Galaxy27 a question. When you were sitting on the throne did the thought cross you're mind, albeit ever so briefly, to swipe one clean sheet of TP for a souvenir?
But then again if you were caught with it you might of been expelled from the grounds for stealing.😀😆
Successful transactions:Tookybandit. "Everyone is equal, some are more equal than others".
One thing I will not forget (as I have lots of stories better over beers), but there was a guy walking around picking up fallen pine cones with a metal garbage-like picker & putting them in his satchel... I joked to my buddy - "jeez, you think they would have spotters trying to catch them in that satchel before they hit the ground"!
Bringing it back to collectibles and this board, I haven't embraced the gnomes they sell. I don't get how it connects to anything relating to golf or how/who came up with it. If anything, I wish they would create some trading cards. In fact, I would be shocked if those don't come out soon...
People go absolutely ape-shit crazy buying anything and everything while there. And they have their logo on just about anything you can think of.... Once you walk out & pay, they have shipping services (UPS with no logos) that will send your stuff back to your home at a nominal cost.
June 1st is when you can go to their website and register for their lottery to get badges. You have to provide the last 4 of your social security, so I'm guessing they run some type of background check on folks...
One thing I will not forget (as I have lots of stories better over beers), but there was a guy walking around picking up fallen pine cones with a metal garbage-like picker & putting them in his satchel... I joked to my buddy - "jeez, you think they would have spotters trying to catch them in that satchel before they hit the ground"!
Bringing it back to collectibles and this board, I haven't embraced the gnomes they sell. I don't get how it connects to anything relating to golf or how/who came up with it. If anything, I wish they would create some trading cards. In fact, I would be shocked if those don't come out soon...
People go absolutely ape-shit crazy buying anything and everything while there. And they have their logo on just about anything you can think of.... Once you walk out & pay, they have shipping services (UPS with no logos) that will send your stuff back to your home at a nominal cost.
June 1st is when you can go to their website and register for their lottery to get badges. You have to provide the last 4 of your social security, so I'm guessing they run some type of background check on folks...
great stuff estang. and so very accurate. allow me to touch on a few things you said.
first, from everything i've read and experienced myself, the brave soul who was walking around procuring pine cones had killer whale nuts. he's unbelievably lucky that he didn't get caught. if he had, well, just read this article when the opportunity arises.
as for the gnomes, and as someone who has fallen victim to the hysteria, let me describe that phenomenon the best way i know how. i think everyone reading this has collected cards/memorabilia at one time in their lives, and most likely still do in varying degrees as i type this. after all, that's why we all gravitated to this place to begin with. we all possess that gene, even if it might be dormant for some. well, that gene can induce interesting behaviors. if i had a dollar for every time i felt an overpowering impulse to buy a card or piece of memorabilia that didn't necessarily meet my focus but was elusive, inherently cool and in sky-high demand, i'd have enough money to buy the toe of a 2016 Masters gnome.
mind you, i've never been a fan of gnomes, per se. never once bought one in my life prior to the Masters. but the operative word in the previous sentence was 'Masters.' if it's elusive, inherently cool, in sky-high demand, AND linked to the Masters, all of a sudden i'm ready to snort that premium cocaine. i'll steal your words, estang -- people go absolutely ape-shit crazy buying anything and everything while there. and at the top of the list in the past 5-7 years has been the gnomes. elusive? check. limited production, limited availability each day, and you can only get your hands on one if you are a) there, b) know someone who is, or c) you're prepared to get fleeced on the secondary market, which innumerable people are. inherently cool? i think they are. every year that little dude is sporting different Masters-themed duds like a champ. high demand? that's probably the understatement of my life. when i went in 2023 & 2024, scores of people lined up outside the gate at the buttcrack of dawn to get one. once the gate flew open, 98% of patrons sped walked to the merch shop. and of those 98%, 98% went for a gnome first. sheer bedlam it was.
