A Ginter Appetizer: First Course

I found myself in Wal*Mart earlier today and happened to check the card aisle.  Wouldn't you know it, they had a bunch of 2012 Allen & Ginter blasters (plus some rack packs and loose packs).  I noticed that each rack pack nets you three retail only gold border minis plus three regular 'ol packs of Ginter for about $10.00.  I opted to go the route of the blasters which gives you 7 packs (but no retail only parallels) for $20.00.  What did I get?

Here's the first blaster - no big hits in this one though my second blaster did yield my first relic of 2012.  I will say this now though.

I AM TRYING TO COLLECT ALL THE MINI SETS AND THE RELIC SET!  If you end up with any minis you don't want and/or any relics you don't want - please let me know!  I've got plenty of trade bait!

With that out of the way, here's the contents of the first blaster of 2012 Topps Allen & Ginter.

Yes, I'm a grown man.  Yes, that's the best I could cut the bottom of the blaster box.

Pack 1:
40.  Jimmy Rollins
166.  Ervin Santana
167.  J.J. Putz
190.  Addison Reed
323.  Ryan Roberts
Reg. mini:  8.  Mitch Moreland

My first pack - my first short print.  At least with Allen & Ginter the short prints aren't impossible to complete.  In fact, there are only 50 short prints in total - and they are seeded 1:2 packs.  Topps also made a bigger effort to include more mini cards of baseball players (mini non-sport inserts sort of took over last year).  That's a nice thing for set collectors as well - and I DO want to complete the mini set this year!

Pack 2:
89.  Edwin Jackson
111.  Wandy Rodriguez
162.  Jeff Francouer
WIN21. What's in a Name:  Jackie Robinson
BH-22.  Baseball Highlight Sketch:  Joe DiMaggio
Culinary Curiosities:  Kopi Luwak (Indonesia)

I'm a huge fan of the Culinary Curiosities set - it combines my love of travel, food, and learning on a baseball card.  Great stuff!  As for Kopi Luwak, it sounds pretty gross according to the description on the back of the card:

First, a creature called the Asian Palm Civit (a tiny, tropical mammal) eats coffee berries, then digests the pulp and defecates the beans thatremain.  Those are washed, dried and roasted to produce Kopu Luwak - a coffee delicacy that can cost $160 per pound.

Two things:  First, who decided to try to wash some animals feces and then roast and drink them?  Second, why did Topps change the spelling of Kopi in the write-up to Kopu?  So many mysteries.

Pack 3:
17.  Lonnie Chisenhall
277.  Jesus Montero
290.  Derek Holland
WIN62.  What's in a Name?  Jared Weaver
WTB9.  World's Tallest Buildings:  Woolworth Building
Reg. mini:  158.  Melky Cabrera

I love Ginter for all the variety - including such sets as the World's Tallest Buildings.  I kind of wish the buildings were mini cards instead though...the allure of World's Tallest Buildings on little itty bitty cards is too ironic to not love.

Pack 4:
185.  Starlin Castro
202.  Jaime Garcia
205.  Tony Gwynn
210.  Willie Mays
312.  Anibal Sanchez
MM-5.  Musical Masters:  Joseph Haydn

So far, I'm the least excited by the Musical Masters mini set - though I plan to complete that one as well simply because I'm addicted to Ginter!  I really like the fact that some legendary players (Gwynn and Mays for instance) are included in this year's set.  It adds a bit more of the "champions" vibe to the regular base set!

Pack 5:
239.  Liam Hendriks
241.  Andrew Bailey
249.  Phil Hughes
WIN46. What's in a Name:  James Hunter
Murder in Willow Cove:  Bruce Klugman
Reg. mini:  88.  Stan Musial
Code breaker advertisement

I would like to give the 2012 Ginter code a shot - and it certainly appears that the Murder in Willow Cove cards play a role in that.  I'll have to see if the case I bought yields any other clues!  Should anyone wish to work with me and split the prize, let me know!

Pack 6:
19.  Bob Knight
129.  Michael Phelps
135.  Michael Morse
258.  Doug Fister
302.  Jayson Werth
A&G back mini:  32.  Ben Zobrist

My first A&G back mini card of the year.  The A&G backs replaced the long running ad back minis from previous years.  The A&G back set will be fairly difficult to complete since the non-short prints are seeded 1:5 packs (the 50 A&G backed short prints are seeded 1:65 packs)!

Pack 7:
70.  Aroldis Chapman
83.  Matt Joyce
237.  Al Unser, Sr.
WIN20.  What's in a Name:  Don Ashburn
HTP20.  Historical Turning Points:  The Agricultural Revolution
Reg. mini:  139.  Tim Hudson

The Historical Turning Points set should be a lot of fun to complete (even if they are seeded 1:8 packs - or basically one per blaster).  I've mentioned it before but I love historical cards so these are also right up my alley!

Pack 8:
115.  Carlos Santana
133.  Carlos Beltran
269.  Mike Schmidt
299.  Jeff Niemann
319.  Adam Wainwright
Reg. mini:  324.  Cal Ripken Jr.

The regular mini short prints are seeded 1:13 packs so this is a great find for me (especially considering that it is of Ripken Jr.)!

All things considered, I like this year's Ginter set quite a bit at first glance.  The Culinary Curiousities are the stand out mini insert for me (though I only got two different set representatives so that's probably a bit too early to determine).  The full sized inserts are also nice - especially the Tallest Buildings and Historical Turning Points.  I like that there are more baseball minis included, though I think I would prefer the ration of non-baseball mini inserts to be 1:4 packs rather than the current 1:5 packs.  Completing the mini sets via packs alone would be really difficult!