Here come my final 4 packs from the box. But before I start - I made a stupid mistake. At the end of the 3rd post, my box score was sitting at 62.8. Then, when I started the 4th post, I gave myself the starting point of 58.8. I as looking at the wrong paragraph of the post. So my current box score is 4 points higher than where I ended last post - 95.8. Next year, I will have Tom do my math.
Yeah - the rip card was the highlight hit of the box. Nothing against Cord McCoy. I do like me some non baseball relics. The cowboy was the only scoring card in the pack too.
pack total = 5
running total = 100.8
More Yankees. For a crappy team this year, they sure have a ton of cards in the set! Severino loses me a point. I get two from Ryno, so the pack scores me a single digit.
pack total = 1
running total = 101.8
Shocked that no one picked Moose or Bryant as their favorite players. We need some Royals fans to play in 2017. Franco is a favorite player, and add his two points to the two I get from the Natural Wonders and we get 3 points total.
pack total =4
running total = 105.8
We end with a whimper. How is the hell that Marlins super fan got a card is beyond me. Then again, last year has those unfunny losers from Impractical Jokers, along with some douche bag bloggers, so.... Two points from Seager and 2 from the Subway & Streetcars mini. BTW - that is the Red Line from Chicago. You can take it to both Wrigley and Comiskey.
pack total = 4
final total = 109.8
Grand total of 109.8. I'm certain that will leave me at best middle of the GAC group. As long as I had fun, right?
As Phil Georgeff used to say as the end of a horse race was approaching "here they come, spinning out of the turn", we are coming into the final stretch of my GAC box. We start on the right side of the box with 4 of the last 8 packs. How much will I add to my 75.8 current score?
We start off with not a Yankee to be found. Good start for the top of the row. Not a lot of scoring though. Only the bottom of the scan earns me points - 2 from the Say Hey Kid and another 2 from the mayor of Houston.
pack total = 4
running total = 79.8
Pack 18 outdoes the previous pack. Nice to see Carter in the set. Not nice that it's the exact same image used when he appeared in the 2013 release. Have him show up as an Expo, would ya Topps? Anyway - Rodon scores me a favorite team point. Cedpedes scores me 2 Numbers Game points and the black bordered mini of political analyst Rick Klein gives me 3 points.
pack total = 6
running total = 85.8
Thee packs without a Yankee. Which is nice, except everything you see is worth nothing. Non scoring pack. That's the 5th one.
pack total = 0
running total = 85.8
Spoke too soon about the Yankees as I got them back to back in this pack. Lot of scoring cards here, though. Kershaw is a favorite player and a Numbers Game. A&G backed mini. Natural Wonders insert. Add and subtract and we get a total of 6 points.
pack total = 6
running total = 91.8
Respectable total. Will the last 4 packs give it a big bump? I still have one hit left to pull. I'll be fighting to the last card.
To catch you up, as well as myself, cuz I forgot my running total, I sit at 58.8 points at the halfway point of my box. We have reach the peak and it's all downhill from here. I am still two hits shy, so maybe one of them shows up in the post?
We are finishing the last 4 packs from the center row of the box, and sure enough, there is a relic. Jason Werth. Give me a few minutes while I go outside and dance around with pure joy and excitement. I believe this is the 2nd Werth relic I have pulled in my collecting life. At least he's worth 5 points. And the mini of De Blasio scores me 2 points. Lucky 7 total.
pack total = 7
running total = 65.8
Two packs in a row - no Yankees! Good scoring cards in this pack with the Maeda both a favorite player and a Numbers Game and the black bordered mini. Two points for each scoring chance for a total of 6. Side note - the vertical minis look really nice this year. Big Papi got a nice mini sunset card in A&G.
pack total = 6
running total = 71.8
Had to go and open my mouth about the Yankees. I'm giving the bird to Bird for taking away one of the two points I got from the Natural Wonders card. Look close on that card and you can almost see the Olympics. And the poo filled water.
pack total = 1
running total = 72.8
Bottom pack from the center of the box and we get Bird again. BOOM - the double deuce! Fortunately, Kluber is a favorite player, and Morgan is Numbers Game. Positive 3 points from the pack. Laureates is almost a rehash of the Peacemakers mini set from 2013.
pack total = 3
running total = 75.8
We are 2/3 through the box and sitting at a decent 75.8. Averaging about 4.7 points a pack up to this point. We'll see if this rate holds up when we move to the right side of the box tomorrow.
