Over the years, Topps Allen and Ginter has gone from a set celebrating the history of the hobby and its pre-war roots, to a set that contains everything under the sun. ALthough its existence can be polarizing among collectors who dont think a non sport and sport themed set should exist in this format, Ginter continues to be as popular as ever.

I consider myself a fan of the set because of its consistent dedication to simply designed on card autographs, but there are far more reasons to be a fan outside of just the signatures. Of course, the autograph checklist is eclectic, and that is half the fun. Here are some of my favorites from the past few years:

Michael Phelps Allen and Ginter Framed Auto

Manny Pacquiao Allen and Ginter Framed Auto

Arnold Palmer Allen and Ginter Framed Auto

Kate Upton Allen and Ginter Framed Auto

Takeru Kobayashi Allen and Ginter Framed Auto

This year, we get some awesome additions in Pele, John Calapari, and even McKayla Maroney (she wasnt impressed though), on top of some of the other new additions that are making their first appearance. My favorite addition has to be the embedded guitar pick cards, which have 1/1 picks from musicians that Topps has put into the set. Awesome idea. This was done previously with much success, but this will be the first time it is its own subset.

Back earlier this year, I suggested on Twitter it would be cool do an Inception Style Rip Card – which has a rip card inside of a rip card like the movie. Topps mentioned that there were going to be double rip cards included in this set for the first time, which I assume will be cards that can be ripped from either side.

Lastly, to piggy back on Upper Deck’s popular entomology bug cards from Goodwin Champions, Topps has previewed redemptions for oversized cards that have a whole spider in them. Pretty cool.

Ginter has shown year in and year out that the set can be refreshed each year with content that excites people, and I think it definitely has done that this year too. Topps has made a lot of fans for their products that operate outside the normal confines of a baseball product, but have also drawn jeers from the fundamentalists as well. Personally, I dont see why both cannot coexist, and we have seen that Ginter may be that bridge.