My A&G Frankenset: Cards #1 - 60

Last Friday, I mentioned that I was finally getting started on creating my own mini A&G Frankenset.  Well, I've successfully gone through my first bunch of stacks of mini cards from a variety of years of A&G and am ready to show off my preliminary binder.  

Note:  You'll notice a few "hedge words" in the above statement.  I think I still have one or two more year's worth of mini cards to go through but I have gone through all of the A&G mini cards that I had set aside for this project (including all of my new 2021 minis).  Also, I do plan on continually updating this binder as I acquire new A&G mini cards - hopefully to fill in any remaining holes in my set but also to replace "lesser" cards with more exciting cards!

Page 1 - Cards #1 - 15:

Missing #s:  2, 13

Highlights:  Obviously, I'm a Reds fan so you can expect a healthy smattering of Reds cards to make their way into the binder when all is said and done.  However, Topps hasn't been putting Reds in the beginning of the set much I guess since only one Reds player makes it onto the first page (a nice Aroldis Chapman rookie card).  I kind of like having Ruth, Gehrig, and Mantle all on the same page.  Also nice to see Reggie Jackson (as an Angel) and I like that Trevor Story rookie card quite a bit too (though the horizontal shot does bug me a bit when stored in a binder page like this)!  Finally, how about that nice black bordered Mike Trout card? 

Lowlights:  Francisco Mejia rookie card only made it in since it was a rookie card, I didn't have good options for that slot.  Mike Stanton doesn't do much for me either and I'm no fan of having the first page of my binder consist of four different Yankees!

Overall:  Despite missing two slots, this is a strong opening page for the binder.  Lots of retired greats along with some of the greatest current players.  Not a lot of "dead weight" here which makes sense since these are some of the first cards in their respective sets.

Page 2 - Cards #16 - 30:

Missing:   None!

Highlights:  The Griffey, Jr. is great.  Happy to see Ohtani.  Three Reds featured (Cueto, Morgan, and Bruce).  I like the Blyleven and Banks black bordered cards, Blyeleven being a retired great who doesn't get as much love in modern products.  The smiles on both Sandberg and Banks cards in the top row make me happy.

Lowlights:  Gordan Beckham, really?  Not wild about having two Ernie Banks cards but honestly I like both of the them quite a bit on their own.  Two Indians on the second row but neither player interests me all that much.  

Overall:  A solid page with really only Gordan Beckham being completing underserving of a spot in my Frankenset.  So far, so good two pages in!

Page 3 - Cards #31 - 45:

Missing:  None!

Highlights:  A solid group highlighted by Johnny Bench, Jackie Robinson, and Ichiro.  The Billy Hamilton card reminds me of my old notebooks from grade school (if you know, you know).  

Lowlights:  I don't know anything about Kevin Harvick, he needs to be replaced.  Wil Middlebrooks made it in as a black bordered card but it wouldn't take much to unseat him as well.

Overall:  This page is alright but there are plenty of cards here that I could see being replaced in the future.  I am happy to have two full pages out of the first three in the set!

Page 4 - Cards #46 - 60:

Missing:  None!

Highlights:  Obviously Coco Crisp has to be mentioned.  I'm no Jeter fan but I do like the mini of him on this page.  Black bordered Clemente is gorgeous - and a black bordered Rickey Henderson card isn't bad either.  Four Reds (though the horizontal Votto bugs me since every other card is oriented vertically).  

Lowlights:  Only the black bordered Apollo Creed card jumps out to me as an easily upgraded slot.  I have no affinity for the Rocky movies so I don't care about that card - though I do like the splash of color of his patriotic hat and I think it's important to maintain some of the "oddball" nature of the Frankenset when possible!

Overall:  Through the first 60 cards, I have 58 slots filled.  Not bad at all!  It seems like Topps does front load their Ginter brand with plenty of star power in the first 50 cards or so - many of the choices were quite painful to make when trying to decide who makes it into the first pass of the binder!  

More to come from my binder in the near future - I'd love to hear your thoughts about my choices!