All right, you don't care much about 2022 Allen & Ginter anymore. I get it. It should have been released in June like it used to, what's with shoving it into Christmas with everything else we're supposed to be buying?
But I still find it a little bit interesting and opening a blaster of this stuff and showing it here is probably better than whatever you've got cooked up tonight.
Besides I'm showing you the results of the "What should I buy with my gift cards" post. Don't you want to see what I decided?
Yeah, it's that box you just saw. That's it. I chose just an A&G blaster and nothing else. The remaining gift card is sitting there waiting for something that won't be disappointing.
But foolish me, I didn't know when I ordered it that Nachos Grande was going to dump just about the whole set on me. Oops. He even sent me a cryptic warning on the "Help Me Decide" post:
I know, I know. Everyone has seen enough. Too late. You're going to see it again.
The lone positive is it's A&G, so there's minis and inserts I don't have yet, and SPs, too. So let's see what's inside.
There's the wrapper. Eight packs total.
PACK 1
37 - Yoan Moncada, White Sox
242 - B-Real, rapper
88 - Anthony Rendon, Angels
BS4 - Joe Morgan, Reds, Banner Seasons insert
14 - Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves, mini
86 - Juan Soto, Nationals
The Banner Seasons look nice, although I'm sure if I was opening boxes and boxes, they'd get boring. As boring as that Anthony Rendon card? Probably not. The Acuna Jr. mini is perfect to send Johnny.
PACK 2
300 - Lucius Fox, Nationals
282 - Mark Duplass, Film maker/actor
316 - Kenley Jansen, Braves
WC3 - Worcestershire Sauce, What's Cooking insert
22 - Mariano Rivera, Yankees, A&G back mini
143 - Tim Anderson, White Sox
The Worcestershire Sauce picture looks like an eye when you look at it from a distance and now I can't see anything but an eye in a frying pan. The back of the card reads just: "1 Cup," because all the cards in this insert are part of a recipe.
PACK 3
54 - Roberto Clemente, Pirates
152 - Drew Ellis, Diamondbacks
169 - Jonathan Taylor, Colts
180 - Will Smith, Dodgers, mini
PAG16 - Jose Berios, Pitching A Gem insert
236 - Charlie Blackmon, Rockies
This was a wonky pack. Before I opened it I thought it might contain a hit because it was shaped different than the other packs. Turns out that was only because the mini was shipped sideways so it was sticking into the side of the pack and the corner of my Will Smith mini is now dented. Grr.
I like the gems behind the pitchers on the Pitching A Gem cards. Also, that Jonathan Taylor card takes me back to the days of Topps' unlicensed football cards.
PACK 4
232 - Jim Thome, Phillies
24 - Kris Bryant, Rockies
303 - Frankie Montas, Athletics
BS40 - Miguel Cabrera, Tigers, Banner Seasons
BL8 - Shoestring Catch, Baseball Lexicon mini
96 - Jose Altuve, Astros
I think the Baseball Lexicon minis might be my favorite of the mini inserts. I love the non-literal images.
PACK 5
71 - Bryan De La Cruz, Marlins
114 - Yogi Berra, Yankees
219 - Jeremiah Paprocki, PA announcer
FR10 - Famous Rivals insert, Taylor Ham & Pork Roll
349 - Jeremy Pena, Astros mini
106 - Alex Rodriguez, Mariners
The Jeremy Pena mini is probably the most sellable card in this box. ... The Famous Rivals card is some sort of New Jersey inside joke.
PACK 6
291 - Rodney Scott, BBQ chef
176 - J.J. Matijevic, Astros
333 - Steve Garvey, Dodgers
BS31 - Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, Banner Seasons insert
106 - Alex Rodriguez, Mariners, black-border mini
283 - Field Yates, sports reporter
The pack of the box. TWO key Dodgers and the Garvey short-print completes my team set! Woo!
PACK 7
78 - Randy Johnson, Diamondbacks
137 - Paul Molitor, Blue Jays
81 - Nick Castellanos, Phillies
GTB7 - Pork Roll, Get That Bread insert
263 - Royce Lewis, Twins, A&G back mini
32 - Bo Bichette, Blue Jays
Two pork roll cards in one box. Topps has a weird obsession.
PACK 8
230 - Max Fried, Braves
141 - Hideki Matsui, Yankees
322 - Dave Concepcion, Reds
PAG6 - Justin Verlander, Astros, Pitching A Gem insert
113 - Ozzie Albies, Braves, mini
171 - Jack Flaherty, Cardinals
Wooo! Another '70s player in A&G! Wooo! Another Braves mini for Johnny.
That's the blaster. Even though most of these ended up being dupes, I didn't feel disappointed with this, thanks to the minis and the Dodgers cards. But I'm done with any more A&G blasters unless I'm getting one for Christmas (which is likely).
Since I'm about to sign off on A&G now, I'll add one more card I picked up from the set.
Kate Brownell is the softball player I went on about in my first 2022 A&G post. She's a Western NY native and a fellow Buffalo State alumn and a Hall of Famer, too. I had to pick this up.
Just missed being a Christmas card, too. Oh well.
All right, I'll let you get back to your Tik Tok videos or placing your bets for 78 college football bowl games.
Thanks for reading.
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