Master of my domain

It took me about eight months, but it finally happened.

I was a winner in one of the many contests around the blogosphere.

It's safe to say that winning a card-related contest (or any contest, for that matter) is one of the greatest feelings in the world. I once won a Cal Ripken Jr. autograph/jersey card from a contest on my trading forum, which I later sold for some righteous bucks. (It funded my first couple hauls of groceries during my one semester of college away from home.)

While this one didn't net anything that spectacular, my winnings from Oscar over at "All Trade Bait, All the Time" were still a blast to go through.

I took the fifth prize in the contest, which was defined as "some cool oddballs".

That it was.

Everything from Melrose Place to "The Mask" was featured. Even "Wee Man" from Jackass found his way into the contest winnings.

Call me crazy, but this is one of the main cards I wanted when A&G came out last year.

I wouldn't put it past Topps to include Johnny Knoxville in an upcoming Allen and Ginter set.

One thing I like about "oddball" cards is simply the array of subjects they cover.

The things that are represented on baseball cards never cease to surprise me. Everything from "The Governator" to something as potentially Earth-shattering as the Human Genome Project has found its way onto pieces of cardboard.

I have to admit, a card of "Ah-nold" is kind of cool.

Oddballs aside, it was still nice to see a few regular baseball cards pop out of the mailer.

Although I wasn't expecting any, Oscar was nice enough to include a few cards for my player collections with the contest winnings.

Usually, my memory is pretty good when it comes to cards I have or don't have, but it failed me when it came to that Ichiro.

I was 95 percent sure I had it, but when I went to check my binders for verification, it was nowhere to be found. The mini version is the one I had, which means that the full-size Goudey issue that Oscar sent is a great new addition to my vast Ichiro collection.

It's a good thing I checked.

Much thanks to Oscar for hosting the contest and sending me a terrific prize package!

And while we're on the topic of contests, I just wanted to note that I'll be holding a contest here once I hit the 100 followers mark. I'm currently at 97 (way, way more than I ever thought I'd have), so if you're not a follower yet, it might behoove you to become one!

Hey, you never know. It might pay huge dividends.

That's the beauty of contests.