Let’s get real here: Allen & Ginter is never the highlight of the baseball card release schedule.
It is a fun release for collectors with a specific nostalgic design style and a smattering of oddity cards that don’t necessarily belong in a sports card release. But that’s fine.
It’s one of the few corners of the hobby that still has some whimsy. But there are many problems with the 2024 Allen & Ginter Baseball release.
They start with the release date, continue with the number of hits you are likely to find, and even pertain to the heart of its appeal, the old-timey design. We have the full story for you.
Allen & Ginter was a Virginia tobacco company established in ye olden days. Or, to be more specific, 1880. They went out of business 134 years ago.
But we still remember them today because, in a bid to stay in business, they were the first company to include baseball cards with their products. You could also find other cards in their products, such as a card from the Order of St. Vladimir in Russia or the world’s different nations. These items are things of beauty and provide a window into a forgotten era.
As the set achieved historical importance and value over time, Topps decided to revive the product in 2006. They kept the nostalgic designs and also added oddity cards of non-sporting topics. One particularly notable example is the 2017 Cryptocurrency rookie card.
Over the years, the release has carved out an important niche for baseball collectors. It is one of the more affordable and fun releases that fans deeply admire. It is one of the few sets that people still bother completing.
That is probably because it is inexpensive, and the cards tend to be attractive. The interest people have for this release is why the fact there are many problems with the 2024 Allen & Ginter Baseball release is rubbing many people the wrong way.
The holiday season has always been heavy on sports card releases, but that tendency has increased this year. The current Fanatics-led brass wants as many products out around the holidays as possible and fewer during the season. That means that Allen & Ginter is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Let’s take a look at the baseball product release calendar:
To make matters even worse, it has not been long since the 2024 Topps Chrome Update hobby boxes were released, which hit the shelves on November 13, 2024. Since that was an excellent and quite popular release, that also limits how much people will be willing to spend on 2024 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball.
Generally, you want to wait at least a month between significant releases. That is because the excitement surrounding the new product raises prices and values, even temporarily. If people are not saving their money for other releases they may prefer, they will also buy more.
An auto was never guaranteed in an Allen & Ginter hobby box. In 2023, you had three hits per hobby box. They could be relics, on-card autographs, rip cards, book cards, printing plates, cut signatures, or original A&G buybacks.
Meanwhile, in the 2024 hobby box, you can expect “Autographs, Memorabilia Cards, Rip Cards, or Original Allen & Ginter Cards.”
The differences are subtle, but if you notice, Topps has removed printing plates and cut signatures from the possible hits you might find in these hobby boxes. The reduction of the cut signatures has proven to be particularly significant.
A Blowout Forums user opened a case and got 7 autos:
* Owen White /25
* Torii Hunter /25
* Nicky Cass
* Paul O’Neil
* Colton Cowser
* Nico Hoerner
* Larry Walker
He called that an “above-average case.” Indeed, most cases I have seen have had six rather than seven.
The host of Grip N’ Rip watched several openings of Allen & Ginter cases and reported the following: “I counted 4 to 5 boxes a case that did not contain autographs. That is abysmal.” He also included a choice of curse words: “We are a family website. Maybe. I’m not sure what our demographics are.”
One Blowout Forums user also had the experience. They wrote, “Woof. That’s 6/6 relics on my two boxes thus far. My LCS is not doing so hot right now, lol.”
However, some people have had very good experiences with their cases. Another Blowout Forums member posted the autos they got. In the same case, this person managed to land a Derek Jeter, Elly De La Cruz, and Katie Ledecky auto (the wonders of having a release that is not baseball only).
They were naturally overjoyed and noted, “I’ve been opening Ginter for over a decade (mostly ripping 5-10 cases). This is by far the best single case of autos I have ever pulled.”
Another counterargument is that there are not too many in some boxes, and there are four hits. So, despite the complaints, you can still hit a fantastic box or case. Your odds are just a bit lower than they used to be.
He is correct. Watching a couple of breaks myself, I saw that there were always several boxes in which no autos were present. Some of these boxes had three or a combination of relics and rip cards. Collectors are looking for something other than those combos.
Considering that Allen & Ginter cases have 12 hobby boxes, the 4 (if we are conservative) boxes without autos mean it’s around 33%.
