Relic Cards
Relic cards aren't the focus of Allen & Ginter but they have a definite presence nonetheless. The majority of the memorabilia cards contain a swatch of game-used or personally worn or used material embedded in a mini card which is sealed inside a frame that has a small opening allowing the swatch to be touched.
The checklist runs very deep for 2008 and is notable for the inclusion of boxers - like middleweight king Kelly Pavlik - who don't appear anywhere else in the product. Like the mini autographs, the rarest relics have announced print runs and the rest are unnumbered.
The most unique memorabilia cards are framed 1-of-1 cards with an actual piece of hair or material from the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Ludwig von Beethoven and a woolly mammoth. Topps calls them DNA Relics, and they should command a lot of interest on the secondary market.
The relic card in my box was relatively tame by comparison: a Troy Tulowitzki game-used card.
Box Toppers
One of several different types of box toppers appears in the oversized pack in every box of 2008 Allen & Ginter. Most common are the Cabinet Boxloaders, giant 5 3/4" by 8" cards that show off either 2007 baseball highlights or famous military battles but done in a similar style to the base cards.
Other packs contain N43 Boxloaders based on yet another unusual size (3 1/4" by 2 7/8") that also has ties to vintage tobacco cards. The N43 cards come in regular unnumbered form, along with relics (#'d to 25), autographs (#'d to 15) and autographed relics (#'d to 5).
Topping off my review box was a standard Cabinet card celebrating three players (Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas and Jim Thome) who reached 500 career home runs during the 2007 season.
The Last Word
When a set is as popular as Allen & Ginter, you don't want to mess with it too much. At the same time, products have to keep moving forward, and Topps adds just enough to accomplish that in 2008.
When even the one-per-pack decoy cards are worth collecting, that says a lot for the brand. Allen & Ginter has many cards that are great to look at and fun to collect, with elements that appeal to a wide range of different types of hobbyists. Not surprisingly, this set has become a perennial favorite, and the 2008 edition may be the best one to date.