Succeeding by Failing

"Forces of evil on a bozo nightmare
Ban all the music with a phony gas chamber
'Cause one's got a weasel and the other's got a flag
One's on the pole, shove the other in a bag"

HERE, just watch the video...

I was going to make this a musical post on losing, but after so many depressing songs and not any results I was looking for, I scrapped it and gave the music post the heave ho.  Sure I could have mentioned the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem, Steely Dan, 3 Doors Down and a host of others, but I didn't want my blog to lead to a major onset of depression.  That wasn't the point.

The point of this post was I won a contest by losing.  A while back, The Raz Card Blog held a contest.  I didn't do so well.  In fact I finished last.  Luckily though, he gave a prize to the person finishing last as well.  I'LL TAKE IT!  I'm excited about all the contests I win, but this one was a bit different, I'll explain in a bit.



I got the package in the mail earlier this week and I was happy to open it.

I always enjoy reading the notes included in packages.  It means a lot to me that someone takes the time to write.  I keep all the notes and this one is no exception.

I'll start with the Bo Jackson mini.  This completes the 2014 Topps mini 1989 cards (whatever they called them) team set of the Royals.  These have started to grow on me and I'm glad to have this one too.  What a way to start!

Next is a couple cards I never saw before.  It is safe to assume Topps makes parallel sets for all their cards, but since I don't buy as many new packs I didn't know they did it for these cards.  The Shields card is really nice, but the Yordano Ventura card is simply amazing, and a ROOKIE to boot!  I hope he can clear his head and become a force in the league for many years.  Of course I want every Royals pitcher to do the same, but YO still shows anger issues and that is something I hope he can control first.  He has a bright future if he keeps his head screwed on right.

Raz wasn't kidding, he cleaned house on this checklist.  Without looking I didn't realize I still needed so many, but aside from short prints, he made sure I got the rest.  I like the bearded Hochevar card the best, and Justin Maxwell looks super creepy on his card.  Why does it seem Heritage photoshops the eyebrows of some of the players?

On a side note, I see 4 gloves in the cards above, and I see 3 different brands (it looks like Moose has a Rawlings like Vargas).  I'm surprised glove manufacturers don't try to buy the right for teams, but oh well.  I think I like Santana's blue glove the best.

Ok, so the cards above weren't what I won.  They were the bonus cards Raz included and I'm so glad he did.  A big thank you for checking my lists, and I hope to update them soon as I've gotten backlogged a bit.

So what did I lose/win?

JAPANESE WOMEN'S WRESTLING CARDS????????  HECK YEAH!

I will come right out and say it- I don't watch much Japanese wrestling.  It's not that I don't enjoy it (aside for the couple DVD's of the hardcore stuff which is a bit much for me (and I should watch what I type I noticed, hardcore WRESTLING, not.... nevermind)), I just don't get many opportunities to watch it.  I'm not much on streaming video on my computers and I don't have AXS TV so Japanese Wrestling I only hear about through dirtsheets.  I'm not even sure who any of these ladies are.  My extent of Japanese female wrestlers are Akira Hokuto, Bull Nakano, Aja Kong (who I've never seen wrestle I don't think), one named Toyota, and Hamada who is Mexican-Japanese but was born in Mexico.  Most of those I mentioned wrestled in the 1990's and I saw them on WCW.  Hamada is the most recent and I saw her in TNA Wrestling and really liked her.

When is comes to female wrestling I notice there are two kinds of fans (not including the ones who don't care either way).  The ones who prefer the T&A styles (bra and panties matches, mud fighting and such with no real skills besides rolling around), or one who can actually wrestle.  While I like a good catfight time to time, I prefer the ones who can actually wrestle.  The Japanese take their wrestling seriously, and the females are no exception.  Wrestling fans in the United States are talking about a "Divas Revolution" and WWE is stepping up their female division, but it would really get a boost if they hired a couple of Japanese wrestlers. 

Sorry for writing so much, I'm just excited.  In fact, I might search for some videos after I finish this blog.  All I get to watch now is Ring of Honor who doesn't showcase females aside from managers or interviewers (no wrestling), and WWE who is working on the product, but I haven't watched WWE in a while.  I could go on, but I'll leave it at that.

Here's the thing though, those cards aren't exactly what I won!  Those were actually bonus cards if I read the contest right.  As being the loser, I actually won the cards shown below:

So I got the base cards AND the autographed cards of these four ladies.  I looked the cards up on Trading Card Database (but forgot to add them to my collection, DOH!) and found out what their names are.  This set by the way is the 2015 BBM True Heart set.  Another reason I am excited is because for a long time I've wanted some Japanese trading cards.  The closest I've gotten before is a Dice K card with his name printed in Japanese, and some 1990s Mexican baseball cards.  I have already put these into my wrestling binder, and I hope to find some more of them to add to it.

I really don't know what else to say.  When I saw this contest I was really hoping to win something.  Not that I don't in other contests, but being a big wrestling fan and wanting some Japanese cards for a while, this was just the perfect contest to try to win.

As for contests in general, I'm still not entering any aside for a random one here or there, but I might start again soon. I also haven't been on Listia as much lately, so it might be a few days before my next post.  I still have stuff to show, and I have plenty to show otherwise, but I haven't been to eager to get online as much with my computer issues so its good to take a little break.

Thanks again to Raz for the contest, and for the awesome cards.  If you haven't seen his blog, it is well worth reading, and should be added to your blogroll if it isn't already on there.

That will wrap it up for today, thanks for reading, have a great weekend, and I hope to have a new post in a few days.