Pack Break: '08 A&G (Retail)

More retail goodness today as I'm breaking some 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter retail. We'll do two packs today and save the third for later in the week.

We're looking at six (6) "Picture Cards" per pack with the following odds (hobby odds may vary):

(*Sequentially Numbered)

Short Pringed Base 1:2
Ginter Code/Worlds Greatest Victories 1:24 (Yes, I left out the apostrophe in World's. A glaring type-o on the package, though the cards are grammatically correct)
Short Print Parallel 1:13
Orange Cards 1:144
A&G Back Parallel 1:5
A&G Short Print Parallel 1:65
Black Bordered Parallel 1:10
Black Bordered Short Print 1:130
Parallel (No Card #'s) 1:151
*Parallel (Bazooka Back) 1:301
Mini World Leaders 1:12
Mini Ancient Icons 1:48
Baseball Icons 1:48
Framed Autograph:
- Group A 1:499
- Group B 1:446
- Group C 1:240
- Framed Autograph Relic 1:26,431
*Cut Signatures 1:138,500
Framed Relic:
- Group A 1:1,000
- Group B 1:265
- Group C 1:36
Framed DNA Relic:
- Group A 1:203,317
- Group B 1:264,312
Framed Originals 1:26,500

Now that that's out of the way...

Pack 1:

20 Vladimir Guerrero


57 Ben Sheets

71 Fausto Carmona

214 Dustin McGowan


WL46 World's Leaders: Tenzin Gyatso/Tibet (Mini)


US17 State of Kentucky/Brandon Webb

176 Claude Monet

Pack 2:

117 Jeff Niemann


159 James Shields... hmm, two Rays hurlers in a row.


105 Jonathan Papelbon... yet another AL East Pitcher


259 Francisco Rodriguez... hmm... yet another pitcher. This one, however, recorded his 50th save of the season this evening.

57 Ben Sheets (Mini)... Can a blogger get some offense?!?

Ginter Code/World's Greatest Victories: Jonas Salk... For some reason I'm willing to bet this guy pitched at some point in his life

122 The Gateway Arch... ahh, an inanimate object. This thing for sure has never stepped on a mound... or has it?

I realized I didn't scan many of the non-player cards like the Gateway Arch and Ginter Code, but here's the product sell sheet from Topps.com for more info and photos.

Though I realize I'm the last author in the blogosphere to address this set, I must say that I like this stuff, enough that I'd buy a box of it or complete the set. I don't see that in the near future as I just made a pretty large purchase, but I'd like to bust some more of this. The retail packs I've opened have had some nice stuff in them, though I'm 0 for 5 on Rockies, but maybe some hobby breaks can do the trick. Though I didn't pull it, I've acquired one of the cards I was hoping to in this set thanks to Eric in Minnesota.

I was happy to see that Topps made some variations and got away from '06 and '07 Allen & Ginter. They incorporated characteristics from the various original series as well, which at first glance might seem cheezy, but is a pretty solid move. The Ginter Code stuff is a bit absurd, especially considering that those cards take away from the six cards per pack, but I'm too easy going to form a particularly negative opinion on those.

As always, all cards shown on Wax Breaker (by me at least... not speaking for Spud) are up for dibs unless they're part of a set I'm building, going into my personal collection or are certain players/teams that I already set aside for traders. If you see any you like, shoot me an email and I'll let you know if they're available.

UD Goudey pack break to come tomorrow.

Boom... outta here.

- J.C.F.