one final, very salient reason why they are so popular. wait for it.......wait for it.......the accelerated rate in which each one appreciates. every single one is worth more than what it was the previous year. prior to 2016, no one knew a damn thing about gnomes because there weren't any. but that year ANGC decided to test the waters with an initial iteration in Berckman's place. he's the dapper one sporting the argyle sweater. (my favorite of the bunch, btw. wish i had one. let me say that again. wish i had one.) if a patron fortunate enough to have access to Berckman's that year had decided to drop 40 clams on one, that ceramic figurine is now worth 250+ times what they originally paid. naturally there is a decrease in market value the closer you get to 2026, but even the one from this year is still hammering at 500-600 on ebay almost two months after the tournament ended.
quick anecdote and then i'll zip it on the gnomes. 2023. i went with my dad to the Mon & Tues practice rounds. i was very aware of the gnome insanity. when we entered the merch shop, i told my father he had to get one, even if he didn't want one. he brushed me off. similar to estang, he wasn't feeling the allure. he eschewed my advice the next day as well. when i brought it to his attention about a month ago that the ones i grabbed are now worth 4-figures apiece, the words that exited the mouth of my old man were ones i rarely hear: "i should have listened to you."
finally, to estang's point, the Masters lottery is on the horizon. if anyone reading this has never gone to ANGC before but would like to, i highly recommend visiting Masters.com on June 1. that's the day they start accepting applications for tickets to the '27 Masters. create an account if you don't have one, then toss your hat into the ring. if you're lucky enough to be chosen -- and by lucky i mean roughly 1 in 200 type of lucky -- you'll be notified in a few weeks of your great fortunate. at that point, you'll pony up a very affordable amount for a life-changing experience. even if you don't give two shits about golf, believe you me, you want to go. and if you win tickets and take your better half, she'll wreck you in the bedroom for the rest of your life after it's all said and done. trust me on that. when submitting your app, you get to choose the days you'd ideally like to attend, as well as the number of tickets you'd like. make sure you select every day (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun) and max out on the number of tickets you'd like to purchase, if, if, IF, IF you are chosen. that nugget of advice should be fairly self-explanatory.
edit: to answer your q, @BLUEJAYWAY, i never contemplated Masters toilet paper, primarily because there were 1,000 other items that were roaming around between my ears. but i wouldn't be the least bit surprised if there has been a nasty ebay listing or three at some point.
Comments
Galaxy27 a question. When you were sitting on the throne did the thought cross you're mind, albeit ever so briefly, to swipe one clean sheet of TP for a souvenir?
But then again if you were caught with it you might of been expelled from the grounds for stealing.😀😆
One thing I will not forget (as I have lots of stories better over beers), but there was a guy walking around picking up fallen pine cones with a metal garbage-like picker & putting them in his satchel... I joked to my buddy - "jeez, you think they would have spotters trying to catch them in that satchel before they hit the ground"!
Bringing it back to collectibles and this board, I haven't embraced the gnomes they sell. I don't get how it connects to anything relating to golf or how/who came up with it. If anything, I wish they would create some trading cards. In fact, I would be shocked if those don't come out soon...
People go absolutely ape-shit crazy buying anything and everything while there. And they have their logo on just about anything you can think of.... Once you walk out & pay, they have shipping services (UPS with no logos) that will send your stuff back to your home at a nominal cost.
June 1st is when you can go to their website and register for their lottery to get badges. You have to provide the last 4 of your social security, so I'm guessing they run some type of background check on folks...
