2010 Topps Month Part 3: Finest and Allen & Ginter's World Champions

There are seven sets left to cover for 2010 Topps month. They made more sets than that, but only seven of those remaining had Griffeys in them. We’re going to be swiping left on those things. It's not personal, but... well, yeah, it's a little personal I guess.

As for the seven Griffey-having sets we’re going to take them in order of hobby importance. The first non-flagship set we will look at is Finest, one of the most important and well-regarded products Topps makes. We will be ending with Topps Attax, a strategic deck-based card game that barely matters at all.

I’m happy to report I’ve already done a write-up of 2010 Topps Finest, and you can read it here:

2010 Finest: 18 Years Later, Still the Finest

I’ll hit the high points real quick for you: Junior was the last member of the original 1993 checklist to still appear in the base set in 2010. I’m a huge fan of the gigantic team logo background, and they did exactly right making the 1/1 parallel purple because nothing is better than a purple refractor. Nothing. OK, maybe a child’s laughter, but only just barely.

Only three of the eight Griffeys from 2010 Finest sit in my collection, and here they are:

2010 Topps Finest #65 Base, Refractor, & Blue Refractor #/299

And given the current prices of pretty much every refractor at any level, I am grateful to have them. Still want that purp, tho.

Here are the Griffeys I need from 2010 Topps Finest:

#65 Green Refractor #/99
#65 Gold Refractor #/50
#65 Red Refractor #/25
#65 Purple Refractor 1/1
#65 Framed Printing Plates (four colors)

Allen & Ginter has become one of the big perennial releases from Topps, so I’m parking it here behind Finest but before Heritage which hasn't had a Griffey in it since 2010.

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter's World
Champions #212

This is not my favorite year of Allen & Ginter. These were clearly designed for the minis, and they simply slapped the exact same image - mini dimensions and all - on the standard-sized cards. I don’t have that big a problem with it, but the resulting base card is essentially a mini with extra-wide side borders. If they had extended the background or resized it to better fill out the card I would probably feel differently. All that negative space along the sides just seems like a terrible waste of paper.

Of course I have no complaints about easy-breezy backwards-cap, black-bat Griffey shot. That shit is perfecto.

They really are sticking with the writing-numbers-out-in-words like the address on the front of your great aunt's house. I get the schtick, but I don't particularly care for it.

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter's
World Champions #212 Mini

I am far from the miniphile some of my fellow card bloggers are, but this image makes a lot more sense to me on the mini than on the standard-sized base cards.

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter's
World Champions #212
Mini A&G Back

Heh, I like this guy. Doughy, jolly, a hint of mischief. This is my kind of guy. Cool hat, bro.

As with most throwback mini sets the parallel is often on the back with an identical front. Personally I would prefer something simple on the front like a little color, foil, or chrome. Does that make me basic?

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter's
World Champions #212
Mini Black Border

The black-bordered minis are often kind of plain and ugly, but these are saved by filigree and pretty corners. They are also the scarcest 2010 A&G cards I have at 1:10.

2010 Topps Allen & Ginter's World Champions
This Day in History #TDH27

I feel like A&G inserts don’t get as much credit as the myriad mini parallels, but I tend to really like their inserts. This one focuses on an historically significant event that happened on a given player’s birthday, though not necessarily in the same year. Few are baseball-related as you can tell from the event referenced on Junior’s card. My favorite of the bunch is Carlos Lee who was born on the same date Lizzie Borden was acquitted. LOL what?

Here are the Griffeys I still need from 2010 Topps Allen & Ginter’s World Champions:

#212 No Number /50
#212 Bazooka Back #/25
#212 Framed Cloth #/10
#212 Wood 1/1
#212 Printing Plate (four colors)
#395 Exclusive Mini (from Rip Card)

Again I am in no rush to grab any of these, but the cloth and wood cards do seem pretty neat. Also not to sell short my love of everything Griffey, but his is not the 2010 A&G card I like best:

It’s not even close. That is just a fabulous card anyone who isn’t a Colts or dirty, dirty Falcons fan can appreciate. Who Dat.

(By the way, this post coinciding with Drew's official retirement announcement was purely a coincidence, and a bittersweet one at that. God bless you, #9)

Five 2010 Topps sets to go. Thank for reading!