|
 September
marks the start of our two annual football contests ...
our store's own "You Pick
the Winners Football Contest" and "The
NFL Player of the Day Football Contest".
Together, both contests yield our customers FREE
PRIZES EVERY DAY and
FREE $15 GIFT CERTIFICATES EVERY
WEEK (with BIG GRAND
PRIZES). Let's discuss each contest.
This
contest starts in September when the first official week
of football does. Every Wednesday, we make entry
forms available listing that Sunday's football game
match-ups. To play, circle the team you think will
win from each
match-up. Entry forms are due back on Saturday at 5:00
(we don't count Thursday night or Saturday day games).
The person who makes the most number of correct guesses
wins! It's that easy. Each week, we award a $15
GIFT CERTIFICATE to the person with the most
correct guesses. We do this EVERY week.
Each weekly winner then gets to compete for the GRAND
PRIZE of a $100
GIFT CERTIFICATE during
the play-offs. We also award RUNNERS-UP (those
people determined by the necessity of the Monday Night
game ... only used in the case of a tie breaker) a $40
GIFT CERTIFICATE.
 This
has become an annual tradition at Sportscard Playground
and creates a lot of excitement in our store. It
starts at the end of September (exact date changes
each year)
and lasts for 30 days straight. Each day, we will
feature a specific NFL player in the store (the "Player
of the Day") . If you pull a card of that player
from a pack or grab bag, you win a FREE
PACK of cards!
To make winning even easier, we also designate a
hometown player of the day, someone from the Eagles,
whose card
also makes you a winner. In addition, anyone who
buys a box of football cards automatically wins!
Every daily
winner is entered into a raffle for the weekly prize
(which is on display each week and often includes
a t-shirt, some packs, a special card set created
exclusively
for the contest, and a bobble head), and then weekly
winners only will be entered into the raffle for
the
GRAND PRIZE, valued
at over $150 (and often topping $200). The GRAND
PRIZE is on display week one and remains
on display throughout the 5 week contest. 2009 will
be our SEVENTH year hosting this event. 2008's winner,
Billy D., enjoyed a prize package worth $275, and
it included a box of 2008 Topps
Football, a Kevin Kolb autograph, a 2008 Upper Deck
NFL Rookie Premiere
set, tons of Eagles goodies, a mini helmet, bobble
head, player football, and more. We've
always received a tremendous response from our
customers,
and this
30 day period proves to be a lot of fun. It's easy
to look forward to this contest because we give away FREE packs
every day!
Periodically, we offer FREE raffle
prize "baskets" to
reward our customers. Sometimes, the prizes are devoted
to one sport. A Summer raffle would probably celebrate
baseball and feature Phillies prizes. Some raffles celebrate
a certain sport's championship game(s) (a raffle held
during the NBA finals would most likely feature basketball
prizes!). Other times, they're for a group of collectors,
like our Magic: The Gathering customers, or Yu-Gi-Oh
fans; both of whom have different interests than those
of our sports fans. Sometimes they're inspired by a specific
occasion. We have had a Back-To-School raffle, which
featured a nice backpack (in addition to packs and other
items). We always include a raffle on special events
days, so if you come to the now bi-annual "National
Trading Card Day", an autograph signing, or last
year's exciting Phillies World Series celebration (a
two day event!), you can expect to have the chance to
win free stuff while you're here! And last, we sometimes
have sponsors donate items of interest, and we create
a give away for just such a purpose. Our e-mail newsletters
and Heidi's BLOG will always keep you up to date with
what's going on in the store.
 We
always seem to have a card give away going on.
Many thanks go to Topps, who has offered a
free card give away
for both baseball and football fans for two years running.
Featuring 20-25 players and spanning roughly as many
weeks starting with the beginning of each sport's opening
weekend, Topps' "Turn Back the Clock" football
sets and "Trading Card History" and "Flashback
Fridays" baseball sets are popular with collectors.
Each week, a different
player's
card is given out with each Topps branded pack purchase.
In 2008, Topps also made a really nice 50 card basketball
set, featuring current and retired basketball greats.
The only way to get these cards is by visiting a hobby
store. They're not available in packs or at mass retailers.
For more information about Topps' 2008 baseball and
football card give aways, please see our Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ'S) link. The most recent question
addresses them in detail.
 Upper Deck began a huge, season long card give
away in 2008 with their "20th Anniversary
Preview" multi-sport card set. The 80 card
set included many current and retired sports favorites
spanning all four major sports. Players featured
included Dr. J, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Derrick
Rose, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby,
Patrick Kane, Walter Payton, Joe Montana, Ladainian
Tomlinson, Matt Ryan, Babe Ruth, Nolan Ryan, Albert
Pujols, and Derek Jeter; among many others. Currently,
Upper Deck has a hockey card give-away...the 2008-09 "Biography
of a Season" card set. New cards are being
offered each month. Key moments in the 08-09 season
are highlighted in this set; and active players
are featured, including Sidney Crosby, Alexander
Ovechkin, Henrik Zetterberg, and Steven Stamkos.
New card give aways are announced first in our
e-mail newsletters and Heidi's BLOG, so always
check there first to see what's new.
We like to have fun at Sportscard Playground and
reward our customers for shopping here! We've had
a few FREE autograph sessions over the years with Scott Rolen, Garth
Snow, and Greg Lewis. Because we want to offer FREE signings,
we can't have them as often as we'd like, but our e-mail
newsletter customers and in-store "regulars" are
the first ones to hear about these special events (and
receive priority). Please make sure you're one of them! |
