Shohei Ohtani, Family Holiday Parties and Ripping Wax
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The holiday season is an excellent time to share in the joy of collectibles. The opportunity to give and receive cards, packs, autographs, or memorabilia is endless, and these gifts can be remembered for a lifetime. As we become adults and are fortunate enough to buy our favorite cards and packs ourselves, receiving them as gifts can lose its luster. That doesn't mean, however, that the joy of collecting fades; it simply becomes something we can share with the people we love.
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Allen & Ginter has something for everyone
If you have the opportunity to celebrate your shared love of the hobby this holiday season, I highly recommend opening a few packs of Allen & Ginter. The set features a mix of baseball players, professional athletes, celebrities, and pop-culture stars, along with cards of birds, national landmarks, and other oddities. Even for the non-collector, the product is enjoyable thanks to the eclectic variety of surprises that can be found in each pack.
A Card inside of a Card?
One of the most unique offerings in Allen & Ginter is the Rip Card. These cards are especially noteworthy because they contain some of the rarest mini cards in the entire set, including red-ink autographs, 1/1 sketch cards, cards made from actual wood or metal, and highly coveted stained-glass inserts.
Rip Cards feature iconic players or historically significant figures from the Allen & Ginter set. Each Rip Card poses the question "Keep it" or "Rip It," which is literally printed on the outside of the card. Because of the player on the exterior of the card, some collectors choose to keep the Rip Card sealed, while others can't resist opening it to discover which mini card is hidden inside.
Packs of cards don't always contain the most valuable hits, or even the specific cards we hoped to pull. But when they do, they create stories that can last far beyond the moment. Stories from the hobby are like Fish Stories: the more time that passes, the bigger the fish gets. Allen and Ginter and Rip Cards create space for those moments, turning a single pull into a memory that lasts a lifetime. And who knows? Over time, the card and its size and value may become larger than you could ever imagine.
P. Arvin Parker is a lifelong collector of all things sports and pop culture. He is a Minnesotan, a Veteran, and an Ojibwe man who lives and dies by all things Minnesota. After spending the last 20 years working in the mental health field, he has reignited his love for collecting. His passion for the hobby centers on the people and stories of the world of collectibles.