I've decided after much consideration to put the Squeaker on a semi-permanent hiatus for the time being. I'm still a huge fan of the game, but I'm finding that I just don't have the time to devote to this project that it deserves. Ben is going to be helping me streamline the card-posting process, but his life is pretty busy right now too. But once we get that taken care of, and bring on some new folks to help write articles, etc, the Squeaker will be back better than ever.

I'll continue to use our twitter feed (@DailySqueaker) to tweet news and trivia, and as always, you should check out the Market Tracker for current card status.

We'll be back before you know it; in the meantime, enjoy your summer (or winter, to our friends in the Southern Hemisphere) and Happy PackRatting!

- Becky
Daily Squeaker Editor

Trail of Treasure
500 points
50cr from Sydney

Metal Detector
500 points
25tx from Paris/Dubai

Stone of Fortune
750 points
Thawed Card (found in packs of non-playing friends)

Captain Auger Confrontation
2500 points
Stone of Fortune+Trail of Treasure+Treasure Map

Arctic Snowball Fight

Kangmi
750 points
75cr from Vancouver

Big Daddy

Honey Do Tool Belt
500 points
50cr from Chicago

Hammock
1000 points
100cr from New York

Stainless Steel Grill
1000 points
100cr from New York

Canada Day

Curling Stone
250 points
25cr from Vancouver

Kermode Bear
1000 points
100cr from Vancouver

Independence Day

Tricorne
750 points
75cr from Sydney

Bald Eagle
750 points
25tx from Paris/Dubai

The Summit

Ranger Dirk
1000 points
100cr from Singapore/Berkeley

New Release Tuesday

To compensate for the high-seas, high-stress, swashbuckling adventure that is The Razor's Plunder, tomorrow we're releasing our most relaxing collection ever! Any guesses?

Also, don't forget that Creature Feature retires tomorrow!

So this is what we know: Bling falls into a new category of cards called Gadgets (along with Locks). When you combine a Bling card with a regular card, the background of that card changes to have a bit of bling added. The first Bling Gadget is Rainbow Bling - add it to a card, and a pretty rainbow graces the corner.

Rainbow Bling (Gadget)
Gadget Type: Bling
2500cr from Vancouver/Singapore

Here is what we know about Bling thus far:

• To Use Bling: Click on Gadgets in the sidebar, then select the Bling and the card you want to use it on. Click "Use Gadget" and voila! (Note: Use the same method to use Locks now.)
• Gadget cards (Bling or Lock) cannot be stolen or dropped in a trade
• Cards that have been "blinged" can be stolen (or traded), so buy a Lock with your Bling!
• Foils cannot be blinged.
• Combining a blinged card in a recipe will lose the bling (just like foils)
• In the Vault, if you have more than 1 copy of a card, blinged cards show up on top and take priority over foils.
• Blings will retire after a certain period of time or quantity of issue
• Whilst you can share the purchase of a Bling card on your Facebook Wall, you cannot at this time share when you've actually applied the Bling to a card.

Since Gadget cards themselves cannot be traded, Rainbow Bling is currently exclusive to XL players (although there's a busy secondary market of blinged cards on the discussion boards). The following screenshot gallery should satisfy the blingiest dreams of those players not getting into Bling themselves.

Using Bling:

Bling Close-ups:
Note that using Rainbow Bling gives the card's border a rough, stucco-like texture on both sides.

More Bling:

Talk Back:

We're eager to know what you think about Bling, so post a comment or mention us on Twitter. The Squeaker gratefully acknowledges Jo Carter's assistance in preparing this update.

Have a blingy day!

Yellow Box:

PackRat: Now with Bling!

We've added a fun little twist to PackRat - a new gadget card called Bling. Buy a rare Bling card and then use it on any card in your pack to customize its background. We're starting with Rainbow Bling - you'll find it in the XL Markets as a treat for our XL subscribers. When we have a good feel for this new feature, we'll make Bling more widely available.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Keep in mind... - locks are Gadgets too; just click Gadgets to lock one of your cards
- we've made sure that you don't accidentally replace a foil card with Bling

Betsy Ross Flag (Independence Day)
1000 points
100cr from Singapore

Snowball Launcher (Arctic Snowball Fight)
250 points
25cr from New York

Perfect Tie (Big Daddy)
250 points
25cr from Chicago

Bag of Trail Mix (The Summit)
100 points
10cr from London

Pair of Hiking Boots (The Summit)
500 points
50cr from London

Retired Sets:

Twilight Temptation (Creature Feature) NB: This set retires next Tuesday!
500 points
100tx from Scottsdale

Hipster Deejay (Urban Hipster)
2500 points
75tx from Scottsdale

General Yutaka (Ninja Dawn) (Top Card)
7500 points
250tx from Scottsdale

Banana Split (Sugar Rush)
1000 points
75tx from Scottsdale

Unfortunate Treasure Hunter
1000 points
50tx from Paris/Dubai

In order not to get even more behind in updating the Squeaker, I may not post a full (with images) roundup of the last week. I'm not ruling it out, but regardless, here is an outline of everything interesting that's happened in PackRat Land over the last week. If I do post a mega-update, it will come directly from this outline; if I don't, at least you have the info!

Mid-Week Roundup Outline

- Becky

Honey Do Tool Belt
500 points
50cr from Vancouver

Recipes no longer requiring tickets:

World's Best Dad Shirt
2500 points
Perfect Tie + Best Hawaiian Shirt + Honey Do Tool Belt

Fishing Gabriella
5000 points
Fishing Tackle Box + Titanium Driver + World's Best Dad Shirt

Pitching Charles
5000 points
Foam Football + Shiny Red Lawn Mower + World's Best Dad Shirt

Gadsen Flag
750 points
75cr from Vancouver/Singapore

Benjamin Franklin
5000 points
Gadsden Flag + Quill Pen + Liberty Bell