Ok - we are moving to the center of the box. But before I do, a scoring update. The Commissioner made a slight change to a couple rules. My box topper is considered a hit for favorite player, so I get a multiplier on it, raising the points on the topper from 4 to 6.8. Also, the commish stated that the Numbers Game insert set should score 2 points per appearance. I had 4 of them in the first 8 packs, and that give me 8 more points. So we do a little math and me new running total is 50.8. We cool? Let's go.
As I stated, we have moved to the middle row of the box, and the top pack adds points to the total. The Votto is another GAC player's favorite...er....player. And the Baseball Legends of Duke scores as well. Two points for each, adding 4 to the total.
pack total = 4
running total = 54.8
We are getting a similar score with this pack. Numers Game of a very serious Glavine nets two points, as does the Natural Wonder of the Marble Caves. Four total points this pack as well as last pack.
pack total = 4
running total = 58.8
The phrase you never want to hear in Gint-A-Cuffs is "Yankee hot pack". I pulled three in this pack. The only saving grace is that Pettitte is a short printed mini and offsets the loss. Three for the mini minus 3 for the Yankees equals zero. Yup. 4th non scoring pack of the box.
pack total = 0
running total = 58.8
Two more Yankees? Why not! Grrrrr..... Well, let's look at the positives (literally). Rice Numbers Game is 2 points. Baseball Legends is 2 points. A&G backed mini is 2 points. So the net addition is 4 points.
pack total = 4
running total = 62.8
Set building packs - all 4 of them. If you are going to put all 350 in a binder, I will need them. So while I didn't get any more of the promised box hits, I ultimately pulled cards I needed. I'm think looking at it a different way makes the cards appear awesome.
Been running around all day and never got to writing up my 2nd GAC post, so let me whip it up fast.
Well, well, well. I have been building all the A&G sets, but have only been buying full hobby boxes for the past 3 years. But even from blasters, this make the first rip card I have ever pulled. About frigging time! So A-Rod is being forcibly retired, from how I see it. No big buh-bye ceremony like Jeets got. For my life, though, A-Rod knocks me down a point. The rip card is worth 10 points, and you are guaranteed 10 points for what's inside. We'll get to that at the end. Best scoring pack of the box so far.
pack total = 19
running total = 30
Pack 6 was set filler. Fortunately, it did help me score some points, from Rizzo and Freeman. Both are favorite players of GAC participants, so I get 2 points for each.
pack total = 4
running total = 34
Double Yankees!!! Castro and Beltran take away the two points the sweet Palmer Baseball Legends gained me. So a non scoring pack. That makes 3 zero packs out of 7.
pack total = 0
running total = 34
And we end the left side of the box with a nice Abreu that scores me a point. And the Jon Gray A&G is no normal A&G back but a no number A&G back. That'll score a fiver for a pack total of 6.
pack total = 6
running total = 40
Well, a third of the way through and I am averaging 5 points a pack. Keep that pace up and I will fall just short of 100 for the box.
Oh yeah - the rip card. As I stated, all cards pulled from a rip card are worth 10 points. You can score more based on the card since you can get mini autos, 1/1s and others. You know I'm ripping this thing:
I guess if I don't pull a auto or 1/1, I don't think there is any worse "base" mini you can get from a rip card. This card has been blowing up on ebay and I'm going to sell it. Though, I am in talks with a certain someone about it. I would sell this to pick up some of the pricier 64s I need, like the Mantle, Rose, Mays, Clemente, etc... For my first rip card, I'm pretty happy.
No use tap dance around this - let's dive right in the box with the box loader and the first 4 packs.
We all have to start somewhere, and I started with a box loader of David Wright. That's 4 points right there. And we are waiting on a ruling if you get 2 bonus points for Mr. Wright being the favorite player of another participant. So right now, I'm just calling it 4 points.
pack total = 4
running total = 4
Our first pack from the box (left side if you care) is a decent start. White Sox are my favorite team, so I gain a point for Robertson. And the gold-ish National Wonders earns me two more points.
pack total = 3
running total = 7
I'm working down the stack, not across the box, so we are still on the left side. And well - this pack sucked. For a set building pack, it's good. But a whole lot of nothing scoring wise.
