Complete Set Chronicles: 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter

Of all the sets that I've collected, 2008 Allen & Ginter might be the one best considered my "gateway drug" set.  It was the first set where I decided to chase all short prints, most of the minis, and a full parallel set.  For that reason alone, the '08 Ginter set deserves a lot of credit for the initial formation (and then continual updating) of this blog.

2008 Topps Allen & Ginter:


Alpha:

Many people have accused Topps of harboring a pro-AL East bias...and the 2008 Allen & Ginter set does nothing to dispel those rumors.  In fact, the first and last cards of the set belong to the AL East rivals Yankees and Red Sox.  For the first card in the set, Topps chose Alex Rodriguez.  No matter what you think of A-rod, it's hard to argue against a player of his caliber being the first card in the set.


Omega:

Continuing the AL East bias, Topps chose a Red Sox to end the set with - Kevin Youkilis.  I suppose Youkilis is an alright choice for the other important card in the set, but I think there were plenty of better choices amongst the subjects within the set.


Card Design:

Keeping with tradition, the 2008 Allen & Ginter set has a muted, simplistic design.  The front of each card features the player (or subject) centered with a watercolor-esque swatch of shading behind the photo.  The full name is at the bottom of the card, along with the '08 A&G logo.  Non-baseball player cards look basically the same (compare the Albert Einstein to the Joey Votto).

There are also a few horizontal cards in the set, most of which make use of a photo depicting a bit of action (nothing along the lines of a set like Stadium Club however).  The Travis Hafner card is a great example of an Allen & Ginter "action" shot.

The backs of the cards are also simplistic, though they fit the retro theme nicely.  For baseball players, full career statistics are spelled out (yes spelled out) as well as the player's vitals.  For non-baseball players, a brief paragraph or two fills the back of the card with an explanation of who (or what) the subject is and why they are a champion.


Other:

The cards numbered 301 - 350 were short printed.  Of the short prints, only 5 of the 50 were non-baseball players (Victor Hugo, Harriet Beecher Stowe, James Bowie, Allen Fisher, and Frank Morris).  There was an additional base card printed - Kosuke Fukudome which was unnumbered (and apparently a much tougher pull than any other short print card in the set).

I was lucky enough to pull one of the Fukudome cards early on so I never had to worry about tracking one down.

In addition to the baseball players and other "champions" from other sports and walks of life, there are a few cards depicting places.  Each year, these cards are some of my favorites, especially if the card depicts somewhere I've been.  In the 2008 set, there are cards for Pluto, the Empire State Building, and the Golden Gate Bridge (the only place of the three that I've been to).


Overall:


If it's possible to fall in love with a baseball card set, then this is the set that is my first "crush".  It's not an entirely perfect set, but the base set coupled with some of the insert sets makes this set a worthy addition for anyone's baseball card library.  I give the set a 9.5 out of 10.

Checklist:
Below you will find the complete 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter Checklist in a (hopefully) printable format.  You should be able to copy and paste the table into a Word document and print it out nicely.

