A New Batch of Custom Munnatawket Allen & Ginter Minis Arrive! (Plus a CONTEST - and a contest-within-the-contest!)

A few weeks ago, my buddy Ryan sent me another great package full of goodies including a ton of new custom mini cards!  As my group break participants know (as well as those who trade with me), I very often throw in some of Ryan's custom minis into my group break / trade packages - and with the latest batch of goodies I'm restocked for future trades and group breaks (Ginter anyone?)!!

Before I get to the custom minis (and the corresponding contest), I would be remiss if I didn't show off some of the other goodies that Ryan sent me.

I actually got to know Ryan through the blog - and then he invited me to join his fantasy baseball league.  That league was the first paid league that I've ever joined - and while I've yet to finish "in the money" at the end of a season (I believe this is my third year in the league), I have had a blast competing with a bunch of hyper competitive people!

The league's name is SloCon and Ryan has created the league's logo - which he has managed to turn into patches in the past and also t-shirts.  Ryan sent me an extra one of the t-shirts (in his NY Met's colors no less).

I already have been wearing my first SloCon t-shirt with pride...and so this one will also get worn (plus the blue and yellow matches the colors of the college where I work so perhaps I can call this a work shirt)?  Well, maybe not but it's still cool.

Also cool was the fact that Ryan threw in a second t-shirt for me - a "vintage" Topps shirt.

When I got the trade package, I had to laugh because less than a week before receiving the package with the shirts from Ryan I had sent out my own surprise package with a t-shirt in it (to Cards on Cards).  I am the big winner in that particular swap though because I dumped off a Cardinals shirt that had someone ended up at my house and I gained a couple of cool shirts.

Before I get to the custom minis, I have to also show off the one "real" card that Ryan sent my way - a 2000 Bowman Adam Dunn autograph.

A lot of Reds' fans don't like Dunn but I'll always have a soft spot for the Big Donkey.  As such, getting an autograph of his is a definite highlight for me...though I have to be honest, I think I like the new batch of custom minis even more...so let's get to them!

The majority of the trade package consisted of custom Allen & Ginter cards, but Ryan surprised me by including a trio of T206 custom minis as well.  Since I'm most definitely a Ginter guy, I'll begin with the T206s.  Of the three cards, my favorite image is definitely this Jayson Werth card.

I love Ryan managed to capture the feel of the old T206 cards while fitting in a modern player (or at least a modern player's noggin).

The other two custom T206s were also nice - and while I am sure there are a bunch of you out there that would like the Bryant....I'm afraid he's staying with me since I only got one copy!

Yeah, those are pretty cool for sure.  But Ryan wasn't content to just manage to make the front of the cards look authentic.  Oh no.  He also created full backs - and in my case I got three different back styles.

Obviously the Munnatawket back isn't a copy of an original, but the other two designs sure are - and collectors of modern cards will even probably recognize those as those backs have been featured in different retro sets over the recent years!  For my money, the best part of any of the backs is actually on the Munnatawket back - I love the "no website" bit...it fits the retro theme so well - even the font is spot on.  Of course, there is an email and a phone number there but I blurred those out just in case Ryan didn't want random calls/emails from strangers who read my blog!

So, I have to say that the custom T206s are quite cool.  I'm definitely jealous of Ryan's ability to create such awesome cards - I wish I had the technical and artistic skills to do such a thing!  As it is, I guess I'm just happy that he sends so many my way for me to distribute in my various trade packages!  The other thing that I'm not happy about is that Ryan beat me during our latest head-to-head match-up in the fantasy league...and he bragged about it and talked serious smack in his letter that he included in the package.

I'll get even eventually, but for now let's turn the other cheek and simply ogle some of the newest Munnatawket Ginter minis to join the set!

First up, a small pile to refresh my signature cards!

I actually mailed out my last remaining signature card during the last group break (I forget who exactly ended up with the final card) but now I have some more to sign.

Speaking of signing, did you know that I have three different versions of my signature card out there?

