Closing The Book On The Sticker Album

It’s here! It’s finally here!

After begging through several trade posts with no response I was starting to feel like all hope was lost.  I considered utilizing the power of Night Owl’s One Card Challenge, but pride stopped me.

People read our posts, too.  All I have to do is let people know that I need the sticker and I’ll be done in no time.  I should be able to get this done through my own readership, right?

RIGHT????

Well, not so much.  Maybe no one had an extra sticker to trade, or people assumed another guy would step up, or people wanted me to suffer, but even after consistent begging and completely un-subtle hints, I sat 1 measly sticker away from completing the 2011 MLB Sticker Album.

And here I thought everybody liked stickers.  Maybe they all liked them too much.  Maybe the Brian McCann was the one rare sticker that everyone was chasing.

The point is, the blog didn’t work.  Even now that I have the sticker, it wasn’t directly through the blog.

You know what did work?  A Twitter trade with a fellow blogger.  How’s that for technology!

Dayf (aka Cardboard Junkie aka @cardjunk on twitter) responded to my pleas for trading 2012 stickers on the 140 character communication device.  I took a shot in the dark and asked if he happened to have an extra 2011 McCann laying around, fully expecting him to say no since we had already exchanged 2011 stickers once before and he didn’t have it then.  And besides, it’s a Braves player. He’ll probably be keeping any extras for his team collecting.  Imagine my surprise when he said he did!

No…it couldn’t be. He’ll probably send the 2012 one thinking that’s what I meant.  No one has the McCann.  If they did, I would have it by now.

Welcome to the party, pal!

Well, what do you know!  My life feels so much more complete now, you have no idea.

Stupid Brian McCann!  Just for that, I’m voting for Carlos Ruiz!  What’s that? Voting is over?  Enh, I wasn’t going to vote anyway.

Less bickering, more stickering!

Braves Before

I can’t tell you how sick I was of seeing Heyward’s left thigh exposed like that.  It’s inhumane. Think of the children, will you?

Braves After

Aaaaaahhh!  So much better.  The last page is finished.  I can finally close the book on the 2011 MLB Sticker Album.

Thank you very much to everyone that contributed to the cause.  These sticker albums are fun, and I’ll keep doing them, but I don’t know how you set collector types deal with that pressure.

By the way, we’re not done.

Sticker sketch cards!

Yes, everyone that trades with dayf gets themselves a sketch card.  I was lucky enough to get three.  Not only that, but they are the very first three peeled sticker-back sketch cards ever created!

I know I don’t have to tell you, but from left to right we have an extremely nervous robot that got caught tapping into some sorority webcams; Twilight Sparkle; and Best Pony Ernie Banks laughing at the wacky robot’s misfortune.

Bad. Ass.

We’re still not done!

Uh oh. A bear. Be very still. Give him your food and maybe Brian Wilson will go away.

The end of every chapter marks the start of another.

Those with a prescription-aided attention span will remember that the trade spurred from my comment and desire for 2012 stickers.  Well, he came through again for me and even completed a page in the early stages of the new quest.

2 Tigers out of 6 players. Am I missing something?

No rest for the wicked.  Let’s get cracking on this sucker.

Rays Before

Thanks to the trade, I got to finish up the Tampa Bay Rays page.  Awesome.  So, I’ll just stick #31 on the upper left hand corner and then #32 will go right next to i—-.

Why Topps?  Why?  Even if you felt the need to put the best player (or the page subject) in the upper left, why not number them sequentially?  What imaginary order are you using that you have to throw it all off?  Do you know how confusing and difficult this can be for people filling their album?

Rays After

Our first mascot.  The legends are largely missing from this sticker book, and foil is completely gone, both of which are disappointing developments.  But, we do get mascots.  I wish they would have had their own 2-page spread instead of taking up a player spot, but it’s fun for the kiddies, so I’m okay with it.

I’m realizing now that I should have ended with the sticker sketches.  Perhaps it is mistakes like these that force me to turn to twitter trades.  With bloggers nonetheless.  Oh well.  What’s done is done. And the 2011 Album.  That’s done!