert William Kaline (white back), card #180 of Robin Evan Roberts (white back) and finally card #255 of Robert Granville Lemon (gray back). 3 cards, all Hall of Famers. One of the finest hitters of All Time, coupled with arguably the BEST pitcher of the 1950s in the American League AND the top hurler of the '50s in the National League. I won't post their bios or stats, again, winner's responsibility...
Oh, now that the prize is set, y'all probably wanna know who won, right? There is the topic of certain awesome bloggers saying neener neener neener to other amazing bloggers. Read on, I WILL get to it. If you really read this blog, you know you have to READ!

Let's rewind for a moment... In case y'all don't remember what the contest was; here is a quick rundown... My son was expecting a child, my FIRST GRANDBABY and I set a contest for the blog-o-sphere to guess exactly what time the baby would be born. On December 22, 2010, Atlas Ray came into this world at 11:35 PM. Over 130 of you guessed and about 10 of you got within a half hour of the correct time.

Three of you were within 6 minutes, but the GRAND PRIZE WINNER guessed 11:31, just 4 minutes from the time. This Troll has already awarded two Honorable Mention Prizes, but this is the GRAND PRIZE. Well, the blogger with the neener neener rights is none other than my second favorite Padres fan (can't beat Padrographs Rod!)

The GRAND PRIZE WINNER OF THE FIRST EVER COLLECTIVE TROLL'S GRANDBABY CONTEST IS: (pause and drum roll please...) The granddaddy grand prize winner is the blogger we all know as Doc.who writes nearly as many blogs as I do, including, but not limited to Baseball Card Recollections, which, coincidentally is holding a contest RIGHT NOW!

Always quick to kill 2 birds with one stone (who doesn't love killing birds economically?) this is me pimping Doc's Contest RIGHT NOW! Another GREAT blog that Doc runs is the super cool 1,000,000,000,000,000 (or some large number) Cards For Kids... I LOVE making the trip to All Children's Hospital in St. Pete, Florida with bags of Rays cards for the awesome kids there. One day I will actually get some pictures and contribute to that blog. One day. Anyway, I managed to draw this out long enough...

The Cliff Notes version is this. Contest over. We have a grand prize winner. It is Doc of Baseball Card Recollections. He wins 3 cards. They are all 1956 Topps. They feature Al Kaline, Robin Roberts and Bob Lemon. It is now Doc's responsibility to acknowledge his win here. Then deliver the appropriate neener neeners throughout the blog-o-sphere and then email me his mailing address within 3 days of this post. THEN I will say goodbye to these 3 beautiful slabs of cardboard. Then I will attempt to return to "normal" blogging.

Personally I had a ton of fun with this contest. I loved sharing my amazing news and super new grand baby with all of my collector friends. The well wishes and comments made me feel great and I want to say thanks to ALL OF YOU who played along. There were over 130 entries and even more people who didn't enter, but showed me some love and support anyway. I love this forum we all exist in. Y'all rock!!!

Doc, congratulations to you sir. I hope you are pleased with your winnings. I am glad that I didn't pick the Jackie Robinson envelope cuz I REALLY love that card, but I hope you aren't disappointed with what you ended up with. Thanks again to all of you! Thanks for reading, commenting, following, trading, chatting and collecting with me!!!! I don't always have time for this blog, but I LOVE this hobby and always will!!!

On a collecting note - all of my want lists are current and up to date. I REALLY wanna finish off 2010 Topps before 2011 comes out. I sorted out ALL of my dupes and I am working on making a list today, so check that out when it happens... 1965 Topps Baseball shall be priority #1 until its done (which may take forever) so keep me in mind if you bump into any...

While I have your attention I must kill a third bird (not an orange one!) and pimp another SUPER contest at one of my favorite blogs.. . Want a chance to win a certified autograph of a Hall of Famer??? Just click here and leave him a comment. Its that easy...

Speaking of easy... I am killing a 4th bird right now... My buddy and fellow Floridian Chris from the Vintage Sportscards Blog is giving away some Hall of Famer cards himself... Check it out RIGHT HERE!!!