pack total = 0
running total = 7
I like seeing Fisk as a White Sox in any set, cuz that means I will collect the card. I like it more here as I get another bonus point for my favorite team. However, the GAC commissioner hates Steve Spurrier (can you blame the commish). So Mr. Spurrier docs me a point. Which means two zero score packs in a row.
pack total = 0
running total = 7
Three out of the first four packs had White Sox cards. I am not complaining. The sweet Feller, which is a nice design but an overused image, gains me two points. I get two more points for the Ferocious Feline mini of the ocelot. However, that damn rookie card of Refsnyder loses me a point because of the mark of the Yankees on his uniform. So instead of 5, I only add 4 points to the total.
pack total = 4
running total = 11
Alright. My start is 11. With 17% of the box done, at this rate I am scoring a pathetic 66 unless something changes.
Thanks for the good thoughts and well wishes about my health. Leg still hurts like hell in the wrong position, but luckily that stone came out pretty quick. And while I won't get into details, let me say I now know this isn't the first one I have had. Just the first that decided to be a pain in the....well, not butt. Somewhere else.
I know why he is screaming.
Time to work on my diet (again). I already try to drink a lot of water, but I will need to make it a conscious effort for the next few weeks to get that mindset of a couple quarts a day.
Let's rip and show the last 8 packs from my GAC box. I will say this: I did receive roughly 190 promised cards. You'll see what I mean. I start this post at 92 points.
All positive scoring cards start the stack on the right side of the box. Trout is a favorite player. Incredibeard is some frigging hipster that nets me a point. Black bordered mini and a full sized insert round it out.
pack total = 8
running total = 100
Yet another single scoring card pack. And not the last you will see.
pack total = 2
running total = 102
Joe Buck is treated like a Yankee, losing me a point. His forehead looks even bigger on cardboard. Flanking Joe is a couple scoring cards. While Didi is a logo back mini, I loose a point being a Yankee. For what it's worth, he is the last Yankee in my box. Just six total Yankees in the box, but a third of them were from hits and halved their score.
pack total = 2
running total = 104
My last buyback appears, and it's a pretty sweet one from the 2009 National Heroes mini insert. Gonzo gives me a couple Starting Points...er.....points.
pack total = 6
running total = 110
Here is the last of the packs that contained a single scoring card. If you kept track, it was 6 packs - 25% of the box.
pack total = 2
running total = 112
Logo back mini and a Starting Points card. Nothing exciting to talk about, so I'll just stop typing here because who wants to see me drone on and on about nothing in particular, just dragging out this section of the post and causing you, the reader, to waste you time when I could have just displayed the pack and running totals by now.
pack total = 4
running total = 116
The penultimate pack of the box is the last pack that scored me in double digits. Four packs netted me double digits - all the the packs with hits in them. That Strasburg would have been a hell of a pull 5 years ago.
pack total = 10
running total = 126
The current leader of GAC (as I type this) has a score of 185. Barring me making a MAJOR scoring error, or having the pack of my life, I will not pull out the victory this year. Here's the last pack.
Starting Points and a logo mini. The only difference here is that Middlebrooks on the mini comes from the SP section, so extra points.
pack total = 7
running total = 133
And that's all she wrote. An incredibly low score of 133 in a box with 4 hits, one of those being a 1/1. That's just how Gint-A-Cuffs can be - a very fickle game indeed.
Before we get to the scans, let me just say I did not have a great day. Let me back up a bit and give you an overview of the whole week.
So last Saturday or so, I felt this pain in my body. I had not over exerted myself, and do not recall any sharp pain as if I had pulled or damaged a muscle in any way, but I was pretty uncomfortable when I sat, with the pain being in my right butt cheek.
Made you think of my butt.
Well, I could manage the pain with some Advil and a pillow on my chair. A few days into the pain, it left my tush and moved down my right leg. Started in the hamstring and by Friday, it was my calf. More Advil and it was tolerable. Being on my feet made it feel better than sitting.
So come yesterday, I'm dealing with intense pain. It was in my calf, and my right foot was numb. I couldn't bend the leg that much without a lot of pain, and just trying to tie my right shoe was a exercise in futility. Headed to the doctor and I got a steroid shot to deal with a sciatic nerve issue. By the end of the day, I felt great.
I awoke this morning is extreme stomach pain. Right side and horrible. Slowly, it worked it's way to my stomach. Nothing I could do would make the pain go away, so my wife took me to the emergency room. Not a good day for it to be crowded. But after some blood tests and an MRI, it turns out to be a kidney stone. More than likely the sciatic nerve and this stone are unrelated, but bad timing for both. It's small, just 3 mm, and I need to let it pass, which should not be a lot of fun I hear.
