SCANDAL! CONTROVERSY! SHAME!

Folks, we have a full blown scandal on our hands!  Yesterday, with pure pleasure I showed you that yours truly was a topic of conversation on the eTopps message board.  At least, my blog was.  Those of you who have followed my blog know that I have been a champion of eTopps from the get-go, and even when I was aggravated with them, I acknowledged that their product was fantastic.   I’ve even sent several of you your first eTopps cards through trades and answered questions on how the program works.  So I was very excited to see that my little blog had become visible to some of the heavy hitters in the eTopps world.  I posted the discussion thread yesterday, and last night there were a few additional comments that I didn’t capture.  I think one guy took me seriously when I said I was “the greatest blogger who ever lived.”  But that was fine too. 

So I was anxious this morning to see what, if any, new comments had been posted on this thread before interest in it dried up.  I clicked the link and….nothing.  The post about my blog was gone!

I was pretty confused.  Why would that thread be removed by the moderator?  It surely couldn’t have been because of a perception that I was anti-eTopps.   There are far worse things said about eTopps on the message boards than anything I’ve ever said.  I’ve never referred to anyone at eTopps as “monkeys.”  Maybe they didn’t like me posting their ridiculous response to myquestion a few weeks ago.  But my posts are typically positive.  Perhaps there is a guideline against linking to other websites?  I don’t know, but, whatever the reason, the thread was gone.   My new ally in the eTopps world, Diamondjake, was also incredulous.  He later this morning posted a follow up thread:  “Wow…. Really?”  I took a screen shot again in case eTopps censors this one too:

I haven’t been this interested in the eTopps message board since (inside eTopps reference) Boysofsummer was an active member and stirred things up.  

This is not the first scandal associated with this blog.  Let’s revisit the top 5 scandals in Napkin Doon History:

1)       Mystery of the Vanishing eTopps Message Thread.  So scandalous.

2)      Chicago Dog Temporarily Closes During The First Annual Napkin Doon Northwest Arkansas Hot Dog Tournament.   Maybe there was more to this than meets the eye?  Was their foul play involved?  We may never know.

3)      LostCollector Raises a Ruckus.  Everyone’s favorite new daddy couldn’t get a hold of himself when I made an executive decision regarding White Oak’s offering in the Hot Dog Tournament. 

4)      Death of the Doonboggle.   I was actually pretty pleased with my Doonboggle concept, but it never caught on, mostly because of Eric from Manupatches and Mustaches.  It was his  fault.

5)      Top 5 Scandal list only had 4 scandals.  I could only think of 4 things, but had already said this would be a top 5 list.  So that’s a scandal in itself.

My God, blogging is fun.

Trade With Manupatches and Chrome Scratches

Eric L from the fantastic blog Manupatches and Chrome Scratches, was one of the players in my recent Big Fun Game.  Eric has some really unique collecting goals, and some of his Luke Hochevar groupings are nothing less than inspiring.  His blog is funny, and well crafted.  And, as his blog spells it out, he likes Manufactured patch cards.  So, surprise, surprise, he stole the Joe Mauer Patch Card when it was his turn to pick in the Big Fun Game.  He also took an interest in one of the unclaimed prizes, a Fred Lynn patch card, and made me an offer I couldn't refuse:

I'm ecstatic to get Michael Young relic cards, especially when I don't already have them.  He also threw in a bunch of other cool stuff:

A bunch a great Rangers cards, most of which I didn't have.  The 2008 UD Documentary set was totally foreign to me, so they were a nice surprise. 

And he also sent some of my favorite non Rangers.  The Strawberry Fleer card is the bomb!  I appreciate the extra cards, and I definitely owe you Eric!

2004 Sweet Spot Classic Patch

At the recent auction at Cleve’s, I mentioned one of my best wins was a box of screw down/magnet card holders.  I always need these in general, but I had a specific purpose in mind for buying these.  I have a handful of very lovely Sweet Spot Patch cards from 2004 that are too thick for pages. 

I understand manufactured patches aren’t universally loved.  I know one exception.  Make it two, because I really, really like these cards.  There are about 90 in the set, but I have no business trying to build it.  But I do periodically look for one to slip through cheaply on eBay, and there are a few players that I definitely still want to get.   Here is what I have now:

Here are two of my favorites, front and back.  The scratch on the Robinson is the case, not the card.