That's right - I've signed the same card in blue ink (the most common), green ink (hand numbered to 20), and red ink (hand numbered to 10).  In order for me to make sure I never duplicate anything, I can say that I actually kept one of my green numbered and one of my red numbered autographs...so in reality there are only 19 green autos of mine and 9 red autos of mine floating around out there.  All of them have gone out to my trading partners / group break participants though - so perhaps some of you reading this are among the lucky ones?

Now, about the rest of the new custom minis?

Before this package, I had cards 0 - 90 (yes, there is a card number 0 in the set...and it features a pretty lady in a bikini, that's all I'll say about that)!  Now that I've sorted through the new cards, I can report that Ryan has added cards up through card number 105 in the set!  Now, there wasn't a card #104 in the package which means I actually ended up with 14 new mini cards for my set.

Much like the contest I ran last time Ryan sent a bunch of extra minis my way, I thought I'd immediately share the love by creating a contest based around his awesome creations.

The Contest Rules:

I'm a big fan of the TV show Survivor (it's one of my guilty pleasures for sure) and in that show they used to do a lot of word searches (in the early seasons at least).  I thought that might be a fun idea for this contest - so here's the deal.

There are 14 new cards that Ryan sent my way (all people - no revolving doors like in some of the "real" Ginter sets).  All 14 names have been hidden in the word search below.  Note that any spaces in the names have been removed and I used the exact names that are on the custom cards.  Thus, for example if a card were of Otis Nixon, it would be hidden in the puzzle as OTISNIXON.  I will point out that there is no Otis Nixon in the set, sorry fans of Otis.

Now, at first glance that block of letters might look daunting so let me give you a few clues to help you out!

• As I said before, you are looking for 14 names of people (both first and last names).
• Three of the 14 people are best known for things other than baseball.
• Of the three non-baseball people, one was drafted by the Cubs but is more famous for playing a different sport.
• There are two people who share either a first, middle, or last name with me.  Of those two, only one spells their name the same way I do.
• There are two current Reds in the group of 14 (current as of 7/2/15 anyhow).  
• One of the baseball players usually goes by only one name on his baseball cards (here you have to have both his first and last name).
• There are three retired players in the mix, but only one of which ever played for the Marlins (or while the Marlins were even a team).
• One person's last name sounds like it is made up of two different parts of the body (but it's not spelled quite the same as one of the two body parts).
• There are two rookies in the mix. 
• One person is female (one of the three non-baseball people obviously).
• Ryan featured one of the baseball players in a Pittsburgh uniform but I always think of that player as a Tiger instead.
• One of my least favorite players to ever wear red is in the set (though this person never actually wore the Reds' uniform thank goodness).
• Up until this bullet point, I have given at least one clue covering 12 of the 14 people.  For the final two people, your only hint is that each plays for a Central division team and each has either a "C" as the first letter of their first name or the first letter of their last name (but not both).

To win the contest, you must determine the 14 people (or, in the case of no one figuring out all 14 people, the winner will be whoever correctly figured out the most people).  To enter, you must submit your guess as a comment on this post with all 14 people named.

Remember that while the above clues are vague (in some cases at least), you need to use the word search to actually make sure all your names are correct!

Bonus Contest:  In addition to the above "real" contest, there is a SECOND contest-within-the-contest happening.

Whoever posts the comment immediately BEFORE the comment with the winning entry, that person also wins a prize package of mini cards from me.  The one catch to this is that the same person cannot win both the main contest and the contest-within-the-contest (that wouldn't be fun at all).  If the first comment on this post contains the winning entry, then the bonus contest cards will not be given out.

Your comment can be anything - but if the winning comment happens to also include a link to your blog entry where you pimped this contest, I'll include some extra goodies for you in your prize package!  You MAY comment on this post as many times as you like - and it would be a good idea to do so because you never know when someone will figure out all 14 names!

Note:  If necessary, I reserve the right to add more clues for the names at a later date.  This contest will end no later than the end of July 2015, though I expect it will end much sooner than that since I provided so many hints!

Good luck (and thanks again to Ryan for the awesome trade package)!