A Beagle, the Wright Brothers, and Santa’s Sleigh all have what in common? No. This isn’t some type of a joke. Each has a card in 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter.
You can’t compare Allen & Ginter to other card sets. Baseball is the core focus of this brand, but there are lots of interesting and wacky things to watch out for. Some of the cards and the subject matter on them can only work in a product like this. Its been this way since Topps revived the brand in 2006. Even the 19th century set its modeled after contains a lot of non-baseball items. That’s what Allen & Ginter is. Far too many anger addicted people jump on the hate wagon because a card contains a fictional piece of Robin Hood’s bow. Fun and fantasy are part of Allen & Ginter’s charm. It likes to take an authentic approach to fictional people, places, and things. Animals, celebrities, historical events, and various pop-culture items have received the Allen & Ginter treatment.
Upon diving into your hobby box, you’ll notice (24) packs and a box topper. The complete set consists of (350) cards. Cards #1-#300 make up the main set. Short Prints are found on cards #351-#400. There are no cards that go from #301-#350. Parallels include Gold Hot Box, and Glossy #’ed 1/1.
It wouldn’t be Allen & Ginter without a slew of mini cards. You should receive (1) per pack. The card numbering follows the same as the main set. Parallels that you can get are A&G Logo Back (1:5), Black (1:10), No Number (50 copies), Brooklyn Back (#’ed/25), Gold (Retail), Wood #’ed 1/1 (Hobby), Glossy #’ed 1/1, and Framed Printing Plates #’ed 1/1. SP minis have the following odds A&G Logo Back (1:65), Black (1:30), No Number (50 copies), Brooklyn Back (#’ed/25), Gold (Retail), Wood #’ed 1/1 (Hobby), Glossy #’ed 1/1, and Framed Printing Plates #’ed 1/1. Limited to (50) copies its also possible to find A&G Logo Backs without card numbers.
Other mini cards that you can find include Base Mini Exclusives Extended EXT (Rip Card exclusive), Framed Mini Cloth, Mini Metal, and Mini Stained Glass.
Allen & Ginter is one of those products that you can look at the checklist all you want, but is best to browse eBay to see what pops up. Topps regularly includes surprises. I have yet to see a Mini Stained Glass card in person, but I’ve heard a lot of collectors enjoy the look of them. The artwork used on The History of Flight inserts came out well, and is something I’d like to see used on baseball players.
With surprises around every corner, you never know for sure what you’re going to get. I squeezed out an extra hit. You’re only suppose to get (3), but my bonus hit was an autograph. The truth is if you’ve enjoyed Allen & Ginter in previous years the fun should continue with the 2019 set. A hobby box will cost about $99.
Who or what would you like to see have a card in the next Allen & Ginter set? Here’s my list:
- Famous video game characters (Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog)
- Kevin Conroy (voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman: The Animated Series)
- Bill Murray (actor/comedian)
- Jim Carrey (actor/comedian)
- Jeff Daniels (actor)
- Obscure/Famous/Historical taxidermy (The Lion of Gripsholm Castle)
- Lost baseball artifacts (significant and authentic artifacts from baseball’s history which existed, but have since been lost to time)
- Kermit the Frog (Muppet)
- Harry Kalas (former Phillies broadcaster)
Here is what I pulled:
Auto
- Quinn XCII Framed Mini Auto
Relics
- Rhys Hoskins Framed Mini Relic
- Chris Taylor Relic
- Ben Schwartz Relic
Short Prints
- Ty Cobb
- Alex Rodriguez
- Jorge Posada
- John Smoltz
- Scott Kingery
- Wade Davis
- Sammy Sosa
- Rogers Hornsby
- Shane Bieber
- Darryl Strawberry
- Phil Rizzuto
Mini Short Prints
- Ty Cobb
- John Smoltz
Mini Parallels
- Starling Marte Black Border
- George Springer Black Border
- Orlando Cepeda Black Border
- Javier Baez A&G Back
- J.T. Realmuto A&G Back
- Wade Boggs A&G Back
- Todd Helton A&G Back
- Maikel Franco A&G Back
Inserts
- In Bloom – Lily of the Valley Mini
- Dreams of Blue Ribbons – Marshmallow-Stuffing Contest Mini
- Collectible Canines – Borzoi Mini
- Collectible Canines – Yellow Labrador Mini
- Collectible Canines – Beagle Mini
- Aaron Judge N43 Box Topper
- Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball Star Signs
- Rhys Hoskins Baseball Star Signs
- Randy Johnson Baseball Star Signs
- Al Kaline Baseball Star Signs
- Max Scherzer Baseball Star Signs
- Clayton Kershaw Baseball Star Signs
- Mares & Stallions – Andalusian
- Mares & Stallions – Tennessee Walking Horse
- Mares & Stallions – Irish Cob
- Mares & Stallions – Quarter Horse
- Incredible Equipment – Johnny Kaw’s Scythe
- Incredible Equipment – Hermes’s Sandals
- Incredible Equipment – Santa’s Sleigh
- Incredible Equipment – Thor’s Hammer
- The History of Flight – Bell X-1
- The History of Flight – Wright Flyer
- The History of Flight – Demoiselle Monoplane
- The History of Flight – Hawker Siddeley Harrier
- Clayton Kershaw – Ginter Greats
- Stan Musial – Ginter Greats
- Rod Carew – Ginter Greats
- Chipper Jones – Ginter Greats
- Frank Robinson – Ginter Greats
- Ken Griffey Jr. – Ginter Greats
Filed under: Reviews | Tagged: 2019, allen, box, break, ginter, hobby, review, topps |
Sports Card Info 
An open letter to Topps: keep your non-baseball stuff out of our baseball cards. We get it, you want to do some other stuff too. Make it a standalone product. When 2 of the 4 hits in a box of baseball cards have nothing to do with baseball I cry foul. I like the design, I like rip cards and the framed mini stuff is fantastic but I will never buy this product until it is just baseball.