2008 Topps Allen & Ginter – Complete Set Checklist
1 Alex Rodriguez	2 Juan Pierre	3 Benjamin Franklin	4 Roy Halladay
5 C.C. Sabathia	6 Brian Barton	7 Mickey Mantle	8 Brian Bass
9 Ian Kinsler	10 Manny Ramirez	11 Michael Cuddyer	12 Ian Snell
13 Mike Lowell	14 Adrian Gonzalez	15 B.J. Upton	16 Hiroki Kuroda
17 Kenji Johjima	18 James Loney	19 Albert Einstein	20 Vladimir Guerrero
21 Miguel Tejada	22 Chin-Lung Hu	23 A.J. Burnett	24 Bobby Jenks
25 Aramis Ramirez	26 Corey Hart	27 Brad Hawpe	28 Adam LaRoche
29 Empire State Building	30 Miguel Cabrera	31 Ryan Zimmerman	32 Mark Ellis
33 Nick Swisher	34 Bill Hall	35 Eric Byrnes	36 Michael Young
37 Pedro Martinez	38 Andruw Jones	39 J.R. Towles	40 Justin Upton
41 Paul Konerko	42 Luke Scott	43 Rickie Weeks	44 Adam Wainright
45 Justin Morneau	46 Chris Young	47 Chad Billingsley	48 Kazuo Matsui
49 Shane Victorino	50 Albert Pujols	51 Brian McCann	52 Carlos Delgado
53 Chien-Ming Wang	54 Takashi Saito	55 Josh Beckett	56 Nick Johnson
57 Ben Sheets	58 Johnny Damon	59 Nicky Hayden	60 Prince Fielder
61 Adam Dunn	62 Dustin Pedroia	63 Jacoby Ellsbury	64 Brad Penny
65 Victor Martinez	66 Joe Mauer	67 Kevin Kouzmanoff	68 Frank Thomas
69 Stevie Williams	70 Matt Holliday	71 Fausto Carmona	72 Clayton Kershaw
73 Tadahito Iguchi	74 Khalil Greene	75 Travis Hafner	76 Jim Thome
77 Joba Chamberlain	78 Ivan Rodriguez	79 Jose Guillen	80 Hanley Ramirez
81 Vernon Wells	82 Jayson Nix	83 Masahide Kobayashi	84 Bonnie Blair
85 Curtis Granderson	86 Kelvim Escobar	87 Aaron Rowand	88 Troy Glaus
89 Billy Wagner	90 Jose Reyes	91 Scott Rolen	92 Dan Jansen
93 David Eckstein	94 Tom Gorzelanny	95 Garret Atkins	96 Carlos Zambrano
97 Jeff Francis	98 Kazuo Fukumori	99 John Bowker	100 David Wright
101 Adrian Beltre	102 Ray Durham	103 Kerri Strug	104 Orlando Hudson
105 Jonathan Papelbon	106 Brian Schneider	107 Matt Biondi	108 Alex Romero
109 Joey Chestnut	110 Chase Utley	111 Dan Uggla	112 Akinori Iwamura
113 Curt Schilling	114 Trevor Hoffman	115 Alex Rios	116 Mariano Rivera
117 Jeff Niemann	118 Geovany Soto	119 Billy Mitchell	120 Derek Jeter
121 Yovani Gallardo	122 The Gateway Arch	123 Josh Willingham	124 Greg Maddux
125 John Lackey	126 Chris Young	127 Billy Butler	128 Golden Gate Bridge
129 Joey Votto	130 Tim Wakefield	131 Todd Helton	132 Gary Matthews
133 Wild Bill Hickok	134 Jason Varitek	135 Robinson Cano	136 Javier Vazquez
137 Annie Oakley	138 Andy Pettitte	139 Greg Reynolds	140 Jimmy Rollins
141 Jermaine Dye	142 Eugenio Velez	143 J.J. Hardy	144 Grand Canyon
145 Bobby Abreu	146 Scott Kazmir	147 James Fenimore Cooper	148 Mark Buehrle
149 Freddy Sanchez	150 Johan Santana	151 Orlando Cabrera	152 Lyle Overbay
153 Clay Buchholz	154 Jesse Carlson	155 Troy Tulowitzki	156 Delmon Young
157 Ross Ohlendorf	158 Mary Shelley	159 James Shields	160 Alfonso Soriano
161 Randy Winn	162 Austin Kearns	163 Jeremy Hermida	164 Jorge Posada
165 Justin Verlander	166 Bram Stoker	167 Marie Curie	168 Melky Cabrera
169 Howie Kendrick	170 Jake Peavy	171 J.D. Drew	172 Pablo Picasso
173 Rick Ankiel	174 Jose Valverde	175 Chipper Jones	176 Claude Monet
