1000th Post September Contest

That's right, this is my 1000th post. Hey, I'm shocked too.

It's been exactly 700 days since I put up my first post on October 1, 2009. It's been an amazing ride. I've had a little over 68,000 hits and almost 4100 comments. I've held numerous contests, made a ton of trades and made a lot of friends along the way. I've had more fun with this hobby in the last 700 days than in all the years before put together.

I feel like I've come a long way since post #1. I shared the story of how I got into card collecting at the age of 11. I told the story of how my obsession with cards very nearly cost me my marriage. I've talked about the good, (and here), the bad, and the ugly. I've experienced amazing generosity time and time again from people who don't care what the "book" says when they send cards. I've lost count of the number of packages I've received where nothing was expected in return.

I think one of the things that keeps me going in the hobby is experiencing it through so many people. It's easy to get bogged down in the isolation of opening packs and sorting set/team/player collections, but having so many people to trade with or just share the experiences of the hobby with keeps it fresh. Reading other blogs allows me to see cards I'll never be lucky enough to pull and I can share in someone's excitement of getting some major mojo.

Thanks to all of you who have been here from the first post. Thanks to all of you who have joined in somewhere along the way. Thanks for all the trades, comments and just for playing a part in keeping this hobby fun for me.

Now, to celebrate this 1000th post in style and because it happens to fall on the first of the month, let's give away a blaster. I've got an unopened blaster of 2011 Lineage just waiting for some lucky person.

No jumping through hoops for you dear reader. Just leave a comment and you'll be entered into the randomizer for a chance to win this month's prize.

Thanks again for being a part of the journey and good luck!