2011 Allen & Ginter Box Break Part 1: Packaging, Box Topper and the Very First Pack

Welcome to the 5th Annual Cardboard Junkie Allen & Ginter Obsessathon! If you missed any of the previous events, you can find them here:

2007   2008   2009   2010

I didn't kick this off with the 2006 Edition of A&G because a) I wasn't card blogging back then and b) I couldn't find a hobby box to save my soul. If anyone happens to have a spare empty box of  2006 Allen & Ginter lying around I'll be happy to over-analyze it for you in blog format if you wish.

The 2011 Edition has arrived! Time to rip open the box and spill its pulpy guts for all to see! But first... you know what I have to do. Oh yes you do, don't act like you didn't see this coming. First...

THE PACKAGING

Yes you have to put up with me describing all the packing materials for the product before you get to see any cards. And don't try to cheat and just scroll down to the bottom! This blog will know and instead of my box topper you'll see that Italian Spiderman gif again. SO NO PEEKING. Got it? good. Here's the box top.

I must begin by saying that I really like the Ginter nameplate this year. The red, black and gold color scheme is pleasing to my quickly deteriorating eyeballs. I also like the fact that Topps returned to a frame motif on the front. Last year's edition had full bleed borders which was unseemly for a retro product like this. The gilded frame encloses another generic scene of pastoral nineteenth century baseball life. I hazard a guess that the location is Elysian Fields, as the player looks a lot like a mob enforcer from Jersey. Dude's wielding that bat like he's swinging for kneecaps, not curveballs.

Just like last year the inside of the box is just a slight reordering of all the elements on the front to orient it horizontally. The Black Ribbon of Mojo heralding all the things you could have gotten in your box instead of three common relic cards is exactly the same on the front and back with the exception that the right side of the ribbon now wraps behind the frame. Topps chose two autographs of Manny Pacquiao and Ryan Howard and a DNA card of JFK for their sample cards. The three sample mini cards are also the same as the ones on the front. Topps has done this the past two years and it saddens me greatly. I want to see all kinds of mini cards not just two scribbles and a pube. Way back in 2007 and 2008, Topps actually put base minis as the samples on the box. Of course back then they had Bruce Lee and a guy who ate hot dogs quickly as their featured non-baseball subjects.

An extremely disturbing aspect of the inside flap is that the "World's Champions 1887-2011" text has moved, meaning there is now an unencumbered view of bat-wielding creepy guy's package. I just flat out didn't want to know if this guy was wearing a cup or not and it's impossible to avoid finding out if you try to see what hits you won't be getting in your box on the Black Ribbon if Mojo. "Yo buddy! What are YOU looking at??"

Look at that shifty-ass motherscrubber. That man will cut you for a box of Cracker Jack. HE DON'T EVEN LIKE CRACKER JACK. He's a Twizzlers man. A Twizzlers man with a KNIFE. Don't look at his junk.

Let's move on to the side panels before I need stitches.The side panel is the 2011 Ginter nameplate. No more, no less. Very classy looking and I wish I hadn't scanned it cockeyed now.

The front panel is much the same with an added old timey map of the world on the side. The Old Planter security seal betrays the fact that I had this entire box ripped before it came anywhere near a scanner.

The back panel replaces the map with a picture of a ship. The two pictures probably represent the new standard-sized insert sets of famous scientists and ships.

The box bottom is horribly boring now that the grouping within the relic and auto cards have been abolished. Other than the standard legalese, the only important information on the bottom is the odds on box toppers. The short version - Cabinet 1:2 boxes, N43 1:2 boxes, everything else fugettaboutit.

Not even going to make this image super sized it's that boring.

Oh, look. A serial number underneath the packs. I shall scan it and post it, for I am insane.

Umm... Box bottoms don't scan very well. The serial used to be on the cardboard insert thing that kept the packs from shuffling around but it's actually printed on the box itself this time.This shall be tricky...

Ha ha! I unfolded the box!

*Ahem* Oh, look. A serial number underneath the packs. I shall scan it and post it, for I am insane. The highest serial number yet! Although last year wasn't really a number since there were random letters floating around in there.

Checklists! I love checklists! Other people have already scanned the checklists, but I did it anyway BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I DO. I shall recount in this post my initial thoughts upon scanning the checklist.

Lou Holtz... Hope Solo...Dirk Hayhurst? How good would our bullpen look with Tim Collins...CHIPPAH Shmyrev? Uggs... L.L. Zamenhof, don't know who that is but I want it. Prado... Jair... Tim Howard! George Bush? Brandon Beachy RC! Hanson... Freddie Freeman RC! Guy Fieri? Damn, I want a blue shroom burger from the Vortex now...Picabo! RUDY

Good lord, how did I eff up this scan so badly. WHAT'S DONE IS DONE. Back to stream of consciousness reactions.

