Saturday, January 12, 2008

It's 2:30am, do you know where your gift packs are?

Yes, I am one of those crazy people that stays up all hours on the weekend, and this go-round netted the completion of 2/3 of the remaining 12 Days gift packs!

The first tonight (okay, this morning) goes to Brandon in Indiana. He provided a smorgasbord of options for me, which helped immensely, especially since by my calculations, his was the last request in: Yankees, Braves, Nationals, Ravens, and Browns. Without further adieu - On the twelfth day of Christmas, Tribecards gave away: twelve Washington Nationals (sidebar: they were ALL the Nationals I had!), eleven random Ravens, ten Tim Couch cards, nine assorted Yankees, eight insert/oddball Braves cards, seven Cleveland Browns cards, six Skybox Dominion/Thunders, FIVE TODD HEAP CARDS, four Chris Redmans, three Steve Sax, two Dale Murphys, and a Billy Martin World Series Heroes Card (okay, so you really have to stretch around the last one to make it fit the song, but hey, that's what mangled traditional favorites is all about, right?).

The second giveaway goes to Joe in Utah who also had an interesting request list: Titans, Saints, Penguins, and Reds. Thus, on the twelfth day of Christmas, Tribecards gave to Joe: twelve Aaron Brooks cards, eleven Barry Larkins, ten Tennessee Titans, nine Pokey Reeses, eight assorted Saints cards, seven Yancey Thigpens, six Deuce McAllister, FIVE PENGUIN CARDS (again, all the Penguin cards I could find!), four Kevin Dyson, three '07 Goudey Reds, two Austin Kearns, and a '71 Topps in tree-oh! Okay, the last one there? Well, the '71 Topps Reds I had were kinda roughed up, so I decided to include all the '71 Topps Reds I had in one "day." I know, it doesn't "follow the rules" of the song, but really, in the song, the guy gets a partridge in a pear tree, so that's actually two things. Besides, I made up the rules, so I can "shape" them as I need to, right?

Now, you may be asking yourself (especially if you are the last person to be getting your gift pack) why I filled the last request in (Brandon's) before I filled a request that came in earlier. The answer is simple. David A requested an all-Cleveland gift pack (Indians, Browns, and Buckeyes). Since I have a bazillion Indians cards to pick through, it is going to take a little more time than the other gift packs. Have no fear though, David, you will end up with some sweet Tribe cards. Well, the Browns cards are pretty cool, too. I'll let you know now, though, I only have one Buckeye, so at least you know what you're getting on the first day of your 12 days gift pack... :-)


Before I sign off for the night (morning), I have a couple observations I wish to share should anyone out there decide to take on a similar venture in the future:
  • Stock up on Yankees, Braves, Red Sox, and Orioles before you start.
  • The hardest days to fill are the days 7 through 11 (or were for me).
  • Day 1 is hard to fill because you want just the 'right' card, if possible.
  • Have your cards sorted by team (and player within the team) if at all possible BEFORE you start.
  • Coke and Mt. Dew will do wonders for creatively filling missing days.
  • Print out each request and keep track (generally) of what you are giving out to folks (so you can post it!).
  • Take pictures or scans of some of the cards included in the gift packs. I wish I had thought to do that before shipping them off, mainly to break up the monotony of all the text!
  • Get the kids involved, if you have youngins (kids, grand kids, nieces, nephews, etc) - they'll have as much fun as you are!
  • Have fun and don't take any of it too seriously!
  • Finally, make sure you are comfortable parting with whatever cards you are giving away. In my case, I have no problem giving any card up that is not an Indian player regardless if the card happens to be a materials card, auto'd, etc. Honestly, I don't remember if any of the cards given away had materials or autos. As for the cards you *DO* collect, only give out/trade your duplicates. :-)


Have no fear, David, your gift pack will be ready by the end of the weekend!

Thanks for stopping by, have a good night (morning), and drive safely out there. (See what staying up until 3:00am does? Yes, I started this post at 2:30 and now it's 3:00, and my son has a basketball tourney at 8:00am to boot!)

3 comments:

  1. Good advice! If I'm insane enough to do something like that for X-Mas 2008, I'll be sure to refer back to this post.

    Nice job on all the packages! I've enjoyed looking at all of the selections. Very creative!

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  2. Thanks! It has been fun to do, for sure! A touch of insanity helps, for sure! :-)

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  3. Looking forward to the 71 Reds. And the rest, of course. Interesting mix you came up with.

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