2023 Ginter - Box 1: Diving In, But The Water's Fine

At this point, the only new product I look forward to each year is Allen & Ginter.  Heritage is moving through the iconic 70's, but a lot of that has been preempted by the ever-redundant Archives.  

I got three boxes this year even though I had some reservations about the base design and the insert themes.  But once I got them in hand, I was glad I took the plunge.

First box topper - Mookie Betts.  These aren't bad looking.  I won't be going after the rest of them though.  Hey Night Owl, you don't usually get excited for these, but you got first dibs, of course...

First card is....an Oriole!  Sweet!  Don't really know who he is, but it's nice to pull my favorite team (that I haven't watched at all, even though they're dominating).  Base design was a lot brighter than I expected.  I think the first examples I saw had darker colored backgrounds and the borders didn't show bright white.  They're a little less busy than my initial impression too.

First pack has TWO Oriole rookies.  (Not that I care about rookies ~ don't faint, I know that's sacrilegious in this hobby).  And I appreciate Da Hawpa more than the other rookies in the pack too.

Edmonds mini is an A&G back...  My player minis are generally trade bait.

First hit came about halfway through.  (Most of them showed up in this area in all three boxes.)  Moncada grey swatch....OK....  Kershaw insert.  Those Spotless Spans inserts are nice looking.

Second one came a pack or two later.  (I open packs in layers, not stacks).  This one struck me funny because it appeared in what I called an Avian Hot Pack.  It fell between Hawk Dawson, Chris Fowler, and a Peregrine Falcon.  Gonsolin is also trade bait.  (Mr. Owl....?)  Does that mean he's for the birds?

The last hit was the best - maybe of the whole break as far as I'm concerned.  I PC Carlton Fisk so this one was a "hell yeah!" moment.  I'd have saved that for last, but it shows in the total box shot...

Here's everything from the box sorted out.  Bo base card goes to my PC, so I'll need another.  One each of the Allen, Dessert, and Only In... minis, and one black player mini.  If I knew the players better, I might go for those.  (Though I'm still working on the black ones from 2012 GQ, so unless I find a big lot somewhere...)  Got two of the World of Wonders mins (also too many to chase) and the shiny bordered Filigree base parallels...

A couple great names too!  Only got one of these in the other boxes, so I guess Walker is a bonus.

Yankees and Pirates tend to be spoken for, but I'll detail my extra inserts and minis at the end of the third box rip.  

The next "rip" will be even more interesting.  And continue the team trends so far.