Christmas came a bit early for Allen & Ginter lovers! Oh sure, A&G used to be a summer release, but lately Topps has been pushing the release date further and further back. This year, the set barely made the end-of-year cut-off, but all's well that ends well!
There was a time when I could afford to order myself a case of A&G, but those days are also long gone. Instead, I bought several hobby boxes - and now I'm going to start ripping the first one!
Box topper:
None! I somehow missed the fact that, apparently, box toppers are no longer a thing with Allen & Ginter. That is another radical (and disappointing) development with the brand.
Pack 1:
221. Royce Lewis
186. Spencer Steer
117. Jose Ramirez
139. Fernando Tatis, Jr.
Gold Foil Filagree: 108. Jackson Merrill #/50
314. Tony Perez
A&G back mini: 46. Seiya Suzuki
Sweet Victory: SV-26. Mark McGwire
Wow, that's a solid first pack of the set! I landed a pair of Reds (one short print), plus a Gold Foil #/50 of a rising star in Jackson Merrill.
Pack 2:
156. Masataka Yoshida
231. Aaron Nola
108. Jackson Merrill
114. Byron Buxton
131. Coby Mayo
Silver Portrait: 195. Corbin Burnes
A&G back mini: 317. Mel Ott
Wicked Curves: WC-7. Clayton Kershaw
The Wicked Curves design is kind of neat. I'm glad the two most common full-sized inserts are both baseball-themed this year (Wicked Curves and Sweet Victory). I also like that each set only contains 40 cards since I'll undoubtedly try to collect both full sets!
Pack 3:
178. Colt Keith
246. Kyle Schwarber
73. Brooks Lee
56. Ozzie Albies
88. Gerrit Cole
315. Barry Larkin
1889 N22 mini: N222-22 Luisangel Acuna
Sweet Victory: SV-6. Juan Soto
Woo hoo, my first 2025 A&G Barry Larkin card! Larkin is a short print in this year's set which will (probably) make tracking down the various parallels much more difficult. Still, I'm happy for now with simply pulling his base card only three packs into my first box! The 1889 N22 mini set is another one that I'll probably chase after (that set contains 30 cards, which are a mix of rookies and stars).
Pack 4:
2. Mark McGwire
85. Jace Jung
122. Aaron Judge
105. Jacon Wilson
185. Andy Pettitte
Silver Portrait: 269. Josh Rawitch
Black border mini: 24. Cade Horton
Wicked Curves: WC-12. Pedro Martinez
I don't plan to go after the foilboard parallels this year. I guess they are actually called Silver Portraits, but whatever Topps calls 'em, I don't think I want them. It's also worth noting that only the base cards have Silver Portrait variations (i.e., none of the short prints #301-350 have Silver Portraits, which means there is no Barry Larkin Silver Portrait this year).
Pack 5:
44. Orel Hershiser
141. Trea Turner
10. Corbin Carroll
232. Logan Webb
276. Brittany Snow
Silver Portrait: 78. Cody Bellinger
A&G mini: 106. Wyatt Langford
Wicked Curves: WC-21. Jim Palmer
It wouldn't be an A&G set without some "pretty ladies" represented.
Pack 6:
40. Mike Schmidt
258. Chad Gilbert
78. Cody Bellinger
52. Dansby Swanson
Chrome: 128. Paul Skenes
344. Johnny Mize
Mini: 135. Drake Baldwin
Sweet Victory: SV-23. Joe Carter
Pulling the Skenes Chrome is a nice bonus for this particular pack! It appears that this year's Chrome set is another partial parallel (like in 2024). Topps chose 99 cards to give the Chrome treatment (there are also Refractors, X-Fractors, etc.). None of the short prints made the cut for the 99-card Chrome set, so no Barry Larkin cards to chase down here either for me this year!
Pack 7:
247. Edgar Quero
54. Ernie Banks
269. Josh Rawitch
Framed relic: MFR-FT. Fernando Tatis, Jr.
Silver Portrait: 258. Chad Gilbert
50 Fish from Global Waters mini: FGW-28. Moray Eel
Wicked Curves: WC-4. Joe Musgrove
Our first hit (out of a promised two) from the box is a decent Tatis, Jr. relic. Frankly, I think I'm more excited about the Fish mini (especially since I've already completed the original 1889 Allen & Ginter fish set)! I do plan to chase all of the various mini sets (so if you have to spare, let me know)!
Pack 8:
42. Dizzy Dean
111. Christian Yelich
195. Corbin Burnes
292. Seth Meyers
294. Andre Lotterer
328. Rollie Fingers
Mini: 153. Carlos Beltran
Sweet Victory: SV-37. Bret Saberhagen
And that concludes the first third of Box #1! All told, a very strong opening for 2025 Allen & Ginter. If the rest of this box can keep it up, this might go down as one of the best first boxes I've ever ripped!
What do you think of this year's A&G design and set overall? I'm disappointed by two main things: no box toppers and only two hits, but if the quality of the hits is higher (framed relics, etc.), then maybe I can justify the changes that Topps made.
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