So, I have had many contests over the years. Some, of them, I don’t remember 😉 Here are some entries for a take your card on vacation contest 😉
Other Contests (Listed here for Posterity)
- Ode to a Common Set
Steven
Personification of a Common Set
It’s dark inside these packs, and how I long to be set free,
Waiting for that blessed day, when a Trekkie will complete me.
Wait! That ripping sound, and I finally see the light.
Freed from my foil prison, my colors shine so bright.
I’m sorted and created, by my owner’s loving hand,
I can’t wait to see the binder, where I will one day land.
Some of my brother’s aren’t so lucky, you see there’s more than one
of me in the box.
Maybe 2 or 3 of card #70, that features Dr. Phlox.
I fear the worst for some of them, will they wind up never read,
gazed upon, or studied, as some fan drifts off to bed.
And what about those singles, that couldn’t quite make a set,
Will they wind up in the trash, I’d be willing to take that bet.
I guess I’m the lucky one, resting in these pages of Ultra Pro,
but still I can’t help complain, there are things you need to know.
My owner rarely looks at me, he just flips the pages by,
and looks with love upon some chase set, he’s had the chance to buy.
Why can’t he be that proud of me?, For I’ve so much more to show,
than any rare subset, could ever hope to boldly go.
Episode guides and pictures, capture the action you see,
Study me to be a Trexpert, I’ll sharpen your memory.
And there’s another thing that makes me yell,
It’s something my owner calls a parallel.
A little gloss or a printer’s proof,
These special sets are so aloof.
If they happen to complete one, so long, I’m out the door,
Suddenly I’m plain and ugly, who needs me anymore?
I’m sorry, but Enterprise Season 2 really made me bitter,
how could he just discard me, for a few lines of silver glitter?
I know I’m just a common set, and am not meant to be a bard,
but remember my newest set has quotes, on both sides of the card!
I realize now, I’ll never be, the completists favorite pet,
but I still have the last laugh, you need me for that Master Set!
Mark
Of all the common card sets in the Galaxy of Trek,
There’s only one issue, from Skybox, that gets my respect.
The Master Series provides colored portraits and scenes,
From TOS to Deep Space Nine and everything in between.
The original illustrations are sharp, the format is clean,
And the cards won’t break your piggy bank, if you know what I mean.
If I could make one wish – no, make it a plea –
Rittenhouse, would you do a Master Series 3?
Alexandra-
The Common Set
A cheap alternative to the chase set
It’s so easy to get
Buy a box, it’s guaranteed for sure
Unlike the chase cards, they are so demure
Corrina
POETRY SUBMISSION: “The Common Card”
(Based on Paul Simon’s song, The Boxer)
THE COMMON CARD
I am just a common card, my story’s seldom told.
I’ve been tossed aside too often,
For a promo or an auto that promised more.
Yet I protest,
I have pocketfuls of wisdom,
Please don’t disregard me yet.
When I left my box and packaging, I was nothing but a card,
In the aristocratic company,
Of foils, box-toppers, and holograms.
So I lay low, hoping somebody,
Would keep me long enough to understand
My words they are still part of,
Star Trek’s vast, poetic land.
I try in vain to show you, how our pictures tell a tale,
But I get no notice.
Just a come on from another of Kirk’s costume cards.
I do declare there were times that I was so lonesome I took some comfort there,
Oooh la, la, la…
And the years pass,
Nothing changes.
I’m not the height of fashion like the other cards,
Who peer at me like strangers from shining plastic sleeves,
Yet when I’m bent do I not damage?
When I’m thrown do I not fall?
After changes and new series, common cards are still the same,
Still the underdog of card collectors, that part doesn’t change.
Take care and take notice of the common card,
For in our quotes and observations,
Live an endless repertoire.
Shuffle us, re-arrange us and hold us to the light,
You will discover,
A never-ending story filled with new Star Trek insights.
When you lay out your common cards, don’t wish that I was gone,
For there are those, who know astronomy or physics or the mysteries of the sea,
In us you’ll see, something they don’t know.
In the box there is a card, it is common that is true,
And it carries the reminder, of every hand that laid it down,
Or looked with disappointment at its lack of name or fame,
Till it cries out, “Beam me up now.”
But the common card remains.
Wolfie
The common set, it has it,s critics
They say it,s all but dead
But i think it,s a bit too soon
To pack it off to bed.
Chase and foils and pretty things
We spend and spend, so rash
Autographs and sketch cards
They all cost loads of cash
Limited this and limited that
We go for all the ploys
The common card is cast aside
Amongst our other toys
But trends may come and trends may go
And this i know for sure
The common card will rise again
To stop us being poor.
Ben
I bought my Trek “Quotables” today:
cards with Kirk and crew and what they say.
The base set is great!
And now I await
sets with Picard, Sisko, and Janeway.
Erik-sent right after receiving his TOSQ master set bill from me 😉
My Star Trek Float
My Star Trek set, I love it dear
I look it over smiling ear to ear
Oh how they help to ease my fear
when the bill comes due
I light aloft, sci-fi fantasy
to think this set is just for me
and then the pop, knowing it’s not free
when the bill comes due
Kirk, Sulu, Scotty, Bones
without them I truly would feel the jones
I hoard, collect, then comes the loans
when the bill comes due
So dear Trekkies, consider this
without your sets what would you miss?
without the shows, the movies, cards
it would make life much more hard
no more Uhura, Yeoman Rand
to think the time you’d have at hand
but then again there’d be no demand
when the bill comes due
Gary
Honor The Common Card
The common card gets no respect
In a complete set they have quite an effect
Without them no set is complete
To find each one can be an outstandind feat
Makes no difference if sport or non-sport
The lesat likely card is the hardest to court
It is easy to find all of the set`s stars
Finding Joe Common is harder by far
When buying cards to finish a set
Trying to find the last common is an unsafe bet
I have been buying cards for over 50 years
And the search for a last card can bring me to tears
Tis always a joy to find a last card
The long hunt then seems not so hard
This is the end of my common card tale
I hope you have the one I need for sale
Thank you for this contest and its originality. It was fun putting these thoughts to words.
