There are mutant Allen & Ginter blasters everywhere! Just ask dayf. Actually, if I were dayf, I wouldn't complain. Erin has yet to receive a normal blaster: one had packs with multiple minis while others had none and at some point she got two of the legendary monster creatures of madness cards in the same pack. I'm only two blasters into Ginter Season, but the only thing I can vouch for is Topps's sad decline in the quality control department, which is probably responsible for all of the strange things that people have been finding. I've had a couple of fairly defective mini cards and some Ginter Code ad cards that look like they've been nibbled on by the Topps squirrels, but that's about it.Here's what I got in the blaster I bought last Saturday...
Pack 1:
271 - Jair Jurrjens
58 - Brad Hawpe (Hawpe has put together a nice season.)247 - Jeff Clement (Clement has been traded to the Pirates, I think? Erin pulled an auto redemption of his from last year's Stadium Club set and is still waiting on it.)
AGHS9 - Frank Thomas Baseball Highlights Sketch Card (Does anyone know if these were drawings that didn't make the UD Masterpieces cut or if they were originally planned for a scrapped '09 Masterpieces set. That would be interesting.)135 - Jeff Suppan Mini
NP54 - Carlos Zambrano National Pride
Pack 2:
200 - Carlos Quentin
101 - Andrew Bailey (RC)
237 - Walton Glenn Eller (The Trap Shooting Champion. Someone please explain to me and Erin what the difference between skeet shooting and trap shooting is. We'd like to know.)
319 - Gary Sheffield (SP)29 - Jonathan Papelbon Mini
NP55 - Kosuke Fukudome National Pride
- Crack the Code ad (nibbled on and scratched by Topps squirrels as previously mentioned)
Pack 3:
70 - Rick Ankiel (Nearly the entire Cardinals team went through a mustache phase at some point this season, but Ankiel is the only one who has been going with it, on and off, since the beginning of spring training. He also professed his interest in being called Dick rather than Rick at some point, but it didn't stick.)
16 - Josh Johnson
14 - Troy Tulowitzki (clap-clap-clapclapclap-clap-clap-CLAP-CLAP...TULO!)
153 - CC Sabathia Mini
NP56 - Edinson Volquez
Pack 4:
170 - Lance Berkman
160 - Max Scherzer (Not the best looking photo, but I'm not going to subject you to it either.)
269 - Brian McCann (Not the best catcher in the league - ha! - but still a really good one.)
312 - A.J. Burnett (SP)206 - Miguel Tejada Mini A&G Back
NP57 - Victor Martinez National Pride
Pack 5:
115 - Ryan Doumit (Ahh! Ahh! Demon!)
71 - Albert Pujols (Ahh, okay, that's better.)
177 - David Freese (RC) (It seems like years ago that Freese was making his MLB debut, but it was actually April. Hopefully he'll be able to contribute to the team again at some point.)
91 - Alex Gordon Code Parallel (Gordon is getting demoted for what appears to be financial reasons.)293 - Ian Snell Mini
NP58 - Derek Jeter National Pride
Pack 6:
138 - Garrett Atkins
137 - Mark Teixeira
112 - Millito Navarro (I finally get a Negro League player here. Nice.)335 - Justin Duchscherer (SP)
48 - Brigham Young Mini (Yes, Brigham Young is in this set.)
NP59 - Miguel Cabrera National Pride
Pack 7:
7 - John Smoltz (By the time I wake up later today, this guy will probably a Cardinal. Weird.)
116 - Charles Darwin (Darwin and Mini Brigham Young are going to go to battle over their ideals when I turn the lights out.)295 - Brett Gardner
AGHS10 - Jim Thome Baseball Highlights Sketch Card (Thome is celebrating the first known MLB home run where the batter used the knob of the bat as the sweet spot.)273 - Jason Bay Mini A&G Back (Bay is a former Portland Beaver, and I am going to leave work early tonight to see the Beavers play the dreaded Iowa Cubs.)
NP60 - Stephen Drew National Pride
Pack 8:
103 - Aaron Harang
176 - Ramiro Pena (RC)
87 - Aaron Cook
315 - Andy LaRoche (SP)
198 - Raul Ibanez Mini Black Border (I love the way these look. This one is a cut a little wacky, but not as bad as my scanner made it look.)NP61 - Mark Teahan National Pride
- Code Ad card (also squirreled)
I think I might go for a third blaster this weekend, though I'm disappointed and concerned about their quality control.
And then there's the blaster that had one pack with the mini as the first card, so it was all bent up. Jerks.
ReplyDeleteDid you notice Carp shaved his mustache off?? It's a good thing, as his looked like a bloated caterpillar, the way it was shaped. Did any other Cards follow suit?
You cheer loud tonight for those Beavers. Iowa Cubs are going down.
I think pretty much everyone ditched the mustaches shortly after Holliday arrived except for Brendan Ryan and Jason LaRue (of course.)
ReplyDeleteYes! "Home Movies" was also the first thing that came to mind when you said "Louis Braille".
ReplyDeleteTo me, the only mustache in baseball belongs to Zavada.
ReplyDelete