California State Star Wars Lotto Tickets

[jokabofe]

Doesn't matter to me if they are attached or loose... and I guess you can put me down for a set of those coins too. Why not?

Thanks man, you rock!!

And if I win, I'll split it with you (since I'll have to send it back to you to cash it in for me  ).

Maybe I should get a few "extra" random tickets to actually scratch?

[JuvyD]

Matt,

You can add me in for a set of the coins and I'm also good for randomly loose, together, however it works out.  If I have to eat a few extra to help ya out...I'm good with that as well (so if ya see that missing ticket one or two away...).

Thanks for the updates and all your efforts!!  Betcha didn't think playing the lottery would be this difficult

[JediMAC]

Adam - Set of 12 tickets, plus set of 6 coins ($30.50)
Dave - Set of 12 tickets, plus set of 6 coins ($30.50)
Sharon - Set of 12 tickets, plus set of 6 coins ($30.50)
Jim - Set of 12 tickets, plus set of 6 coins ($30.50)

Sharon, did you still want the set, and if so, did you want the coins too?  LMK!

So I hit about 20-25 liquor stores on the way home from the office tonight.  Managed to complete my set finally.  Started and finished Adam's set.  Two away from completing Dave's set.  Managed 4 coins for us three as well (Luke, Leia, R2 & Yoda).  Now that Jim's chimed in to confirm again, I'll start working on his set of loot tomorrow.

But damn this is a bitch to do!  I only found one other store that was willing to let me pick which tickets I wanted (as in they'd detach them from the middle of the strip).  Unfortunately, they only had ONE ticket that we needed.  But I think now that I've seen just how many liquor stores are on my way home (if I take sidestreets and not the freeway), I think I should be able to cover everybody's needs, even with the ridiculously strict rules on only taking the next available ticket.

A bigger problem that I've encountered, is that out of all the stores I've hit, I've only found one single person (a Korean fella) who spoke sufficient enough English to understand what I was actually trying to do.  Holy crap, what a pain!  I might as well be trying to do this in a foreign country...  Not to mention, I may get shot at some of the less than savory places I've been stopping at.  So just know that I'm actually risking my life to get you guys your sets! 

Stay tuned, and I'll keep you posted on where things stand.  Also, I assume you'd all prefer that I wait 'til the last couple coins come out before I send your stuff?  That may be another couple weeks still though...

- M

[JayDouble]

Matt they have a link up if you're having trouble finding places that sell the coins.
Coin Finder

[JediMAC]

I caught that link earlier today on their site Jay, and was thinking I may actually have to use it.  But when I did the monster run tonight, I found another 4 stores that sell the coins (and wrote them down so I wouldn't forget), so I think I should be set on those now...  Just a matter of waiting for the last two to finally hit.

Do they have another link for stores that speak English though? 

[Darthshader]

Thanks for the help, Matt.  Be careful!

[JediMAC]

Had some pretty good luck at lunch today with a couple new 7-11's I discovered (in some safer areas  ).  Caught Sharon and Jim up with the rest of us on the 4 coins so far, and nabbed another complete set of tickets, and came up one ticket short of an additional complete set.

So I just need three single tickets, and the last two coins, and I'll have all 5 of us finished off.

I also just realized I'm getting charged tax on the coins, so you all can add another $0.50 to your totals.   

Phew!

[JuvyD]

Matt..

Thanks for all your efforts and running around.  Glad you found some places a bit safer...but those corner liquor stores are always so adventuresome with that thick plexi-bullet proof enclosure that the cashiers work behind, the complete XXX section, and some guy just loitering about like he lives there!!

Thanks!

[JediMAC]

I finally managed to find the last few tickets I still needed the other day, to finish off Jim and Sharon's sets as well.  So now we're just in a holding pattern for a few days here for the last two coins (Vader and 3PO) to come out, and then I can fire off everyone's loot.  Sorry it's taking so long folks...

- M

[JediMAC]

So now we're just in a holding pattern for a few days here for the last two coins (Vader and 3PO) to come out, and then I can fire off everyone's loot.

Found those last couple coins yesterday, so we're all set to go!  If you four could just shoot me your shipping addresses again (so I don't have to search through a bajillion PMs), then I'll see if I can fire them out to you all tomorrow.  I can give you the final tally with shipping after that.

As for the coins, a lot of them (for sale) had various defects and scratches on them, but I did my best to pick and choose the nicest ones possible, when I had the opportunity.  There's still a few spots on some of them that don't look overly flawless, but there's not much I can do about it since none of the stores would let me "upgrade" them to nicer ones later on when there were more available.  But overall, they're all in pretty good shape...

- M

[JediMAC]

Fired off Adam and Jim's sets yesterday, and Dave's will be going out on Monday with his other C3 swag.  But I still need your address Sharon to send you yours, so LMK what it is when you get a chance.  Thanks!

So are you guys going to actually scratch your tickets, or leave them "mint"?  I think Adam suggested he was...  Not sure what I'm planning on doing with my set yet.  I'm still curious as to exactly how much of the ticket has to get scratched off to determine if you're a winner or not.  So if any of you figure that out, LMK so I can decide.

Good luck if you do scratch 'em!

- M

[JuvyD]

Matt,

Received the Lotto tickets and coins today and all I kept saying was **** ....the coins are bigger than I expected...I figured they were plastic real coins sized(nickel, dime, quarter size) coins and these are BIG coins.  And the lottery tickets...AWESOME...but definetly a probelm when it comes to scratching them...to scratch or not to scratch....that is the question.  If ya scratch, you'll loose about 50 % of the picture that makes up the tciket...right??  Kinda defeats the purpose of collecting them.  I was going to scratch...but I'm now thinking I'm not.  Awesome none the less.  Thanks for ALL your efforts and I really appreciate it!!

[JediMAC]

Glad to hear it Jim, and happy to help out (even if I got kicked out of several liquor stores in the process  ).

...but definetly a probelm when it comes to scratching them...to scratch or not to scratch....that is the question.  If ya scratch, you'll loose about 50 % of the picture that makes up the tciket...right??  Kinda defeats the purpose of collecting them.  I was going to scratch...but I'm now thinking I'm not.

Yeah, that's my current dilemna too, and I'm not entirely sure exactly how much winds up getting scratched off.  I think I saw someone mention somewhere that it's a pretty sizeable chunk though.  I'll probably just wind up grabbing one extra for a couple bucks, and scratching it just to find out how much you really have to take off to find out if you've won.  Top prize is "only" 10 grand, so it's not like you're risking losing millions here.  But I think I saw somewhere that one in six tickets gives you a winner of some type, but I'd have to double check that to be sure...

Adam, what's your plans?  Still gonna scratch 'em, or what?  Dave, what about you?

And Sharon, your package is ready to go, but I still don't have an address for ya', so LMK what it is when you get a chance... 

[JuvyD]

I'd love to see a picture of one scratched to the "minimium" to determine if your a winner or not.

The odds of winning any prize is 1:4.28 and the odds of winning money is 1:7.47...so I'd hate to scratch one just to win another ticket...or $2.  When does this promotion end??  According to the tickets you have up to 180 days after the promotuion ends to claim your prize.

I'm still leaning towards playing the odds and not scratching them.

[JediMAC]

Hopefully Adam will chime in soon and let us know exactly how much scratching is involved.  I'll probably wait to hear from him before I go out and buy an extra one to experiment with...