2008 Allen & Ginter

Well, the 2008 Allen & Ginter is out already. Where does the time go? This year, I will not be picking up a box like I did last year. Money is a little tighter and I find myself picking up less wax and buying more single cards. It's a little more economical, but I miss ripping all those packs. Someday, when money is a little more in abundance and gas is well under $4, I will bust boxes again.

I have been resisting the urge to go to Tony's shop and purchase a few packs. I don't want to be disappointed like last year. He sold out in a half hour of all of his 2007 Allen & Ginter stock. I arrived an hour after he opened.

The 2008 set sticks closely to the previous two sets. The lettering arrangement borrows from the N26 originals. As usual, these are beautiful cards! Even though the sets vary ever so slightly from year to year, I still love this set. There's something about the minimalist design and the card stock and the obvious care put into this release that makes me want to run out and buy cases of the stuff. Of course, I'm not made of money, so I can't do that. But if I were...

The set contains 9 known White Sox cards. This number may change after the cards start to saturate the marketplace.

24 - Bobby Jenks
33 - Nick Swisher
41 - Paul Konerko
76 - Jim Thome
136 - Javier Vazquez
141 - Jermaine Dye
148 - Mark Buehrle
151 - Orlando Cabrera
327 - A.J. Pierzynski

As much as I hate to say this, all of these players have had cards before in Allen & Ginter. Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera are making their White Sox debut in the set. They were both in last year's set with their former teams. Javier Vazquez is returning after a one year absence. The rest were there last year as White Sox players.

The look of the set is awesome. My concern would be for the other players. Where's Carlos Quentin and Alexei Ramirez? Where's Gavin Floyd and John Danks? Where is a third baseman for the White Sox? I know that Scott Linebrink and Octavio Dotel aren't studly closers anymore, but aren't they still card worthy?

This is a fantastic set, but the first tiny dents are starting to appear in the structure of the players. I think it's great to have oddball subjects like the Rock, Paper, Scissors champion or the video game champion or the Guitar Hero champion. That's what makes this set feel like the originals. The same established stars and the same over-hyped rookies in every set gets repetitive and boring after awhile. I hope Topps won't let this set get boring. C'mon Topps, mix it up a little next year in the baseball players portion of the set.