Where has the time gone? Allen & Ginter is celebrating its Sweet 16 birthday this year, and Topps’ midsummer product continues to grow in stature with its eclectic mix of current stars, former greats and pop culture icons.
Midsummer is a misnomer this year, as the 2022 A&G set is scheduled for release the week of Sept. 9.
Base Set and Parallels
Most collectors will recognize the A&G format — 300 base cards and 50 short prints. A hobby box will contain 24 packs, with seven cards and a mini card parallel per pack. All 350 cards in the set will have 1/1 Glossy parallels, while the 300-card base set will include a Silver Portrait parallel. Those silver cards will be found in hot boxes.
Topps is promising three hits per hobby box, which could be relics, autographs, booklets, original buybacks or rip cards.
In addition to the glossies, there will be plenty of parallels for the mini cards.
Here is a breakdown for the base parallels:
- Allen & Ginter backs — 1:5 packs
- Black Bordered — 1:10 packs
- No Number cards — 50 copies
- Brooklyn Back cards — Numbered to 25
- Wood — a 1/1 hobby exclusive
- Framed Printing Plates — 1/1
For the short print mini parallels, the breakdown after the 1/1 glossies follows a similar, but not exact, path:
- Base Mini — 1:13 packs
- Allen & Ginter backs — 1:65 packs
- Black Bordered — 1:130 packs
- No Number cards — 50 copies
- Brooklyn Back card — Numbered to 25
- Wood — a 1/1 hobby exclusive
- Framed Printing Plates — 1/1
The minis also have several variations. Mini Metal cards has 150 subjects but is numbered to 3. Mini Stained Glass variations also has 150 subjects but is numbered to 25. Framed Mini Cloth Cards, a hobby exclusive, has 150 subjects and is numbered to 10.
Inserts
As usual, A&G will have plenty of inserts for collectors to chase. All are new.
Pitching a Gem showcases top current and past major league pitching stars and links them with the gemstone of their birth month. Banner Seasons, as the name implies, celebrates players who had award-winning or championship seasons.
Famous Rivals features two players who were well-known adversaries, while What’s Cookin’? highlights an ingredient on the card front. Collectors who complete the subset will have a full recipe.
It’s Your Special Day celebrates a player’s outstanding effort during a particular day, while Get That Bread highlights sandwiches and bread-meat combinations. It’s a nice touch since collectors are always in search of heroes.
The mini inserts are also new.
Ducks presents the different species of the webbed-foot birds, while Baseball Lexicon explores the “real life” meanings of MLB sayings or terminology. Ducks on the pond, perhaps?
What a Steal is a look back at crazy items that people have tried to steal throughout history. Time Out takes a look at strange times MLB games were either paused or canceled.
Inside the Park takes a more expansive view, celebrating the many national parks in the U.S. Bearing Fruit samples exotic fruits from all over the world.
Autographs/Auto relics
The A&G Framed Mini Autograph cards are the traditional version of signature cards. The on-card autographs feature big names from baseball, entertainment and pop culture. Parallels can be found in Black Framed, numbered to 25; and Red Ink, which will have a limited run and will be a hobby box exclusive.
Another hobby box exclusive, Autograph Relic Book cards, will feature jumbo relic pieces and a player’s signature on a dual-paneled book card. These cards will be sequentially numbered to 10. Dual Autograph Relic Book cards, as the title suggests, will have two autographs and a pair of relics.
Twenty subjects from pop culture or history will be featured in the A&G Cut Signatures insert.
Relic Cards
Relics will offer a diverse choice for collectors. The Allen & Ginter Full-Size Relics cards will be features in two different design formats. These cards will feature MLB stars, “world champion athletes” and personalities. Allen & Ginter Mini Relics will feature just major league baseball players.
A hobby exclusive will feature actual fossils in the Allen & Ginter DNA Relics cards, while Pitching a Gem Relics will have the pitchers’ birthstones embedded into the cards.
Framed Originals will be a 100-card set of 1/1 Allen & Ginter buyback cards.
Rip Cards
Rip cards, an A&G tradition, pose an intriguing question to collectors — to rip or not to rip?
There are three types of rip cards this year. The Allen & Ginter Rip cards feature 100 cards, while the Dual Rip is a hobby exclusive and features up to 50 subjects. Another hobby exclusive, Boxloader Rip, contains three cards.
Here is what a collector might find inside a rip card.
- Artist Originals — 1/1 cards
- Mini Exclusives — Numbered from 351 to 400
- Mini Metal Exclusives — Numbered to 3
- Mini Wood Exclusives — 1/1 cards
- Mini Stained-Glass Exclusives — One per Boxloader Rip card
Boxloaders
Box loaders or box toppers are oversized cards that fall one per hobby box.
Allen & Ginter Boxloaders features MLB’s “most collectible” stars and rookies. Allen & Ginter Boxloader Autographs feature an on-card signature and are numbered to 15 or less.
Making its debut this year is the Inside the Park Boxloader, which are limited to 500 copies. The A&G N43 Boxloader Autographs are on-card signatures and numbered to 15 or less. The cards have the classic N43 design.
The Allen & Ginter Boxloader Rip cards checklist has 30 subjects.
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