2012 Allen & Ginter Box Break

Since there haven't been too many hockey products being released over the past few weeks that interested me, I was able to put some of my card funds toward working on some sets that I still need a lot of work on, one of those being 2012 Allen & Ginter.

I've always been a fan of this set, ever since I busted open a few packs of their 2007 release. So far, the only set I have completed though, is 2010. Still, I am only three cards away from the 2011 set and 20 cards away from the 2008. So far, I have only opened one box of 2012, and with all of the set needs that I still have, I felt safe putting some more money into this product, hoping to knock a good chunk of base off of my want list.

Anyway, here are the results.

Each box contains a box topper, which is basically an oversized card, depicting a mini card of a player, with a special background. Mine was Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals. Not a bad card, just not one I really need for my own collection

I got 12 short prints (cards 301-350) and the best part is, I needed ALL of them for my set. Usually you don't get quite that lucky with the set-building help, so this was quite a nice surprise. 

 

And it just wouldn't be Allen & Ginter without the minis! I did get some good ones, though, like Mickey Mantle, Kerry Wood, Cal Ripken, and a black-bordered Mike Schmidt, among others. I guess they have their place, but for me personally, I'd rather just have an extra base card to help me build the set.

I do like this year, how they made the non-baseball mini inserts just a bit more rare. It just simply keeps the novelty just as a novelty.

Then there is the obligatory regular-sized insert. This year, it is What's in a Name, which goes into the meaning and significance of a player's birth name. A decent concept, and I got a few good ones, like Josh Hamilton, Babe Ruth, and Yogi Berra.

The rest of the regular sized inserts were pretty cool, too. I got three each of Highlight Sketches, Historical Turning Points, and World's Tallest Buildings. I really like how they introduced other Regular-sized inserts, instead of just the What's in a Name (or in years past, Hometown Heroes or This Day in History).

My three hits were very blah. I was expecting one auto somewhere in there, but sadly, they don't guarantee which hits are in the box, just that you will have three of them, whatever they are. The three I pulled were of Drew Stubbs (jersey), Dillon Gee (jersey), and Rajai Davis (bat).

The hits left a little to be desired, but I did bust open one rarity, at least, with this Brandon Belt mini.

It looks like just a regular boring mini card, that is, until you flip it over to find...

That's right. It's not quite a rip card, but still, these red-back cards numbered to 25 can command quite the demand on the secondary market. I'm not sure what the insertion rate is on these, but what I do know is that I have opened up a lot of Alen & Ginter over the years, and have not seen too many of these peeking out from the packs.

This was a box that definitely set me in the right direction, but I still have a ways to go. If anyone can check out my want list and see if you can chip any of these cards away for me, I sure would appreciate it.

Thanks!