One more note... Does anyone remember last year when I worked as an outdoor security guard and braved the cold to blog like crazy? Well, I will be covering shift the next 3 Saturday nights so look forward to some actual card blogging from your friend the troll.

That's all for now... Seriously... No more birds shall be harmed today... Go vintage! troll out.

The First Grand Prize Card Revealed...

Regarding the Guess the Grand Babies Name Contest... I purposely didn't try to brag about who the cards would be of. I wanted readers to enter whether they were winning Richie Ashburn or Roberto Clemente. Actually, y'all have a shot at both of them. I stated before that I sealed each of my 1956 Topps cards in an envelope and I am having a friend (who doesn't collect) chose one. My friend and Bradentucky Bombers skater (who will remain nameless right now) picked the first envelope. This is one of my FAVORITE cards in my collection, well it was... Anyway, when I announce the winner, he or she will receive 3 cards including this one, card #20 of Mr. Tiger himself Al Kaline!!! Oh, by the way, the first place winner picked the time within 4 minutes. The second place was within 5 minutes and the third place pick was within 10 minutes, too. When announced the GRAND PRIZE winner will have 3 days to comment and claim their prize. This is to prevent contest trollers (ha!) and make sure the winner occasionally reads this blog. If he or she doesn't claim within 3 days, it will go to the second place winner. Sound bueno? Stay tuned for the other 2 cards AND the winner. Oh, still waiting to hear from the winner of the 1962 Warren Spahn. Please comment and email me soon or miss out! Oh, on a totally unrelated note, I just listed a bunch of machinist tools and gages on the 'Bay. I am warming up before I list my entire Carl Crawford collection. Stay tuned... Bye bye Matt Garza! troll out.

The Complete List, Including SIX Winners!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the First Annual Collective Troll Reader Appreciation Contest! The results are in, here is what Random dot Org had to say...

List Randomizer
There were 75 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
1. Luke Wieneke
2. Omega Wax
3. Roy - Picks 2nd
4. Flash
5. JDs Daddy - Picks 6th
6. Colt SEavers
7. Dog Faced Gremlin
8. Justin G.
9. Pack Addict
10. Dan-Saints of Cheap Seats
11. Faqs Fabian
12. Tim Enough Already
13. Dan the Other World - Picks 5th
14. Mariner 1
15. The Diamond King
16. Baseball Dad
17. Wax Wombat
18. JustinB251
19. Deal
20. Play at the Plate
21. Adam E - THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER-Picks 1st
22. (Joe)
23. Joe Blue Jays
24. McCann Can Triple
25. Captain Canuck
26. Motherscratcher
27. RWH-Ryan
28. The Jaw
29. Jonathan
30. Peterson
31. TJ
32. Field of Cards
33. PAB
34. Cameron Reds
35. Ryans Memorabilia
36. Tunguska
37. DGreen1899
38. SpastikMooss
39. Matt F
40. Steve E
41. Chris OK
42. Roof God - Picks 4th
43. Ryan AKA Orioles Magic
44. First Day Issue Bud
45. GCRL
46. ED S.
47. Rod Padrographs
48. Dayf
49. Duane Roadkill
50. Night Owlie
51. Madding
52. Senate
53. Fan of Reds - Picks 3rd
54. Marks Ephemera
55. DFWBuck2
56. Oophowan
57. Zman 40
58. Carl Crawford Cards
59. Cynical Buddha
60. Aaron
61. Sewing Machine Guy
62. IDK3rd Base
63. Joes Autographs
64. Beardy
65. BA Benny
66. Wicked Ortega
67. Drews Cards
68. Brian J
69. Brooklyn Met
70. Dpuccio-David
71. Hackenbush-David
72. Slangon
73. Offy
74. Jacob Marley
75. Matt-The Best Way
Timestamp: 2010-03-31 01:38:11

