Gint-A-Cuffs VII: Episode 6 (The Yankees Strike Out)

HI FAMILY OF GINTER!

Alright, you can tell that several straight hours (or so it seems... I've been tearing through these pretty fast and probably have missed a couple of FPs and the like... will have to double check) have been getting to me as per this greetings. Love that Mario Andretti hit, too bad the Commish doesn't think it's worth more than +20 points given it is rarer than a red ink auto and can't be modified by favorite team/player unless you picked someone only in that set (Hulk Hogan comes to mind as the only really feasible one...)

Anyways! MOVING ON!

Previous Running Total: +131

Pack 21: 

Huston Street #219
Curtis Granderson #10
Mini Kelia Moniz #93
Ancient Armory War Hammer (+2 AA)
Full Sized Relic Jorge Soler (+6 Full Sized Relic)
Angel Pagan #343
Hisashi Iwakuma #49

Pack Total: +8
Running Total: +139

Pack 22:

Matt Adams #120
Dee Gordon #238
Adeiny Hechavarria #282
Chris Sale #139 (+2 ANY FP)
Starting Point Cole Hamels (+2 SP, +2 ANY FP)
First Ladies Mini Rosalynn Carter (+2 FL)
John Lackey #191
Albert Pujols #198

Pack Total: +10

Running Total: +149

Pack 23:

Jimbo Fisher #268
Jose Bautista #248 (+2 ANY FP)
Steven Moya #255
Starting Points David Ortiz (+2 SP, +2 ANY FP, +1 Favorite Team)
Mini Dalton Pompey #82
Gary Brown #304
Jason Kipnis #244 (+2 ANY FP)

Pack Total: +9

Running Total: +158

Pack 24:

Javier Baez #54
Frank Caliendo #31
Jorge Soler #151
Buck Farmer #81
What Once Would Be: Vacuum Tube Trains (+2 WOWB)
A&G Back Mini Zack Cozart #194 (+2 A&G Back Mini)
Gabe Kapler #309
Gregory Polanco #222

Pack Total: +4

Running Total: +162

Adjustments for bribes: +0

FINAL TOTAL: +162

Well, that was a bit anticlimactic. So I lose. Again. Ah well. At least I have these:

I'm still missing several cards for my Megan Kalmoe Master Collection... sad panda.

'Til next time, keep it in the family!

-GG

(Also, as in next time, I plan on blogging more continuously throughout the year. I've gotten more into the digital card collecting scene, Topps Bunt, Topps Huddle, Topps Kick, and Topps Star Wars Card Collector... because they're free. I'm a dirt poor graduate student and these let me rip wax without the cleanup, storage problems, or the satisfaction of actually ripping real wax! Er... wait...)

Gint-A-Cuffs VII: Episode 5 (A New Hope)

Hi Ginter Family,

Just a couple more packs to go... hoping for some big things here. Hence the name of the post. A New Hope. Aptly named.

Previous Running Total: +96

Pack 17:

Johnny Cueto #23
Philae Probe #293 (+1 for being awesome)
Daniel Norris #105
Matt Kemp #264
Starting Points Felix Hernandez (+2 SP)
Mini Appomattox Court House #24
Hunter Strickland #314
Manny Machado #179

Pack Total: +3

Running Total: +99

Not the start I was... hoping for.

Pack 18:

Yasiel Puig #142
Jake Arrieta #76
Craig Kimbrel #5 (+2 ANY Favorite Player)
Starting Point David Wright (+2 SP, +2 ANY Favorite Player)
Brian Dozier Mini (+1 Favorite Team Mini)
Alcides Escobar #331
Andrew Cashner #246
Ivan Drago #229 (-1 Drago KO)

Pack Total: +7

Running Total: +105

That little humdinger gives me some... hope!

Pack 19:

Chase Headley #204 (-1 Yankee)
Matt Barnes #68
Rubby De La Rosa #298
Jung Ho Kang #265
Starting Points Matt Holliday (+2 SP)
Mini Ichiro #285
Edwin Escobar #63
Andrew Heaney #149

Pack Total: +1

Running Total: +106

I... hope... the next pack is WAY better than that. At least 25 times better.

Pack 20:

Doug Fister #221
Jayson Werth #28
Addison Reed #286
Ancient Armory Chu Ko Nu (+2 AA)
BB Mini John Lackey (+3 BB Mini)
10th Anniversary Issue Framed Mini Auto Mario Andretti (+20 10th Anniversary Auto)
Jon Singleton #39

Pack Total: +25

Running Total: +131

Boom! Mario Andretti auto! I will claim this is the best hit from my case. Which means my case was all around pretty terrible. But oh well. Next year will be better I... hope. :-D

Gint-A-Cuffs VII: Episode 4 (Revenge of the Yankees)

Guten Tag, Ginter Family!

