Topps Allen & Ginter is one of the most popular and highly anticipated product releases each year. What the product lacks in chromium shine, top rookies, and epic hits, it makes up for with great-looking designs, vintage nostalgia, and most of all, the inclusion of non-traditional, shall we say “oddball” subjects.
But which Allen & Ginter cards are the weirdest? In this context, we aren’t disparaging these cards by calling them “weird”.
We’re celebrating them, as their inclusion in the product is part of what makes Allen & Ginter such an enjoyable break each year. But what are the Weirdest Cards in Topps Allen & Ginter?
So, who were these Allen and Ginter characters? They were tobacco company owners John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter. Formed in the 1870s as the John F. Allen & Company, the Allen & Ginter Company was in existence from around 1880 to 1890, when it became part of the American Tobacco Company (along with Goodwin & Company, another name known to card collectors).
To help set their cigarettes apart and stiffen cigarette packs against crushing in shipping, Allen & Ginter began creating collectible cards and inserting one in each pack.
These cards were smaller than modern trading cards and featured artwork (and occasionally photos) of subjects. These subjects ranged from animals to military topics to Indian chiefs and actresses to flags.
In 1887, Allen & Ginter released two of their most popular of these collectible cards, now known as N29 and N30 World Champions. This set notably includes cards of several athletes, most notably professional ballplayers.
Their status as some of the very first “baseball cards” and the inclusion of lots of varied subjects made the 1887 Allen & Ginter sets some of the most famous in the history of the hobby.
In 2006, Topps revived the Allen & Ginter name with 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter. The set featured a design very similar to the original set. It also featured several elements that were an homage to the original. These included mini parallels that were the same size as the original A&G cards.
They also included an N43 insert set, which was based on the later N43: World Champions 2 set created by Allen & Ginter. In addition, some of the cards are purposely short-printed, adding an element of scarcity.
Most notably, the set included several cards of non-baseball players. These included athletes from various sports from boxing (Mike Tyson, Leon Spinks), softball (Jennie Finch), racing (Danica Patrick), surfing (Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, Andy Irons) and track and field (Carl Lewis), among others.
The set also included non-sports subjects including former presidents (Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt), authors (Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville), rich industrialists (Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller) and more.
The oddest cards in the set? I’ll go with Pope Leo XIII and spelling bee champion Wendy Guey, although the Hulk Hogan card is also pretty interesting.
The inclusion of these oddball non-sports cards was a great homage to the original Allen & Ginter set, and quickly became one of the themes of Allen & Ginter releases, which have continued annually since 2006 to this day. Chrome and black-bordered X versions have joined the Allen & Ginter family, as well.
Every year collectors have had a bit of fun while searching for the most oddball inclusion in the product. Today, we’ll share a few of our favorites.
Among other things, the oddball cards in Allen & Ginter products make great subjects for autograph collecting, including through the mail (TTM) autograph collecting. Several of the images in this article are TTM autographs from my own Allen & Ginter collection.
Below are our Top 20 Weirdest Cards in Topps Allen & Ginter products. The list is of course, incomplete and arbitrary. I did attempt to avoid any non-baseball sports, of anything I could call a sport.
I’ve also avoided entire insert sets that are a bit weird. Think 2022 Topps Allen & Ginter “Get that Bread”, which features sandwiches, or the “Ducks” insert in the same product, which features, well, ducks.
We also are avoiding inanimate objects, so while the Statue of Liberty and “Egg” cards are funky and cool, they aren’t included on this list.
Rocker Henry Rollins has not one, but two cards in the 2013 A&G set. We’ll go with this one since it’s the short print.
The card back describes Evans as a “Webshow Interviewer”. Apparently, he interviews celebrities while they both eat very hot chicken wings.
Mitchell’s claim to fame is that he played a perfect game of the iconic arcade game Pac Man and was named Video Game Player of the Century at the Tokyo Game Show in 1999.
The Jeopardy champion and later host had captured America’s attention with his unprecedented winning streak back in 2004.
A school teacher by day, Wiebe set records for the playing of the arcade games Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. And now he’s got a baseball card!
Litz won the 2007 National Air Guitar Championship and competed in the World Championship. He even went on tour.
Won the 2007 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest and set a then record of 66 hot dogs consumed in 12 minutes.
The card back describes Laipply as “Dancer Featured in #1 Viral Video”. He rose to fame for his appearance in the “Evolution of Dance” clip.
I mentioned above that I’d avoid any sports figures on this list. I draw the line at cornhole, which is a game you can play while holding a beer. That being said, Matt Guy was the 2011 ACO World Champion.
Straight from “flavor town”, the spikey-haired TV host and restaurateur gets his very own card in 2011 A&G.
The model and wife of Justin Verlander made an appearance in 2012 after her first appearance in the SI Swimsuit Issue. The original Allen & Ginter released cards of actresses and “beauties”, so this is on brand. Several other models, Miss USA winners, and the like appear throughout the series.
9. 2020 Topps Allen & Ginter Hugo “Juice” Tandron #165
The official “baseball barber” for the Florida Marlins (and many visiting players).
The Bruce Bolt Founder & CEO built a better batting glove, which is now used by many major leaguers.
Breaking a box, looking for the hot rookie or tough parallel, and you pull a card of a “texting champion”. That’s…different.
“Reality TV Personality” was not a job that existed when the original Allen & Ginter sets were produced, but it’s not a thing. Vinny G got famous on the MTV show “Jersey Shore”.
Featuring the famed “Hanson Brothers” from the classic Paul Newman hockey movie Slapshot. The added wrinkle here is that all three are uncorrected errors, where the card backs describe other people who have the same name as the three stars.
Good fun. The Hanson Brothers also appeared on a Triple Autograph card in 2021 Topps Allen & Ginter.
a record setting “Beer Miler”. What’s a beer miler? You run a mile via four laps on a standard sized track. But in between laps, you drink a beer. His time? 4:34:35. Crazy!
Kapral is a “joggler”. That is, one who jogs while juggling. And we’re not talking about a jog around the block, but 10K’s, half-marathons, and marathons. While juggling.
Voice Actor & Dungeonmaster are likely two things you didn’t expect to see on a baseball card. But here we are.
The card describes this subject as a “beard artist” and pictures him eating what appears to be ramen noodles out of his own beard. So, yeah. Hard to get much weirder than that.
A couple of honorable mentions in the musical category, if I may – in 2015 Topps Allen & Ginter features musician Mike Mills (#37), most known for his time in the band REM.
Mills now plays in several bands, including The Baseball Project, who play baseball-themed songs that are actually quite awesome. Card #177 features “musician” Bernie Williams, who also happens to be four-time World Champion Bernie Williams.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this review of some of the weirdest cards found in Topps Allen & Ginter releases over the last decade and a half. These cards can add a bit of whimsy to your card collecting hobby, and offer some interesting opportunities.
In terms of PSA populations, these tend to be low, so those few high-grade copies out there have a chance to be worth more than you’d expect for a novelty card.
What did you think of our list? Who did we miss? Let us know at card_lines on Twitter.
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