Box Breaks: 2 Retail Blasters of Topps Allen & Ginter

 

Quick Update on the Alex Gordon superfractor, as much as I wanted to keep it since it was my first superfractor, I got a $285 offer for it so I sold it. I don't collect Gordon at all and I could use that money for a sweet card of someone I actually collect so as cool as the pull was, I just couldn't pass that offer up. I don't typically buy retail (though I indulged on a couple other blasters besides this one) but for this occasion I had some old Wal Mart gift cards to use up so I decided why not. I've never bought A&G, it's a set that appeals to a certain set of collectors, and I've never been interested in buying a full hobby box for nearly 100 bucks, but I figured two blasters on Wal Mart's dime would be worth seeing what the product is all about. 

Box 1

Base SP's-Wellington Castillo, Raul Mondesi, Shawn Tolleson, Richie Shaffer

Mascots In The Wild- Bobcat

Baseball Legends- Honus Wagner

Numbers Game- Chris Sale, Madison Bumgarner, Prince Fielder, Felix Hernandez

Natural Wonders- Cave Of The Crystals, Victoria Falls

Mini's- Joey Votto, Taijuan Walker, Monica Abbott

Mini's A&G Back-Gregory Polanco, Adam Lind

Mini's Black Border- Dee Gordon

U.S. Mayors- Tom Barnett

Laureates of Peace- Martin Luther King Jr.

Relic- Kolten Wong

Box 2

Base SP's- Tyler Duffey, Stephen Vogt, Rob Refsnyder, Stephen Piscotty

Mascots In The Wild- Bobcat

Numbers Game- Mike Trout, Dustin Pedroia, Evan Longoria, Jose Fernandez

Baseball Legends- Reggie Jackson

Natural Wonders- Baobob Forest, Old Faithful

Minis- Jen Welter, Jake Odorizzi, David Wright, Scott Kazmir

Mini's A&G Back- Xander Bogaerts

Mini's Black Border- Paul O'Neill, Jose Berrios

Mini's Ferocious Felines- Siberian Tiger  

Overall Thoughts: Yep...it's a quirky set. I didn't expect much so hitting a relic (albeit a plain white small swatch, I actually initially thought the place where the swatch should be was empty) was a bonus, but overall meh, this set really doesn't do it for me. I pulled doubles of the Mascots of the Wild, but for me personally I don't know what I'm going to do with cards of Natural Wonders or Felines or U.S. Mayors etc...and those were my best hits. Two basically free blasters is enough for me, I won't be buying anymore of this. Definitely not my cup of tea, though I like the old school design of the set and the mini's are cool. Here's a sampling of pics of the cards I pulled.

 

Relic card...can barely see the relic lol 

 

Sampling of the base cards

 

Black Border Parallel

 

Sampling of the inserts

 

More inserts from the set

 
 

Natural Wonders Insert

 

The Laurates of Peace was actually the hardest insert I pulled

 

A&G backs parallel. Front looks exactly like the base

 
 

Regular Mini's

  

Ferocious Felines Insert

 Top 5 Pulls of 2016
#1- 2016 Topps Tribute Superfractor Autograph Alex Gordon (#1/1)
#2- 2016 Topps Tribute Milestone Relic Game Used Ball Kris Bryant (#5/10)
#3-15-16 Limited Gold Spotlight Dual Signatures Kristaps Porzingis/Jerian Grant (#8/10)
#4-15-16 Gold Standard Stephen Curry/Klay Thompson Golden Pairs Dual Patch (#12/25)
#5-15-16 Excalibur Karl Anthony Towns Rookie Rampage Autograph Jersey