Thursday, August 29, 2013

365 x 3 + 1 = 500

So, uh, yeah--I'm celebrating a couple milestones today:  this very post you're reading right now is #500!  At almost the very same time--almost because the actual anniversary was yesterday--this here blog is now three years old!  Could I have made sure those coincided instead of waiting a day late?  Probably, but who cares?  Let's get to some celebratin'!

Post number one occurred three years ago yesterday, on August 28, 2010.  I kicked things off with an image of Dr. Nick Riviera, explained the Simpsons-centered origin of the blog's original title (Too Many Grandersons) and then promised box reviews aplenty thanks to a nice purchase from Dave & Adam's.

Three days later I showed off my D&A bonus packs, then busted my first box to review, 2006 Bowman football (a.k.a the set I just finished YESTERDAY).  Two days after that I busted another jumbo football box, this time 2010 Topps, then used the Gridiron Giveaway codes as bribes for being listed on 10 bloggers' blogrolls, which paid off handsomely.  Among the collecting legends that did me that huge favor were Thorzul Will Rule, the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame, Night Owl, Emerald City Diamond Gems, and BA Benny.  Thank you all again for giving me many much-needed page hits!

From that point on I was busting and reviewing boxes and packs, showing off purchases from shows and online, occasionally coming up with original content, and displaying some of my favorite PC items.  And trading, let's not forget the trading, which is easily my favorite consequence of creating and maintaining this blog.  I completed nine trades that first month and haven't looked back, except when I've literally looked back to enjoy the results of those trades.

Not a whole lot has changed other than splitting off sister blog Too Many Manninghams so I didn't bore all of you baseball fans with my Michigan Wolverines collecting exploits.  Some new bloggers and traders have come and gone, and so have a lot of cards into and out of my collection.  I can honestly say it's been an outstanding three years, the best of my collecting life, thanks especially to learning and embracing some of the habits of those of you I still read daily and trade with as often as possible.  Thank you as always to those of you who read, comment, trade, and help me with the sometimes difficult task of maintaining the motivation to keep buying, trading, scanning, and writing.  Here's to three more!
So since this is a day of celebration, I'm taking a day off of coming up with anything remotely original and throwing some top five lists at you instead:

Top five all-time posts by pageviews:
Top five favorite search keywords that led to people visiting this blog (for real):
  • "UPS girl"
  • "Yo dawg template"
  • "Respek knuckles"
  • "Nickelback sucks"
  • "Attention whore"
Top five favorite posts of mine that I didn't just pick at random for this post:
Top five (times two) favorite post labels:

  • 1990s Tigers SUCKED
  • Alison Brie
  • Blue tape is awesome
  • COLLECT
  • Drug-fueled card-buying binge
  • ESPN blows goats
  • Jim Leyland is terrible at everything except smoking
  • Josh Hamilton says om nom nom drugs
  • Ohio State is like Topps and therefore dumb
  • WTF Chris Olds?
And finally, Top five animated Alison Brie images I'm gratuitously posting right now because this blog just turned three, and that's 21 in dog years:

Happy THREE Many Verlanders, everyone!

21 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks, Michael! And thanks for being my #1 source of G+ +1s!

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  2. I'm sure Zakwin will fav this post.

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    1. Yep, I'm sure he bookmarked it for...future use. Thanks for reading, and GO RED WINGS!

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  3. Congrats on 500. I had something really nice to say, then I got to the bottom of the post and forgot. Bouncing boobs tend to do that to me.

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    Replies
    1. Haha, thanks Jeff. Yeah, Ms. Brie will do that to the best of us.

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  4. Congrats, man, on all the milestones, and thanks for writing all these great posts. I had fun going through your archived favs. Oh, yeah, and the Bries!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Dustin! I'm glad someone enjoyed flipping through some old posts. Let's get another trade going soon--I'm loving the I-94 trading we've got going on.

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  5. Twin Bries....oh yea, and a hearty congratulations on your milestones.

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    Replies
    1. I like to think of them as a cool Bries! Thanks for reading, and for one of my earliest trade posts.

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  6. Congrats on three years! Keep up the good work!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Maybe I'll get to 400 within the next three, though at my usual pace I doubt it!

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  7. Happy Alison Brie!

    I mean blog birthday.

    No, what am I saying, I mean Brie.

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    1. I need a new tag called "Posts Greg Z. will automatically like." Admire the girth of my 500th post, Zakwin!

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  8. Congrats! Woohoo, I made a Top 5!

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    Replies
    1. Come on, man, not even close--that was a classic! Thanks for the kudos from Jefferson Burdick's bastard son.

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  9. Replies
    1. Thanks, Larry--I hope you had a Flaming Moe in this blog's honor.

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  10. Thanks! And thanks for reading too.

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