An Awesome Prize And An Awesome Discovery!

Happy Veterans Day to all those who have served! I have nothing but respect for those men and women who have put on the uniform!

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One of my favorite blogs to follow is Baseball Card Breakdown. Gavin does these amazing custom cards and animated .gifs that simply blow my mind.

Recently, Gavin launched a new blog devoted to the 1991 MusiCards set. It a wonderful trip down memory lane as he discusses some of the great musical acts of the time. He highlights the musicians from each card in the set, along with some that didn't make an appearance on commercially produced cardboard. And yes, you'll find those wonderful customs there too! If you're not following the blog, you're really missing out!

To celebrate the release of his new blog, Gavin held a contest. Thanks to the Nationals dominating Game 4 sweep of the Cardinals in the NLCS, I was one of the two lucky winners! I got to choose one of six possible prize cards. Every card there was a gem, but for me, there was really only one possible choice:

 

Like Gavin, I am a big fan of the Simpsons, and the classic episode "Homer At The Bat". For those who've never seen it, it features Homer playing softball with a bunch of Major League superstars.  Gavin used his creative talents to whip up some customs of all the players, and managed to get this autograph. It's even better looking in hand, and is easily one of my all-time favorite cards in my collection.

Here's an interesting little side story. I've been a fan of Baseball Card Breakdown for a long while, long before I even entertained the thought of having a blog myself. I remember reading about these customs a long time ago, and started digging through the Baseball Card Breakdown archives looking for the original post to link back to here. I came upon his 700th post contest, where he first unveiled the Boggs autograph and held a contest to win one! On a whim I decided to read through the comments, and found this one:

Yep, my very first comment on a baseball card blog! Ironically, to enter a contest to win one of Gavin's autographed Wade Boggs customs! Just think about that - Because of this card, I started interacting on more blogs, started my own blog, and started trading with bloggers. It was my first real step into becoming a part of this fantastic community. Obviously, I didn't win then, but over three and a half years later, I'm now a proud owner. Funny, isn't it?

Thanks again for the contest Gavin! I'm looking forward to many more great posts and customs!