Platinum Rage

TOPPS

Y U PUT BARVES ON THE WRAPPER OF YOUR DERPIEST PRODUCT

Dammit, now I have to defend this set to Chris Harris again to make it look like I'm not just buying it because Fab Five Freddy's on the wrapper.

No, really, it's a good set... it's like, shiny and stuff.

Live rack rip in progress, just keep hitting F5.

Pack 1

77 DAN UGGLA

Where'd all the haters go? Oh yeah that's right. 25 game hitting streak beeyotches.

Decoy card

BPP92 Trey McNutt

I don't know who any of these prospects are so don't ask.

74 Starlin Castro green parallel

Actually if the wrapper back can be trusted this is a 1:10 packs Emerald Parallel. The Green Refractors are apparently numbered.

3 Adam Jones

Oh yeah, I forgot, all the cards this year are refractor-ish. They are still easily-fingerprinted foilboard but they now have that refractor sheen that brings all the boys to the yard.

NEXT: Card numbers and the Purplefractor bonus pack

BONUS PACK:

BPP87 Adron Chambers

No clue who this is.

BPP24 Oswaldo Arcia

Ditto.

BPP38 Billy Hamilton

I know this guy! Hall of Fame outfielder for the Boston Beaneaters. I didn't think Legends cards would be in this set.

Security tag

So the checkout counter can go beep beep beep. Readers who know their retail should know where I bought this pack now.

UP NEXT: Another pack!

Pack 2:

73 Ryan Zimmerman

It's time to sing the doom song!

Another decoy card

BPP18 Zack Cocks

Prospect blah blah blah

93 Aroldis Chapman RC

How the hell is this a rookie card?? He had several dozen Bowman cards last year. My God, we got a monopoly and the industry is still completely incapable of putting out non-confusing rookie cards.

43 Joey Votto

Redlegs hot pack!

Up next: One more pack. JOOOOOOY

LAST PACK. 15 CARDS FOR NINE BUCKS. RIP. OFF.

59 Justin Morneau

Bluh

Decoy card

Extra value in every pack!

BPP28 Shaeffer Hall

Why are the prospect cards on Finest/Chrome stock while the worthless base cards are on foilboard? And why do white people name their kids stupid stuff like Schaeffer?

96 Matt Kemp Gold parallel

The scan looks green but the card looks gold. Trust me, it's way different from the Emerald Castro up there.

32 Jason Heyward

I hope you all enjoyed the first and last post about 2011 Bowman Platinum on this blog as much as I did.

2011 Allen & Ginter Box Break Part 4: Packs 9-12

INSERT WITTY OPENING HERE

DON'T FORGET TO TAKE OUT THE PLACEHOLDERS

Pack 9:

86 Greg Halman
277 Hank Conger
270 Kevin Youkilis
87 Colby Lewis
173 Mariano Rivera
342 Mike Pelfrey SP
AP5 Endangered Critters - Gharial
MMF30 Minds that Made the Future - Michael Faraday

Looking at the Rivera card makes me realize that I miss the borderless designs. Ok, fine. We have logos now. I should shut up and be satisfied.  I can't remember how much they are worth in actual Gint-a-Cuffery, but every time I pull a Mind who made the Future card it feels like 100 points. The Michael Faraday card should be worth 96,485.3365 points. The Gharial is an crocodile with a long skinny snoot that lives (barely) in India. There's apparently only a couple hundred of them left. The one on the card is not from India, though, it lives in San Diego.

Pack 10:

234 Chrissie Wellington
159 Shawn Michaels
2 Ty Wigginton
118 Rafael Soriano
61 Brian Roberts
35 Adam Dunn
99 Placido Polanco Mini
HH99 Hometown Heroes Andrew Bailey
Ginter Binder ad

I'm sad Chuck Woolery is not in this pack because Chrissie Wellington and Shawn Michaels would make an adorable couple. The Adam Dunn card is nice because before Dan Uggla started channelling the spirit of Joe Dimaggio, Dunn was the one free agent pickup that made Dan look good. Can ya believe that out of the 4 players on the base cards in this pack, Ty Wigginton is the only one worth a darn this year?

