2022 Topps Chrome Platinum Blaster

How about some more of these? I have to admit they're growing on me. Even if the "Living Set" has saturated the 1953 design, I still find these to be fun. Not to mention that it's just fun to open packs. Right? 

Let's see how it went!

You know, the box.

And the packs inside the box.

And a Red Sox card! A shiny Pedro is always welcome in my collection. Nice picture (painting?) of pedro as well.

Unfortunately, that was the only Red Sox in the box. But, just to talk a bit more, how about some players who played for the Sox, but not on these cards?

Like Fisk here. The Red Sox have really done their best to reclaim him as their own. Which is interesting. He certainly played longer in Chicago. It's especially weird now that winning a series three games to four isn't the biggest recent Red Sox highlight.

Love the old Marlins uniform. Don't love this hat. Why does it look so weird?

Speaking of losing a series four games to three, here's a fun one of Perez.

And there you have it. One Red Sox card, and three former players former players. But, still a lot of fun to open.

How did your box go?

2022 Panini Prizm Blaster!

Another different one today...the discount Walmart blaster. So, once again, while I wouldn't normally jump on a Panini baseball product, I figured the price was right to give it a chance.

Let's see how this went.

Here's the box, with the sticker. Once again, more than half off. Pretty good time to take a shot.

And here are the packs. Six of them. Still crazy that six packs of 5 unlicensed cards for $17 is a great deal that I should jump on.

Here's a shiny card of Boston rookie Connor Seabold. Standard bland generic design from Panini.

And here's an extra shiny card of Boston rookie Kutter Crawford. I think it's a different type of shiny than the Seabold. But, really, who's to know?

And there you have it. Two Red Sox cards. Oh, sorry, two Boston cards. I'm really glad I didn't pay full price for this blaster. But, still a lot of fun to open.

How did your box go?

2022 Panini Mosaic Blaster!

A little interesting one today. I've never actually seen any of these in the wild...the discount Walmart blaster. So, while I wouldn't normally jump on a Panini baseball product, I figured the price was right to give it a chance.

Let's see how this went.

Here's the box. And, I was telling the truth. It's apparently more than 50% off regular price. Not a bad deal at all.

Here's the Red Sox card I got. Typical Panini product. Generic design, and super shiny. But, a fun little card.

With no other Red Sox cards, how about some former Red Sox? This insert card of Mookie Betts is fun. I have to admire Panini committing to the theme with the "hot". I'm just not sure why the theme is there. Is Mooke "hot sauce"? Does he like "hot sauce"? But, it has the actual hot pepper and two types of flames, and the shiny graphics.

And here's a card with no Red Sox connection, other than the Braves aspect. But, this one is super-duper shiny, which is interesting.

And there you have it. One Red Sox card, and a couple others. Thank goodness the blaster was cheap. Because it certainly didn't produce a big return. But, still a lot of fun to open.

How did your box go?

Mina Smith Visits Section 36!

Section 36 had another visitor! Mina Smith is passionate about Loving Your Neighbor, a talented dancer, and the current Miss Northern Vermont's Teen. I was so thrilled that she was willing to visit with us to discuss those topics, and a few more.

 
So, let's see what happens when Mina Smith visits Section 36!

What made you decide to compete for the Miss Vermont’s Teen crown as Miss Northern Vermont’s Teen?

I hoped to learn about the sisterhood, gain confidence, try something new, and make an impact on people in my state and my area by showing ways to Love Your Neighbor. I live in the northern area of Vermont near Lake Champlain and Burlington, my stepdad is from a small town called Cambridge bordering Stowe also in northern Vermont, and I love the beautiful mountains, waterfalls, and rivers in the north and all of Vermont!  

What is something that Ginger Ragaishis is doing as Miss Vermont’s Teen that you would like to emulate?

I have a slight learning disability, really really appreciate my IEP teachers, and love that Ginger has made me and others feel more comfortable talking about our learning disabilities. 

As a talented dancer, what do you enjoy about performing on stage?

