After weeks of hand-wringing, we've finally settled on a winner of our
contest for LG's uber-limited $1,500 Iron Man edition Shine! We asked you to send in pictures of the busted-up pieces of garbage you call "phones," and holy
cow, did we get some doozies.
Without further adieu, our winner, Mark H., comes to us from Novato, California. Here's his story:
"I need a new phone as you can see. I have had this Nokia phone since 2001. I'm in the military service and my friends make fun of my old phone and now they're really on me since my phone was run over by a car and I use electrical tape to keep the faceplate together. I don't get paid enough by the service to buy a nice new phone."
Congratulations, Mark! Even if this relic were in perfect condition, it'd still be time for an upgrade. Let's try to keep this one a little less scuffed, because that solid gold battery cover definitely does
not live up to the "Iron Man" name. Follow the break for some honorable mentions -- you guys made it really hard to choose!
"What started as a fun day on the go-kart track ended up in utter despair. After parking my kart my friend ran up to me with what sort of resembled my cell phone, albeit Terminator-esque. Apparently it fell out of its holster as I was rounding the last corner and was run over by at least two others behind me. I learned to never ever put anything on my belt ever again."
"This thing is a little over a year old. I dropped it recently-hence the screen hanging on by the cord (and the wires are exposed!) The volume doesn't work that well and the battery is pitiful. Maybe I can't be trusted with a $1500 phone though...I would be more than happy to have it though."
"One late night, my LG met it match in the size of a 10.5 (phone was left open on some clothes and crunch). It started small with the display and ringer not working then the ear piece failed as the cover did not shut very well. In a panic for my phone, I grabbed the handset from the car, plugged it in and it worked perfectly. Eventually the phone lost it's flip entirely but still worked."

"Clearly missing is the flip phone's flippin' cover with only tell tale signs of wires once connected! The phone recently was 'auto converted' to just a PDA when my darling daughter lost control of her soccer ball and impaled it into my Treo whilst I was still talking on it, cleanly removing the lid; and thusly the speaker. Sure, I could still MAKE calls to people... but I could not HEAR THEM. Still, i needed my PDA because of all the data used DAILY. But also needed BI-directional Phone. Most 'phones' can NOT accept all these numbers, soooooooo, I've had to carry around both this 'handicapped' PDA and a used Motorola Razor."

"When I was in Moscow in 2005, I burned the battery with a wrong charger and had it fixed for $50 even though a new phone could have cost me less. The phone finally broke a month ago while I was pulling an all-nighter at Starbucks. The screen was hanging by its connector cable and I had to use duct tape to get my old numbers. I bought a replacement from eBay, but it didn't work – it was dead on arrival. So, now I am using my mother's phone and she is back to her ancient Nokia."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
yode @ Jun 30th 2008 1:20PM
Person probably faked it
Chris @ Jun 30th 2008 7:04PM
Damn. Are you juicing or something? Freak.
M @ Jul 1st 2008 2:18PM
I agree, so easy to fake something like this
Vink @ Jul 2nd 2008 12:47PM
I have been in the military for a few years, and I hate people like this. We get paid VERY well. I have a lot of gadgets I don't need but can afford. I even got the iPhone when it came out. And I will get the 3G the day IT comes out. There is no excuse. A Cell phone is mandatory in the military. This person is a lying, cheating, moral-less, value-less dirtbag.
slamEVIL @ Jun 30th 2008 1:47PM
real good mush story.
SHENANIGANS!
icedemon @ Jun 30th 2008 2:33PM
In the service but can't afford a nice phone? Sorry I call BS. I see privates walking around with BlackBerries and iPhones and whatever. So once again I call BS.
richard.sweezer @ Jun 30th 2008 2:41PM
Aw, if he would've left the military story out I would have said congrats. Being a Marine PFC, I know I can EASILY afford a new phone. He's screwing up his money somehow.
James @ Jun 30th 2008 2:43PM
It's all about an honor system since no one can really verify that anyone is telling the truth when you enter/win one of these contents. Good job to the winner though. The iron man phone looks nice.
--James
Razor1973 @ Jun 30th 2008 3:19PM
I hate to disagree, but, in my eyes, the winner is definitely that LG [flip?]. Hands down.
GoodWill8675 @ Jun 30th 2008 3:58PM
I enjoy your icon.
Thought I'd throw that out there.
Razor1973 @ Jun 30th 2008 6:27PM
Thank you. I enjoy the icon too, just not the car. Don't ask. *LOL*
slamEVIL @ Jul 1st 2008 3:26PM
yeah, i think either the lg or samsung should have won.
Cliff @ Jun 30th 2008 3:29PM
I call BS on that "military member" having had a phone since 2001 and can't afford a new one. I've been in the military for 15 years and know that every 2-years you can renew your contract and get a FREE phone - so no matter what branch or rank in the military, you can afford FREE.
iamdigitalman @ Jun 30th 2008 5:26PM
So I guess you guys did not even consider my REAL entry? My c139 is trash, and I have no phone until I can upgrade in late September. Too bad, because I kinda need to call people. Important people.
Now what am I supposed to do?
I demand a recount.
Razor1973 @ Jun 30th 2008 5:57PM
Do you live in Florida?
Jose @ Jul 2nd 2008 11:52PM
I'm in the service and I see young kids with nice phones, PS3, XBOX 360 and whatever other nice things are out there. But they get housed in barracks so they don't have to worry about any rent or utility bills and they have a dining facility to eat at so they can save all of their money and waste it on whatever. And then I see Privates driving around in corvettes or big trucks cause their parents bought it for them and still send them money still. The guy probably has a wife who doesn't work and has kids. I see a lot of thses people too and they always had to work hard for evrything. So maybe he's one of those unlucky poor guys who has to pay for everything and maybe he deserves a free phone.
Jose @ Jul 3rd 2008 12:00AM
Hey Cliff, sure you can get a free upgrade phone, but some people have very bad credit and phone companies won't let them renew cause they run a credit check. You've been in the service for 15 years so you have to be a E-6 or higher. Yeah sure you can afford stuff or you could even be an officer with more money