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.

Gint-A-Cuffs VI: Packs 19, 20, and 21

Only two more posts and six more packs to go for me in the Gint-A-Cuffs VI competition.  I'm pretty sure that I won't be winning the competition, but at least I've gotten some trade bait out of this endeavor.  And, it was a good excuse to buy a hobby box or two of the A&G.  

I just wish I would get a Robin Yount.  

To refresh memories, including my own, this box has accumulated 129.6 points through pack 18.  Yesterday's packs pretty much sucked, but on the bright side, there's still a box hit left.

Let's jump right in.

Pack 19

I got three cards worth two points a piece. There's the Air Supremacy full-size V-22 Osprey, followed by a John Smoltz short print that is turned the other way because Smoltzie is embarrassed about the Braves 0-8 road trip out west, and finally the R.A. Dickey A&G back mini, #300, which totally faked me out into thinking "short print" when I first looked at it. 

Pack total of 6 points.That's pretty much my average pack at this point.

TOTAL POINTS: 135.6

Pack 20:

And there's my final "hit".  To be fair, I rather like the cloth swatch in the card.  I would like it if I were buying the damn shirt and not getting it as a "relic" in a baseball card set.  The least that they could have done with the card was given us an air date for when Schefter wore it on camera.  

I know, that's a whole lot of complaining for 8 points.  The rest of the pack is actually a little better.  The Clemente black bordered is a 3 point card, and the King Felix Pastime's Pastime (Philanthropist) is 2 points.  Total of 13 points for the pack.

TOTAL POINTS: 148.6

Pack 21

It's a mixed bag.  Four cards score, but two cancel each other out.  Braun (+1 for Favorite Team) and Maris (-1 for Yankee) mean that this pack is a four-pointer for Seager's Mini A&G back and Panda's Pastime's Pastime -- jokester.  

TOTAL POINTS: 152.6

Without a "homerun" final hit, this box is crawling and limping to the finish line.  I've found all three hits, and they were nearly as basic as the hits get, with Diana Nyad's signed, framed mini autograph being the only "bonus" involved.  

In other words, it's just not going to be enough to get me near the top.  But, with just three packs to go, I'll finish this out tomorrow and return to more normal programming.  

After all, I've gotten some cards in the mail again!

Gint-A-Cuffs VI: Packs 16, 17, and 18

Part of me feels like I'm sprinting through this A&G box.  I'm definitely ahead of everyone else in terms of the number of packs I've opened.  I think it's driven by my desire to get the box opened and put away into my collections and the team boxes I have and to send out the stuff I'm sending out to folks as soon as possible.

It's also because I'm impatient when I open boxes and packs of cards and I want to see what I have.  Perhaps I could use a little Patience.

I finished yesterday up with 118.6 points, so let's see what is on tap today.

Pack 16

Well, this website comes to mind.

I get two Yankees who used to be stalwarts on my fantasy teams when they were in the National League -- a normal, base Hiroki Kuroda (-1) and a Pastime's Pastimes Carlos Beltran (+1 after Yankee penalty).  At least the pack isn't completely destructive since it has an A&G back mini of Dan Wheeler -- a Met, thank God, and not a Yankee -- for 2 points.  

So it's a pack total of 3 points.  Could it get worse?  Wait.  Don't answer that.

TOTAL POINTS: 121.6

Pack 17:

It's not worse than the previous pack, but it isn't much better either.  The Holi Festival -- which is a Hindu festival of colors and has now morphed into those weird "Color Runs" that some folks like doing -- is worth 2 points, and so is the short-printed Josh Donaldson.

Pack total of 4 points.  Meh.

TOTAL POINTS: 125.6

Pack 18:

Yet another -1 Yankee.  Then again, I'm glad we're not playing this game with the Archives set. Getting above 10 points would be a feat.

Otherwise, I have the Hisashi Iwakuma Pastime's Pastimes (which is Linguist despite the fact that the card mentions that he "talks to teammates through an interpreter"...methinks Topps was reaching here) for 2 points and 3 points for Rembrandt van Rijn.  One of Rembrandt's "most famous works" listed on the back of the card is Belshazzar's Feast, a painting I saw in London's National Gallery back in 2006.  Four points total.

Yay me.

TOTAL POINTS: 129.6

And so, after three of the most uninspiring packs of Allen & Ginter a guy could open short of a Yankee hot pack, I'm not much further along than I was after yesterday's packs.  The 11 points for 3 packs deal definitely hurt my chances here.