I do not speak German. I'm just trying to spice things up. 

Ehhh? See what I did there? Cake in the last picture, a cupcake here? What can I say, E-3PO loves cake. But what little toddler-droid-thing doesn't. Back to Gint-A-Cuffs...

Previous Running Total: +79

Pack 13:

Mike Zunino #143 (I met this guy once. In Wichita of all places...)

Xander Bogaerts #94

Starting Points Hunter Pence (+2 SP)

Framed Mini Buyback Machiavelli (+4 Framed Mini Buyback)

Mini Jimmy Rollins #250

Howie Kendrick #91

Mike Napoli #338

Pack Total: +6

Running Total: +85

So, not terrible. Could be better. Broke that Yankees streak, so that's good! Also, I could have made BANK if the Red Sox were my favorite team... there are like four of them in there. Maybe only three. But still.

Pack 14:

Drew Hutchinson #181

Gus Malzahn #185

Chris Davis #170

Starting Points Coco Crisp (+2 SP of... cereal)

A&G Back Mini Joe Buck (+2 A&G Back, -1 Joe Buck-ness)

Jhonny Peralta #313

Ryan Zimmerman #290

Ichiro #285

Pack Total: +3

Running Total: +88

Well that pack was less than stellar. Oh well. What's wrong with Joe Buck, anyways? Who is Joe Buck? The world may never know...

Pack 15:

Carlos Gomez #166

Appomattox Court House #24

Mike Mills #37

Great Scott! X-Ray Diffraction (+2 Great Scott!)

First Ladies Mini Louisa Adams (+2 FL)

Clayton Kershaw #339

Nori Aoki #125

Wilmer Flores #4

Pack Total: +4

Running Total: +92

So, did you know that the reference to 1895 on the back of the X-Ray Diffraction card refers to the use of x-rays to find the fragments of a knife lodged in the spine of a sailor who got stabbed during a fight? Trufax. This is what an incredibly expensive education will teach you, folks. 

Pack 16:

Max Scherzer #42

Casey McGhee #74

Carlos Beltran #253 (-1 Yankee)

Kenley Jansen #296

Ancient Armory Flanged Mace (+2 for smashing a Yankee's skull in... I mean, AA)

BB Mini Jordan Zimmerman #290 (+3 BB mini)

Chris Carter #305

Buster Posey #173

Pack Total: +4

Running Total: +96

So. Didn't break a hundred through 16 packs. This is not looking good to make up 80 points here in eight packs. That's an average of OVER 10 points per pack. YOWZAHS. Damn Yankees.

Gint-A-Cuffs VII : Episode 3 (The Card Wars)

Hola Ginter Familia,

Who doesn't love a good Pack Wars? By far one of my favorite things in Des Moines was the monthly Pack Wars. Lots of fun with a lot of good people. Alas, now I live in Minnesota. Closer to the Twins at least.

And who doesn't love more Gint-A-Cuffs. This is what I get for being busy and not getting this done right away. Here comes four posts in one day! (I don't count the previous post, because it was actually done minus the pictures on the same day as the first post...)

Previous Running Total: +55

Pack 9:

Felix Hernandez #16
Jon Jay #279
Brandon Finnegan #41
What Once Was Believed: Rain Follows The Plow (+2)
Mini Mikael Franco #27
Collin Cowgill #335
Grant Miller #79 (Did I miss the Ginter Code this year? Meh.)
Brian Quinn #299

Pack Total: +2

Running Total: +57

Right. So. Two points. It's like we're in the NFL, and I just tackled someone in their own end zone. Yay me.

Pack 10:

Edinson Volquez #224
Ian Kinsler #196
Jon Lester #287
Incredibeard #223 (+1 for having an incredible beard)
Starting Points: Kennys Vargas (+2 SP, +1 Favorite Team)
A World Beneath Our Feet Mini: Borneo Walking Stick (+2 AWBOF)
Stephen Drew #306 (-1, Yankee Jerkwad)
Kelia Moniz #93

Pack Total: +5

Running Total: +62

So, not awful. It would be better if that Yankee hadn't reared his ugly head. Don't I have clone troopers to shoot his ugly mug or something?

