Can't stay mad at shiny

I went to the hobby shop yesterday looking for a hit. I know how that sounds. I seriously didn't mean it to sound that way, but I totally know why you thought that. So, like, draw your own conclusions. But they're wrong.

Anyway, I'm woefully lacking in card hits that people want. Actually, I have some key ones coming up that I'll post soon. But in terms of the people who have cards that I want, I have nothing to offer them. So, off to the card shop I went.

I don't really like going there. The prices are high and I'm always poor. I can only afford a few packs. I wandered in not sure what I wanted. There were stacks of Legendary Cuts, 40 bucks per stack. There was a bin of junk hits, 7 or 8 dollars per card. But what I was looking for was to get lucky with the 20 bucks I had to spare.

I ended up with Topps Chrome, which isn't terribly hit-friendly in terms of something I could offer someone in a trade. But nothing else appealed to me. I mean, if I bought a few packs of A&G and ended up with the same base cards that I've been staring at for the last 2 months I might've gone all Rogelio Moret right there in the store. They'd have to carry me out.

So I bought six packs of shiny. Because like a pretty face, I can't stay mad at shiny. No hits? That's OK, sweatheart, you're shiny!

Here we go. Six packs, a mere four cards a pack:

PACK 1

67 - Ian Kinsler, Rangers
193 - Ricky Romero, Blue Jays (refractor)
147 - Garrett Anderson, Braves
18 - Jermaine Dye, White Sox

Pack breakdown: For the most part, the poses are the same as the base set, which is disappointing. The Anderson card is slightly nicked at the bottom. As usual, I had to look at the back to figure out the Romero was a refractor

PACK 2

169 - Cole Hamels, Phillies
219 - Greg Golson, Rangers
114 - Alfonso Soriano, Cubs
62 - Chase Utley, Phillies
Checklist, 1 of 3

Pack breakdown: Why did I show the checklist? Because everyone wants to know what the checklist looks like, right? No? Too bad, the image is burned into your brain.

PACK 3

30 - Chris Young, Padres
159 - Jake Peavy, Padres (refractor)

82 - Grady Sizemore, Indians
129 - Jeremy Bonderman, Tigers

Pack breakdown: Chrome really picks up the dust and foreign particles on my scanner. Sizemore looks like he has a dandruff issue.

PACK 4

15 - Kazuo Matsui, Astros

W84 - Nelson Cruz, Dominican Republic (refractor, No. 196/199)

13 - Geoff Jenkins, Phillies

148 - Russell Martin, Dodgers

Pack breakdown: A Dodger, what a relief. I like the World Baseball Classic cards a lot better when it's someone I've heard of before. A Rangers fan keeps sending me cards, so I'll be saving this for him.

PACK 5

11 - Erick Aybar, Angels

W38 - Cheng-Ming Peng, Chinese Taipei

44 - A.J. Pierzynski, White Sox
167 - Joakim Soria, Royals

Pack breakdown: Mercy, that's a tight shot of Mr. Peng.

PACK 6

45 - Roy Halladay, Blue Jays
81 - Hunter Pence, Astros (refractor)
125 - Matt Holliday, Athletics

160 - Jose Reyes, Mets

Pack breakdown: Again, the Halladay has a destination already. The Reyes probably does, too.

As you can tell, I won't be trying to complete the set. But like OPC and Heritage, I'll be buying it here and there while looking for Dodgers. The hobby shop owner pulled these cards right from an unopened box, so I'm guessing whoever buys the next couple of packs will get an auto or something cool. (Hmmm, maybe I should go back today).

Even though I didn't get anything that will net me a Kershaw auto, I'm not mad. I can't be.

Here, shiny, go buy yourself something pretty.