Did Placido Domingo make the Frankenset? YES. Bumped a 2006 Jeff Francoeur mini.

Ok. Several Braves fans just had an aneurysm. A Phillie bumps a Brave?? from 2006??? Well, here's the deal. On either side of Jeff are other 2006 minis. One of whom is Chipper Jones. So Jeff goes to the Braves box. Oh God, I've made a horrible mistake haven't I? FrankenSets are serious bizniss.

Pack 11:

40 John McEnroe
254 Denard Span
291 Grady Sizemore
102 Wandy Rodriguez
BHS-7 CC Sabathia
312 Cody Ross SP
UG5 Uninvited Guests - The Amityville Haunting
MMF4 Minds that Made the Future - Nicolaus Copernicus
Ginter code ad - 8:45 3:15

It seems like for every dud pack like the last one, there's also a loaded pack with three inserts and a short print. Nice to have a card of the troublemaker that got Galileo in so much trouble.  John McEnroe is raging he wasn't in the last pack because now he's shut out of this post completely. I'm not crazy about the sketch cards this year. The border is way too big and the sketches are cropped rather close. Why can't Topps just do one set a year with all original art and give it a minimal border so the artwork can breathe? They couldn't possibly screw an idea like that up. Amityville Horror was one of those terrible '70s things that messed my mind up so badly when I was a wee little child. My only memories of seeing that movie as a child is lots of flies and a really dumb scene where some kid gets his hand smashed in a window and the blood that came out looked orange. I was more disturbed that this kid bled orange juice than by all the ghosty stuff. GET OOOOOOOOOOOUT of the fridge and don't spill your Sunny D on the windowsill!

Pack 12:

298 Peter Gammons
247 Yadier Molina
145 Victor Martinez
134 Matt Cain
BHS-18 Highlight Sketches - Stevie Stressbork
323 Orlando Hudson SP
274 Stan Lee Mini Black border
HH56 Brett Anderson Hometown Heroes
Ginter Code ad- 9:41

Ok, raise your hand if you have a Peter Gammons card from 1993. The inserts are coming in clusters with another Sketch card of a player I don't particulary care for. This card is proof that Topps is half-assing their sketches now. The sideways Strasburg looks ludicrous. I was being cute and posting the time on the clock in the mirror for all the code card ads I've pulled, but I just realized that the time is backwards since it is in a mirror. This is why I don't bother trying to figure out codes. Namely, because I am an idjit.

It seems like every year I pull one black border mini card that I absolutely adore. Stan Lee is this year's Super Black Border Card. The question is not if this card makes the set.

So, which card just became homeless due to the Stan Lee black border card taking over its slot in the FrankenSet?

OUCH. This is a pain that shall linger. Braves box saves the day. Check out all the #274s in the set:

2006 Moose Skowron
2007 Tim Lincecum RC
2008 John Smoltz
2009 Josh Hamilton
2010 Nick Markakis
2011 Smilin' Stan

Damn, 274 is a power number in A&G, isn't it.

And finally...

I'm out of Elston Howards.

FOR NOW

Then later...

ANOTHER Elston Howard.

And then...

Elston Howard.

I guess feetsball is back, eh

Ok, so the NFL finally got their shart together and will actually have a season this year. Oh well. At least my dream of the NBA imploding due to greed is still alive. Here's a couple of Goodwin rookies to show off in honor of a bunch of super rich people who fought viciously for a very long time in order to enrich themselves further and then acted like they did you a big ol' favor by doing so. It's the American way.

A.J Green. The wide receiver the Falcons, really, really wanted.

Julio Jones, the wide receiver the Falcons actually got.

Every Falcons draft pick I've hated in the past 10 years has gone on to the Pro Bowl, so pencil Julio in for the Offensive Rookie of the Year right now.

Also: Why is a Georgia Bulldog who was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals wearing Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket pants???

2011 Allen & Ginter Box Break Part 3: Packs 5-8

"You've fooled around long enough"

Ok, it's been established that this box sucked. Let's knock this thing out so I can move on to different things. Like a second box.

