Vote: May the best pumpkin win [update]

just sayin, tighten those rules up, let people know what they can an cant do. ink on the final product and not cutting through, thats what i dont like. and what about the other really creative pumpkins that didnt have a fighting chance against the well drawn pumpkins, they were DOA.

Am I the only one who likes LeChunk? Still though, I think I'll throw away my vote and go with the Earthworm Jim pumpkin.

Thanks man I appreciate it. Those took me about 5 hours to complete each one. I was a little disappointed though in the fact that I couldnt get his ear to really show without actually turning the pumpkin so you could see the side. Oh well, my daughter loves them :-)

Damn! My last comment was meant for Vidikron

i can't decide, they're all so good.

Well done all around, there are some incredible choices. I personally love the Borderlands one.

Had to go with the Boomer at #7

4, 5 or 7 I can't decide.

I voted BORDERLANDS....Good work

Im glad this year the finalists are not just a bunch of stencils available at (insert pumpkin stencil site name here) #7 was very creative, but in the end #5 is my choice. Very cool shading technique.

Numba 5!

Stupid WOW. Those pumpkins are awesome, but that game doesn't even represent video games anymore. Why have two of them? I'm sure there are plenty of sites with best WOW pumpkin contests. Are these guys double-dipping?

It's all about King Arthur.

You guys are kidding me if you are voting on anything besides number five. The amount of time given to have such quality detail is amazing. Look at all the thumbnails before making your vote. Yes, others are good, but do they really compare.

holy fuck these are insane

the ones that painted/ drew marker on them shouldnt be in this contest, thats not true pumpkin carving. its cheating.

Why are people voting for 5?
It's pretty obvious he cheated and painted on it.
Number 4 looks like the picture is actually carved in.

I agree that the inked ones should not be in there. I know it's art, and it is very well made, but number 5 has barely been carved. #3 for the win because it's a clever idea.

Number 4 has my heart. :o

#4 is in a different league than the other ones; you shouldn't have let people vote on this.

wow, i really dont understand that statement/question. and yes, im throwing a fit because quite a few of those pumpkins dont fit the rules. and if you think im the only one you are retarded.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone that enjoyed my pumpkin. My pumpkin was done using one knife. I think that all the pumpkins were really good in their own ways. Super Ghouls n' Ghosts is one of my favorite games so I was really excited that #9 made it! I also like the Dry Bones pumpkin and the Pac-Man one too.

It was #5 and #7 for me at first, but after reading some comments, I agree #5 relied too much on inking and almost no carving at all. So it's #7 Boomer for me.

Even though my pumpkin didn't turn out as well as I would have liked (not an artist in the least bit) and my pictures are kind of blurry, I had a lot of fun with this contest. Thanks to everyone who was (and is, I suppose...) involved with it.

And I have to vote for the Borderlands pumpkin. They're all super cool though.

I saw a few people knocking #5 because he used a black marker or something, but I think it just adds one more level of shading. #10 did it as well, it doesn't mean its painted and not carved. Stop looking at the thumbnails and click the image. They look friggin amazing. #4 is great too. Congrats to all the top ten carvers.

#5 is my pick tho. Thats an absolute work of art.

I dont get why "xtremeholymuffin" is so adamant about #5 being disqualified. Seems like he's probably a friend of #4 and feels threatened. lolz If you look at the unlit photo you can see that the "Entire" thing is carved. he just detailed with black. look at the shades of yellow and orange. #7 Isnt exactly carved at all, but its still looks damn cool.

How about posting your choices and not putting others down for your favoritism.
They all worked hard and your bashing pumpkins that are undeniably great!

no 2 girls 1 cup, or keyboard cat? for shame.

To everyone railing against "drawings":

Part of doing pumpkin art is meticulously planning out how you're going to carve it, which usually involves some drawing. Because the carving is permanent, and drawings can be redone more easily, it just makes sense to make yourself a stencil. It's the same idea as sketching out a plan for a painting with pencil before putting the paint down: lots of painters do it, and there's still plenty of technical skill involved in the painting process. Likewise, there's still a lot of work involved in carving a well stenciled pumpkin, for many reasons including the fact that the stencil doesn't help much with getting the depth right. Does anyone seriously not think that the Borderlands one was planned out in the same way? They just didn't use ink.

And on the subject of ink, what's so illegal about it? The reason it's put there is to give better contrast with the brights. Too many people are acting like they just did a drawing on a pumpkin. You don't even have to look closely to see that there's still plenty of details carved out, which obviously took much time and effort.

The argument of "pumpkin carving" literalism is clearly bogus. Why has virtually no one been outspoken against #7? Because it's not winning or getting much praise. In actuality, it's a jack-o-lantern competition, in a broad sense (perhaps better wording next year, Joystiq?). The artists behind all of them, #5 and #10 included, did some brilliant work. Now, let's just sit back and let the rightful winner claim the prize.

I went for the Ghost n Goblins pixelated main character :)

That one reminded me of gaming first and foremost and I liked the pixel touch.

lol'd at critter crunch. creative! but boomer gets my vote. scary shit :D

I voted for #8.
#5 looks cool but it's a carving contest, not drawing contest.

I went with #5, which I decided on by a coin toss between it and #4. they're both fantastic.

Voted Number 9.. I love pixel art.. ;-) and Arthur is history in gaming !!...

Oh, yeah, Borderlands wins.., good for you kids :-)

I thought Entry 61 was the best out of all of them.

As well done as some of the other ones are the dead space girl takes the cake.

Both WoW ones are pretty good. the choices ;_;

Awesome work to all pumpkin carvers. Here's what I did for 2009, as well as my past 11 years worth.

2009's Pumpkin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikOz_jAaOX0

Pumpkins 1998-2003:
http://paulgalenetwork.com/GalleryThumbnails.aspx?gallery=271547

Pumpkins 2004-2008:
http://paulgalenetwork.com/GalleryThumbnails.aspx?gallery=136261

All of these are great. Make sure you also checkout the gallery: http://www.joystiq.com/photos/joystiq-pumpkin-carving-contest-2009/

Everyone did a really fantastic job with these pumpkins!