Favorite Cards: Minnesota Twins

2007 Allen & Ginter Mini Wood #261 - Torii Hunter 1/1

Let me start off by saying that I do not have this card. There is only one in existence and it is not in my collection. I also have no idea whose collection this is a part of currently.

In 2007, I saw the base card of Torii Hunter, in the Allen & Ginter set and fell in love. There was something about the exaggerated expression on Torii's face that made this a favorite of not only me, but many other collectors. I have a copy of the base card which will not leave my extended collection.

In 2008, Torii's card in the Topps Heritage set came close to capturing the lightning in a bottle magic of the 2007 Allen & Ginter card, but couldn't overtake the perfect storm of unexpectedness and priceless. Regardless of what Torii Hunter accomplishes in his career, he is the proud subject of two great cards. Not every ballplayer can say that.

I have never even come close to sniffing a mini wood parallel card. It never showed up in any pack or hobby box that I purchased. On the secondary market, these cards usually command a pretty penny. I love the idea of them though and I hope to add one or more wood mini cards of players or teams I collect.

When I saw the image of Torii Hunter's wooden mini card earlier this year, it had managed to capture the same euphoria of the original card upon first view. I'm usually not one for endless parallels, but I would make an exception for this card. The feelings captured from the original card and the uniqueness of this parallel make this my favorite card of the Minnesota Twins.