Saturday, January 2, 2016

Allen & Ginter Insert Overview Series #84

Set: 2015 Allen & Ginter Ancient Armory
            Total Cards: 20
            Stated Odds: 1:2 (along with other full-sized inserts)

Bubba’s Derived Odds: 1:7
           # of Hobby Boxes Needed to Obtain Set: 5.83

Favorite (Owned) Card:

I've been a Connecticut resident since I was 1.  Throughout my elementary school years I had Native American culture jammed down my throat and I hated it.  I'm not sure if this phenomenon was unique to Connecticut, or even my specific school district, but almost all the history lessons and field trips had something to do with either dinosaurs or Native Americans.

Connecticut is certainly a state steeped in Native American history and lore.  We were the former home of the Pequot tribe and have a museum dedicated to them.  We also house two major casinos that are strictly run and owned by people with Native American lineage (which, at this point, is probably quite a few).

My parent's have always hated casinos, so naturally, I grew up hating them as well and, as only a kid would do, connected casinos to Native Americans to "bad".  ...It's funny how a young mind works.  Our countless field trips to the Pequot Museum only served to fuel my hatred even more.  Museums are quite boring as a kid.  I'm not sure why they force children to try and appreciate them.

Since then, I have grown to be astounded by Native Americans, their culture, and their art.  They were a people group that were 100% isolated from all other cultures until the 1700's.  They had to develop their own survival mechanisms and technology and came up with some pretty cool ideas in the process.

Notes and Comments:

This card features one of those technologies.  While obviously behind the curve of the day's European technology, the tomahawk demonstrates how versatile the Native Americans needed to be.  This instrument doubled as both a useful tool, a means of self-defense, and a weapon of war geared towards a hit and run style of warfare.

The rest of this 20-card set features a variety of different weapons used before the age of gunpowder.  I enjoy the set quite a lot and the back-of-the-card write-ups were often quite good.  In fact, I think I'm probably rating this set quite a bit lower than it should be.  Part of the problem is that I felt like I saw these cards in every other pack.  They felt way too common for my preferences and simply didn't seem unique or special.  I did like the pictures for a change, which is very different from the rest of the 2015 full-sized inserts.

While I like the set, I do think there could have been some room for improvement.  The set doesn't create the impression that it comes from the age it is trying to represent, and I think it could have easily accomplished this via less modern borders/fonts.  Allen & Ginter is, after all, a throwback set and this card doesn't feel like a throwback whatsoever.

As I mentioned before, it's probably a bit under-rated at 71, but that also means there are only 29 sets that better it, and I can tell you that most of them are minis.  

Arbitrary Rating (out of 100): 71
Click link above for complete up-to-date ratings

% of Set Completed: 100%

Missing Cards: NONE!!!

Extra Cards: AA-1, AA-2, AA-3, AA-5, AA-6, AA-7, AA-8, AA-9, AA-10, AA-12, AA-13, AA-15, AA-16, AA-17, AA-18, AA-19, AA-20

1 comment:

  1. anytime you want to trade some Ginters let me know...i can do some major damage to your want lists!!

    Duane

    abshokie.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete