Old School Rules
Quite a few interesting releases have hit the shelves over the past few weeks, including baseball cards for the stretch run of the MLB season and football cards to get everyone ready for the season that's about to begin. Still, two of the products I've enjoyed opening the most are baseball sets with a decidedly retro feel: Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball and Upper Deck's Goudey Baseball.
Both products take their looks from well-known sets from the formative years of trading cards. Goudey cards were made by the gum manufacturer of the same name in the 1930's and featured the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx. The origins of Allen & Ginter go back even further to the tobacco cards of the late 19th Century, cards that featured all kinds of subjects besides athletes.
The modern versions succeed by staying true to the spirit of the originals. Topps makes sure to have both base cards and insert cards of lot more than just baseball players in Allen & Ginter. Likewise, Upper Deck uses Ken Griffey Jr. and Derek Jeter to take the places Gehrig and Chuck Klein occupied in 1934, and has subsets and inserts - like the Sport Royalty autographs - that pay tribute to other Goudey sets. And both brands mix their throwback elements with the modern bells and whistles today's collectors expect.
Oh, and Goudey even has a direct tie to the Olympic Games in Beijing, with autographed cards of U.S. beach volleyball stars Misti May-Treanor, Kerri Walsh, Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers and sprinter Sanya Richards.
Most of all, though, what Allen & Ginter and Goudey have in common is that they're fun. That's something that often goes overlooked in this hobby, but it's an important reason why most collectors got started in the first place. Even if throwback sets aren't usually your thing, you might find something in these two to pique your interest.