177 Evan Longoria	178 Jose Vidro	179 Hideki Matsui	180 Ryan Braun
181 Moises Alou	182 Nate McLouth	183 Harriet Tubman	184 Felix Hernandez
185 Carlos Pena	186 Jarrod Saltalamacchia	187 Les Miles	188 Kelly Johnson
189 "Rampage" Jackson	190 Grady Sizemore	191 Francisco Cordero	192 Yunel Escobar
193 Edwin Encarnacion	194 Melvin Mora	195 Russ Martin	196 Edgar Renteria
197 Bigfoot	198 Steve Holm	199 Daric Barton	200 David Ortiz
201 Tim Lincecum	202 Jeff King	203 Jhonny Peralta	204 Julio Lugo
205 J.J. Putz	206 Jeff Francoeur	207 Yuniesky Betancourt	208 Bruce Jenner
209 Clete Thomas	210 Carlos Lee	211 Josh Hamilton	212 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
213 Brendan Harris	214 Dustin McGowan	215 Aaron Harang	216 Brett Myers
217 Friedrich Nietzsche	218 John Maine	219 Charles Dickens	220 Erik Bedard
221 Tim Hudson	222 Jeremy Bonderman	223 Nyjer Morgan	224 Johnny Cueto
225 Roy Oswalt	226 Rich Hill	227 Frederick Douglass	228 Derek Lowe
229 Joe Blanton	230 Carlos Beltran	231 Huston Street	232 Davy Crockett
233 Pluto	234 Jered Weaver	235 Dan Haren	236 Alex Gordon
237 Zack Grienke	238 Todd Clever	239 Brian Bannister	240 Magglio Ordonez
241 Ryan Garko	242 Takudzwa Ngwenya	243 Gil Meche	244 Mark Teahen
245 Carlos Guillen	246 Jeff Kent	247 Lisa Leslie	248 Lastings Milledge
249 Serena Williams	250 Ichiro	251 Matt Cain	252 Callix Crabbe
253 Nick Blackburn	254 Hunter Pence	255 Cole Hamels	256 Garret Anderson
257 Luis Gonzalez	258 Eric Chavez	259 Francisco Rodriguez	260 Mark Teixeira
261 Bob Motley	262 Mark Spitz	263 Yadier Molina	264 Adam Jones
265 Brian Roberts	266 Matt Kemp	267 Andrew Miller	268 Dean Karnazes
269 Gary Sheffield	270 Lance Berkman	271 Paul Lo Duca	272 Matt Tolbert
273 Jay Bruce	274 John Smoltz	275 Nick Markakis	276 Oscar Wilde
277 Dontrelle Willis	278 Kevin Van Dam	279 Jim Edmonds	280 Brandon Webb
281 Joe Nathan	282 Jeanette Lee	283 Andrew "William Ocean" Litz	284 Daisuke Matsuzaka
285 Brandon Phillips	286 Pat Burrell	287 Chris Carpenter	288 Pete Weber
289 Derrek Lee	290 Ken Griffey Jr.	291 Rich Thompson	292 Elijah Dukes
293 Pedro Feliz	294 Torii Hunter	295 Chone Figgins	296 Hideki Okajima
297 Max Scherzer	298 Greg Smith	299 Rafael Furcal	300 Ryan Howard
301 Felix Pie	302 Brad Lidge	303 Jason Bay	304 Victor Hugo
305 Randy Johnson	306 Carlos Gomez	307 Pat Neshek	308 Jed Lowrie
309 Ryan Church	310 Michael Bourn	311 B.J. Ryan	312 Brandon Wood
313 Harriet Beecher Stowe	314 Mike Cameron	315 Tom Glavine	316 Ervin Santana
317 Geoff Jenkins	318 Andre Ethier	319 Jason Giambi	320 Dmitri Young
321 Wily Mo Pena	322 Hank Blalock	323 James Bowie	324 Casey Kotchman
325 Stephen Drew	326 Adam Kennedy	327 A.J. Pierzynski	328 Richie Sexson
329 Jeff Clement	330 Luke Hochevar	331 Luis Castillo	332 Dave Roberts
333 Coco Crisp	334 Jo-Jo Reyes	335 Phil Hughes	336 Allen Fisher
337 Jason Schmidt	338 Placido Polanco	339 Jack Cust	340 Carl Crawford
341 Ty Wigginton	342 Aubrey Huff	343 Bengie Molina	344 Matt Diaz
345 Francisco Liriano	346 Brandon Boggs	347 David DeJesus	348 Justin Masterson
349 Frank Morris	350 Kevin Youkilis	NNO Kosuke Fukudome