Posted by Aaron:
"I own a Sandow. It finally arrived last night. I opened the box up like a kid on Christmas. Tearing through tons of bubble wrap to uncover him. Some of you might be wondering why I would buy this... Why buy a trophy I didn't earn? There are two answers to this. One is, what you are looking at is bodybuilding history. Only 13 men have won the Mr. Olympia, and of those Sandows given out this might be the only one in circulation and not on the mantle of one of those 13 men. I bought it because it represents the pinnacle of achievement in the sport I've loved since I was a teenager and before. To me this solid brass statue is art. The second reason is because I did EARN this. Not in the way one might normally win Sandow, but in my own way. As a Jewish skinny teenager I knew I'd never stand onstage as the best bodybuilder in the world having Joe Weider hand me one. I was realistic enough at a young age to know better. That said, ironically I figured out a way to make it happen though other kinds of achievement within the sport and industry of bodybuilding. To me this Sandow doesn't represent the ultimate achievement in bodybuilding, but it most certainly represents achievement no one thought was possible... Even me! Lol. I love bodybuilding and where ever I am in live, I'll always have this amazing trophy to honor and look back on and remember where I came from. Because without bodybuilding I wouldn't be here."
