12/03/25 saw the release of the annual Allen & Ginter set. For me this was a long awaited day as Ginter is one of my favorite sets. Outside of Stadium Club, this is one of the few modern sets I even bother with buying. I try to pick up at least one box each year, but with prices climbing to "stupid" levels, it's getting harder and harder to build modern sets period. Thankfully, I got a pre-order in w/ Topps and didn't have to pay the inflated prices. Kinda wish I grabbed two boxes now.
When the shipping box arrived, I was taken back by how small the box was. While Topps did return to the book style boxes, it's much smaller than in previous years. Hobby boxes still yield 24 packs 8 cards per pack), but the number of guaranteed hits was reduced from 3 to 2. This wasn't the only change for 2025. While I haven't collated the cards yet, I found the non-sports cards to be far less that in recent years. While some fans may rejoice at this, I was actually disappointed. One of the reasons I enjoy Ginter so much is because it *is* different than every other set. At least the inserts are good this year, but more on that later.
The stack of base cards you see above represents one Hobby box. If you think this stack of cards looks small, your eyes are not deceiving you. At 8 cards per pack and 24 packs, that's 192 cards...however one card in each pack is a mini, so that knocks it down to 168 cards. You'll get at least one full size insert in each pack so that again reduces the amount of base cards to 144. Of those cards, you'll have parallels and other inserts that reduces this number even further. I had several packs where 5 of the 8 cards were non-base. If you're a set builder like me, you'll find this a little depressing. I guess this is where retail blasters will come into play for me.
SPs return with the final 50 cards of the 350 card set being short packed. I didn't look up the exact pack odds, but I believe they usually fall 1:2 packs. This would add up with me pulling 12 total SPs. Good names found and a good start to the final 50.
The most common of the parallel sets (outside minis) are these full size Rainbow foil cards. I don't get these. As I opened the packs, I cringed when I saw one sticking out of the pack as I knew that was one less base card towards completing the set I'd have. I could do without these and would gladly trade the non-Braves for base cards or mini inserts needed.
Foil Filigree parallels make their return...which is fine. I've really gotten into "rainbow" collecting lately so I don't mind a few parallels to chase. By main concern is the quality control on the Barry Larkin card. If you look on the left side, you'll see the silver foil was not applied correctly. Not the biggest deal, but with these being more limited it's frustrating when 50% of them are defective straight out of the pack. Red and Gold parallels also exist, which are serially numbered.
Unfortunately the quality control issues weren't limited to the Foil Filagree parallels. Two of three Black minis were also miscut. At least the SP (Johnson) appears to be fine.
I didn't photograph any of the minis as I didn't get anything spectacular. A&G backs return as well as Brooklyn backs, which are hand numbered to /25.
Back to the full size parallels. While Allen & Ginter Chrome was it's own set in the past, this year it's been weaved into the main Ginter set. It's not a full parallel set of the base cards, but I can't remember how many cards there are. I just know I won't be completing this set. I like a good chrome card as much as the next collector, but chrome and Ginter are an odd pairing for me. I like the names I pulled, even got a Refractor of a country singer...that I've never heard of!
One lone Chrome mini was lurking in my box. I believe there is a mini for each Chrome card. This is another set I won't be chasing, but glad to have at least one card as an example in my set.
The first of two full size inserts this year is Sweet Victory. I believe this is a 50 card set so you'll see plenty of these pulled in each Hobby box. This set of course highlights game winning moments from baseball history. I haven't reach each card back, but I look forward when it comes time to collate the set and create a binder.
The other full size insert set is Wicked Curves and features some of the greatest pitchers in the game. Like the overall design and theme and like with Sweet Victory, I look forward to reading the card backs when it comes time to insert them into pages. These are also pretty common.
In past sets we've had mini insert sets that focused on dinosaurs, sharks and other animals. This year we get a set of 50 different aquatic animals. While sharks are in the set, check out the Clownfish pulled!
Beachin' It features iconic beaches. While I'm not the biggest fan of the beach, this is another fun set. I was happy my one lone example of this set was Hilton Head Island, SC, my home state. This is one of the smaller mini insert sets so I hope to complete it without too much trouble.
I bet you can guess the theme of the State Birds set. I pulled Vermont's state bird, the Hermit Thrush. While this is a large set, judging from early eBay listings it doesn't appear to be too popular. It'll take some time to get them all, but I'm up for the challenge.
The final mini set represented in my box is Light the Night, a set dedicated to lighthouses. This is the set I'll go after first for a few reasons. 1) I've grown to enjoy visiting various lighthouses as my wife is from New England and she's taken me to a few different ones in Maine when we go to visit family there. 2) My late father was in a quartet at church and it was called the Lighthouse Quartet.
...and finally are down to the hits. First hit pulled was the full size relic of Dustin Pedroia. Seems fitting I'd pull a Red Sox player since I finally got to take in a game at Fenway Park this summer. The second hit was a framed mini auto of Brendan Donovan of the St. Louis Cardinals. This one is numbered to /99.
Anytime you can pull a numbered framed auto you can't complain. Donovan may not have the star power of other possible autos in the set, but it'll look great in my soon to be created Ginter set.
If I had to rate this set from 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, I'd give it a 5 or 6. The base design and mini inserts save it from being a lower score. The decreased non-sport cards represented in the base set, increased parallels, quality control and reduced number of hits coupled with a high price tag make it hard for me to recommend. I'm hoping I'll get more of my money's worth with blaster purchases from here on out. It was a fun rip none the less and I look forward to reading blog posts or watching videos to see what others pull.
