MLB Fan Packs - Red Sox, Astros, and Mariners! Oh, My!

Today's mail included THREE of the MLB Fan Packs I requested by email! The first Fan Pack came from the Red Sox, and a bill...

Yeap, that's right. I owe the post office $.20 for the Fan Pack. Well, it's worth it!

First item I pulled out of the envelope:

Oh, yeah, buddy! That is GEN-YOU-INE Fenway Dirt! How cool is that!?

Then, I pulled out one of these:

For a while, I wore these baller bracelets everywhere. It was a phase. It passed, but I still think this is a fun inclusion.

Up next, the 4th edition of the 2010 Schedule. Say what!? I am guessing they have different "versions" featuring other players, and this is the fourth:

That's not all that's included, though:

YOOOOUUUKKK!! This is a 5x7 the Fan Pack folks tossed in for good measure. All-in-all, one of the truly "FUN" Fun Packs I've received!

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The second Fan Pack came from down the road in Houston.

First up, the 2010 Team Schedule:

This one features Lance Berkman swinging for the fences.

Up next, a little bling:

I'll probably stick this to my filing cabinet where I have several sports-related magnets and stickers.

The Astros included a page of activities:

And a 5x7 of Roy Oswalt:

Like the Red Sox, this was a nice variety of goodies - all for the asking!

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The Seattle Mariners, though, take the prize for the best Fan Pack received yet!

We start off with a 2010 Team Schedule featuring Chone Figgins:

Then, the Mariners included something no other team has yet to include:

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That's right, folks!  A special "Fan Pack" set of baseball cards!  Now, THAT is how you reach your fans!  The cards are all attached on a perforated sheet:

And if that's not enough, how about a little poke at the rest of the MLB:

Nice!  I love snarkiness done right!

But, the Mariners still had an envelope to fill, so they threw in some of their own bling: 

And so your vehicle doesn't feel left out:

Oh, yeah!  We've got a window cling!  Seriously, the Mariner know how to reach out to their fans big time.

And we are STILL not done!  We've got a photo fold-out with facsimile autographs on it, and a fold-out celebrating the 10th anniversary of SAFECO field:

On the back of the SAFECO fold-out, we find a full-color activity sheet (and, yes, it includes 'Baseball Sudoku'):

The Mariners Fan Pack is what I had hoped for when I received the Indians pack.  Though, really, these three packs include enough fun stuff to make even a casual fan rally behind their team just little more than usual!

So, you wanna win a box of Ginter?

There's a contest going on over HERE, and all ya gotta do is come up with FIVE cards you'd like to see in the 2011 Allen & Ginter set.  Here are my picks:

Joe Walsh – Musician – Auto – Because he still rocks

Tomb of Unknown Soldier – Honor the fallen

Steve Jobs iPhone antenna relic – Since they don’t work anyway.

Ben Henry auto – The Godfather of card blogging

Betty White hair sample – Hey, if Facebook can get her on SNL, why cant we get her on A&G?

Pop over there and give it your best shot.  After all, it could net you a box of A&G!

Manny Being... Charitable!

As seen on several card sites around the league, Manny Ramirez has donated his 1994 Porsche 911 for a charity auction on eBay (HERE).  The Dodgers have their own corporate charity and half the proceeds go to that one. The other half go to a charity that benefits misplaced girls.  It's nice to see Manny not being "Manny" for a change. Kudos!

MLB Fan Packs - Tribe Edition

When the mail came this afternoon, among the bills and catalogs lived the Fan Pack from the Cleveland Indians!  I held it for a moment and set it aside to finish my Allen and Ginter post.  I knew it would wait there, just hoping I would open it soon.  After a while, and after lunch, I felt the envelope.  I suddenly felt like the kid in "A Christmas Story" when he gets his decoder ring.  It had to be inside somewhere.

I tore open the envelope and pulled out the surprises inside.  First up, the form letter that comes with all of these.  "Enclosed you will find the Indians Fan Pack that you requested."  Ohhh, the excitement was building!  Then, in the next paragraph, "We have also included a 2010 pocket schedule..."  Holy cow! I got a bonus item! Sweet!

Now, this was my first Indians Fan Pack, so I don't know exactly what usually comes with them, but there was a full-color foldout....of their stadium suite packages.  Suddenly, sounds of "Be sure to drink your Ovaltine" rang through my mind.  Granted, the suites are very cool and should I win the lottery anytime soon, I'll be happy to contact their offices to make a reservation.

Okay, okay, let's see what else I got from the Tribe!  The remaining pages include various activites: a coloring page of Slider, a Cleveland Indians Word Search, and a page with trivia questions and a word scramble puzzle.

Cool team-related activities and all I had to was ask!  Not a bad gig.

Gint-A-Cuffs II: The (almost) Final Point Tally

I had a lot of fun opening my box of 2010 Allen & Ginter for Gint-A-Cuffs II!  In retrospect, I should have combined it with a group box break so other folks could have benefited from the break.  Ah, well, maybe next time.

I owe some of you cards from recent trades, so hopefully there are some cards in here that will help me return the favor!  I've read that Nick Jacoby wants his cards sent to him in exchange for other goodies (evidently, he is trying to amass the largest collection of himself - pretty cool goal in my book!).

And if all of this weren't enough, I received my INDIANS FAN PACK today!  I'll save *that* for another post (I haven't even opened it yet).

