Another lovely “fridge magnet” beautifully made by Todds Mods (Motoring Badges):

During MINI Takes The States 2010 there were some fabulous themed comic strips created over at My Geek Odyssey, featured by MINI Takes The States … After the event the original artworks were given to Ryans MINI Adventure and auctioned to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I bid for a few of the artworks and was lucky enough to get this one:

A very nice collectible – and a good cause too!

UPDATE: The artist, Bruce, very kindly sent me a high resolution version of the complete colored comic published by MINI Takes The States – thanks!

We collected quite a few nice pins, badges, etc during the last week

A few duplicates of some, too!

Tshirt, magnet badge, Denver pin and nice flashlight!

Another MINI website, another nice “fridge magnet” …

Motoring Alliance, top left, if you couldn’t tell

(but I still don’t like the thickness and quality of Cooper Flags badges as much as those from Motoring Badges (note left edge of Motoring Alliance badge above, where the sticker started to peel off the magnet backing when I tried to peel off the protective sheet)

Nice badge from Motoring Alliance … though it didn’t quite make it to my “favorites area”

(click for bigger)

The tasty kind, courtesy of MINI Italy financial services …

And yes, inside, some actual chocolate – smells lovely, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever eat it (it’d destroy the collectability!):

Some pins I collected at some time this year …

This “MINImalism” one, too:

Today is the time to be thankful, and I’m reminded again how happy I am to know many wonderful people through the MINI community; I may drive my MINI less now, and see less MINI folk, but I believe the friendships I’ve made will last even if we don’t drive MINIs … Theo, Michael, Richard, Robert, and especially George – who sent me a MINI United package after his visit back in May this year, which I’ve only now got to exploring and enjoying!

Included with the MINI United offerings was a great postcard set featuring Minis / MINIs through the years:

And … another fabulous MINI 50th coin (like the ones I got from England); this one is serial numbered (# 09421), in a postmarked envelope and with interesting information inside …

(more pics here and here)

Lastly, a copy of MINI International again featuring the 50th anniversary of MINI …

(close-up of insert here)

The magazine also features an article about “JCWGP” George, and his collection of Minis / MINIs:

Which brings me right back to “Thanks, George!” … and thanks to all my MINI friends

Somewhat of a good / bad collectible, this one … a set of MINI 50th birthday postcards (along with a “50″ sticker from MINI United 2009):

Quite nice postcards, but all in German, so a bit of a challenge for me to fully comprehend!

I know there’s people out there with the skill to translate, so (although, you can get the gist of most of this!) …
1959 / Er Entfaltet Sich.
Mit einem schnellen Strich fing alles an: Sir Alec Issigonis kritzelte 1956 den Mini auf eine Serviette. Ob so oder anders – seine idee vom maximalen Auto auf mini-malem Raum revolutionierte die Branche. Nur drei Jahre spater rollte das “Wunder der Serviettentechnik” vom Band.

1960 / Die Queen Lasst Einen Fahren.
Die Royals sitzen im Rolls-Royce. Eigentlich. Am Mini aber kam selbst die Queen nicht vorbei. Eine spritzige Testfahrt durch den Windsor Park machte den koniglichen Drive perfekt. God save Mini.

1964 / Das Macht Mich Rasend.
Energie bis unters Dach: Der Mini Cooper S hatte alles, was schnelle Kurven brauchen. Mit dem Sieg der legendaren Rallye Monte Carlo schaffe er den Durchbruch in der Rennszenne. Seine Leidenschaft blieb ungebremst. Go! Kart.

1970 / Bin Nur Schnell Zigaretten Holen.
Drei Jahre, zwei Manner, eine Tour: Eric Clapton borgte sich fur seine “Magical Mystery Tour” den Mini von George Harrison. Und? Erst nach drei Jahren gab er ihn wieder zuruck. Schon?

1995 / Aus Der Nummer Kommt Er Nicht Mehr Raus.
Ein Original, das originell bleibt. Ein Klassiker, der Klasse hat. Die Leser des britischen Automagazins “Autocar” wahlten Mini zum “Auto des Jahr-hunderts”. Und wie der Vorfahre, so der Nachfahre …

2001 / Nein. Ich Habe Nichts Machen Lassen.
Auf den ersten Blick: unverwechselbar MINI. Auf den zweiten Blick: das auf-regendste kleine Auto der Welt. MINI bringt endlich wieder Leben auf die Straße. Nicht nur in Deutschland.

2005 / Drunter Tragt Er Lack Und Leder.
Rocks ‘n’ Roll: Das italienische Lifestyle-Label Bisazza verpasst MINI einen Satz Steine. Genauer gesagt: 37,000. Ein steinreiches Kunststuck – naturlich unverkauflich. Und alles außer gewohnlich

2009 / Noch Ist Er Zu Haben.
Die Vergangenheit: legendar. Die Zukunft: visionar. MINI geht seinen ganz eigenen Weg. Seit 50 Jahren. What a birthday. It’s a MINI.

(forgive my not typing the accent characters properly!)

What I think is a pretty rare CD; I couldn’t find reference to it online anywhere …

It arrived sealed, with no info on the cover about what it contains!

So I had to open it, revealing five tracks:

The tracks are all somewhat electro-funk-jazz:
Don’t Hesitate by Hill & Funes
Stars by Turntablerocker
Step into the gallery (MINI version) by Micatone
Espuma (Aha, Aha) (progressive short mix) by Espuma
Return of the prodigal son by George Benson

Espuma is one of my favourite tracks to play loud while driving twisties in the MINI – there’s a slightly different YouTube version here (I also found Micatone here).
I’ve no idea what this CD was for; perhaps background music in European dealerships (the couple of music CDs I have from US dealerships are very different content!) … I wonder if there was ever a “MINI tracks 2″?