I love to show my emotions through dance, because I am somewhat shy, and it helps my confidence a lot. I don’t feel as anxious or stressed from anything I might be going through when I’m dancing. I think it’s a great art for healing, and happiness! I started as a ballet dancer, took 3 years of figure skating, and started lyrical dancing when I was living in Hawaii. I’m an advocate for Dance Hope Cure now too which combines dance with childhood cancer awareness!

How did you select your CSI, “Love Your Neighbor”?

I am a Christian, wanted to show others not to judge, that I love everyone, and that we can make a change by really Loving Our Neighbors from all walks of life, regardless of beliefs, background, social status, or pronouns used. I feel God meets everyone where they are at, and that everyone deserves love and support! 

If you could be a Disney character for a week, who would you choose? Why?

I would love to be Cruella de Vil from the movie Cruella, because she had an amazing fashion sense, was daring, courageous, fun, and really loved the woman who cared for her even though it turned out to not be her real mom. She fought for her mother figure! 

Is there a feature or activity at a baseball game that you would especially like to experience?

I would really like to throw the first pitch, because I’ve been told I can throw well, I think it would be so much fun, and I could show everyone that a girl who doesn’t play softball can get out there and throw a ball. I love when the players hit a home run, and when the mascot dances and gets everyone cheering! 

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A first pitch would definitely be a fun experience.

As always, I want to thank Mina for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to go with the interview.

I'm sure you'd like to follow along with Mina during her time as Miss Northern Vermont's Teen. You should be sure to check out her title's Instagram account. It's a great way to keep track of everything she has going on, and you'll be sure not to miss anything. 

You should also check out a couple of Mina's partnerships through her non-profit Love Your Neighbor VT. This first is with Fogbuster Coffee where proceeds from special LYN blends will go to her non-profit. The other is with her Dance Hope Cure Campaign partnering with Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation. You'll absolutely want to check those out, and support them if you can.

Thanks again Mina, and good luck in the future!

Check Out My GOATS!

I mentioned last time, that my most recent COMC shipment had cards that hit a few of my different collection areas. This is another one that really came about almost entirely because of COMC and the ease in picking up odd singles from across sports.

You may remember not long ago I picked up a Serena Williams card. It had occurred to me that stars in some other sports can be had fairly cheaply. I already had the cheapest Tom Brady RC...the Football GOAT. I have a Bill Belichick RC...so the football coaching GOAT. I had a Tiger Woods rookie...the men's golf GOAT. Then the Serena...the women's tennis GOAT? Could I put together a GOAT rookie card collection? It started to sound like fun. So I started to see who else I could add relatively cheaply. Honestly, the tricky part with some of these was deciding on what sort of card was their "rookie", especially since I want to avoid the SI for Kids cards if possible. Sometimes I had to decide on my GOAT based on which cards were actually available. In the end, I came up with these... 

Do you agree with my choices? Let's have a look, shall we?

Annika Sorenstam. The women's golf GOAT. In general, I used other sources to try and determine GOAT status. Many sites listed her. Would you agree?

It didn't take much research to decide Simone Biles is the women's gymnastics GOAT. The only trouble was deciding what her rookie card was.

Yup. The rookie card of David Bryant. The lawn bowling GOAT. I told you there would be some variety in this collection.

Roger Federer. The not exactly undisputed men's tennis GOAT. 

Marta, on the other hand, seems like a pretty unanimous decision as the women's soccer GOAT. 

Another choice that's not so clear, but Diana Taurasi got my nod as the women's basketball GOAT.

For basketball...I had some trouble. I'm obviously not going to be able to afford a Michael Jordan rookie. But...maybe his "baseball rookie"? Maybe a baseball rookie where's he's pictured taking a basketball shot? I think that may be just the ticket.

As an alternative, I also grabbed this one, even though it would be tough to even call this a "baseball rookie". It's a much better card, though.

And, just in case none of those qualify, I did grab this back-up GOAT card of LeBron. If nothing else, it has the Carmelo RC as well, so would likely fit in the Hall of Fame RC collection at some point if nothing else. 

And, if you're going to have a GOAT collection...you really should have an actual goat. Right? Sure, I could have gone with a recent Allen and Ginter one. But, this Disney card from the 30s was just too perfect to pass up.

And, there they are. The newest GOATs. Would you have selected different players for each slot? 

Who else should I chase?