Allen & Ginter World's Champions baseball cards have been issued by Topps for several years now. In addition to baseball players there are usually a number of random quirky cards included in the sets as well, along with "Rip" cards that contain another image under the photo and ask the holder if they will 'keep it or rip it?' and a variety of other inserts, mini cards, relics, autographs and so on.
The original Allen & Ginter was a tobacco company in the 19th Century. The link between baseball cards and tobacco companies predates the link with bubblegum, and a surprising number of very old tobacco brands have been resurrected by the card companies in this century. Upper Deck have their Goodwin's Champions, and Topps release their very high end "206" product and the Gypsy Queen range.
I am ambivalent about the use of long-gone tobacco company names by card companies. While they aren't recognisable brands and the association with packets of cigarettes or tobacco are purely historical, there is an anachronism that tobacco advertising has disappeared from sports grounds within the last 30 years or so, and yet card companies are still preserving the link between tobacco and the sport, albeit in a very obscure way. (Cigarette advertising has sometimes inadvertently appeared on cards. There's a Marlboro ad in the background of a card from 1994, which was shortly before advertising was banned altogether.)
However, as a fan and chronicler of Tony Gwynn's career, I can't escape the fact his life was cut incredibly short because of chewing tobacco and I am supportive of efforts to ban tobacco entirely from the sport. So, that's another reason why I have mixed feelings about these particular card sets.
And, being honest, the cards themselves aren't particularly interesting to warrant the fuss that is made over them by some collectors. The insert series can sometimes be quite nice - I really liked the Star Signs card featured on this blog in one of my first posts - but the sets tend to blend into each other and the cards all feel very samey. I have similar feelings towards Gypsy Queen and Panini Prizm cards. Still, at least they put the set years on the front so it's easy to tell them apart.
Card Number 385: Topps Allen & Ginter, 2013; #97
I'm kind of over A&G these days. With the exception of the framed relics, the weird non-baseball inclusions, and the occasional insert or autograph... I'm pretty much done salivating over it.
ReplyDeleteThere are 11 different Tony Gwynn cards in the 2020 release including 2 Rip cards and a 1/1. I feel that's excessive.
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