There's no going back

Before getting into the post topic, I need to ask if anyone has recently experienced a malware message when trying to read my blog (of course, if your provider is blocking my site because of suspected malware then you can't read this, which makes writing this pointless).

I've had one blogger tell me that it has been a problem. I'm not sure why, but if it's my site, I suspect it's one of the embeded videos on the previous "What's the Best Card in the Package" post. I've replaced two of them in hopes it was one of those two. But I left the Josie and the Pussycats one up because it was referenced in a comment and, come on, it's Josie and the Pussycats.

But if that's the issue, all of the videos on the post get the boot. And that means Josie, Melody and Valerie, too.

This is why I really try to stick to my images only on the blog. I've gotten a lot more careless with that rule in the last couple of years, but I think I'll be going back to that again. It's just not worth it.

Anyway, you'll note that there is a "stolen" image at the top of the post, but it's a welcoming one! It's a blaster of Topps Allen & Ginter 2011! You know what that means!

No, it doesn't mean I somehow got a blaster about a month earlier than anyone else. Stay with me in reality, please.

It means I've ordered a hobby box of A&G 2011! It's officially on! I am part of Gint-a-Cuffs III!

After waffling for six months, I'll be ready to roll when the box arrives somewhere in mid-July (why so late this year?)

I've participated in the first two Gint-a-Cuffs events and it's tremendous fun, even if my boxes each time were agonizingly pedestrian and I end up moping by the end of the whole thing. But the camaraderie that goes on during Gint-a-Cuffs and the excitement of the set makes it one of the highlights of the collecting year for me. So, boring base design or not, I'm back!

I thought I'd review the hits that have come out of my previous two Gint-a-Cuffs boxes.

Here is what came out of the 2010 box:

Carlos Lee bat.

David Wright blue jersey.

Jeff Clement auto.

And here is what came out of the 2009 box:

Scott Olsen scribble.

Alex Rodriguez pants (guh!).

Kosuke Fukudome striped jersey.

Both of those were very run-of-the-mill boxes. I received exactly as promised. No more, no less. Just once I'd like beardy's luck and land a box with five autos, a printing plate and the hair off a calf sacrificed by Abraham. Maybe this'll be the box.

That's why we play the Gint-a-Cuffs game.

That said, all of the above hits are no longer in my possession. I traded every last one. This Gint-a-Cuff thing works on so many levels.

Regardless of what I get in Gint-a-Cuffs, buying a hobby box pretty much clinches the fact that I'll be building the set for a fourth straight year. Even though the design is not helping me for two years now, I find the subject matter as exciting as it's been in the last few sets. There are lots of non-baseball subjects that I really like, and I can't wait to see what I pull, and which card will be the most difficult to find.

Here are the last cards I needed to finish off the last 3 years of A&G:

2008 (completed Nov. 20, 2008):

Wily Mo Pena and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Topps really made you work for those people with three names. They were some special folks.

2009 (completed Dec. 10, 2009):

Jordan Schafer. I remember being most frustrated about Schafer. Not because he was a Brave (well, maybe a little), but because I specifically tried to wrap up the set earlier (buying two boxes) and ended up finishing later than the previous year. It did teach me one thing: Relax. It's a hobby.

2010 (Nov. 23, 2010):

Ervin Santana, Michael Brantley, Adam LaRoche and Gary Matthews. There's some excitement for you.

I'm certain that I would have completed this set the latest of all three if I hadn't picked up a bizarro blaster last September.

As you'll note, all of these cards are shortprints, which means the last card I need for 2011 A&G will indeed be a shortprint.

It remains to be seen whether I'll collect any of the insert sets. I've completed each of the main insert sets each year, but I don't even know if I'll do that this year.

Anyway, hope you're getting fired up for another round of Gint-a-Cuffs.

And stay tuned for another middle-of-the-pack A&G box break.