The host of Grip N’ Rip: “If I had bought a hobby box of Allen & Ginter and didn’t get an autograph, I would have flipped out. For $130, you will give me a bat relic or two napkin relics. Or here is the even better part. A rip card. A rip card is considered a hit in Allen & Ginter.” I guess he doesn’t like rip cards!
He is one of many dissatisfied with the rip cards in Allen & Ginter. The good folks at Blowout Forums are not big fans either. One user wrote,
“I saw one case opened, had 2 rips, another one only had 1 rip and was even shorted a hit. The collation of this product leaves a lot to be desired. On the other hand, I benefitted from the collation during my 2022 Allen & Ginter case when I pulled 5 rip cards, including a triple rip. Didn’t rip a single one. I learned my lesson in 2013 when I ripped a double rip #’d to 5 of Buster Posey and Matt Cain. Lesson learned.”
Another user replied, “Ripped an Austin Wells /199 which produced a Luis Robert Ext. a fart turned into poop.” Read that again for the full effect. Honestly, that is poetry right there.
Those of us who have bought Allen & Ginter boxes in the past or participated in breaks have noticed that you will almost always get an auto. Between the two types of signed cards they included, you were bound to get one and, on occasion, two.
But many 2024 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball hobby boxes are yielding no autos. This is not a mistake or oversight. It is intentional and part of a broader trend of providing fewer hits to customers.
I wrote about this issue in a previous article:
“If you bought a hobby box of this product in 2020, you were guaranteed three autos per box. Meanwhile, if you bought a hobby box of 2024 Topps Chrome Baseball, you were guaranteed one. That is a decrease of 66%. And the price has only gone up over the years. Is it just Topps Chrome Baseball that has the problem? Not even close. If you look at that other favorite, Bowman Chrome Baseball, there is a similar trend. If you bought a hobby box in 2020, it had two guaranteed autos. Now, there is just one. Meanwhile, the prices have exploded.”
No one buys this release for its incredible value. We have been discussing the hits in this release, but let’s be honest. This is all about the atmosphere.
The classic-looking design and the old-timey feel constitute a significant part of the charm here. They are loosely based on the original early 20th-century design, which is how we like. More often than not, Topps has succeeded in making these cards appealing.
However, the 2024 Allen & Ginter Release falls flat on its face in the visual department. The biggest problem is the business of the letters.
In particular, the player’s name is done badly. There is no first name, and the last name is printed in a particularly indistinct manner.
A Reddit post said it best: “Why is the text so squished? Why are they squishing the name in with everything else….It just looks so busy….. I always buy A&G, but this year, it’s just not for me.”
We do have to point out that not everyone agreed with that assessment. Someone replied about the posted card, “If you do not like the Julio, I’ll take it off your hands.”
Then there are the chrome cards. This may be my personal opinion, but these do not look good in the Allen & Ginter milieu. It creates a modern and traditional card hybrid that is deeply unappealing.
The issues with this release are significant, especially the hits problem. But for most Allen & Ginter collectors, this is less than critical. Many set completists still love this, so people are still buying it.
It’s worth noting that while the hobby box for 2024 does not offer great value, the blasters are even worse. You are unlikely to hit an auto there and the relics are more scarce.
Considering that these babies are now $30, they aren’t a particularly good buy. So your best bet is still the hobby box or, even better, an entire case.
However, this joins the expanding ranks of releases that Topps doesn’t seem to like or know what to do with. The fact that it is getting squeezed between other releases this tightly shows that they do not value it. They are cutting the number of hits, and it looks like Topps is also skimping on the design.
Some recent Topps releases have many problems. The quality of hits, the number of cards, and other elements in releases have consistently decreased.
The Allen & Ginter release is not known for its fantastic value. We all know that. It includes some bizarre cards, most of which are worthless. It relies on the fun of ripping. However, the possibility of hitting an excellent auto has always justified buying this. Now that is gone.
I am confident that this will push away some of the collectors. This is especially true when you combine this issue with the unfriendly calendar, making the release between more popular ones and (at least potentially) products that offer more value for money.
Therefore, if Allen & Ginter is your thing, buy into it. It is still essentially the same product. But if you are looking for value, some of the alternatives like Topps Chrome Update are a far better bet.
We just hope that Topps does not continue to devalue more brands as they have done to Allen & Ginter.
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