For the sixth year running, Topps have produced the Allen+Ginter brand. An extremely popular set to collect, there are few amongst us who hasn't tried at one point to collect the whole base set or one of the many interesting inserts. That is what makes Allen+Ginter so collectible, although it is unlikely that you will pull a DNA card or one of the exquisite entomology cards, there are still a number of 'other' inserts from past sets like Dinosaurs, Pirates and Haunted Places. This year is no exception, with mini inserts such as 'Men in Hats' , 'Man's Best friend', 'Military Leaders', 'Musical Masters' and 'Giants of the Deep', just to name a few.
In 2012 there is a 350 card base set, however the last 50, numbered 301-350 are short printed.
There is a 350 mini parallel base set which comes in number of version;
Normal,
Gold Bordered,
A+G back,
Black-Bordered,
No Number #50,
Baseball Back #/25,
Wood #/1
There is an exhaustive list of inserts;
Full size - Silk/cloth, Rip Cards (which could contain a wood parallel, original baseball artwork, mini exclusives,redemption cards or a red autograph), Historical Turning Points, Tallest Buildings, Sketches, What's in a Name?
Mini inserts - Military Leaders, Dogs, Giants of the Deep, Musicians, People of the Bible, Guys in Hats, Fashionable Women and Culinary Curiosities.
Another interesting feature, if this wasn't enough, are the N43 large Box Loaders. Amongst the usual relics, are the Roller Coaster cards, Coins of the World and the frighteningly titled redemption 'Unusual Items from the Past' , which Topps confirmed as being a coin, cave paint, a sharks tooth and a fossil and doesn't appear to be that frightening at all.
The pièce de résistance being the Butterfly cards or Lepidoptery Cards, which includes moths too. The chances of extracting one of these cards is something like 1 in 35,000. Good Luck.
The Red Sox avaibale from the base set are;
#10 Dustin Pedroia
#18 Kevin Youkilis
#35 David Ortiz
#46 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
#50 Clay Buchholz
#118 Carl Yastrzemski
#136 Jacoby Ellsbury
#146 Josh Beckett
#241 Andrew Bailey
#316 Adrian Gonzalez SP
#327 Jon Lester SP
#331 Carl Crawford SP
I have a blaster, purchased from a Walmart somewhere in New York State. It contains 8 packs and each pack 6 picture cards.
Pack 1:
#129 Michael Phelps mini A+Gback
#132 Daniel Hudson D-backs
#159 Devin Mesoraco Reds
#284 Pedro Alvarez Pirates
#BH-10 Albert Pujols Cardinals
#WIN41 Timothy LeRoy Lincecum Giants
Pack 2:
#34 Alex Gordon Royals
#62 Desmond Jennings Bay Rays mini
#182 Colby Rasmus Blue Jays
#220 James Brown Football Analyst
#262 Justin Verlander Tigers
#304 Kyle Farnsworth Bay Rays
Pack 3:
#102 Huston Street Padres
#197 Ty Cobb Tigers
#264 Brian McCann Braves
#317 Jason Heyward Braves mini
#WIN30 Hunter Andrew Pence Phillies
#WTB4 Willis Tower Chicago
Pack 4:
#26 Hunter Pence Phillies
#117 Nick Swisher Yankees
#127 Erick Aybar Angels
#182 Brett Pill Giants
#339 Swin Cash basketball
#ML-10 Dwight Eisenhower mini
Pack 5:
#78 Joe Mauer Twins
#91 Grady Sizemore Indians
#226 Jim Thome Phillies
#223 CC Sabathia Yankees
#245 Hank Haney golf instructor mini
#321 Chad Billingsley Dodgers
Pack 6:
#126 Justin Masterson Indians
#162 Tom Seaver Mets mini
#180 Tim Federowicz Dodgers
#267 Neftali Feliz Rangers
#HTP6 Treaty of Versailles
#WIN61 James Howard Thome Phillies
Pack 7:
#39 Brad Peacock Athletics
#41 Clayton Kershaw Dodgers mini A+Gback
#99 Sandy Koufax Dodgers
#179 Cole Hamels Phillies
#219 Ian Kennedy D-backs
#330 Mike Napoli Rangers
Pack 8:
#61 Richard Petty auto racing
#142 Jose Reyes Marlins
#178 Wei-Yin Chen Orioles mini
#287 Hiroki Kuroda Yankees
#WIN72 Carsten Charles Sabathia Yankees
#code card Chuck Snider
You may have noticed- no Red Sox, so I have scanned the inserts.
A pony blaster!
Pity! Really lovely cards again this year.