David
‘Twas the Plight of the Commons
Based very loosely on the poem “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas”
generally accepted as written by Clement Clarke Moore but now believed
to be authored by Major Henry Livingston Jr. (if you believe the Web).
[Note: No cats were harmed during the making of this poem.]
‘Twas the plight of the commons, cards strewn ‘cross the table
It had been quite a log night (thank God for pay cable).
The wrappers were everywhere; I tried to be neat
But most landed on the floor, underneath my feet.
While the kids were upstairs, video games in hand
I opened up the boxes; the smell was so grand.
The odor of new cards – best aroma yet made
Let’s hope it someday becomes a new scent for Glade!
As the first pack was opened, the excitement then rose
And tingling went from my head right down to my toes.
Would this be the pack that yielded an autograph?
Or maybe all commons – the odds were more than half.
So one card at a time I fanned through the pack
While all the while trying to remain laid-back.
One common, two commons, they all looked the same
As each new card appeared more excitement came.
But, alas, the first pack was only common-filled
And all of that excitement was quickly chilled.
But wait, what did my wandering eyes then see?
It’s Bill and Leonard – their PriceLine ad on TV!
So I stiffened my lip and renewed the attack
And reached into the box and grabbed the next pack.
I paused for a moment and prayed to the Gods
To ask that my box stayed true to “stated odds”.
Then I ripped open the mylar with such a tear
That its contents went flying up into the air.
But as those few cards flew all over the place
I caught a glimpse of something that I could embrace.
And there it was – just what I was hoping for:
A shiny new “Crew Card”, now lying on the floor.
I panicked and sweated and audibly prayed
That our cats stayed away from where the card laid.
I quickly picked up this modern-day “Holy Grail”
And gave the nearest feline a boot in the tail.
“Get out of here, you furrballs, and don’t come back!”
Threatening the lot of them with another smack.
So I cooed and I oohed and I drooled just a bit.
This beauty of a card was certainly a hit!
Unconsciously I swept all commons to the side
As if they were flowers that had long ago died.
After scanning it for the slightest imperfection
I placed the card in a screw-down for protection.
And then I continued on my now-merry way
Knowing that the collation would turn out okay.
But all the while as I opened up the rest
Those poor forgotten commons remained uncaressed.
Like countless grains of sand found on the beach
The commons lay there, easily within my reach.
So when the ripping and tearing was finally over
And I had reached the meager limits of my fervor –
There they all were, just staring me right in the face,
Two boxes worth of commons, not-so-neatly in place.
Was it pity? Was it anger? I’m not sure which.
But it was something that caused my eyes to twitch.
These commons were begging to just have a chance
To show that chase cards are only made to enhance.
The real value of a card set is not how it sells
But more for the memories that it somehow tells.
So here were the commons, ready to entertain
With a story better than any by Mark Twain.
So I grouped and I sorted – a while it did take.
I continued with my work, with nary a break.
And when I was done, with commons all in a row,
The story they told was now ready to flow.
So I started with card one and away I went.
And immediately I found that I was sent
Way back to the sixties, the time of my youth
When a show named “Star Trek” spoke the truth.
And the quotes that were echoed here on these cards
Were much more clever than those of the old bards.
“Live Long and Prosper” has always been my fave
But then there were others that I just had to save.
Like, “Jim, I’m a doctor, not a [whatever].”
It’s lines like those that struck me as clever.
Another of Spock’s quotes, “Vulcans never bluff.”
Proves writing this show couldn’t have been that tough.
Then, one hundred ten cards later, the end arrived;
Ol’ Bones wasn’t around, but his words had survived.
And Chekov, Sulu, Uhura and all the rest
Were quoted on the commons – nothing but their best.
It’s criminal that these commons don’t get more respect
But this is capitalism – and what did you expect???
So here’s to the commons, the backbone of card sets.
Without them, those chase cards are nothing but “pets”!
Beverly
There are cards we call common, the “value” is not high–
finding just commons in a pack evokes a heavy sigh.
But finding a special auto or other bonus card, you see,
Can fill an entire room with raucous shouts of glee.
All sets are different, each unique in many ways–
some are a joy to read, the kind you can study for days.
Other sets are flawed, in their wording and their condition.
Maybe the artists missed the boat with their new rendition.
Some collectors are forgiving, and look for all that’s good–
satisfied to find a set which has everything it should.
Each detail of production, from wrapper to rewards within,
Keep us buying more and more, hoping to score a win.
What we see and read in commons often makes us laugh–
so I’d like to propose a toast and a salute on their behalf.
Common cards won’t make us scream or thank the gods above–
But they can give us wisdom and truth, and a little bit to love.
Michael
Twas a TOS set most common indeed
But for the true Trek fan it was in fact most keen.
The images set the memories afire
Of Spock and Kirk and the Pon Far pire.
The Big 3 got the action and the rest got satisfaction from the least
time on screen, the fans did just as much gleen.
The adventures of the Enterprise crew started with a canceled series and
from there it grew.
Who would of known after 40 years, all the cash the fans have spent,
would have made Paramount rich and content.
My home is a shrine to the alter of Trek…..most people I show it to
think it is dreck.