Dueling duds

 

As far as card-opening experiences go, my Christmas this year wasn't as great as last year.

Last year was tough to beat for sure. This year, my sister-in-law did not come through with the complete set of 2023 flagship after doing so the previous two years. She's amazingly consistent with her gift-giving so I'm assuming she couldn't find it at her nearby big box. 

Instead, along with the binder and pages she always gets me, she got a hanger of 2023 Heritage. That's right up my alley, but I'm down to the final three cards I need, so all that produced was a Daylight Savings Time insert.

That brings me to the dueling Allen & Ginter blasters, one from my daughter and one from her boyfriend.

I put A&G on my Christmas list. Unfortunately, it was the only brand of cards I put on my list. I am required to get my list out in October due to a certain early shopper and at the time A&G was the desired product. But in the weeks that followed, I lost my interest and also Nachos Grande sent me two-thirds of the set. And dumb-dumb didn't update his list with some other brand.

So my hope in opening these two on Christmas day was some minis for the frankenset binder (always upgrading), a few SPs and hopefully the last 13 base cards I need for the non-SP set, and, sure, maybe an autograph.

Well I didn't do so well with the set-completion stuff. One blaster was remarkably similar to the one I bought back in October. This is why I've cut back on random retail purchases.

But each were a little interesting. So just to make it fun let's pit the two against each other and award arbitrary points, too.

 

 Daughter's stack on the left, boyfriend's on the right.

 

 Daughter's up first.

This is what I needed out of the blaster.

 

Let's get right to what may have jumped out at you. Yes, that is two Victor Wembanyama minis. They are EXACTLY THE SAME. Same backs. I have never, in 15 years of opening A&G, pulled the same mini out of two different packs in the same blaster. Out of curiosity, I went on ebay to see what they're selling for and they are about $20 apiece.

So, better add that to the point system.

+7 - needed base set card

+4 - needed SP

+3 - makes the mini frankenset binder

+2.5 - needed 351-400 card, which shouldn't exist in A&G

+2 - insert I like

+1 - insert that I am indifferent toward

+10 - card I could potentially sell if I can get off my lazy butt

- 1 - dupe

 

The math for this blaster:

 

+3+3+3+2.5+2+2+1+1+1+1+10+10 = 39.5

 

Now, let's include the dupes:

39.5 - 1 (x31) = +8.5 (grand total)

Good thing for the Wembanyamas, eh?

 

OK, boyfriend's blaster next:

 

Here's the math:

+4+4+4+3+3+3+3+2.5+2+2+2+1+1 = 34.5

34.5 - 1 (x32) = +2.5 (grand total)

Looks like the daughter is the winner, as it should be.

Obviously there were far too many dupes in these boxes and the most frustrating thing was that I didn't pull a single one of the 13 base cards that I needed.

Yet ...

These three SPs (including the Randy Johnson SSP card) were also in the first blaster I bought in October. 

 

The same two Dodgers Spotless Spans were in that October blaster, too (still looking for the other two Dodgers in the insert set). The Scherzer Spotless Span was in both the daughter blaster and the boyfriend blaster.

Now, I'm very happy I got to open cards on Christmas and it's a heck of a lot better than the early blog days when I would get no cards at all, and I know there are some bloggers who didn't get any cards and they'll say so in the comments.

This is more me saying: DON'T BUY BLASTERS. But they are easy Christmas ideas for gift-givers who aren't card collectors and that's why they go on my list each year, because they're just not going to get me an ebay gift card.

I also received a Target gift card which immediately went to the purchase of a Heritage High Numbers mega-box (post coming in the future about my thoughts and pursuits on that particular set). I also received a book that I should be required to have:

I mentioned here or maybe just to family or co-workers that I read half of this book while in a bookstore during vacation over the summer. But it needs to be on my bookshelf just in case someone comes over and requires an immediate indication that I'm a Penguin fan.

 

So that plus a Bills sweatshirt were the sports things I got for Christmas this year. 

 

Oh and I got a week off this Christmas. That's always the best part.