Pack 11: 

Adam Eaton #18
Yimi Garcia #98
10th Anniversary Full Sized Parallel 2011 Rafael Furcal (+3 Full Sized Buyback)
Starting Point Josh Reddick (+2 SP)
Mini A&G Back Brandon Belt (+2 A&G Back, +2 ANY Favorite Player)
Michael Brantley #311
Jeremy Roenick #269
Jacoby Ellsbury #152 (-1 Yankee Traitor)

Pack Total: +8

Running Total: +70

Alright, we ALMOST had a 10 point pack without a hit, and then that traitor Jacoby Ellsbury ruined it. BURN THE YANKEES!

Pack 12:

Brian McCann(ot be a Yankee anymore please) #114 (-1 Yankee)
Paul Goldschmidt #35
Buster (RIP I had a cat named Buster that died recently) Olney #34
Menagerie of the Mind: Hydra (+2 MOTM)
A&G Back Dustin Pedroia (+2 A&G Back)
Rusney Castillo Full Sized Relic (+6 Full Sized Relic)
Corey Kluber #117

Pack Total: +9

Running Total: +79

Oh look. Another nearly +10 point pack, spoiled by a damn Yankee. That's 3 consecutive packs with a Yankee. There is a mission in Borderlands 2 called "Eff Yo Couch". You complete it by jumping on all of the couches in a gang's hideout. I want to go jump on all of the Yankee's couches right now.

At least we got our first hit. Sort of. Half way through our box, and our project total is still hovering around that +160 mark. Yikes.

Gint-A-Cuffs VII Episode 2: (The Yankee Menace)

So, it's only been... a month and 26 days since our last post. It's more like a sprint, than a marathon, really. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've got all the excuses covered. Massive home improvements, large research projects, weddings, school starting, football starting, blah blah blah blah. Well enough of that. This pack has actually been scored for one month and 25 days, I've just been too lazy to take pictures. So NYAAAH! I'm still pretty lazy and need to figure out a better way to take pictures, to be honest.

Previous Running Total: +37

Pack 5:

(image)

Kennys Vargas #189 (+1 MY favorite team)
Miguel Cabrera #187
Malcolm Gladwell #67
Mini Madison Bumgarner (+2 for ANY FP mini)
What Once Would Be Jetpacks (+2 WOWB Insert)
Ian Desmond #314
Rusney Castillo #154
Appollo Creed #56

Pack Total: +6

Well, six isn't bad. The 'ole Bumenstein there really saved the pack, so that's good, and you can't complain when a bad boy like Kennys Vargas shows up. I mean, the Twins are pretty decent this year, right? Right!?

Running Total: +42

Pack 6: 

(image)

Zack Greinke #199
Yadier Molina #17 (+2 ANY FP base card)
Joe Gatto #80
Mini Derek Norris #207
What Once Was Believed The Four Classical Elements (+2 WOWB Insert and longest name...)
Ben Zorbrist #321
Yasmany Tomas #148
Kolten Wong #21

Pack Total: +4

Aaaand we're going backwards in this pack. Not literally backwards, our total is still moving forward which is great. But four is a pretty weak score. I was hoping each pack would have a bajillion points. Seriously.

Running Total: +46

Pack 7:

Juan Lagares #130
Lakey Peterson #124
Marcell Ozuna #184
Marlon Byrd #137
Menagerie of the Mind Elf (+2 MotM Insert)
Mini Jon Singleton #39 A&G Back (+2 A&G Back mini)
Dallas Keuchel #320
Jonathan Papelbon #89

Pack Total: +4

You know what the best part of the Harry Potter series was? When Doby died. Oh dear, is that a spoiler? Well the little annoying bugger gets what he deserves. If you haven't read it by now, you weren't going to anyways. TL;DR - There is a house elf in Harry Potter that is annoying and he dies which is the highlight of the series.

Running Total: +50

Pack 8:

Clay Buchholz #168
Sonny Gray #256
Troy Tulowitzki #109
Ancient Armory Trident (+2 AA Insert)
Mini A World Beneath Our Feet Pennsylvania Firefly (+2 AWBOF Mini Insert)
Val Kilmer #328
Brian "The Friggin' MAN" Dozier (+1 MY Favorite Team and all-around general AWESOMENESS)
Eric Hosmer #7

Pack Total: +5

You know who should have been an All-Star Game Starter? Brian Dozier. You know who was also in this pack? Brian Dozier. The world needs more Brian Dozier.

Running Total: +55

Projected Total: +158 (YOWCH...)

Well, 7 points per pack isn't bad, considering we had a horrible box topper. Here's looking to the last two thirds of the box to boost the score!