MAC! Itchy... Minor...Huddy... Smilin' Stan?! Oh Lord, the royal wedding...DLowe...Peter Gammons! Oh crap SPs - HEYWARD. FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU oh inserts. Sketches - J-Hey! Yay! Flora of the World - gimmicky crap Animals in Peril - oooh Zappa lyrics imminent -

Kiss my aura, Dora
That's right -
you know why?
Because it was real angora!
Would you all like some more-a?
Right here on the flora?
How about you Fauna?
You wanna?

Ok back to inserts - Portraits of Penultimacy - how the hell are Igor and Tonto penultimate? Hometown Heroes - J-HEY! Uggs, CHIPPAH! DLowe. To be continued...

Heroes - McCANN! and not much else. Looking for five cards out of a hundred. World's Most Mysterious Figures - any set with Rasputin in it is good enough for me. I hope it's not a case hit or something. Step Right Up - The Human Blockhead: a card about me!! Uninvited Guests - ME GHOSTA. Floating Fortresses - Ships are nice but one's enough for me. The Minds That Made The Future - NERDGASM. MUST. CAPTURE. ALL. SCIENTISTS. and bend them to my will muahahahha The Ascent of Man - SCIENCE! Suck it, creationists. Keep your stickers out of my textbooks

Aw hell, Autograph cards - J-HEY! John McEnroe? Wee Man?? Gore & Olbermann??? W???? ANDRES TORRES????????????

Ok last page of checklists. HOLY CRISPY FISHSTICKS THERE'S A FRIGGING CRAPLOAD OF RELICS. Five freaking Braves relics. great. DNA Relics - must clone nixon Cut sigs - who cares.

TOPPS - Y U NO CHECKLIST BOXTOPPERS

Never tell me the odds - You can see all this crap at Baseballcardpedia. My eyes can't handle the squinty any more.

One bit of commentary though - Why is a card meant to be buried in the dirt inserted at a 1 in 6 boxes ratio? Seriously, why, Topps, why??

The wrapper is interesting this year. Topps has traditionally gone with light, bright, airy colors for their Allen & Ginter wrappers in the past. This one is Dark. I can understand the use of the bronze background as that color is an important design element this year. The Black Death Bar at the bottom and the featured inclusion of Shifty McStabsalot wielding a war club is frightening though. buy this pack if you ever want to see your loved ones again  Maybe Shifty is actually a jolly scamp and we'll all grow to love his antics soon.
 
Ok, you've read all this crap about the wrapper diligently here's the Box Topper Payoff. You good, sweet, attentive readers can skip the next little bit meant for the quick scrollers.

YOU CHEATED!!!

GET BACK UP THERE AND LOOK AT THE PACKAGING  OR NO BOX TOPPER FOR YOU

All right cheater. Did you look at the wrappers? ALL the wrappers? You did? good. Here's a pop quiz before I show off my box topper.

1) What player is Dayf constantly flipping his shit over?
a) George Brett
b) Jason Heyward
c) Kristi Yamaguchi
d) Silky Johnson

2) What album cover does Shifty McStabsalot's junk resemble?
a) The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
b) David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
c) Nirvana - Nevermind
d) Ken - By Request Only

3) How the hell did Dayf screw up the scan of that checklist?
a) He has two checklists and one moved during the scanning process
b) A tragic cut and paste mishap
c) He's an idiot who should not be allowed near electronic equipment under any circumstances
d) That's actually how the checklist looks

4) Are the newfangled bronze wrappers still made of the super sexy sleek silky material that drive all the men wild?
a) Yes.
b) Hell yes.
c) mmmmmm oooooooh yes yes YES.
d) go away, 'batin

EXTRA CREDIT - Create a backstory for our beloved 2011 Ginter mascot, Shifty McStabsalot.

If you got this far, you passed. Here's mah boxtoppah.

N43s make a comeback after two straight years of cabinet cards! The place where I used to find boxtoppers for fifty cents a throw changed ownership so collecting this year's set will be pricey for me. Here's the checklist:

And it's a terrible checklist. It's odd not seeing Ryan Zimmerman in every N43 set anymore. It's also odd that after one of the best rookie crops in forever, that Aroldis Chapman is the one 2010 rookie to get an N43. Yeah this checklist sucks. I'll trade mine for David Price and call it a year. Oh who did I get? You couldn't tell from the card 'number'?

Adam Wainright and his balky elbow. Oh well, I guess it's the closest thing to a Brave in the set. DON'T YOU EVEN SAY IT.

