2008 Allen & Ginter Box Break Part 7: Packs 21-24 and wrapup

Ok, this time, the box really is dead. 'Cause I opened all the packs. I didn't say there was nothing left in the box...

Pack 21:
248 Lastings Milledge
171 JD Drew
180 Ryan Braun
93 David Eckstein
329 Jeff Clement RC SP
247 Lisa Leslie mini black border
US46 David Wright
178 Jose Vidro

Lisa Leslie is the fourth mini card in the box with a big roller mark on it. Meh. JD Drew finally made an All-Star team and he wins the MVP. Double meh. Lota meh in this pack. Like Jef Clement. He's a good catcher, but unless Kenji Johjima gets eaten by Godzilla he's hopelessly blocked. Meeeeeeeh. At 7 1/2 games back, I'm not interested in any damn Mets cards so the Virginia flag is more meh. I did learn that Willie Horton is the all time leader in homers anmong Virginians though. Ryan Braun is the lone Anti-Meh of the pack with an interesting action card.

Pack 22:
141 Jermaine Dye
96 Carlos Zambrano
51 Brian McCann
10 Manny Ramirez
B15 Mel Ott mini
US39 Rhode Island - Paul Konerko
232 Davy Crockett
103 Kerri Strug

Cool, I got one of Topps' newly paid for Legends cards. You'd think that since they forked out all that loot to get their rights, that Topps would actually put them in the set instead of making them a one every other box insert. Quick - without looking it up, how many homers does Mel Ott have? Kerri Strug is one of the few highpoints about a 1996 Olymic Games that was ruined by political assholes. Davy Crockett is inexplicably not wearing a coonskin cap. Seriously Topps, WTF? Poor Paul Konerko. He's the all time leader in home runs for players from Rhode Island, but he'll never be the best player from the state. Napoleon Lajoie isn't giving up that honor. Brian McCann is a welcome Brave in the pack.

Pack 23:
55 Josh Beckett
188 Kelly Johnson
257 Luis Gonzalez
316 Ervin Santana
240 Magglio Ordonez mini
AGA-IK Ian Kinsler autograph
Old Planter ad
84 Bonnie Blair
292 Elijah Dukes

Yeah, I have no idea how I managed to pull four framed cards out of this box. Pretty crazy actually. Kinsler's not a bad auto either. Not bad at all. I guess I'm obligated to post L.A. Woman after that. Mr. Mojo rising...



Anybody care about the rest of the pack? No? Good. Let's post a scan of Kelly Johnson and move on then.

Pack 24:
14 Adrian Gonzalez
50 Albert Pujols
30 Miguel Cabrera
284 Dice-K mini black border
US18 Louisiana - Jonathan Papelbon
83 Masahide Kobayashi RC
137 Annie Oakley
107 Matt Biondi

Ok, box is done. Let's hope I can still afford another one in the next couple of weeks. I've been afraid to check prices. More roller marks on the mini. It looks like the black bordered cards got fed into the machine wrong or something. Nice pack to finish up on with Pujols, Cabrera and a veteran from the original Allen & Ginter series, Miss Annie Oakley.

And as usual, here's the last card in the set: Matt Biondi.

SPARTAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

FINAL TALLY:
Base cards - 142/351 40.5%
Short Prints - 12/50 24%
mini -10
mini A&G - 5
mini black - 5 (1 SP)
State Flags - 20
Jersey relics - 3 (Joe Mauer, Albert Pujols, Jeff Francoeur)
Autographs - 1 (Ian Kinsler)
World Leaders - 2 (Gordon Brown, Stephen Harper)
Baseball Legends - 1 (Mel Ott)
Pioneers of Aviation - 1
World's Greatest Victories - 1 (SPARTAAAAAAA)
Old Planter ad - 4

Verdict: Either these boxes are loaded or I'm lucky as hell. I hope I'm just lucky because you need 3 boxes minimum to complete a set and I don't want box prices shooting through the roof. The mini cards have gotten a bit ridiculous though. Only 10 base minis in a box? I'm sure glad I'm not trying to build that set. I like the mini inserts I pulled. Not sure about the other ones, especially the Team Orange craziness I just learned about. I'll do a separate post on that mess. There's almost too many insert sets this time though. I don't know which one to try to collect. I've gotten a good start on Braves relics at least. I'm not sure why Topps decided to change the border frames on the relics from white to black, but they look good. All in all a nice effort by Topps.