Made you think of my weiner.
So that was my past week. And enough about my health cuz I got cards to show off. I left of with a box score of 41 points, which is a slow start. Let's try and pick this up in the middle stack of the box.
The Kimbrel is a favorite player and gives me two points, as does the Ancient Armory inset. Drew, however, spoils the fun by just showing up.
pack total =3
running total = 44
Bunch of scoring in this pack. Kipnis is a favorite player. Cabrera is a White Sox - my favorite team. Starting Points scores as well, as does a Magnates, Barons and Tycoons insert of James Hill. All total this pack scores me 7 points.
pack total = 7
running total = 51
This is the actual first hit of the box, as the printing plate I pulled was technically a bonus hit. But just like that plate, it's a Yankee, halving the score of the hit. White Sox hot pack with the black border Shark and my selection of fav player in Sale.
pack total = 14 points
running total = 65
Another of the full sized buybacks, this time of Jones from the 2011 design. Starting Points gives me two points, but Jimbo Fisher takes away one of those points.
pack total = 4
running total = 69
Woo-Hoo! The second of my three hits shows up and it's a mini auto of DJ Buck 65. For those unaware, his is a good friend of fellow blogger The Card Papoy. And it's not Yankee! This saves me a TTM request. Along with Buck 65 we have two inserts and a favorite player.
pack total = 12
running total = 81
Bad pack for the contest, with just a single scoring rectangle.
pack total = 2
running total = 83
Yankees rear their ugly point losing heads again in the penultimate pack from the center stack. One of the less creepy Menagerie of the Mind cards. Molina hot box as I pulled the full size to score points as I did with the mini a few packs ago. And a logo back finishes the pack.
pack total = 4
running total = 87
We finish with a Shin-Soo Choo hot pack, as both cards add points to my total. A couple from the Starting Points and a couple more with a SP mini.
pack total = 5
running total = 92
So there we have it. I added 51 points this section of the box. But to have any chance in this year's game, I will have to go ape sh*t insane with the stack from the right of the box. One hit remains - what will it be?
I finally got my box for Gint-A-Cuffs. I am just making it under the wire with my scoring, as the contest ends on the 30th of Sept. That being said, I am going to blow through the cards in just three posts. I did okay with this box. I am surprised by my score considering my box - I wonder if I messed up my scoring. Come back for the scans if you care - we can talk about the hits I pulled in regard to trades, though one is staying with me.
Also, I have my want list posted on my A&G Needs page. You are welcome to assist me in any way possible. I only scanned cards that affected my scoring. Without more delay, away we go.....
I pulled a standard box topper. Not the large A&G card nor Pride of the People. It's a meh card, but it does score me 4 points.
pack total = 4
running total = 4
First pack ripped and I pull one of my two full sized buybacks, from '07. Also a Starting Points of Springer and a SP mini of Mike Napoli. Not too bad a start to the box.
pack total = 8
running total = 12
Very poor pack, as only the insert was the scoring card. This will become a trend for this box.
pack total = 2
running total = 14
Like I said......trend. :(
pack total = 2
running total = 16
Pack 4 of the box improved over the previous 2. Another Starting Points insert and Posey shows up again, this time with a A&G backed mini.
pack total = 4
running total = 20
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're back to a single scoring card pack. Sigh.
pack total = 2
running total = 22
Now that's a lot better! First hit of the box is a mini printing plate. The only problem being it's of a Yankee. First Yankee of the box and a horrible time to show up as it halves the score for the card. New insert with What Once Would Be and another A&G logo'ed mini.
pack total = 11
running total = 33
Starting Points shows up again with another card for the set, and I gain a point thanks to Yadier being the favorite player of another GAC participant.
pack total = 5
running total = 38
Final pack from the left side of the box and we have Yankee #2 from the box giving me a deduction. Two other insert cards turn the pack into a positive score with vacuum tube trains (why has this not happened yet?) and a bird of prey flying far more gracefully than another owl I know.
pack total = 3
running total = 41
Well, 33% down and if I keep this rate up, my score will be a pathetic 123. I do still have some hits to pull, so my hope is something to give my box a kick in the pants. Packs 9-16 tomorrow.
