Duel Masters™ Announces Creature Photo Contest Winners
Posted by: Loren Coleman on April 17th, 2006
April 17, 2006 (Renton, Wash.) – The long-time, menacing legend of Point Pleasant, West Virginia’s Mothman continues to pique the interest of cryptozoologists around the world. Finally, the elusive beast has been “captured.” Thirteen-year-old cryptozoologist-in-training Erik Starn of Wayne, Pennsylvania, captured the creature of local lore in a photograph. Starn’s photo has been awarded the $5,000 first prize in the Duel Masters Photo Contest sponsored by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS).
Wizards of the Coast introduced the Duel Masters Photo Contest during last October’s “Creature Appreciation Week” celebration. Running through early 2006, the contest invited fans of creatures and players of the Duel Masters Trading Card Game (TCG) to present “photographic evidence” perpetuating the mystique of legendary creatures such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and the Yeti.
In addition to Starn’s first-prize-winning entry, which showcased a lurking Mothman in an ominous and vacant dwelling, Wizards awarded cash prizes to four other individuals: Nathaniel Hahn, 25 – second prize ($2,500); Rod Snider, 76 – third prize ($500); Beau Sedivy, 25 – third prize ($500); and Gary Rex Walters, 58 – third prize ($500).
Loren Coleman, well-known cryptozoologist of Portland, Maine, was one of the panel of judges.
[Well, just to clarify: Yes, I was technically one of the judges, in name only. I assisted with getting the entries to send in their photos. But I was not asked for my opinion on the choices and was given no say in the final picks. Indeed, I was not even shown the candidates. ~ Loren]
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Wizards of the Coast is a worldwide leader in the trading card game and tabletop roleplaying game categories, and a leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products. For more information, visit the Wizards of the Coast website.
DUEL MASTERS is a trademark of Wizards/Shogakukan/Mitsui-Kids. ©2006 Wizards/ Shogakukan/Mitsui-Kids.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Can’t find the contest information at that site, do you have a link?
Did the picture have to be authentic? If so, how did you “authenticate” the winning image?
What, exactly, am I supposed to be seeing in this picture? I don’t see anything…
For those that missed it, here’s a link to the original entry guidelines.
A fun thing for kids, but do we need to encourage these little scamps to grow up to be hoaxers by offering monetary rewards? 😉
Anyways, is there any way we can see the other winners? The Wizards of the Coast site is hard to navigate.
…all I see in the pic is a German Shephards eyes(glowing in the light) and ears,along with a pair of childrens hands…Maybe I had too much of the Bigfoot Ale…
Yeah…not sure where to stand on this…does it belittle cryptozoology and serious investigation, or does it promote cryptozoology and show that investigators don’t take themselves too seriously?
Well, ask yourself, would you rather have your 13 year old playing Duel Masters card games and thinking about being a Cryptozoologist-in-Training, or out on the streets…..fill in the blank?
The rules took into account youthful creativity, folks. Lighten up.
I wish I would have had $5000 as a thirteen year old!
I would still like a better pic to look at. That one is hard to see. It almost looks like they used photoshop or something to play with it.