On the bright side, though, I still have one hit and six packs left.  I hope the packs ahead are better than these three.

Gint-A-Cuffs VI: Packs 13, 14 and 15

So, reading the early returns, I'm hopeful that it means that scoring is down this year in Gint-A-Cuffs from last year.  Of course, those early returns do not include a ruling on the Box Loader filled with the rare minis that the Cardboard Conundrum pulled, which I'm pretty sure will nearly cinch the deal for him to pull ahead of the rest of us without those.

In other words, I think I'm still just hoping that the Randomizer treats me well.  I mean, I'm halfway through my box at just 89 points.

As I've started all my posts for the GAC with music, let's do it again.  To celebrate the fact that I'm getting to Pack 15 this post, let's go with 1980s synth/Britpop and make sure you're wearing your black, all you throwback Goths:

Listen to "Little 15" by Depeche Mode a few times, and you'll think your life has become the background on these A&G Pastime's Pastimes.  Speaking of which, I haven't had one of those in a while...

All right, let's get to the cards.

Pack 13

It's a Yankee, but it's a short print Yankee in Mussina, so he's still a positive 1 point.  Throw Taipei, Taiwan -- my second Taiwanese card in this box...must be the Ginter Code (which is my explanation for literally everything and anything when opening packs of this) -- for 2 points, Omar Vizquel being someone's favorite player for another 2 points, and a mini Magellan for 3 points, and this pack hits a big 8 points overall.  That's a sturdy number for a pack without a hit.

TOTAL POINTS: 97

Pack 14

Can the box keep its momentum after that pack?

It's not the worst I've ever seen, if you know what I mean.  I've got the Sailing Stones of Racetrack Playa -- don't hate la playa, hate el partido -- which is 2 points (and I should be careful I don't lose points for bad puns in Spanish).  The Polar Vortex chilled out America in January, with even Atlanta hitting 6 degrees for a low, but it's a short print so I still get 2 points for it.  Finally, Aroldis Chapman is a simple A&G back mini -- another 2 points.  So, that's 6 points for the pack, which pushes me over 100 for the tournament/box.

TOTAL POINTS: 103

Pack 15
It's Little 15.  The lyrics say that little 15 "wants a nice surprise every once in a while."  Maybe I'll get a nice surprise here.  I'm due -- I still have two hits to go, after all:

Bingo.

Adam Wainwright is not on the favorite players list, but he is a Pastime's Pastime card worth 2 points.  Freddie Freeman is a favorite player (thank you, Card Hobbyist!), so the 8 points I get for a Full-SIze Relic gets multiplied by 1.7 for 13.6 points.  So, little 15 is worth 15.6 points.

TOTAL POINTS: 118.6

It certainly could be better for me -- no book card, no mini relic, nothing fun like that -- but at least I got the multiplier for Freddie.  

As a side, personal note, I have plowed through my cards through 1984 now, so my want lists through 1984 are updated.  If you have some Fleer from 1984 forward, I think I needed it.  I have sets that I am loathe to break, and I would need additional cards for PCs in any case.  So, I'm leaving the sets alone and trying to collect the cards I need.  If you have some, let me know.

Thanks for reading, and may all of you Gint-A-Cuffs competitors pull plenty of Yankee relics.

Gint-A-Cuffs VI: Packs 10, 11, 12

After yesterday's less-than-thrilling 3 packs totaling just 13 points, I'm hoping that the next three packs -- which will mark the halfway point -- will be better.  On the positive side, I've only found one of my three box hits so far. So, I have the possibility of some good point totals ahead.  

I haven't had many Brewers at all either.  Frankly, that's more annoying than any point totals.  I mean, when the competition is all said and done, all I want to keep from this box are the Brewers and Milwaukee Braves.  And for this box so far, all I've seen for Brewers is Carlos Gomez -- whom I pulled in my other box, so I have him covered both for my player collection and my team collection.  

That's it.  

That seems to make this song appropriate:

All right, enough whining.  On to Packs 10, 11, and 12 and the halfway point total:

Pack 10:

Not bad.  Not bad.  It's a six-point pack, since each of these cards are two points.  There's a mini A&G back Mike Pereira, Evan Longoria's Pastime's Pastimes (Animal Lover), and someone else's favorite player, Freddie Freeman.

