Day 16 - Recap

Good afternoon! Glad you could join us! I have some special treats for you today!

We'll get right to the pack and then the special treat!

Pack 16:

Base Card #16 - Gordon Beckham

Base Card #50 - Carl Crawford

Base Card #93 - Evan Lysacek

Base Card #132 - Colby Rasmus

Base Card #187 - Jim Nantz

Base Card #292 - Wade Davis

Mini Base Card #293 - Royal Wedding

Hometown Heroes #74 - Jayson Werth

Not terrible, nothing to write home about either.

This, however... is a winner. Featuring our first Mail Day Saturday:

Straight from PressPass headquarters, it's a 2011 Saturday Signatures Akeem Ayers serialized out of 99. A solid redemption card! Now only if it were a baseball card!

A quick word on redemption cards... some people hate them. I, however, am a huge fan. Because not only do you get to enjoy opening the pack and finding a hit, but then you get to enjoy that sensation AGAIN when you get the actual card in the mail. It's awesome. Hell, I'd even be a fan if they sent me a redemption card again so I could do it three times. Any more than that and it would be annoying, though.

That's it for today, see you tomorrow!

Days 13, 14, 15 - Recap

So GLAD you could join us for this evening's Ginter Godfather Hobby Box Break Recap! My sincerest apologies for the delay, some things regarding work and a certain MASSIVE power outage in a certain part of the country may have contributed to the fact that I couldn't update you all.

So! I am pleased to say we FINALLY GOT A HIT! It's not as big as I was hoping it would be, but a hit is a hit! So! Without further adieu:

Pack 13:

Base Card #15 - Diana Taurasi

Base Card #55 - Dustin Pedroia

Base Card #62 - Alfonso Soriano

Base Card #198 - Freddie Freeman

Base Card #205 - Kendrys Morales

Base Card #325 - Mike Stanton (Short Print)

Step Right Up Mini #6 - Human Blockhead

Hometown Heroes #80 - Cliff Lee

A solid pack with a short print and an insert mini!

Pack 14:

Ginter Code Base Card #26 - Edwin Jackson

Base Card #67 - Delmon Young (At least he's in a Twins Uniform!)

Base Card #110 - Jake McGee

Base Card #118 - Rafael Soriano

Base Card #254 - Denard Span (WOOHOO! A Twin AND my FAVORITE PLAYER!)

Base Card #309 - Kurt Suzuki (Short Print)

Animals in Peril #7 - Dhole

Floating Fortresses #11 - Lave

Probably the best pack in the box so far! TWO Twins, one of them my favorite player, a short print, a mini insert, and a Floating Fortress, even if the ship depicted is French and only goes 4 knots.

Pack 15:

Base Card #83 - Mat Hoffman

Base Card #129 - Kelly Johnson

Base Card #237 - Carlos Quentin

Ascent of Man #26 - Homo Sapiens Sapiens (Modern Man)

Base Mini Card #45 - Annika Sorenstam (Scha-wing!)

Hometown Heroes #23 - Dustin Pedroia

... and... drum roll please...

Framed Mini-Relic AGR-JLD - Jed Lowrie of the Boston Red Sox!

Excellent! Our first hit of the box! 2 more to find in 9 packs!

Tune in tomorrow to see if we strike gold!

Day 12 - Recap

Hey there all! So glad you could join us this evening, sorry it's so late! Still no hit, so we have half a box with all the hits left! Sweet!

Pack 12:

Base Card #38 - Angel Pagan

Base Card #60 - Brandon Belt

Base Card #74 - Torii Hunter

Base Card #121 - J.D. Drew

Base Card #272 - Wee Man (Deranged Midget anyone?)

Base Card #307 - Ryan Ludwick (Short Print)

Mini Allen & Ginter Ad Back #36 - Eric Sogard

Hometown Heroes #2 - Colby Rasmus

That's it for now. I'm also starting to take interest in this whole Ginter Code thing... should be fun.

Day 11 - Recap

I'm so glad you could join us this late Labor Day afternoon for our day 11 recap! Once again I'll end the suspense early - still no hit. Tomorrow, if we're still pitching a no-hitter, we'll have gone through half the box without a single hit. Amazing.

Here we go!