PACK 5

176 Brian Bogusevic
12 Hope Solo
224 Jason Kubel
22 Michael Bourn
215 Andrew McCutchen
330 CC Sabathia SP
141 Vernon Wells A&G Mini
HH80 Cliff Lee Hometown Heroes

I'm going to go back later and score the Gint-A-Cuffs thing. I'm pretty sure I don't have all the money cards scanned anyway. Top three in the pack: Capn' Cheezburger SP, Hope Solo, newest Brave Michael Bourn. See, if I had posted this two weeks ago like I should have, this pack wouldn't have been quite as good.

Did Vernon Wells make it into the FrankenSet Binder? - NO. No chance in hell Wells displaces a 2007 Brian McCann mini.

PACK 6:

202 Manny Pacquiao
238 Rudy Ruettiger
282 Reid Brignac
38 Angel Pagan
183 Mike Napoli
124 Chad Billingsley
273 Brent Morel Mini Black Border
HH74 Jayson Werth Hometown Heroes
15% off Allen & Ginter Binder Offer

And now a word from our sponsor....

The sad thing is I'm seriously thinking about buying this thing. I wonder if I can use my Diamond Giveaway prize along with the code here to get it for extra cheap.

If it weren't for the black border Morel, this pack would have been a complete flop, even with the Manny Paquiao box cover model card. As you can see, the mysterious scanner pube made an appearance on the mini card. You may laugh at my filthy scanner, but not one card scanned on that thing has ever been stolen after being protected by my fearless follicle.

Is anybody ever going to make it into the FrankenSet binder?? YES. An obscure black bordered rookie boots out a 2007 Jorge Posada mini card. Composition book - 1 Yankees - 0

PACK 7:

14 Adrian Beltre
121 JD Drew
41 Carlos Santana
166 Geovany  Soto
BHS-9 Edwin Jackson Baseball Highlight Sketches
318 Brett Wallace SP
UG8 Uninvited Guests mini The Winchester Mystery House
FF19 Floating Fortresses HMS Revenge
Code Cracker card - 8:46

After no inserts or SPs in the last pack, I get four in this one. Sketch cards are nice, but I only want the Heyward. Ships are nice but after a brief obsession with building model warships when I was a kid, I haven't been too interested in boats of any kind. Cards about GHOSTS though... well that's more my speed. I've actually been reading creepypasta on Reddit all weekend instead of blogging if you've been wondering where the hell I've been.

Here's a little bit of a glimpse into Dayf's warped and disturbing psyche if you wish to know such things. When I'm really anxious or stressed or uneasy about something one of my coping mechanisms is to find scary stuff to watch, read or listen to. I've always loved all kinds of horror stuff ever since I was a little kid. I read House of Secrets comics and Stephen King novels. I watched Alfred Hitchcock movies and the Twilight Zone when I wanted classy horror, and cheesy '80s slasher flicks when I wanted a good laugh. I read  Omni magazine and Time Life Ancient Secrets books and every permutation of Chariots of the Gods including the ones debunking all that stuff. I named my (championship winning!) Fantasy Football team the Chupacabras for years. I loooooooove all that creepy crap. Especially when I'm in mortal existential dread over something. After 9/11 I listened to Art Bell's Coast to Coast every dang night for about three years and my favorite show was always the Halloween Ghost Stories show. You see, when I'm really scared about something I like to distract myself with harmless frightening bullshit that I know isn't real to take my mind off of the very real monsters that plague our world. Basically what I'm saying is that until the horrifically selfish fucktards that are playing games with the world economy are booted the hell out of office I'm going to be very interested in the occult for a while. Maybe it's time to pull out my Swamp Thing comics?

PACK 8:

289 Paul Konerko
275 Justin Verlander
9 Joe Saunders
217 Shaun Marcum
295 Chris Carpenter
250 Ichiro Code card
SRU2 Step Right Up! Fire Breathing
HH70 Troy Tulowitzki Hometown Heroes

FIRE BREATHER!!!



FIRE FIRE FIRE!!!!!!!



(I also like crappy anime and manga when I'm stressed)

Oh yeah, there's also a code card I already showed off in another post. 1/3rd of the way through the box and it's only August! I'm making better time than usual!