MY LITTLE PONY-JO!

Last September I bought a pack of Pony cards and got this:

oh jeebus he's on about the ponies again

This is a card of Twilight Sparkle's combination Library/Treehouse made out of an actual tree. There's even a basement with a Dr. Frankenstein-like laboratory in there. Carved out of a tree that's still alive even though ponies have crashed right through it at least three times so far. I dunno how either it's magic or some shit stop asking questions. In the first series set, these 'Location' cards were one per pack and confused a lot of people who saw an early checklist thinking that this was going to be a CCG or something. (The actual My Little Pony CCG comes out next month, but I digress). These cards are extremely common and I had a couple of this one already when I pulled this particular card, but there was something special about this one.

i thought he was over this pony nonsense

The special thing about this card is not that 'enjoys' is spelled 'ejoys', although that is an error that was corrected in the second printing. Correcting errors was something done to baseball cards a long time ago back when the cards were popular enough to warrant a second printing. You won't have to worry about corrected errors in your new Topps sets so you have plenty of time to keep on chasing manufactured variations. The special thing about this card is the code at the bottom. it's impossible to see by the scan, but the print of that code is slightly raised from the rest of the card. Most other printed codes are flush with the card. You could enter that code on the URL listed on the card and see if you were a winner! I wasn't. I put the card away and forgot about it for a while.

I got more packs and more codes after this one and started entering them again one night when I stumbled across this one. Since that lettering was slightly different than the others thought 'what the hell' and reentered it again and got this:

pony screenshots even this man has no life

Voice actor autograph!

I IZ A WINNAH

Apparently the first time I entered that O as an 0 or maybe an 0 as an O or got my 5's and S's confused or something but who cares, it worked. The font was changed in the second printing to make it less confusing as well. So now you know the secret to finding winner cards in the first printing of Enterplay MLP cards: look for the codes with slightly raised text. Too bad the contest ended last June.

Needless to say I was very excited about this. I downloaded the official rules PDF and everything. I stuck the card in a plastic sheet all by itself in my Official Enterplay MLP binder (don't judge me) for safe keeping. And promptly forgot about it until the following May.

So the contest expires on June 1st, it's past the Ides of May and I realize I done goofed. I scrounged a self addressed bubble mailer, envelope, 2 $2.05 stamps, a card saver top loader, whatever personal info I was required to send and the actual card itself and mailed it off, hoping for the best. By about labor day I pretty much gave up on it, figuring that I sent it too late or didn't follow the rules to the letter or something.

THEN.

LAST WEEK.

THIS ARRIVED:

ffs can't dayf just chase after puigs like a normal person

OMG RARITY

AUTOGREEF CARD OF SAINT TABITHA OF THE GERMAINS

The card came despite my idiocy and it was one of the three autos I really wanted from the set. (other two being Andrea Libman and Kathleen Barr)(sorry all other non-best-pony voice actors) And in an twist, my redemption card ended up being, literally, a rarity.

please tell me he's not going to be posting more ponies now that the new season is almost here

One interesting thing about this card is how the corners are much more rounded on this card than all the others in the set. The base cards have rounded corners two, just not playing card rounded like this one. Well, it's interesting to me. So there's a good redemption card (technically contest card but whatevs) story for you all to file away. Hopefully I have another good story to tell soon because...

OMG TOPPS CARDS IS WORSE THAN THE DAMN PONIES ROTTEN MONOPOLY HOBBY RUINERS

If not, well, I can always post ponies.