Gint-A-Cuffs VI: Packs 22, 23, and 24

As my first experience with Gint-A-Cuffs winds up with this post, I am in a reflective mood. It's tough to get nostalgic for something that only started a week ago. Let me get through the cards in these last packs and then I'll give a big "wind-up" conclusion at the end.  

Thanks to The Kooks for that song, which reminds me of my first trip ever to London back in 2006, as that song was big in England at that time (and I liked it already too).  The song above does wrap up my feelings a little bit about this particular box -- I'm not saying it's the box's fault, but it sure could have done more.  

As a reminder, I start these final three packs with 152.6 points.

Pack 22

Not exactly a great start.  Because I liked the photo Topps used for Michael Wacha's card in this set better with the Turkey Red effects from the set from earlier this year, I don't feel compelled to show anything but the fact that it is a short print base card worth 2 points.  The World Capitals card for Tokyo adds another 2 points to give a total of just 4 points for this pack. Wow, that did not help.

TOTAL POINTS: 156.6

Pack 23:

Nothing like saving the worst pack for nearly the end.  

No short prints, no mini A&G backs, no inserts other than Madison Bumgarner's Pastime's Pastimes as a farmer in North Carolina to give me 2 points.  Then, CC the hefty lefty with the fat contract from the Yankees who spent a fun pennant race in Milwaukee six years ago takes away a point.  And that's it.  1 point.

Thanks for nothing, CC.

TOTAL POINTS: 157.6

And, finally, Pack 24:

At least the Gint-A-Cuffs closes on a decent pack with a pretty woman.  Felicia Day is someone's favorite "player" so she's a 2 point card.  Chris Davis is a short print, so he's worth 2 as well.  The Japanese Bobtail Little Lion mini is a 3 pointer, and the capital of Brazil of Brasilia -- planned and built under Brazilian President Juscelino Kubitschek in the late 1950s -- finishes off the box with 2 more points.  A grand total of 9 points in that pack gives me a decent closing to a thoroughly mediocre box.

TOTAL POINTS:166.6

Good Lord.  With that point total, I'm pretty sure that some guys on some horses just pulled up to my front door and introduced themselves as War, Famine, Death, and Pestilence.

Oh, wait.  Don't forget my final 5 points!

See me there, on the scoreboard? Clearly thrilled about my Carlos Gomez card?

Okay, here's a happier shot:

FINAL TOTAL POINTS: 171.6
So, now, the big wrap-up:

This was a lot of fun. The rules were simple enough to follow, especially after getting about a third of the way into the box.  I kept a handwritten list of everyone's favorite players next to the box as I opened it, notated all the point cards on a pack by pack basis, and then wrote the posts by scanning through what each pack held.  That made it fairly simply to go forward.

Now, the bad? I mean, I opened two dadgum entire boxes of these cards and did not get a single Robin Yount or Paul Molitor card?  Really?  What kind of collation is that?  

I like the A&G set generally. I rather like the interesting world facts type inserts, and the artists and cats were pretty cool too.  I could do without 100 of the black bordered Pastime's Pastimes.  Seriously, there aren't that many interesting people in baseball that have hobbies or interests outside of "jokester" or "philanthropist" these days.  It's not like the 1980s when Robin Yount went dirt biking, after all.

In many respects, A&G has some of the same issues that I mentioned that Archives has -- too many gimmicky inserts that are seeded too infrequently in packs for anyone to collect them all. It's not that I dislike either set -- I just won't try to put together a complete set.