Two Boxes of 2025 Allen & Ginter: Diminishing Returns

I almost didn't do it.  As you probably already know, Allen & Ginter is the only new product I buy almost every year - including flagship Topps.  This year, I heard ahead of time that there would only be two "hits" per box.  (Not that "hits" are why I buy ANY product in the first place.)  And that the price would be higher, but you wouldn't get as much out of a box as before.  

So I considered just looking for a base/SP/main inserts set on eBay for less than I'd probably invest in boxes and singles to complete that much.  Hopefully I'd find second copies of my PC guys in base and inserts and maybe luck out and get a "hit" from one of them as well.  Boxes were going for $169 on most major dealer sites. 

But I didn't....

I found boxes at Bergen County Cards in New Jersey for $139 each.  That was only $10 more than last year, so I got two.  Unfortunately, they're sold out right now.

 
Let's tear in!

Have to go straight to the first pack, since there are no box toppers, N43s, or buybacks any more.  Take off points for that at the jump... 

 

First card was a musician dude (no idea).  First card I actually saw was the back of Eddie Murray's Sweet Victory insert.  Nice to start with the Orioles at least.  Forgive the warm incandescent lighting in my new card room.  Nothing is going to look white even though most of this stuff is.

So I tore through the packs and sifted out the base, minis, inserts, and shiny parallels.  (Shiny is getting to be a much bigger thing with Ginter.  Can't say I'm overjoyed about it.)  I won't go through every pack, but will just hit the highlights.  Above are all the base minis, A&G backs, black borders, (most of which will be trade bait) then a new N222, a Light the Night insert, and a chrome Matty mini. (Spoken for.) 

The other insert minis from the first box.  Birds and fish have been done before.  Trust me, I researched it a while ago.  Several states elected Cardinals, so these aren't dupes.

A closer look at the N222 and Chrome Matty.  I wish the 222's had retired players too.

Only pulled one Filigree this time.  Don't know this guy either.

And the Chromes and Silvers are at least one per pack now.  I'm already working on two sets of the Silvers from previous years, so I'm not keeping these.  Just need Bo, Torre, Campaneris, Fisk, Sutter, and Mussina in all forms.  Above are all the Chrome Chromes I pulled.

First hit came about halfway through.  Pretty decent player and non-white swatch.  

Second one was a really nice framed mini auto /25.  But I'm not a Survivor fan, or MTV watcher, so Ms. Fitgerald is not familiar to me.

On to Box #2.
Here are the minis for this box.   Beaches are another well-worn subject.  The Ginter Creative Team is phoning this one in for the most part so far.

 Got three filigrees this time, and two HOF'ers.  That's better.

First hit was a Bellinger bat piece.  This one will go to my Pirate/Yankee friend most likely.

The other hit was the prize of the break...

 

 
BOOM!  Double Rip Card!  And with one of my PC guys on the back!

 And it's #1!

Well, if you've seen my posts on how to deal with Rip Cards, you will know that the above images are AFTER I extracted the minis inside.  Don't use the tabs, slice them along the edges.

These are what I got.  A stained glass Oriole (who I don't know either), and an extended series Yordan #372.

And that's about it.  Pretty standard A&G fare, but missing a few things from years past.  I like the base design just fine, but the reduction in extra stuff just leaves the whole thing a bit lacking.  I'll finish the base, SP's and two regular inserts, but that's about all.