Buzz Break: 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter X baseball cards

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The box: 2019 Topps Allen & Ginter X baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 18
Cards per pack: 8
Cards in this box: 144
Base set completion: 
125 of 300 (42 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Boston Red Sox, Clayton Kershaw, Jose Canseco, Giancarlo Stanton, Buster Posey, Ozzie Albies, Christian Yelich, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Roger Clemens, Mookie Betts, Nolan Ryan, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Ichiro Suzuki, Jeff Bagwell, Carl Yastrzemski, David Ortiz, Eddie Murray, Carlton Fisk, Tony Gwynn, Juan Marichal, Rickey Henderson, Ozzie Smith, Ernie Banks, Steve Carlton, Whitey Ford, Ivan Rodriguez, Al Kaline, Tiger Mask, Post Malone, Brian Fallon, Mayumi Seto, Dan Rather, Gary Vaynerchuk, Vincent Stio, Tyler Kepner, Sister Mary Jo Sobieck

Rookie Cards (6) – Pete Alonso, Dakota Hudson, Corbin Burnes, Sean Reid-Foley, Kevin Newman, Cedric Mullins

Insert cards: 27 (a sampling of everything in gallery below)
Short-prints (9) – Eddie Mathews, Tom Seaver, Orlando Cepeda, Eddie Murray, Rick Porcello, Yu Darvish, Sean Doolittle, Jordan Hicks, Dustin Pedroia
Mini parallel (17) – Tiger Mask, Barry Larkin, Phil Niekro, Dave Winfield, Odubel Herrera, Jose Altuve, Lorenzo Cain, Gary Carter, Roger Clemens, Matt Kemp, J.A. Happ, D.J. LaMahieu, Dereck Rodriguez, Evan Longoria, Justus Sheffield, Cole Hamels, Gary Vaynerchuk
Mini Silver parallel (1) – Matt Carpenter (1/1)

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Framed A&G X Autographs (1) – Isiah Kiner-Falefa

What's Buzz-worthy: Ginter X was a brand that was very, very good to me last year with Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies rookie autos, so I should have been amped to see this one return. I was a bit soft on it this time for some reason, so I only did one box (and many couldn't even get that as they vanished fast) and it delivered well on paper. It's not a good sign when you ask "Who?" on your auto -- that happened to me early in this box -- but it ended strong with a 1/1 Silver mini toward the end. The Silvers are not impossible pulls -- one in 137 packs (one in eight boxes) -- while you can also land other inserts like 1/1 Glossy, Brooklyn minis, Glossy minis, Stained Glass cards and parallels of the Ginter X autos signed in gold ink. This brand's biggest draw, at least to me, is the autograph in every box at the factory price ($70 a box) and that's something that standard Ginter doesn't do. (So that's why this one sold out in minutes and is a hot box right now on the secondary market.) I like the feel of this year's black cards but the paper stock and a black card doesn't make for grading-worthy cards at all. (It's the corners this time.) The rookie crop in this box was rough other than the likely NL Rookie of the Year, while my minis and base cards ran pretty well but without top rookies. All in all, I was fine with this one but not wowed by my pulls like last year. That's ironic since the rookie crop here is strong and there are some really good autos possible -- I just got Isiah Kiner-Falefa'd.

Product Grade: A-
Box Grade: A
Fun Grade: B+

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