Erik
great stuff estang. and so very accurate. allow me to touch on a few things you said.
first, from everything i've read and experienced myself, the brave soul who was walking around procuring pine cones had killer whale nuts. he's unbelievably lucky that he didn't get caught. if he had, well, just read this article when the opportunity arises.
https://www.thegolfinggazette.com/throwbacks/what-happened-to-the-patron-who-stole-bunker-sand-from-augusta-national-in-2012/
as for the gnomes, and as someone who has fallen victim to the hysteria, let me describe that phenomenon the best way i know how. i think everyone reading this has collected cards/memorabilia at one time in their lives, and most likely still do in varying degrees as i type this. after all, that's why we all gravitated to this place to begin with. we all possess that gene, even if it might be dormant for some. well, that gene can induce interesting behaviors. if i had a dollar for every time i felt an overpowering impulse to buy a card or piece of memorabilia that didn't necessarily meet my focus but was elusive, inherently cool and in sky-high demand, i'd have enough money to buy the toe of a 2016 Masters gnome.
mind you, i've never been a fan of gnomes, per se. never once bought one in my life prior to the Masters. but the operative word in the previous sentence was 'Masters.' if it's elusive, inherently cool, in sky-high demand, AND linked to the Masters, all of a sudden i'm ready to snort that premium cocaine. i'll steal your words, estang -- people go absolutely ape-shit crazy buying anything and everything while there. and at the top of the list in the past 5-7 years has been the gnomes. elusive? check. limited production, limited availability each day, and you can only get your hands on one if you are a) there, b) know someone who is, or c) you're prepared to get fleeced on the secondary market, which innumerable people are. inherently cool? i think they are. every year that little dude is sporting different Masters-themed duds like a champ. high demand? that's probably the understatement of my life. when i went in 2023 & 2024, scores of people lined up outside the gate at the buttcrack of dawn to get one. once the gate flew open, 98% of patrons sped walked to the merch shop. and of those 98%, 98% went for a gnome first. sheer bedlam it was.
one final, very salient reason why they are so popular. wait for it.......wait for it.......the accelerated rate in which each one appreciates. every single one is worth more than what it was the previous year. prior to 2016, no one knew a damn thing about gnomes because there weren't any. but that year ANGC decided to test the waters with an initial iteration in Berckman's place. he's the dapper one sporting the argyle sweater. (my favorite of the bunch, btw. wish i had one. let me say that again. wish i had one.) if a patron fortunate enough to have access to Berckman's that year had decided to drop 40 clams on one, that ceramic figurine is now worth 250+ times what they originally paid. naturally there is a decrease in market value the closer you get to 2026, but even the one from this year is still hammering at 500-600 on ebay almost two months after the tournament ended.
quick anecdote and then i'll zip it on the gnomes. 2023. i went with my dad to the Mon & Tues practice rounds. i was very aware of the gnome insanity. when we entered the merch shop, i told my father he had to get one, even if he didn't want one. he brushed me off. similar to estang, he wasn't feeling the allure. he eschewed my advice the next day as well. when i brought it to his attention about a month ago that the ones i grabbed are now worth 4-figures apiece, the words that exited the mouth of my old man were ones i rarely hear: "i should have listened to you."
finally, to estang's point, the Masters lottery is on the horizon. if anyone reading this has never gone to ANGC before but would like to, i highly recommend visiting Masters.com on June 1. that's the day they start accepting applications for tickets to the '27 Masters. create an account if you don't have one, then toss your hat into the ring. if you're lucky enough to be chosen -- and by lucky i mean roughly 1 in 200 type of lucky -- you'll be notified in a few weeks of your great fortunate. at that point, you'll pony up a very affordable amount for a life-changing experience. even if you don't give two shits about golf, believe you me, you want to go. and if you win tickets and take your better half, she'll wreck you in the bedroom for the rest of your life after it's all said and done. trust me on that. when submitting your app, you get to choose the days you'd ideally like to attend, as well as the number of tickets you'd like. make sure you select every day (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun) and max out on the number of tickets you'd like to purchase, if, if, IF, IF you are chosen. that nugget of advice should be fairly self-explanatory.
edit: to answer your q, @BLUEJAYWAY, i never contemplated Masters toilet paper, primarily because there were 1,000 other items that were roaming around between my ears. but i wouldn't be the least bit surprised if there has been a nasty ebay listing or three at some point.