Special occasions only

 

For Christmas I received a blaster of Allen & Ginter from my daughter.

This may not be the only card present, there is a second Christmas happening this coming week (love those). But the blaster was a pretty big occasion because it's the first time I have opened any A&G all year.

Think about how much A&G's stock has fallen with me: Once I participated in Gint-a-Cuffs, in which I bought a whole box of Allen & Ginter, plus a few extra blasters. Every year between 2008-15, you could see me at a Target on an almost a weekly basis looking for, or buying, Ginter. And between 2016-18, I'd make sure to get at least a few blasters and packs. I completed every set between '08 and '14.

Now, this product is for special occasions only, right up there on the once-a-year list with snowman cookies and tired leg lamp Facebook posts. Thanks to the unavailability of card product on retail shelves, A&G pivoting toward social media figures and my fading interest in current ballplayers, and I'm just now getting to my first A&G blaster break of 2021, seven days away from 2022.

 

 

You're probably not even interested in these cards. But I'm showing them anyway. Because that's what I used to do.

 

PACK 1

 

#302 - Yogi Berra

#29 - Spencer Howard

#293 - Jimmy Pardo

#MRD-7 - Dylan Carlson, rookie variation mini

#DSS-3- Mako Shark, Deep Sea Shiver insert

#128-Trevor Story 

The rookie variation mini is penciled in for Cards On Cards. I didn't know what it was and I spent a good 20 minutes on Christmas Day figuring out what the heck I had. ... The Jimmy Pardo card (he's a comedian and TV show host!) is exactly why I'm not interested in A&G anymore.

PACK 2

#14 - Andre Dawson

#233 - Jim Koch
#205 - Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

#180 - Victor Robles, A&G back mini
#MR-33 - Harmon Killebrew, T51 Murad Reimagined insert

#248 - Jake Bauers

The "legend" cards look awesome this year, provided it's a player from the '80s or earlier, of course.

 

 

PACK 3

 

#27 - Mark McGwire
#153 - Zack Wheeler

#324 - Josh Donaldson
#139 - Hamon Killebrew mini

#AA-5 - Red Maple, Arboreal Appreciation insert
#97 - Craig Biggio

 

Back-to-back packs with Killebrew, a Killebrew hot box!

 

 

PACK 4

 

#22 - Robin Yount
#170 - Blake Snell

#280 - Charlie Blackmon

#227- Jeff Garlin, black-border mini

#HH-15 - Ted Williams, Historical Hits insert
#200 - Andrelton Simmons

The Garlin card is the kind of celebrity I'd like to see in A&G, I know who he is -- even if it's mostly because he's always singing Take Me Out To The Ballgame at Cubs games.

 

 

PACK 5

 

#26 - Corey Seager
#151 - Tyler Glasnow
#307 - Dick Allen

#9 - Larry Walker mini
#DSS-13 - Caribbean Reef Shark, Deep Sea Shiver insert
#56 - Matt Chapman

Seager was the only Dodger that came out of the box, not that he's a Dodger anymore. The Larry Walker mini was upside down in the pack but I can't find anything different about the actual card other than the print on the back being darker and I don't think that's a thing.

PACK 6

#70 - Christian Pache
#176 - Ha-Seong Kim
#134 - Andrew McCutchen

#319 - Fred McGriff mini

#MR-46 - Christian Pache, T51 Murad Reimagined insert
#164 - Oscar Mercado

The most useless pack in the blaster. This is why it helps to complete sets, even players you don't care about matter.

PACK 7

#46 - Reggie Jackson
#104 - Clarke Schmidt
#342 - Barry Zito
#239 - Steve Carlson, A&G mini
#BDF-3 - Scarlet Macaw, Birds Of A Feather insert
#74 - Juan Soto

Reggie as an Oakland A ... yay!

PACK 8

#290 - Codi Heuer

#73 - Johnny Bench
#31 - Xander Bogaerts
#MHO - Top Hat, Hats Off mini insert
#HH-29 - Alfonso Soriano, Historic Hits insert
#285 - Alyssa Nakken

The Nakken card is one of the few non-Dodger cards that I actually wanted this year and it arrived as the last card I pulled on Christmas night!

And that was all the excitement.

 

I felt a bit like one of those kids on Little House on the Prairie who got toys only on Christmas. Sure is different from the days when I could walk into the store and buy cards any day that I wanted.

 

I guess it teaches you to be grateful a little bit, I did enjoy opening this blaster, it's only the fifth one I've opened all year.

 

And I can say I got some cards for Christmas, which has not always been the case.