Allen & Ginter Insert Overview Series #92

I goofed... I knew I would.  I tried so hard to make sure I had EVERY Allen & Ginter insert set that existed before embarking on this mission.  I even have a spreadsheet that I created with all of them on it detailing the year, odds, what I might say about them, ect.  ...but I missed one.

Mr. Tony L. of Off Hiatus Baseball Cards commented on my post the other day with a seemingly innocuous comment where he made mention of the Ginter Code.  I forgot about the Ginter Code and the set that it brought with it in 2012 (It's even a set that I kinda liked!), Murder in Willow Cove.  Oh well.  I had to go back and change all the set numbers so that they look right now.  Honestly, I'm sure no one cares one iota, but I like admitting mistakes, so there you have it: I'm no Ginter guru.

On with the countdown!

Set: 2014 Topps Allen & Ginter Fields of Yore

            Total Cards: 10

            Stated Odds: 1:10

Bubba’s Derived Odds: 1:10

           # of Hobby Boxes Needed to Obtain Set: 4.17

Favorite (Owned) Card:

There's really no particular reason I chose this card.  I'm no huge fan of the Indians or the Browns, but I also didn't have any particular love for any of the other stadiums in this set.  So I chose the one with my favorite photo instead.

This field was huge.  Obviously it had to be slightly bigger than a "normal" baseball field since it housed a football team as well, but I've heard tell that center field at this sucker rivaled the Polo Grounds and Houston's Minute Maid Park (with its berm).  This picture is sweet as well.  I love the supporting beams they used to use for the upper deck.  It definitely has that classic stadium feel and I love it.

One beef... why cover up home plate? :(

Notes and Comments:

First and foremost, part of the reason I love the Cleveland card so much as compared to the others was the fact that it featured a shot of the field itself.  Very few of these cards actually did that which I don't like at all.  The field and the style of seating are, to me, the most defining factors of any given stadium.  Sure, there's some outliers like the aforementioned Minute Maid Park, Fenway Park with the Green Monster, and Wrigley Field with its ivy wall, but most stadiums don't have that.

Instead, Topps decided to give us pictures of the stadiums as you would walk up to them.  I vote that the field shots would've been better.  In case you haven't seen what I'm talking about, here's half a page of my binder containing this set:

The picture choice aside, I think this set is wonderful, and it shows in trade requests.  This is far and away the set that I get the most requests for as far as Allen & Ginter inserts go.  I would say that this is partially because its a small and fairly easy to complete set, but I do also believe that it is beautiful.

As opposed to the recently reviewed Festivals and Fairs set, the huge title text and border on these cards still take up just as much room as the F&F set, but don't detract from the picture on the card.  The difference here is that the stadium is clearly the main focus of the card.  I won't go as far to say that I like the big border and text, but I would definitely say that, for this set, it doesn't detract from the card (except that home plate comment from above...).

I'm sure that another draw to this set is the absolutely wonderful theme.  Having a set about classic stadiums will draw in just about any kind of card collector, and I'm no exception.  These cards generally showcase the Golden Age of baseball and even though I wasn't even alive back then, I can certainly imagine.

Card back review: Card backs are fine. End card back review.

Arbitrary Rating (out of 100): 85
Highest rating yet!  Not super surprising considering the sets we've covered so far... After I get a few more of these up, I'll get a living post going with my rankings in order as we go.

% of Set Completed: 100%

Missing Cards: NONE!!!

Extra Cards: FOY-01, 02, 05, 06, 08, 09, 10