Packaging and bonus card obsessory is complete! Time for...

THE FIRST PACK

119 Nancy Lopez

Dominated the LPGA like Tiger dominated the PGA. BONUS: no skank scandals! I'm digging the AG logo used for the non-baseball subjects.

206 Tsuyoshi Nishioka

Rookie card of another snake-bitten Japanese import. A broken leg is a hell of a way to start your career.

101 Peter Bourjos

Notable only because his recent injury prompted the call up of blue chip prospect Mike Trout.

140 Felix Hernandez

Winning a Cy Young with a 13-12 record - it's good to be da king.

63 Neil Walker

The Pirates have a winning record? What??

158 Billy Butler

Base card in the SP slot means great sadness.

271 Chris Young mini A&G  back

There's a buttpile of mini inserts again this year so the A&Gs might be easier to find than the base minis again this year. The shape behind Old Planter is kind of nifty this year. It resembles to me a depiction of a slice of hallucinogenic ergot-tainted rye bread in a German Expressionist woodcut. You don't care about the art, you care about one thing...

THE FRANKENSET RETURNS

Did Chris Young make it into the Frankenset?
NO - Chris was blocked by a 2006 mini of Hall of Famer Lloyd Waner.

HH100 Travis Snider Hometown Heroes

Whoever designs the A&G set has to be a Font Nerd because the fonts this year are fantastic. I really like the map with the little toothpick flag you get with a sandwich at a diner pushed in.

Well, the first pack was probably the most utterly boring out of the entire box. The next three make up for it though.

2009 Topps Heritage High Series Box Break - Part 1: Box Toppers and detritus

Obak wasn't the only box I ripped. Time to show off the 2009 Topps Heritage High Series Presented By Topps 2009 Updates And Highlights Because We Are Using A Loophole To Circumvent This Product Around The Licensing Agreement Which Is Why You Are Paying The Same Price As Heritage Proper But Getting Two Cards You Want Replaced By Two Crappy Base Cards From A Set You Already Completed A Month Ago When You Bought Those Jumbo Boxes Of Updates & Highlights And You Still Didn't Even Get A Sketch Card Which Was All You Wanted In The First Place box I picked up because I like the 1960 design and it was cheap as dirt, but still enough to get me free shipping. Oh Yeah, I also wanted the Tommy Hanson Shortprint, but I'm too lazy to go on eBay and pick it up for 5 bucks.

Here's the box toppers. Wait, did he say toppers? That's right, I got me a buyback. First, the strip card:

Let those Youngsters know you have 209 Topps blah blah blah! And then hope their dad comes into buy a box, because the kids don't care no more.

Johnny Gomes and two Padre rookies. The Padres are going to mess up the Braves in the playoffs, I just know it. The season is going too well for something horrific like losing to what everyone thought was the worst team in baseball at the beginning of the season to not happen. That was an awkwardly written sentence but you'll have to excuse me because I am too gripped by Pennant Race Dread to think straight right now.

Ok, here's the good one:

Buyback card! And the winnah is....

Detroit Tigers coaches! Floaty heads! And there's a Hall of Famer on there too!

I basically treat the Topps base cards like garbage in this set, but here's some garbage that caught my eye.

This is such a great looking card. Too bad it's spoiled by a Yankee and a Met.

I desperately want Andruw Jones to be a Hall of Famer one day, but his post-Braves career is a hot mess. I just don't know.

Wilkin Ramirez is the latest member of the Braves' rotating fringe outfielder squad now that Josh Anderson, Brian Barton, Willy Taveras and Gregor Blanco have been run out of town.

Ball on bat. Sqiushes slightly from impact. Nice.

Here's Javy back when he was good. So, who's had the better season, Javy at 9-9 with a 4-something ERA for the best team money can buy, or Melky and Dunn who have actually contributed to the Braves this year? Don't even worry about the top 10 prospect we got either. That's what I thought, ya Wren haters.

Hot Box Hits: Part 1 - Boxtoppers

Time to show off the shinies from the Obak box. First up is the cabinet cards. These are supposed to be one per box, but I got two somehow. I'm not sure if I'm just exceedingly lucky of if that is a hallmark of a hot box.

These cards are based on the T4 Cabinet premiums from Obak. It took 50 coupons form Obak cigarettes to get one of these The original Obak T212s aren't all that common to begin with, so these are extremely scarce. The newfangled cabinets differ from the originals in that there was no logo or text on the fronts and the back was blank. These are some of the better looking retro style cards put out recently.

