Strawberry, way to go!

This Charm Pops album is one of my favorite obscure indie/alternative/pop albums from the 90s. And there happens to be a song on there called "Strawberry" and it even has some baseball references in the lyrics, so I had to upload it to YouTube as a soundtrack to this post.

Back in 2016, I was lucky enough to win a complete base set with SPs of 2016 Allen & Ginter from Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits, one of the cardsphere's premiere A&G collectors, who holds an annual batch of contests around the time the set comes out. I must have some SF Giants style even-year mojo, as I was one of the lucky few here in 2018 too. I wasn't expecting to land my first choice out of the sweet options Matt made available, but it was a wonderful surprise when the package showed up today.

Darryl Strawberry framed mini auto! Love it. I've already got a couple nice Strawberry autos (2004 Retired refractor [as partially seen under the B in "Breakdown" in my header] and a Simpsons custom), but I'm happy to add another one. I enjoy collecting The Springfield Nine, plus Ginter mini autos are always pretty cool. This makes the 2nd such 2018 card I've gotten, with the Tommy Wiseau auto I showed off last post.

Matt was gracious enough to surprise me with a bonus too...

Awesome Mike Trout boxloader!

Since we're still in Blue Tape and Pull Tab Awareness Week, let's look at his packaging.

Very nice. Bubble polymailer (bonus points for it being purple) with the cards snuggly packaged between repurposed pieces of cardboard, with blue tape keeping it together, plus additional bubble wrap around it. No pull tabs, so he'll have to settle for a grade of A-, but not much to complain about here.

Huge thanks for the prize, Matt! Your generosity is very appreciated and always makes Gintertime bright and full of cheer!