Friday Twofer: 2008 Topps Allen & Ginter

First off, I'm sorry about the hot mess that my Goudey blaster break became last week. I'd pre-scheduled all eight packs before I realized how tedious pack-by-pack box breaks can be. But then of course I remembered to delete some - but not all - of the posts. Ugh.

Anyway, I found myself in Target on Sunday, and who am I to ignore the card aisle? The result is my first two packs of Allen & Ginter. And heeeere they are!

Pack the First

79 Jose Guillen - This one appears to be an ode to pointillism.

66 Joe Mauer - Pictured with that awesome tri-color throwback helmet.

210 Carlos Lee - The second-best Panamanian hitter of all-time. #1 being Rod Carew, of course.

245 Carlos Guillen - A two-Guillen pack!

WL15 World Leaders: Angela Merkel - Well, it's a leader I've heard of, at least. Not a flattering photo. There's a partial checklist of this insert set on the back, including the Pope. (Hey! It's-a the Pope-a! Any fans of The State? No?)

293 Pedro Feliz - As has been noted elsewhere, his name translates to Peter Happy.

Pack the Second

150 Johan Santana - Such a lovely smile! This photo must have been taken before he found out how unreliable the Mets bullpen would be.
120 Derek Jeter - Boooo, hisssss.

243 Gil Meche - Otherwise known as Gil (ga) Meche.

169 Howie Kendrick - One of those bizarre angles from the ground-up.

147 James Fenimore Cooper - A miniature card of the pride of Cooperstown, NY. The town was actually founded by his father, William Cooper. You might also be familiar with Cooperstown as the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame, making this card much more relevant than most of the non-athletes in the set.
102 Ray Durham - Believe it or not, he's not one of the retired players Topps and Upper Deck are so fond of peppering their sets with.

Eh, they're pretty enough, but I still think I prefer Goudey. Your mileage may vary, of course.