Thanks to everyone for reading this blog-it is the readers who make me want to write and I do appreciate it! Opening Day is inching closer. Do you have your tickets yet? I will be at Tropicana Field in the 7th row behind the dugout and I can't wait! This contest was sponsored by TBRaysNews dot com-check them out for all of your Rays news and notes, the site launches officially on Opening Day. Thanks again, congrats to the winners and thanks to everyone-especially those who left hilarious comments to enter. Y'all never disappoint. The reason that I begged everyone to follow this blog is because I have a lot of great posts planned, so keep on checking in. The Nitty Gritty Card of the Day will have a new and different vintage card posted daily and the third blog in the CT family is dedicated to my Brian Roberts collection, check it out as well. Thanks! Prizes will be shipped out late next week. Don't forget to send me your addresses. Winners, claim your prizes here. If you don't remember what the prize options were, the original post is here. Vote for the best shortstop ever while you are here, PLEASE. Go Rays! Troll out.

The First Ever Collective Troll Reader Appreciation Contest Is HERE!!!

It’s contest time!!! The first annual Collective Troll Reader Appre-ciation contest is here! Thanks to everyone who contributed to this blogs 75,000 hits and 100 followers! It’s time for me to give back. I am going to try and keep this post short (for me) and sweet. The contest will stay up for 3 days. I put a poll up on the side bar that will run for 3 days. When the poll closes, you can no longer enter the contest. The rules are simple. You must follow this blog to enter. If you have a blog yourself, please add this blog to your blog rolls. One entry per person. I would encourage you to mention this contest on your blog, to vote in the poll, to follow the Nitty Gritty and to check out my new sources for Rays News, but doing those things will earn you a thank you, but not an extra entry. To enter comment on this post or any other post that is authorized on this blog. Simply put your name. That’s all that is necessary. You can add your location, your blog name, your favorite team or your shoe size if you wish, but all you have to do is enter your name. There will be up to 11 different winners based on randomization and number of entries. There will be a grand prize winner who gets first pick of the prizes, second, third, etc. All of your names will be randomized 3 times and the winners will be based on numbers I have preselected and posted on the sidebar. It will not be 1-2-3-4-5 on the list. If 25 people or less enter there will be 2 prizes, 40 makes 3, 60 makes 4, 75 makes 5, 90 makes 6 and over 100 different entries will yield 7 winners. If you guys pass 120 you can make it 8, pass 150 and I will give it all away to 11 different winners. Remember it is winner’s choice; I am giving y’all 11 different options. There are 3 Hall of Famer autos, 4 other autographs or 4 relic cards to choose from. Basically the more people who blog roll this blog and enter the contest, the more winners there will be. All of this might sound complicated, but I will deal with all that. All you have to do is follow this blog, comment with your name and cross your fingers. It is that easy. A few people have asked me why I am giving these cards away. The reason is simple; I appreciate the card blogger family. Through hard times it has picked me up and all the time it makes me feel welcome and I truly enjoy posting as often as I can and I love reading all of the other blogs out there. This is my way of saying thanks! So, to everyone who has ever stumbled across this blog, commented on it, traded with me or sent me a message, I do appreciate it! Good luck to all… Oh, the prizes. Yeah. Here is what you can win… All of the autos are on-card unless noted, some are serial numbered and all of them are awesome!

Brooks Robinson.

Al Kaline

Ralph Kiner

Frank Howard

Your choice of one of these 3 young pitcher's autographs from Topps T206 (Johnny Cueto is a sticker auto)
Or if it’s your preference, any one of these relic cards.
Okay, that is it. While you are here, please check out some of my other posts. Check out the Nitty Gritty Card of the Day everyday or my new source for Tampa Bay Rays News-this site will launch officially on opening day, but it won’t hurt to check it out now, plus are a new sponsor of this here blog, so show them some love… Good luck to everyone! Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to vote in the poll for Greatest Rightfielder of All Time…When the poll ends, so does the contest. It will be open for 3 full days. I wouldn't wait, enter now! Remember that this is on the honor system. You must be a follower, one entry per person, no cheating! Good luck to all and thanks for reading! Go Rays! Troll out.