Last night, much of the baseball world was tuned into the midsummer classic in Kansas City, which most likely only heightened the excitement around the release of Allen & Ginter, a product that featured a lot of the all stars on the big hit checklist for the product. Accompanying the normal slate of guys are some other huge cards that have started to surface, now that it is live almost around the entire country.

We all know that a new crop of celebrities will always interest CERTAIN people, but not everyone is into Ginter for Kate Upton and company. For many of the people who would buy, its all about the baseball. Without a fresh approach on the baseball side of the product, there might not be a continued loyalty like there has been in the past.

The two of biggest names in baseball cards right now are Yu Darvish and Bryce Harper, both of which are on the signature checklist this year. Many of Yu Darvish’s autos have recently surfaced since Hobby go live, and the value is slowly dropping with more supply. Harper’s eventual replacement selection to the all-star team has only made collectors more ravenous for his cards, even though he had a blooper play in the game last night.

Even the base cards for these guys are bringing nice dough:

2012 Allen & Ginter Bryce Harper Auto Redemption

2012 Allen & Ginter Yu Darvish Auto

2012 Allen & Ginter Yu Darvish Mini

2012 Allen & Ginter Bryce Harper Base RC

Outside of Harper and Darvish, there are also guys like Koufax, Mays, Aaron, and other baseball royalty like Griffey to drive up the price of the boxes. The autos are getting lots of attention, and that shouldn’t be something unexpected. A lot of people would scoff at Topps diluting the value for these guys, but I love it. The autos were practically unaffordable as they were (and still are even with dilution), and adding value in this fashion is a great way to bring the average joe into some chances at pulling them.

Unfortunately they are redemptions, but still generating some big asking prices due to perceived rarity:

2012 Allen & Ginter Sandy Koufax Auto Redemption

2012 Allen & Ginter Hank Aaron Auto LIVE

2012 Allen & Ginter Willie Mays Red Ink Auto Redemption

Lastly, I think the bat knob, bat barrel, and other booklet cards, combined with the cut signatures should do their part to add value to a product like this. Allen & Ginter had a polarizing effect on collectors because it catered to such a specific group of people. By adding these kinds of hits to the pot, it brings in people like me, who wont buy a card unless it is some high end chase or autographed. I care so little about set collecting that a product where the sole buying point set building doesn’t even spark a tiny amount of interest.

2012 Allen & Ginter Ozzie Smith / Jimmy Rollins Dual Bat Knob Booklet

2012 Allen & Ginter Dutch Van Kirk Cut Auto

Ginter will never have a problem flying off shelves. It just wont ever be one of those products. However, some sort of freshness will be needed to make the loyal buyers stay loyal. That is a definite. I think stuff like this will help take some of that burden, but not all of it.