T4-28 Calvin Griffith - Minnesota

I'm assuming the kid on the card is Calvin Griffith, Owner of the Washington Senators when they moved to Minnesota to become the Twins. He was the nephew of long time player, owner and manager Clark Griffith, and Calvin did work as a bat boy for his uncle.

Even though the card is for the Minnesota Franchise, the back of the card shows the Senators' first park in Washington. I guess a picture of the old Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis did fit the theme of the set. The old timey pictures on these cabinets are fantastic.

T4-29 Charles Comiskey - Chicago

Good 'ol Chuck Comiskey, the real ringleader behind the Black Sox Scandal. Pay your players properly and they won't have to throw games to afford your laundry fees! A stadium is named after him and he's in the original Allen & Ginter N28 set so I'll give him a pass for now. I can't stay mad at a man with such a mighty fine hat, can I?

The two cabinets are a slightly different color on the front. I don't know if this is normal design of the set or if there is some sort of parallel going on. Neither are serial numbered or marked differently at all so I'll assume they are just part of the base set.

Man, check out the cigar ads on the wall at South Side park! I wonder if I got out a magnifying glass I could figure out who some of those players were.  I was originally thinking about flipping these cards for the Atlanta T4, but they look so damn good I might just try to chase the set.

Here's the checklist - these are one per box.

One nice thing about the checklist is that unlike some companies, TriStar actually notes which cards have variations. One star for a slogan variation on the back and two stars for an image variation. If I counted right, there are 13 slogan variations and 3 image variations. Here's the checklist of variations so you don't have to squint.

Slogan Variations:
4 Starlin Castro
6 Austin Jackson
17 Roger Clemens
19 Hank Greenberg
20 Dale Murphy
21 Cal Ripken Jr.
40 Johnny Bench
41 Jose Canseco
44 Jason Heyward
52 Jim Abbott
89 Luthor "Dummy" Taylor
108 Tinker to Evers To Chance
109 Sherry Magee

Image Variations:
19 Hank Greenberg
44 Jason Heyward
52 Jim Abbott

Minis have variations too, 8 slogan variations and 1 image variation.

Mini Slogan Variations:

3 Starlin Castro

4 Austin Jackson

9 Roger Clemens

10 Hank Greenberg

11 Dale Murphy

12 Cal Ripken Jr.

18 Jason Heyward

37 Sherry Magee

Mini Image Variation:

18 Jason Heyward

The T4 also has an image variation on the Washington cabinet.  If anyone is trying to build a master set including the variations, you'll be looking at 136 cards (27 short prints and variations) for the base set and 54 cards (9 variations) for the mini set. That's actually a very obtainable goal. If you want a complete master set with all the parallels, variations and autographs, well, that's insane. Someone will try it though.

Next up: Veteran autographs.

2010 Allen & Ginter Box Break Part 1: Packaging, Box Topper and the Very First Pack

Ok, I have my box, it is all ripped up, I know exactly what is and is not in the box and it's time to show it off to the world. The first thing I have to show is all the various ephemera and assorted detritus contained there in, AKA the packaging. Don't give me that look, I always do this. The box top is nice. Old Timey player (Night Owl calls him Minty Beans and I believe I shall as well) pivots for the double play while surrounded by two cards you likely won't get and one you sure as hell won't get.

The inner flap is a tad disappointing as it is merely a reordering of the box top. The inside flap has slowly devolved in originality since I broke my first box in 2007 and next year it will likely be the exact same as the front image. 2012 will have a plain blank cardboard inside flap and in 2013, There will be no packaging at all, Topps will just throw a handful of packs into a used Wal-Mart shopping bag and twist tie the top.

Here are the interesting bits from the side panels. They are mostly the typical ad stuff, but there's a different image on each side for once. Might they be a part of the Code?

Grand Sailing Ship

Flaming Vuvuzela/World's Largest Spliff

Wild Turkey

Old Timey Astronomer/Prevert looking in the Girl's Dorm Window

These might actually be representations of some of the cards in the set. There's a Ship insert set... and I think something about astrology... and turkeys? Oh heck with it. Vuvuzela activate! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The box bottom has typical legalese. the left side is boring so no scan. Here's the box odds:

I have no idea how an N43 can be 1:3 boxes, a cabinet can be 1:2 boxes and you still get something in every box. All that autorelic crap does not land 1:6 boxes which is what you would need to make the math add up. Topps couldn't even answer their own Canadian skill test question with that mathematical shoddiness.

Now this is interesting. No more group A and B and C D E F G relic and autos. All of 'em are mushed up in a big lump o' autorelics. You can read all that mess yourself, here are only ones I care about:

Autos:
Tommy Hanson
Yunel Escobar
Jason Heyward

Relics:
Brian McCann
Yunel Escobar
Melky Cabrera

This list subject to change.

