I just got back...

from a nice vacation in Maine. :) We had absolutely amazing weather the whole week. Now that I'm back, I've had to catch up on a lot of things, and I should get a couple posts of the Gint-A-Cuff's up tomorrow.

Packs 4-6.

Sorry it took so long for me to post the next few packs. I finally got my scanner to work properly.

Pack #4:
#73 Avery Jenkins
#63 Matt Carson
#299 Robinson Cano (-1 Yankee)
#166 Chris Tillman
#296 Barry Zito
#118 Eric Young Jr.
#93 Brandon Inge Mini A&G back (+2)

#TDH28 Jose Reyes (+1)

Pack #4 Total: 2pt.
Total: 46pts.

Pack #5:
#192 Tom Knapp
#257 Ervin Santana
#122 Yadier Molina
#169 Felix Hernandez
#141 Matt Cain
#328 Jered Weaver (+2 SP)

#66 Orlando Hudson Mini Black Border (+3)

#TDH30 Hideki Matsui (+1)

Pack #5 Total: 6pts.
Total: 52pts.

Pack #6:
#232 Hubertus "Master of Hellfire" Wawra
#140 Brandon Allen
#267 Martin Prado
#36 Victor Martinez (+1 Favorite Team)

#276 Daniel Runzler
#AGHS11 Andre Ethier Baseball Highlight Sketches (+3)

#MM5 Mosters of the Mesozoic: Allosaurus (+3)

#TDH21 Magglio Ordonez (+1)

Pack #6 Total: 8pts.
Total: 60pts.

I have my first box of Allen & Ginter all scored. I just need to scan the necessary cards and add them to the posts. (I wish my scanner would cooperate once in a while!) I don't know if my final score is good or not, as there isn't much to compare it to yet. However, I have a feeling that this box is better than my second one even though I haven't officially tallied up all the points for box 2 yet. Could be wrong, though. We'll just have to wait and see!

The Gint-a-Cuffs Begins: N43 & Packs 1-3

I was trying to wait as long as possible to do this, so I could savor it. 1:08 PM. I can't wait any longer, but I'm only going to open the packs I mentioned.

Here's the N43:
Holy Crap! If this in any indication, my box should be absolutely amazing.
N43 Autograph of Ian Kinsler 12/15. (+30)
Aww, too bad he isn't on the favorite player list! This is a very nice looking card. I love the blue ink and Ian has a legible signature at least. Being hand numbered is also a bonus in my books. The hand on the bottom right reaching for the baseballs is a little odd, though.

Okay, it's 1:15 now, haha. Time to open the next few packs.

Pack #1:
#11 Wade Davis
#297 Isaac Newton
#45 Justin Verlander
#111 Josh Willingham
#123 Mariano Rivera (-1 Yankee)
#329 Troy Glaus  (+2 SP)

(This cards look much better in person, as many of you know. My scanner is on the way out the door, so I'm lucky I at least get an image. The background color on these cards is a light green. You can kinda see it on the Kinsler above)

#262 Zack Greinke Mini
#TDH60 This Day in History: Roy Halladay (+1, +2 Favorite Player List)

Crack the Code Ad

Pack #1 Total: 4pts.
Total: 34 pts.

Pack #2:
#165 Nick Jacoby (+1 '09 Code Cracker)

#254 Rich Harden
#190 Randy Wolf
#26 Andy Pettitte (-1 Yankee)
#198 A.J. Pierzynski (-1 Because)
#65 Andre Ethier
#WGWS4 World's Greatest Wordsmiths Miguel de Cervantes (+4)

#TDH73 Ian Kinsler (+1)

Pack #2 Total: 4 pts.
Total: 38 pts.

Pack #3:
#264 Captain Nemo
#83 David Wright (+2 Favorite Player List)

(This is the only horizontal card I've gotten so far, but they look really nice. They add a bit of a variety to the set.)

#220 Manny Ramirez
#164 Kyle Blanks
#69 Clay Buchholz (+1 Favorite Team)

( I like Clay. He's finally pitching to his capabilities, and is having an All-Star year to show for it. I hope he makes the team.)

#348 Asdrubal Cabrera (+2 SP)

#252 Matt Garza Mini
#TDH38 Jim Thome (+1)

Pack #3 Total: 6pts.
Total: 44 pts.