TOTAL POINTS: 79

Pack 11:

Four cards have point implications in this pack, but one of them is a Yankee.  Joltin' Joe had Marilyn Monroe and was Mr. Coffee, so the attention-seeking, starlet loving ancestor to Derek Jeter is worth negative 1 point.  Otherwise, to add points, I have a two-point Wil Myers Pastime's Pastimes (social media guru...), a World's Deadliest Predator mini of the badass Cape Buffalo worth 3 points while chasing away a pride of lions, and yet another card of someone else's favorite player -- this time, Tim Lincecum -- who gets me 2 points.

All in all, that adds up to a 6-point pack.

TOTAL POINTS: 85

And that could have gone better.  Let's see what pack 12 has in store:

Well, another damn skirt-chasing, ball-scuffing Yankee who's been venerated and whitewashed and whose presence in my pack takes another point away from me.  At least I still get the full two points for Shea Stadium despite the fact that the Yankees played there in the mid-1970s while the House that Ruth Built became the George Steinbrenner Ego Palace.

And, finally, a Brewer!  And it's a short-print base card, so Wily Peralta -- on the heels of his nice start on Friday night against the Cardinals -- gives me 3 points.  

So, when that's added up, it's a paltry four points.

TOTAL POINTS: 89

Yeah, that halfway point total projects out to 178 points.  That isn't going to cut it if I want to compete in the overall title race. But, on the positive side, I still haven't found two of my three box hits.  Maybe those will help me out.

And, the way Wily Peralta has been pitching this year, he's starting to grow on me.  I may have to add him as a PC pretty soon.  We'll see.  

Gint-A-Cuffs VI: Packs 7, 8, and 9

I'm starting to see how some of the other competitors are doing in their GAC boxes, and I have to admit -- other than Nachos Grande and its relic box loader, things aren't too bad for me right now.  I know that will change, though, and frankly, my biggest hope is to get lucky in the randomization phase of the contest to get another box of A&G from Topps.

At least the contest is giving me something to write about to work through my recent writer's block/lack of desire/lack of interest in writing.  

Apropos of nothing other than I'm in a 90s alternative music mood this morning, here's a video for one of the more interesting songs of the 1990s from Soul Coughing:

I'm starting off this group of three packs with 60 points.  Let's see how many points these packs will add.

Pack 7:

And, this pack is not very good. 

There's a short print of Darryl Strawberry, who mercifully is shown on the Mets and not on the Yankees, so he's worth 2 Points.  At least there is no deduction for former Yankees on other teams.

The upside-down card is that way for a purpose.  That is a full-sized card of reality-show toolbox Bill Rancic, who costs me a point for being a tool.  So, -1 Rancic.

Finally, I have a full-sized Festivals and Fairs for the Dia de los Muertos which gives me 2 points.  I remember in high school Spanish class having to read a few articles about The Day(s) of the Dead.  It is a strange "festival" to commemorate, but at least it's not the "New York Yankees Day of the Dead."

So, the Pack total is a rancid 3 points.  Screw you Bill Rancic.

TOTAL POINTS: 63

Let's just move on.

Pack 8:

What a yawn-inducing pack.  

Damn Yankees.  Teixeira is a negative 1 point.  Sonny Gray is a short-print, so he gives me 2 points, as does the Pingxi Lantern Festival, a celebration of the Taiwanese/Chinese New Year in the mountain town of Pingxi.  

So, limping along with another 3-point pack.  These two packs alone are like an interception in football -- they have sapped all momentum in the game for the Off Hiatus team.  Ugh.

TOTAL POINTS:  66

Despite the demoralizing blows dealt by those last two packs, the next ones have to get better, don't they?  Let's close out with Pack 9 and look to a brighter rip tomorrow.

Pack 9

Now, that's better.  Part of me is wishing I'd said that the Milwaukee Braves were my favorite team rather than the Brewers, since I've had better luck in this pack pulling the two Milwaukee Braves (Mathews and Spahn) than the more numerous Brewers.  Warren is a black-bordered mini that's not a short-print, so he's worth 3 points.  Shelby Miller's Pastime's Pastime card is a 2-point play.  Finally, Ryan Howard is someone else's favorite player -- I'm guessing his accountant is playing the Gint-A-Cuffs this year -- so he's worth 2 points.  

So, while this pack is not a huge point getter, at least there weren't any Yankees in it.  

Pack total: 7 points

TOTAL POINTS: 73

It could have been worse, I suppose, than picking up just 13 points over 3 packs. It's not winning form, mind you, but every box has to have some valleys to go with the peaks.  I'll just have to see how the rest of the box sorts itself out.