Oh, look. A serial number underneath the packs. I shall scan it and post it, for I am insane. These numbers are getting complicated. A&G never had letters in their serial number before unless they have always used Base 24 and just not told anyone.


Ok, just because I love you all and I have no idea how close I am to filling up my free Picasa photo storage here's the checklist in 400DPI.

Enjoy quickly, the nanosecond Google wants me to pay I'm deleting the suckers.

Ok! Actual cardage! I GOTS A CABINET CARD!

Topps does not in any Manner, make any representations as to whether its cards will attain any future value.

AIN'T IT DA TRUTH.

Did all you Strasburg Psychotics read that? Do you need CPR now? Ok, here's the card:

A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL, PANAMA

Looking over the checklist, this is the absolute best I could have possibly done for a Cabinet card. Teddy Roosevelt is my favorite president so I can dig this one. Better than a cabinet card of Andrew McCutcheon and only Andrew McCutcheon.

All right. this is what you've all been waiting for. THE FIRST PACK:

But first, the odds:

Here are the odds and the number of said inserts you can reasonable expect in any given box:

Short Print - 1:2 (12 per box)
Mini Short print - 1:13 (2 per box, 1 if you're unlucky)
Mini A&G Ad back - 1:5 (6 per box)
Mini A&G Ad back SP - 1:65 (I suppose you could get one)
Mini Black border - 1:10 (2 per box, three if you're lucky)
Mini Black border SP - 1:130 (not likely)
Mini No number - 1:140 (still not likely)
Mini Bazooka back (not bloody likely)
Mini Wood - (fughettaboudit)
National Animals - 1:8 (3 per box)
Lords Of Olympus - 1:12 (2 per box)
Monsters of the Mesozoic - 1:12 (2 per box)
Worlds Greatest Wordsmiths - 1:24 (1 per box)
Sailors of the Seven Seas - 1:24 (1 per box)
Creatures of Legend, Myth and Joy 1:288 (The hell? These aren't on the checklist! Dammit Topps)
Baseball Highlight Sketch insert - 1:10 (2 per box, three if you're lucky)
Rip card 1:285 (5 other bloggers you know will pull one, but you won't)
Framed Printing plates - 1:799
Framed Cloth cards - 1:365 (Printing plates and Silks only come when you aren't expecting them. Are you expecting one? Then forget it.)
Framed Mini Autographs - 1:40 (Oh you're really hoping to pull one of these...)
Framed Relics - 1:11 (But you'll get three of these instead.)
Cut Signatures - 1:110,000 (Only if you buy one of those awful TriStar packs along with your box of A&G)
Monsters of the Mesozoic redemption card - 1:174,000 (It's a redemption, don't sweat it)
Book Cards - 1:127,875 (Why would you want this anyway?)
Frames  DNA relic - 1:200,000 (Is your name Beckett? then no)

Ok cards now for reals. TEH FURST CARDE INN THEE PAKC:

(note to Gint-A-Cuff Nazis - it is 12:15 right now and I need to post this quickly so I can go to sleep. I'll add up points tomorrow sometime)

73 - Avery Jenkins

Champion Disc Golfer. That's the way to set the tone for the entire break. Any sport that requires the competitors to grab a large phallus in order to play the sport is all right with me.

63 Matt Carson

After being mostly unobtrusive in their other releases, Topps now throws that Rookie Card logo RIGHT IN YOUR FACE for their most design sensitive set of the year. Graphic design genius, I say.

267 Martin Prado

MARTEEEEEEEEEN! Your Starting National League All Star second baseman. If you don't know who Martin is by now, you just don't know baseball.

64 Josh Beckett

I can't remember - is Beckett incredible or a bum this year? It's so hard to keep track of these things.

91 Carlos Zambrano -1

BOOOOOOOOOOOO! I'm playing hearts and I just took the queen of spades. Stupid Cubbie hothead.

AGHS5 Ichiro Sketch card

Screw you haters, I like the sketch cards. Not enough to rescan it when it got cut off at the bottom, but I like them. Ichiro's probably the best of a sparse checklist this year.

206 JD Drew A&G mini +2

Bluh. My first two minis of the year are Teixeira and Drew. Oh well, does this card make the FrankenSet? the answer is....

YES

A&G Drew bumps a 2007 Mike Napoli out of the binder.

TDH51 Gordon Beckham +1

Cool, a Bulldog for my first This Date in history. I think this will be my favorite of all the one-per-pack insert sets from A&G (No offense Dick Perez - your sketches are cool too)

Packs 2-4 will be up tomorrow. I hope.