2015 Topps Allen & Ginter: Box 2 - Packs 1 - 4 (A Framed Mini and a Hit!)

Yesterday, I finished off my first box out of my case of 2015 Topps Allen & Ginter.  I'm too anxious to wait around, so let's get right to box #2!  

Box 2:

Box Topper:

Box 2 had a much more interesting (to me) box topper - one of the Pride of the People cabinet cards.  These are seeded 1:4 hobby boxes - and with ten cards in the set, putting the entire thing together will probably be quite difficult!  That said, depending on how many of these I actually pull from the case, I might give it a go since I like the design (and concept) so much!

Packs 1 - 4:

As with box #1, I'm only going to give the highlights of each group of packs.  I've found that doing four packs at a time seems to be a good compromise between getting through the box somewhat efficiently and yet still allowing plenty of cool cards their opportunity to shine on the blog!  

The first pack out of the box provided two Reds (Marlon Byrd and Billy Hamilton).  In addition, the first pack provided my framed mini 10th Anniversary buyback card.  

That's interesting to note only because the first pack out of box #1 also held the framed buyback card.  Coincidence?  Most likely, but perhaps not...  I've got a few more boxes in order to test the hypothesis!  The buyback, by the way, was Russell Martin from the 2009 set.  I don't have much more to say about that other than it's a nice frame!

While I'm comparing box #2 to box #1, I should note that I only pulled two short prints in the first four packs (right in line with the odds of 1:2 packs).  I don't expect another short print "hot box" like box #1 but it is something to keep an eye on as I progress through the current box.

I did quite well on the insert front with the four packs as well - I pulled another Great Scott card (Large Hadron Collide) which is definitely a feat worthy of celebration!

The photograph makes it look a bit boring but the science done there has the potential to turn science on its head over the next few years!

Speaking of turning heads, how about a catapult?

The Ancient Armory set wouldn't have been complete without every castle's nightmare, the almighty catapult.  It's not every day you get to read about hurling human bodies on a baseball card either, for whatever that is worth!

Turning our attention to the minis of the packs, I found one regular back (Freddie Freeman), one A&G back (Josh Reddick), and one black border (Joe Buck).  A nice assortment, but ultimately none that particularly interest me.  The fourth mini, however, was of utmost interest to me!

That's my first Hoist the Black Flag mini insert of the case - a set that I was looking forward to and was a bit disappointed to not find any of in my first box of Ginter!  Once again, I must say that I WANT ALL YOUR GINTER MINI INSERTS!  Once I get my entire case opened and busted (which should happen soonish), I will have a full want list posted.  For now though, I'll trade for any of the minis!

We end today's post with the first hit of box #2 - and it's one of the rather dull full-sized relics.

That's Brody Stevens - a comedian who I've never heard of.  It's becoming clear to me that I'm not keeping up with pop culture very well - I'm now two-for-two in terms of full-sized relics of guys I've never heard of...  The back of the card says that "the memorabilia contained in this card is not from any specific game, event, or season."  That's super useful for a comedian?!  C'mon Topps, you can do better than that.

And that concludes the first four packs of box #2.  So far, the box topper was better than box #1...and the Pirate mini is definitely cooler than the minis in box #1 as well.  I'll call the relics a wash - which means box #2 has the lead so far!