2019 Allen & Ginter Checklist and Preview
The most anticipated baseball card release of the year for me is Allen & Ginter. It will be out on Wednesday June 17, 2019, and Topps released the checklist today.
Allen & Ginter is not a product for everybody. If you only want baseball cards, then this isn't the release for you. Not every set is the same, and there are plenty of other options for baseball card collectors. Just move on. No need to complain as there are many, many other products that cater to your taste.
Typically, I buy a case or two cases of Allen & Ginter. This year will be different. Only a few hobby boxes are on my list this year. I have a Club 400 event next week featuring Willson Contreras and Carlos Zambrano. Then another event a couple weeks later that coincides with the National (which I'll be attending), and then a trip to Europe in September.
Click here for the complete 2019 Allen & Ginter Checklist.
Autograph Checklist
Unlike other products, Allen & Ginter collectors search out the non-player autograph checklist before the player checklist. That's just the way the product goes. By the way, if you don't want a non-player autograph and you pull one: that's the best for you because you can sell it for (in some cases) 10 times the value of most player autographs in the set.
This year's celebrity checklist is loaded. My favorites are Gary V, Post Malone, Harrison Ford, and Travis Pastrana. These will also likely fetch the most money. With Gary V's following, I could see his autograph initially selling in the $150 range. Other names in the auto checklist include Danielle from American Pickers, Ben Schwartz from Parks and Rec, newsman Dan Rather, and baseball card video host Mike Oz. The full-size autograph checklist also includes wrestler Tiger Mask, and James Holzhauer from Jeopardy! fame.
MINI NON BASEBALL AUTOGRAPHS
MA-AA A.J. Andrews Softball Player
MA-AC Augie Carton Brewer & Podcast Host
MA-BF Brian Fallon Musician
MA-BRO Burton Rocks Sports Agent & Author
MA-BS Ben Schwartz Actor & Comedian
MA-CM Charles Martinet Video Game Voice Actor
MA-DC Danielle Colby Reality TV Personality
MA-DD Drew Drechsel American Ninja Warrior
MA-DR Dan Rather TV Journalist
MA-EJA Emily Jaenson Minor League Baseball® General Manager MA-GE Graham Elliot Chef & TV Personality
MA-GV Gary Vaynerchuk Entrepreneur
MA-HD Hailey Dawson First Pitch Celebrity
MA-HF Harrison Ford Actor
MA-HK Hilary Knight Hockey Player
MA-JB Justin Bonomo Professional Poker Player
MA-JC John Cynn Professional Poker Player
MA-JL Jay Larson Comedian
MA-KS Kyle Snyder Freestyle Wrestler
MA-LC Loretta Claiborne Special Olympics Athlete
MA-LR Lawrence Rocks Chemist & Author
MA-MCO Mason Cox Australian Rules Footballer
MA-MM Matthew Mercer Voice Actor & Dungeonmaster
MA-MO Mike Oz Baseball Card Video Host
MA-MS Mayumi Seto Topps Artist
MA-MSU Marc Summers TV Host
MA-QX Quinn XCII Musician
MA-RB Rhea Butcher Comedian
MA-RM Rodney Mullen Professional Skateboarder
MA-RO Robert Oberst Professional Strongman
MA-SMJ Sister Mary Jo Sobieck First Pitch Celebrity
MA-TK Tyler Kepner Baseball Writer
MA-VS Vincent Stio Umpire Fan
MINI NON BASEBALL AUTOGRAPHS BONUS
MA-TF Thomas Fish Owner, Blowout Cards
FULL SIZE AUTOGRAPHS
FSA-1TM 1st Tiger Mask Professional Wrestler
FSA-JH James Holzhauer Game Show Champion
FSA-KB Ken Burns Filmmaker
FSA-PM Post Malone Musician
FSA-TP Travis Pastrana Motocross Competitor & Stunt Performer FSA-VG Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto Blue Jays® Rookie
FSA-YK Yusei Kikuchi Seattle Mariners™ Rookie
FULL SIZE AUTOGRAPHS BONUS
FSA-NB Nathan Burns Owner, Grand Slam Collectibles
Cut signatures have a number of names that will be sought after: Andy Warhol, Bob Hope, Dale Earnhardt, Robin Williams, and Stan Lee.
CUT SIGNATURES
CS-AW Andy Warhol
CS-BH Bob Hope
CS-BV Bill Veeck
CS-CF Charlie O. Finley
CS-DE Dale Earnhardt
CS-FJ Florence Griffith Joyner
CS-GK Gene Kelly
CS-GP George Plimpton
CS-HK Harvey Kurtzman
CS-JG Jane Goodall
CS-JM John McCain
CS-JR Joan Rivers
CS-KV Kurt Vonnegut
CS-LB Lucille Ball
CS-LF Leo Fender
CS-MB Mel Blanc
CS-MP Max Patkin
CS-RW Robin Williams
CS-SL Stan Lee
And the player autograph checklist has some big names, too: Christian Yelich, rookie Fernando Tatis Jr., Kris Bryant, Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Trout, Nolan Ryan, Ronald Acuna, Shohei Ohtani, and more.
Relics
Known for strange and rare relics (think DNA relics from a few years ago), the 2019 edition of Allen & Ginter has its fair share of odd collectibles.
One set is titled, "Presidential Pieces" relics that include Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, John F. Kennedy, John Quincy Adams, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Additionaly, we have a mini DNA relics set with fossils: Ammonite, crocodile tooth, dinosaur bone, nautiloid, trilobite, and whale bone.
Cubs Checklist
Fourteen subjects make up the Chicago Cubs checklist. Nothing really unexpected here other than the inclusion of Sammy Sosa. Sosa was also in Stadium Club. It would be nice to see some different subjects from the retired players checklist. Ryne Sandberg and Ernie Banks make another appearance. Hopefully, Topps uses some different photos of these two players because their past cards in Allen & Ginter all look very similar.
BASE CUBS CHECKLIST
16 Kris Bryant Chicago Cubs®
17 Anthony Rizzo Chicago Cubs®
18 Ryne Sandberg Chicago Cubs®
19 Javier Baez Chicago Cubs®
20 Ernie Banks Chicago Cubs®
198 David Bote Chicago Cubs®
232 Willson Contreras Chicago Cubs®
233 Cole Hamels Chicago Cubs®
270 Ben Zobrist Chicago Cubs®
293 Jon Lester Chicago Cubs®
298 Ian Happ Chicago Cubs®
356 Kyle Schwarber Chicago Cubs®
371 Yu Darvish Chicago Cubs®
392 Sammy Sosa Chicago Cubs®
All in all, this checklist is much better than I was expecting. I have an Allen & Ginter bias, so I won't put a grade on it. Each year gets an "A" from me, but again this checklist did exceed all of my expectations.