Pack 11:

Base Card #2 - Ty Wigginton

Base Card #70 - Evan Longoria

Base Card #92 - Michael Pineda

Base Card #172 - Yunesky Maya

Base Card #184 - Pedro Alvarez

Base Card #246 - Ian Kinsler

Ginter Ad Back Mini #59 - Jeremy Jeffress

Hometown Heroes #100 - Travis Snider

Well, at least we hit a Ginter Ad Back mini! I do love those minis...

That's it for today! I hope you enjoyed this pack break, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your Labor Day!

Day 10 - Recap

Thank you so much for joining us this evening for our Day 10 Recap!

I'll end any suspense right now - we did not get our first hit today. Alas. That leaves 14 packs with at least 3 hits in them. I wish I had these odds whenever I buy loose packs from a hobby shop! Instead I always feel like I'm the guy buying X number of loose packs of Y number of packs with 0 hits remaining. Statistically speaking it is unlikely to have bought 5 Hobby Jumbo Packs and gotten 0 hits. I'll let you know when I hit 10 Jumbo Packs and 0 hits to prove it's better to just get a box of the stuff for yourself. But enough rambling. Onto the pack!

Pack 10:

Base Card #142 - Michael Young

Base Card #154 - Todd Helton

Base Card #175 - Jose Bautista

Base Card #176 - Brian Bogusevic

Base Card #195 - Tommy Hanson

Base Card #273 - Brent Morel

Base Mini #149 - Lars Anderson

Hometown Heroes #36 - Gordon Beckham

Speaking of somewhat awful packs, this one ranks right up there. No short prints, barely an insert (if you can call Hometown Heroes an insert...) but the Ginter Godfather never complain when opening a pack of Allen and Ginter. Never. Because it could be some inferior product.

Day 9 - Recap

I'm so glad you could join us this evening as we recount our 9th pack break! Will we get our first hit tonight? You'll have to keep reading to find out!

Also, feel free to leave any comments about this blog, or if you see something you really like and would like to propose a trade, let us know! We appreciate your feedback.

OK! Here we go!

Pack 9:

Base Card #48 - Francisco Liriano (Yay! A Twin!)

Base Card #109 - Martin Prado

Base Card #182 - Clay Buchholz

Base Card #224 - Jason Kubel (Woohoo! Another Twin!)

Base Card #282 - Reid Brignac

Base Card #348 - Russel Martin (Short Print)

Animals in Peril #3 - Arakan Forest Turtle

Minds that Made the Future #33 - Euclid

Have I ever told you how much I love minis? Especially Allen and Ginter minis? I really, really do.

Still no hits to be found, and the anticipation grows!

Day 8 - Recap

Good evening! I'm glad you could join us for this late-night edition of our daily recap! If you're half as tired as I am, you're looking forward to curling up in bed and going to sleep, so we'll get right to the point!

Pack 8:

Base Card #143 - Carlos Zambrano

Ginter Code Base Card #182 - Clay Buchholz (Our second code card in two days!)

Base Card #202 - Nick Swisher

Base Card #278 - Travis Snider

Base Card #315 - Jason Werth (Short Print)

Baseball Highlight Sketches #6 - Jose Bautista

Uninvited Guests #8 - The Winchester Mystery House

Floating Fortresses #17 - USS Texas

Ah yes, "Old Hoodoo". The first battleship in the US fleet, she would later be renamed, sunk in Chesapeake Bay, used as gunnery practice, and finally demolished in 1959 because her remains were a navigational hazard. Just over 300 feet long and capable of reaching speeds of 18 knots. She's not much by today's standards and rapidly became obsolete, but still a fine vessel!

That's it for tonight, check back again tomorrow for some more pack ripping mania! We're a third of the way through the box and haven't seen a single hit yet! It's coming and it's going to be HUGE!

Day "7" - Recap

Good evening! I'm so glad you could join us for day "7" of our very first hobby box break! You'll notice the scare quotations because it's actually more like day 10 or 11, but we're only on pack 7.

This hobby box is meant to serve as a reward for a behavior modification program. I only get to open a pack if I exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes each day. I was having some knee pain and it was a little cold to go swimming, hence the few days of rest. But, my wife and I went on a nice brisk walk this evening and that qualifies!

Here we go!

Pack 7:

Base Card #120 - Adrian Gonzalez

Base Card #245 - Brian McCann

Base Card #256 - Howie Kendrick

Base Card #277 - Hank Cogner

Base Card #327 - David DeJesus (Short Print)

Ginter Code Card #350 - Joe Mauer (Short Print)

World's Most Mysterious Figures #4 - Fulcanelli

Floating Fortresses #6 - HMS Indefatigable

I love Floating Fortresses. I really do. Probably because I have this thing for warships. Just saying.

