2015 Gint-a-cuffs (Part 1 of 3)

August has thankfully arrived and given me some content to post via the annual Gint-a-cuffs contest. This is my fourth consecutive year to compete; I have a pretty good winning percentage in the danged thing that surely isn't sustainable (foreshadowing...)

This is part 1 of 3 of my box of 2015 Topps Allen & Ginter

Jose Abreu Oversize Boxloader +8

RUNNING TOTAL: 8

I've gotten a lot of Abreu cards this year, though of course it's a year too late. I still don't understand why Topps has two different versions of these oversized boxtoppers. There's the standard base design just blown-up and then this completely different design. Like a lot of choices they make, it just seems pointless to me.

#48 - Coco Crisp

#68 - Matt Barnes

#111 - Dellin Betances (YANKEES) -1

#135 - Mark Teixeira (YANKEES) -1

#331 - Alcides Escobar

SP-56 Ryan Braun (Starting Points) +2

Full-Size A&G Buyback - Louis Braille +3

MINI BODY-8 Barbell Lifts (A Healthy Body) +4

PACK TOTAL: 7

RUNNING TOTAL: 15

The 'Starting Points' insert is this year's super-expansive filler. It's pretty ugly. It looks like one of the runner-up designs for the base card that just didn't get used. Having to cram the insert title in there really crowds everything. If the photos were cutout like the basecards instead of just feathered on the edges, that would alleviate some of the claustrophobia. But really, it's all kind of uninspired. You could plug any number of concepts into this design and they'd fit just as well as the 'starting point' concept.

#166 - Carlos Gomez

#207 - Derek Norris

#216 - Jake Lamb

#248 - Jose Bautista (FP) +2

#297 - Magna Carta +1

#335 - Collin Cowgill

MM-4 Phoenix (Menagerie of the Mind) +2

MINI 117 - Corey Kluber (A&G Back) +2

PACK TOTAL: 7

RUNNING TOTAL: 22

I actually like the base design this year. The asymmetry is nice without throwing things off balance. The Allen & Ginter logo is a little big but it looks nice still. I'm not crazy about the shifting border colors, though it's feasible they have something to do with the Ginter Code so I'll let it slide. The players are cropped a lot tighter this year. Not sure if it's better or worse but I appreciate that it's a break from the norm. It'll help differentiate 2015 from other sets years from now I imagine.

#49 - Hisashi Iwakuma

#50 - Francisco Rodriguez

#83 - Matt Harvey

#127 - Nick Castellanos

#191 - John Lackey

#313 -  Jhonny Peralta

WAS-1 Flat Earth (What Once Was Believed) +2

MINI MBT3 - James J. Hill (Magnates, Barons, Tycoons) +2

PACK TOTAL: 4

RUNNING TOTAL: 26

The full-size insert here is "What Once Was Believed" which features formerly accepted truths that have since been proven false. Don't confuse them with the "What Once Would Be" inserts, though. We'll take a look at those coming up... 

#51 - Matt Garza

#52 - Jake Marisnick

#121 - Wei-Yin Chen

#183 - Edwin Encarnacion

#198 - Albert Pujols

#305 - Chris Carter

SP-42 Hyun-Jin Ryu (Starting Points) +2

MINI 27 - Maikel Franco

PACK TOTAL: 2

RUNNING TOTAL: 28

Every time I pull a Dodger card, I get sad and start adding up the negative points until I realize that it's just the hated Yankees we're penalized for. But then I get sad again because now I'm stuck with another gross Dodgers card. 

#44 - Sal Vulcano

#72 - Joe Panik (FT-Giants) +1

#110 - Victor Martinez

#153 - Brandon Moss

#199 - Zack Greinke

#311 - Michael Brantley

SP-90 Prince Fielder (Starting Points) +2

MINI 69 - Christian Bethancourt

PACK TOTAL: 3

RUNNING TOTAL: 31

I'm slowly accumulating points here. Thank goodness there are a ton of Giants on the checklist. I'm glad I was able to accumulate some nice Joe Panik cards before he got called up and turned into such a solid player.

#102 - James “Clubber” Lang

#114 - Brian McCann (YANKEES) -1

#126 - Alexei Ramirez

#160 - Danny Santana

#243 - Jean Segura

#343 - Angel Pagan (FT) +1

GS-6 Deoxyribonucleic Acid (Great Scott!) +2

MINI 259 - Jonathan Schoop (Black-Bordered) +3

PACK TOTAL: 5

RUNNING TOTAL: 36

The "Great Scott!" cards feature scientific breakthroughs that have occurred through history. Some people have been clamoring for more DNA cards for a while so maybe this will appease them? This will not appease them.

#69 - Christian Bethancourt

#92 - Michelle Beadle

#190 - Michael Bourn

#230 - Keith Law

#254 - Alex Gordon

#338 - Mike Napoli

WOULD-7 Easy-Clean Furniture (What Once Would Be) +2

MINI 272 - Glen Perkins

PACK TOTAL: 2

RUNNING TOTAL: 38

And here is the "What Once Would Be" insert. These are all black & white drawings of stuff that was predicted to happen in the future but never came to be. I guess these are supposed to be sister inserts but I feel like they just get in the way and are needlessly confusing. And worse than that, the "What Once Would Be" cards are just boring to look at.

#17 - Yadier Molina (FP) +2

#112 - Buck 65

#172 - Matt Carpenter

#317 - Hunter Strickland (FT) +1

AA-9 Flail (Ancient Armory) +2

MINI HBF-10 Henry Every (Hoist the Black Flag) +2

FSRA-APA Aaron Paul (Full-Size Relic) +6

PACK TOTAL: 13

RUNNING TOTAL: 51

Here we have the first hit. It's a non-baseball one of some guy from some show I didn't watch. I mean, I guess Aaron Paul would be one of the better non-athlete hits to get. Perhaps if it was memorabilia from Bojack Horseman I'd be a little more excited. Overall, though, a very welcomed pack to end part 1. I'm currently on pace to come nowhere close to last year's wining score. Let's hope that changes... (spoiler alert, it won't...)