At the monthly card show this weekend, I was really tempted to pick up a box of the new Updates & Highlights. It would have cost me $45, and I know it would have been fun to open, but I felt like I would probably end up cutting myself off from buying anything else and I would have left the place without anything I really, truly need. Instead, I spotted something perhaps less fun but definitely needed: a retail box of 2009 Allen & Ginter. The price was $39 for what basically amounts to 3 blasters worth of retail packs. This should finally persuade me to get my want list together. Over the next few weeks I will show the results of each pack that I opened, card by card, so you can experience a true feel of what this set is all about.
Just kidding, of course. I know you were all burned out by this stuff by September (thanks, fellow bloggers!) so I'll spare you all the particulars and just do a summary account with some pictures thrown in.
2 mutant packs, one with two National Pride cards and one lacking a mini. Personally, I'd rather get two minis.
12 regular SP cards, including everyone's favorite cone geyser, Old Faithful.
2 black bordered minis (stated odds - 1:10 packs), Wyatt Earp and Ryan Zimmerman.
10 regular ol' minis, including the ubiquitous Ichiro.
3 Cardinals cards, including this Yadier Molina mini. This is the true "hit" of the box if you ask me.
25 National Pride cards, and I bet half of them are doubles.
1 Allen & Ginter back SP mini (1:65), Chris Young the Pitcher.
2 regular SP minis (1:13), Yovani Gallardo and Justin Masterson.
4 regular Allen & Ginter back minis (1:5), including this Motocross Champion.
2 Ginter Code parallels (1:12), Edgar "Bacteria" Renteria and Jay Bruce.
2 Hoaxes, Hoodwinks & Bamboozles (1:12), Idaho (I've been there, it's not a myth) and Ferdinand Waldo Demara.
2 National Heroes (1:12), Janos Damjanich of Hungary and Sun Yat-Sen of China.
4 Baseball Highlights Sketch cards (1:6), including this extremely creased and poorly drawn Alex Rodriguez. He'll join my mangled Derek Jeter mini and perhaps a Kevin Kouzmanoff in an envelope to Topps.
And 1 Framed Relic from Group B (1:622), Eric Gagne. It figures that I get a relic card from the toughest group to pull from and it ends up being pretty much the only lousy player in the bunch. I mean, they didn't even bother to make a base card of this guy. Congrats to me.
I should have my want list updated by about this time tomorrow.
If you have any mini dupes or minis to trade I'm interested. I've got a stack of Cards cards set aside for you already.
ReplyDeleteLike Brian, I'm also looking for some of the minis still - my want/have list for Allen & Ginter can be found here: http://fanofreds.blogspot.com/2009/07/2009-allen-ginter-needs-list.html
ReplyDeleteStill looking for #30 and #339. If you have doubles, think of me.
ReplyDeleteOuch. The Gagne is a tough one to swallow. Maybe someone out there still collects him?
ReplyDeletewhat is this monthly card show that you speak of? I live in Portland and need to know where these things take place...
ReplyDeleteIt's at Jantzen Beach. The place that puts it on used to have a website, but now they don't apparently. If you look at Beckett's show calendar (you can just google "beckett show calendar") and search for Portland it will show you the dates/specifics. It's not very big, but it's free and it's better than nothing.
ReplyDeleteI may have a few errant Cardinals to swap - LMK
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see more Gibby and Brock.
Check out my blog -
CHUCK'S USED CARDS
i'd be interested in the gagne...
ReplyDeletedid you receive the cards from me yet?
Chuck's - I'll be in contact soon.
ReplyDeletegcrl - I love the cards. I've been a bit intimidated by the sheer volume to write about them yet. I'm working on a starter set of '79 Topps for you that I'll add to the Dodgers cards I'm sending you.
everyone else who inquired about A&G cards - I'll go through them soon, hopefully tonight, and update my list.