Huzzah! Also, a Joe Mauer code card! Very nice. Too bad I'm not really trying to figure out the code. I have a few ideas, but nowhere near the resources necessary to pursue it.

Check in tomorrow for another pack, and if not have a safe weekend!

Day 6 - Recap

Good evening everybody! I'm so glad you could join us for another rousing pack break as part of our first 2011 Allen and Ginter Hobby Box Break! This pack is a little unusual in that it features 9 cards instead of the advertised 8 on the package. So, in the event that I get shorted a card, I've got the pack that makes up for it!

Here we go!

Pack #6:

Base Card #4 - Jhoulys Chacin

Base Card #57 - Derek Jeter

Base Card #79 - Aimee Mullins

Base Card #133 - Geno Auriemma

Base Card #135 - Kyle Petty

Base Card #216 - Jose Tabata

Base Card #222 - James Shields

Step Right Up #8 - The Strongman

Hometown Heros #15 - Matt Holliday

I'm pretty sure Aimee Mullins is the hottest subject of any of the cards in this years set. Always good to have a few extra of her around!

Still no hit, and no code cards either, and we're 25% of the way done. We're getting close to some good cards being broken! I hope you join me tomorrow for the next pack!

Topps Diamond Giveaway Loot

Good morning! I'm so glad you could join us today for this post!

I managed to find a 2011 Topps Series 2 Blister pack last night and one of the four packs had an additional code card in it. I entered the codes this morning and managed to get my first truly decent card!

By no means a home run, but a solid single or a double even! What's more, I nabbed an instant win prize in the digging portion of the contest! It was a vintage pack of baseball cards from the 70's or 80's. Not the world's greatest prize, but I'll certainly take it!

If you have any vintage Twins cards I'd be happy to look at my portfolio and see if I have anything similar to trade for it!

Day 5 - Recap

Good morning! I'm glad you could join us for the continuation of the Ginter Godfather's first Hobby Box Break! We're on Day 5 and I can feel the first hit coming... and I've got a feeling it's going to be a doozie!

Here we go!

Pack #5:

Base Card #13 - Brett Anderson

Base Card #72 - Maxim Shmyrev

Base Card #80 - Joey Votto

Base Card #152 - Jordan Zimmermann

Base Card #346 - Brett Gardner (Short Print)

Baseball Highlight Sketches #BHS14 - Mariano Rivera

Black Bordered Mini Card #277 - Hank Cogner

Hometown Heros #53 - Justin Verlander

Wahoo! Our first black bordered mini! I do like this parallel a lot, though I think the design from the 2010 Allen and Ginters is a lot crisper and more refined looking. Either way, you can count on me to try and collect all 350 of these little black bordered buggers. Also, our second Baseball Highlight Sketches! I think I'll get all of those, too.

No hit in this pack, but I can feel it coming very soon! Tune back in tomorrow for another pack! Have a good weekend!

Day 4 - Recap

Good morning! Glad you could join us for a recap of Day 4's pack. Here we go!

Pack #4:

Base Card #86 - Greg Halman

Base Card #122 - Ryan Dempster

Base Card #268 - Dallas Braden

Base Card #271 - Chris Young

Base Card #297 - Travis Hafner

Ascent of Man #17 - Hominidae

Hometown Heros #94 - C.J. Wilson

Portraits in Penultimacy #4 - Igor

I do like the look of these Ascent of Man cards! So not a bad pack, we got two solid inserts! Thanks for having a look and we'll see you here again tomorrow!

Simulacra of the Seas

Having not much else to do, I wanted to come up with an insert for a future Allen & Ginters set. Not wanting to overlap too much with the 2010 Mini Insert Set 'Sailors of the Seven Seas', I wanted to find a way to put my personal hero and favorite naval leader of all time on a card: Stephen Decatur.

So I set out first to find a name. I settled on 'Simulacra of the Seas' to continue on with Ginter's tendancy towards fancy and obscure words. This would be another mini-insert set, but primarily focuses on subjects that had an exceptional talent for naval tactics and prowess on the high seas. Here's who I have for a 15-card insert...