Not to bad so far. The Kinsler auto was a cool surprise. I hope I can keep this going!

Arriving Packages

is the greatest, especially when I forgot what I ordered. (I knew was getting two boxes of A&G, but I forgot that I threw in a box of Chicle)

Due to my impatience, I have already opened the box of Chicle. It provided me with many doubles, but also knocked off a good chuck of cards from my wantlist.

I got another Brent Dlugach autograph, of course.
But this autograph makes up for the dupe...

This is my second Andrew Bailey auto this year, the other coming from Topps Series II.

I also pulled this nice relic of Ozzie. Unlike the Teixeira I pulled, this one is numbered... (98/199)

You've already seen plenty of base cards, I'm sure. I felt like I had to scan this Gehrig card, though. Some of my girlishness is showing through when I say this card is absolutely beautiful. The black background makes Lou glow. This card was also done by Jason Davies, my favorite artist from the National Chicle set. This card really stands out from the set to me:

Hey everyone,
Sorry I'm just getting around to post this now...

Back in the beginning of June, I went to Baltimore with my Dad to see two Red Sox games. We had a great time. The first game we had seats on the 3rd base side. Those were my favorite. Clay Buchholz pitched a complete game shutout and we saw Adrian Beltre take out Jeremy Hermida. (He's having a great year, but needs to stop personally injuring our depleted outfield!) The second game we had seats on the 1st base side. These were closer to the field but farther from home plate. This game was amusing in many ways. The Sox won of course, with Jon Lester pitching 7 shutout innings. Daniel Bard got into the game, and I love Daniel Bard! There was an Orioles family sitting behind us who trashed their team the whole entire night. In front of us, there was an elderly woman who was a Red Sox fan and a 20+ year old guy who was an Orioles fan. They trashed each other the whole game and that was hysterical. Here are some pictures I took around the city and at the games:

 

I'd like to know why people tried to steal this statue? Not exactly easy to hide. There were a lot of Phillies fans at the game. There was also a Yankee fan sitting a few seats away, but he left in the 2nd inning.
 

Daniel Bard had a Red Bull hidden in his glove. 

 

Great bulletin in front of an old church. Fort McHenry, where the Star Spangled Banner was written. 

 

The grave of Edgar Allan Poe. Pretty creepy cemetery. Almost all of the graves were above ground in tombs. We went to Lexington Market, they had some pretty interesting things for sale. This "Salmon Graveyard" made me laugh.

 

Julio Lugo doesn't look like a very happy camper. Jon Lester in his windup. 

Yankees Galore.

Hi everyone, I have plenty to talk about. First things first, my 2010 Topps Series II Jumbo Box.
Here's what I got:
*entire base set.
*plenty of doubles...so let's do some trading!

*Johnny Mize Hat Logo Patch.
*Phil Hughes relic. Dirt included. (It's more obvious in real life than in the scan)
*Andrew Bailey Autograph.
*Michael Bourn Black Border Parallel.
*Red Hot Rookie #5

Overall, I enjoyed opening this box. It's always nice to get a complete set in one shot. I've been debating with myself since Series I came out whether or not I should collect all of the inserts. In some ways I want to because I like having the complete set but there are some inserts that are just plain ugly or don't have a purpose. I hate ToppsTown. Luckily, they got rid of it in Series II but replaced it with Attax cards. ...Not collecting those. Another unnecessary insert is the Peak Performance. There are way too many of them! Some of the inserts could potentially grow on me. For example, the 2020 inserts are kinda odd but I think I like them. My favorite, though, is The Cards Your Mother Threw Out. The concept is really cool.

The base cards have really nice photography once again. However, the foil names on Series II seem to be much harder to read than the ones printed on Series I. Is it just me, or do others feel the same way?

Can anyone see what's wrong with this particular base card? It's been photoshopped, of course. However, I think they did a bad job with it. Can you see why I think so? 

__________________________________________________

I recently completed a trade with Jeremy Scott. He knocked plenty of cards off my want list as well as sending me some surprise Red Sox cards. Didn't expect that, but thanks a bunch. It was fun trading with Jeremy, and everyone should keep him in mind if you ever want to trade. Thanks!