Collect the Ireland-Themed A&G Inserts to Celebrate the Holiday
Since its debut in 2006, Topps Allen & Ginter has been a fan favorite for its beautiful design and wonderfully weird insert sets. Featuring baseball subjects along with other sports heroes, pop culture icons, and inanimate objects such as buildings and sandwiches, Allen & Ginter always has something for everyone.
While there isn’t a card specifically celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, you can still collect your way through the holiday using insert sets from Allen & Ginter’s history. Here are some St. Patty’s Day-adjacent cards to complete any collection this March 17th.
2007 Allen & Ginter Mini Flags #25 Ireland
A 50-card set issued in the brand’s second year, the Mini Flags inserts feature each nation’s flag set against a backdrop representing the country. In Ireland’s case, “the tricolour” is featured in the foreground, with Blarney Castle in the background. Legend has it that kissing the Blarney Stone gives the kisser the gift of gab; what kissing this card will do is still up for debate.
2007 Allen & Ginter Mini Snakes
A small set at just five cards, these inserts feature the world’s deadliest snakes. You won’t find any of them in Ireland, however. That’s because, according to legend, St. Patrick banished them all from the Emerald Isle.
2009 Allen & Ginter #209 St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Card #209 in the 2009 Allen & Ginter base set features this New York City landmark that shares its name with the patron saint of Ireland. With all the mini variations available, including the black border, A&G back, Bazooka back, no card number, cloth, wood, and printing plates, there are 12 different St. Patrick’s Cathedral cards to collect from the set.
2010 Allen & Ginter Mini National Animals #22 Stag/Ireland
Another issue with 50 cards, the Mini National Animals inserts have the country’s flag in the background and the animal standing in front of it. Unlike the Mini Flags and Snakes issues, which sport uniform checklists on the back of each, these cards feature a few sentences about the animal in question – in this case, Ireland’s largest land mammal.
2012 Allen & Ginter Currency of the World Cabinet Relics #14 Ireland (2012)
The largest card on the list, the Currency of the World Cabinet Relic cards, were issued as box toppers in lucky boxes of 2012 Allen & Ginter. There are 30 different cards, each showing a map of the country and a coin embedded in the card. Copies of this issue are numbered to 50.
With so many St. Patrick’s Day-related cards from Allen & Ginter, make sure to raise a glass to celebrate your new collection. Sláinte!