Simulacra of the Seas

Stephen Decatur
Horatio Nelson
Yi Sun Shin
Heihachiro Togo
David Glasgow Farragut
Tran Hung Dao
John Paul Jones
Gaius Duilius
George Dewey
John Barry
Niels Iuel
Michiel de Ruyter
Henry Morgan
Francis Drake
Oliver Hazard Perry

If you don't know who any of these people are, I strongly recommend you go ahead and look them up on Wikipedia. Some of them are truly fascinating and their contributions to naval history is unprescendented. In my opinion, they truly represent the best of the best and are the Simulacra of the Seas.

Think there is someone else that should be added or removed from the list? Leave a comment!

Day 3 - Recap

Good morning! I hope you're excited as I am about reviewing the cards busted in day 3! This marks the 1/8th mark, meaning we're 12.5% of the way complete! We've seen some decent cards and even gotten a no numbered plain backed mini of our favorite team, so lets hope that things continue in that direction today!

Pack #3:

Base Card #7 - Mickey Mantle

Base Card #126 - Jair Jurrgens

Base Card #160 - David Wright

Base Card #180 - Kyle Drabek

Base Card #194 - Rick Porcello

Base Card #239 - Brett Myers

Hometown Heros #26 - Torii Hunter

World's Most Mysterious Figures #7 - Man in the Iron Mask

Alright, we received our first mini insert! Most excellent! No more Twins to add to our collection, but we certainly haven't taken a step back! Onward and upward!

Day 2 - Recap

Good morning.

It's another glorious day here at the Ginter Hideout. But you probably don't want to hear too much other than what cards I pulled. Without further ado!

Pack #2:

Base Card #77 - Rafael Furcal

Base Card #140 - Felix Hernandez

Base Card #270 - Kevin Youlkis

Base Card #284 - Eric Jackson

Base Card #312 - Cody Ross

Hometown Heros #47 - Jose Tabata

Baseball Highlight Sketch #11 - Trevor Hoffman

No Number Regular Back Mini Card #128 - Michael Cuddyer

Alright! This pack is a huge improvement over yesterday's pack. We're running strong on the base cards and got our first insert, a Baseball Highlight Sketch of Trevor Hoffman breaking the 600 save mark, which has never been done before. Excelent.

On top of that, we have a Michael Cuddyer mini. Our first Twins card, and a mini no less! But wait, there's MORE! A closer examination of the back reveals that the card number 128 is missing! What could this possibly mean!?

According to sources online, some variation of minis has a limited print of no-number parallels limited to 50 cards per variation. This is indeed a rather lucky pull! The pack itself does not express odds of a regular backed mini no number, but the odds of an A&G back no number is approximately 1:417. I'm not saying they correlate in any way, I'm just giving it as a reference.

So this pack is much improved and I look forward to tomorrow's pack!

Welcome To The Family

Good Morning.

I'm glad you've stumbled across our little safehouse here. I am the (self proclaimed) Ginter Godfather. There seems to be a niche for (mostly) Allen & Ginter collectors such as myself, and I thought I'd step up and grab the reigns of this unique and exciting position and hopefully become a hobby subject matter expert on the topic. I certainly hope you'll join me on this undertaking, either on one or two steps or maybe every step of the way.

We'll start this blog off right with our first hobby box break of 2011 Allen & Ginters.

Isn't it a thing of beauty? We'll be opening approximately one pack per day, coinciding with a form of behavior modification in an attempt to change my lifestyle for the better. But I don't want to bore you with the boring stuff, we'll get right to the break.

Box Toppers:

N43 Card - Ubaldo Jiminez, Colorado Rockies

State Relic Card - Utah #42/50

So we hit a one-per-case box topper with the state of Utah relic, a great way to start off the box. The N43 card was a little disappointing, but you can't really use it to discount the state of Utah. 42 IS this Godfather's favorite number, so it gets extra bonus points for having the best possible number.

Pack #1:

Base Card #9 - Joe Saunders

Base Card #168 - Carlos Marmol

Base Card #188 - Daniel Descalso (RC)

Base Card #243 - Mike Nickeas (RC)

Base Card #275 - Justin Verlander

Base Card #294 - Jacoby Ellsbury

Mini Card #78 - Luke Scott

Hometown Heros #90 - Ryan Howard

So after the great start with the box toppers, the first pack was a bit of a let down. Two Rookies and no Minnesota Twins. Lets hope tomorrow has something a little better.