She tried

By now, you've got to be wondering whether I received anything hobby-related for Christmas. It's killing you. Just killing you.

OK, maybe not. You're too busy rolling around in autographed swatch cards under the tree to worry about little ol' night owl. That's OK, because I've got a couple of stories to tell, and that's Christmas gift enough.

I did receive some hobby-related items. And I did receive some cards.

Perhaps they were not exactly the cards I wanted. Some will call me picky, some will nod their heads in agreement. I'll leave this post tonight and tomorrow's post here for you to decide.

My daughter found me a blaster of Allen & Ginter. She is the most astute of the family in terms of knowing what I like, card-wise. But she still has that aversion to the card aisle that I see in people who don't collect cards. I get the feeling that it's much like when I'm required to wander through women's wear, or -- god forbid -- Victoria's Secret. Not only do I know nothing about what I'm looking to purchase but I am freaked right out and want to run screaming back from whence I came.

I can't imagine a card aisle being a similar kind of experience, but apparently it is. Because those non-collecting people will do everything in their power not to wander into that aisle.

A blaster of Allen & Ginter can be found at almost any neighborhood Target. I'm quite sure there are eight of them sitting in my Target on the other side of town right now.

But instead, my daughter bought hers on Amazon.

OK, fine. She's from that generation more at home on her computer than with people in a store. I'd never even think of finding a blaster on Amazon, but, of course, she can navigate the online search much better than staring at a wall of collecting product.

And since I considered it a novelty, I began to wonder whether a blaster on Amazon contained hidden treasures not found on a store shelf.

Silly, I know, because it was a regular, old blaster with regular, old Allen & Ginter that I'm not collecting this year.

If I were to collect it, I'd be pretty pleased with this one. The doubles were relatively under control and I did get a collection of stars that I didn't have prior:

I also received three short-prints that I didn't own before. That would have been fun if I were collecting the set:

I also pulled a short-print dupe (Trea Turner), which would have been aggravating ... if I was collecting the set.

I received a good amount of inserts that are too much alike that I didn't own previously.

And I got a cool, flying space machine card.


But the real reason to buy Allen & Ginter this year -- since I'm not collecting it -- is for the minis. This is why my daughter's blaster selection was a wise choice. I could see more potential in this blaster than in any of the others I wished for for Christmas (I mentioned that Archives, Heritage and Update would be acceptable, too, but I really wanted A&G the most).

The minis are for my A&G frankenset binder, of course. So let's see how many minis made it into my binder.

That's it.

That's the only one. Rendon fills a blank spot at #266.

It did produce a Joc Pederson mini that was the highlight of the box and will go in with all my Dodgers minis.

But every other mini was a dud -- fodder for trades. And I would like to never, ever, never, nevah pull another mayor mini again. Someone please take these things off my hands.

So, the blaster was kind of fun to open but didn't really yield much of what I wanted.

What can I say?

She tried.

Tomorrow: more of "she tried." And failing spectacularly.