2016 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball will mark its 11th year with chase elements that include autographs from Kevin Costner, cards of big city mayors and ancient Roman coins.
There will be some actual baseball cards that are part of the mix in this quirky annual product that pays homage of the 19th century issue of the same name. A full checklist for the product is below.
Ginter will offer seven cards plus one mini parallel inside each pack. There are 24 packs per box with box prices falling at about $80-$100.
Ginter is promising three hits per box, which could include standard autographs, relic cards, book cards, cut signatures, rip cards and those ancient Roman coins used to cr
eate special cards.
If You Build It, He Will Sign
Costner, who starred in Field of Dreams and is depicted as Ray Kinsella on the Ginter cards, has signed an unknown number that will be random inserts in boxes. There was no immediate word on whether other stars from the movie, such as James Earl Jones, might have signed for the product.
Costner will also be in Topps Archives, with autographs on cards centered around his role as Crash Davis in Bull Durham.
2016 Topps Allen & Ginter Breakdown
The 201
6 Allen & Ginter base set will be 350 cards, with the last 50 short printed. Expect to find 12 SPs per hobby box.
There will be 1/1 glossy parallels for the base set checklist while the mini cards will have several chase elements including 1/1 wood border and glossy versions as swell as rare Allen & Ginter advertising backs that seem in short supply this year. While there are supposed to be about five per box, dealers report only two or three, a ratio not unlike the Black Border Minis. In additi
on, 10 cards will get the ‘metal’ treatment in hobby boxes and be numbered to just 3.
Autographed Cards in 2016 Allen & Ginter will have black framed parallels numbered to 25 and red ink parallels numbered to 10. There will also be framed cards from previous A&G releases that have been purchased by Topps 
and re-inserted into the 2016 issue.
Among the new autograph additions: Tennis star Maria Sharapova, football coaching legend Steve Spurrier, four-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Missy Franklin and current middleweight boxing champ Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin.
Among the bigger hits, however, will be the Book Cards (50 subjects on the checklist with each card numbered to 10) and Cut Signatures that will 
also include political and historical figures (1/1).
Inserts on the standard size cards will include:
The Numbers Game (100 subjects) – The story behind players and their uniform numbers – 1:2 Packs.
Baseball Legends (25 subjects) – Featuring the best b
aseball players of all time.
Natural Wonders (20 subjects) – Cards devoted to the natural wonders of the world.
Mini inserts will include:
U.S. Mayors (35 subjects) – Featuring the most notable mayors in the United States
Subways and Streetcars (15 subjects) – Depicting famous modes of transportation in the U.S.
Laureates of Peace (10 subjects) – Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Ferocious Felines (15 subjects) – Cards of cats, big and small.
Box Loader cards will return with limited serial numbers for:
Box Loaders Relic – Numbered to 25.
Box Loaders Autograph – Numbered to 15.
Box Loaders Autographed Relic – Numbered to 5.
Box Loaders Cut Signature – Numbered 1 of 1.
Cabinet Relics – Numbered 1 of 1.
You can see 2016 Topps Allen & Ginter boxes, cases, sets and singles for sale on eBay here.
2016 Topps Allen and Ginter Checklist
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