Without further ado, the list of Gint-A-Cuffs scoring cards:

N43 Boxloader BJ Upton (Rays) 5 points
Carlos Zambrano (Cubs) -1 point (penalty)
Derek Jeter Mini Celestial Stars (Yankees) +5, +CS? -1 Yankee
**No official scoring for Celestial Stars at time of this post
Justin Morneau Day in History (Twins) 1 point
Roy Oswalt (Astros) 2 points (short print)
Alex Gordon (Royals) Mini A&G Ad 2 points
Yovani Gallardo TDiH (Brewers) 1 points
Nick Jacoby (2009 code champ) 1 point
Gordon Beckham (White Sox) Mini Black Border 3 points
Brandon Phillips (Reds) TDiH 1 points
SUBTOTAL: 17*

Area 51 (Secret Base) 1 point (bonus)
Milton Bradley (Mariners) -1 point (penalty)
Dan Uggla (Marlins) Mini Black Border 3 points
Ichiro (Mariners) TDiH 1 points
Francisco Liriano (Twins) 2 points (short print)
Alpaca (Peru) Mini 2 points (National Animal)
Ryan Braun (Brewers) TDiH 2 points (fp), 1 point TDiH
Johannes Gutenberg (Movable Type) 1 point (bonus)
Stag (Ireland) Mini 2 points (National Animal)
Dan Haren (Diamondbacks) TDiH 1 points
SUBTOTAL: 15

David Wright (Mets) 2 points (other fp)
Trevor Cahill (A's) 2 points (short print)
Alex Rodriguez (Yankees) TDiH -1 (Yankee) +1 (TDiH) points
Marcus Aurelius (Wordsmiths) Mini 4 points (wordsmiths) ?points MINI?
Mark Teixeira (Yankees) TDiH -1 (yankee) +1 (THiD) points
Ken Griffey Jr (Mariners) 2 points (other fp)
Joe Mauer (Twins) 2 points (other fp)
Placido Polanco (Phillies) 2 points (short print)
Chase Headley (Padres) Mini Black 3 points
Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) TDiH 1 point
SUBTOTAL: 18

Carcharodontosaurus (Monsters of Mesozoic) Mini 3 points
Jimmy Rollins (Phillies) TDiH 1 point
Robert Scott (Negro Leagues) 2 points
Matt LaPorta (Indians) 1 point (my fp)
Carlos Zambrano (Cubs) RIP CARD 75/99 -1 (penalty) +20 RIP card
RIPPED Adam Dunn Mini (Nationals) 2 points (short print) 2 points (other fp)
**No official scoring for mini inside RIP card at time of this post
Andre Ethier (Dodgers) TDiH 1 point
Ponce De Leon (Sailors of the Seven Seas) 4 points
Hanley Ramirez (Marlins) TDiH 2 points (other fp) 1 point (TDiH)
Persephone (Lords of Olympus) 3 points
SUBTOTAL: 41*

Aaron Hill (Blue Jays) TDiH 1 point
Evan Longoria (Rays) 2 points (other fp)
Daniel Murphy (Mets) AG Sketch Card 3 points
Dionysus (Lords of Olympus) 3 points
Robinson Cano (Yankees) TDiH -1 Yankees +1 TDiH
Ankylosaurus (Monsters of Mesozoic) 3 points
Justin Upton (Diamondbacks) TDiH 1 point (TDiH)
Carl Crawford (Rays) 2 points (other fp)
Ryan Theriot (Cubs) 2 points (short print)
BJ Upton (Rays) TDiH 1 point
SUBTOTAL: 18

Dustin Pedroia (Red Sox) 2 points (other fp)
Nick Swisher (Yankees) -1 point
Kelly Johnson (Diamondbacks) 2 points (short print)
Stephen Drew (Diamondbacks) TDiH 1 point
Andy Pettitte (Yankees) -1 point
Kevin Youkilis (Red Sox) 2 points (other fp)
Ichiro (Mariners) Sketch Card 3 points
Madison Bumgarner (Giants) Mini AG ad 2 points
Carlos Gonzales (Rockies) TDiH 1 point
Jason Heyward (Braves) 2 points (other fp)
SUBTOTAL: 13

Joba Chamberlain (Yankees) -1 point
Ryan Doumit (Pirates) 2 points (short print)
Chris Young (Padres) AG ad 2 points
Jay Bruce (Reds) TDiH 1 point
Mariano Rivera (Yankees) -1 point
AJ Pierzynski (White Sox) -1 point (penalty)
Koi (Japan) National Animal 2 points
Andrew McCutchen (Pirates) TDiH 1 point
Robinson Cano (Yankees) -1 point
Ricky Nolasco (Marlins) 2 points (short print)
SUBTOTAL: 6

Jason Heyward (Braves) TDiH 1 point (TDiH) 2 points (other fp)
Ron Teasley (Negro Leagues) 2 points
Michael Brantley (Indians) 1 point (fav team)
Brett Gerdner (Yankees) -1 point +2 points (short print)
Denard Span (Twins) Mini AG ad 2 points
Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals) TDiH 1 point
Andre Ethier (Dodgers) JERSEY RELIC 8 points
Drew Stubbs (Reds) Mini AG Ad 2 points
Gordon Beckham (White Sox) TDiH 1 point
Todd Helton (Rockies) JERSEY RELIC 8 points
Curtis Granderson (Yankees) TDiH -1 Yankees +1 TDiH
SUBTOTAL: 28

BOX TOTAL: 156*

*Score will be adjusted by the powers that be, but this will give other participants something to shoot for.