So, instead of July, the venerable A&G set made its debut in mid-September. The formula has not changed: While the set concentrates on baseball players, it also includes stars from other sports and pop culture favorites.
I finally found blaster boxes of A&G at my local Walmart, so it was fun to buy one and open it. I originally was going to pass on collecting this year’s set — trying to fill in the holes on other UV sets has become more of a priority — but like the mythical Greek Siren, the Allen & Ginter set sings enchanting music and I cannot resist the lure.
The fact that I also pulled an autograph from one pack might have influenced my decision, too.
The base set contains 300 cards, plus the usual 50 short prints. The blaster I opened had 28 cards and two SPs (Moises Alou and Bert Blyleven). Each pack contains a mini card. Three of the minis were base cards and one had an A&G back. A fifth one was a black parallel of Reds Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, while the final three were inserts.
The design for the base set is slightly different this year, but only on the card front. A&G cards traditionally have wonderful artwork, and the 2020 version is no exception. But instead of the full bleed look, this year’s card fronts frame a photo. The frames are a thin gray color, so the appearance is not quite like previous Turkey Red issues, for example.
Speaking of frames, the big hit from the blaster was a framed, on-card autograph of Indians pitcher Zach Plesac. Those mini cards always look nice when they are framed.
Down on the Farm is another 15-card subset that focuses on barnyard animals, while Field Generals is a 20-card set that pays tribute to some of the game’s greatest catchers. I pulled one insert from each. Longball is a 50-card set that highlights baseball’s greatest sluggers. I pulled a Carl Yastrzemski insert. A Debut to Remember is a 30-card set that features memorable first games by major leaguers.
I pulled one card from three of the mini insert sets — Booming Cities (Dhaka), Behemoths Beneath (Beluga Whale) and Where Monsters Live (Under the Stairs).
Once again, the lure of Allen & Ginter is too tough to resist. It’s always a nice-looking set, with maddeningly difficult short prints and an eclectic group of inserts.
Guess I will collect them again.