not quite mainstream

2022 marked the third time that steve garvey was included as part of topps' allen & ginter's/ginter release over the course of that brand's run.  the first time, in 2013, he was included only as part of the relic subset

and was a short print at that. 

the next time, in 2021, he was included in the historical hits insert set

thanks to his 1984 nlcs walk-off home run. 

this time, he finally received a base card, 

but was part of the high numbered short prints. still not quite making the cut for the true "base" set! of course, even having a short printed card means that it still gets all the parallels, including the "hot box" version:

and the minis - base:

black bordered:

gold bordered:

you all know what the backs of minis look like, but here's a view anyway

so that i can show you the a&g back parallel

and the brooklyn back parallel

i don't know that i have seen anyone write "11" that way in a long, long time.

not parallels, but rather a completely separate issue, is allen & ginter x. i have garvey's base

and mini 

from that set as well. 

however, because the chrome version of this set only features the first 300 cards of the regular set, garvey is not included in that release. like i said, not quite mainstream.

i mentioned in a post awhile back about stadium club that garvey will likely never find his way in to the base checklist for that set due to the sheer number of dodger options that exist for topps to choose from. he is not going to replace jackie robinson - the only retired dodger featured in this 2022's stadium club release. 

the other dodgers that topps has been using in recent years include hall of famers roy campanella, gil hodges, duke snider, sandy koufax, don sutton, and mike piazza. garvey isn't going to supplant any of them i don't think. so, i will be content with cards like these and surprises like the 2021 topps chrome platinum anniversary set that allowed for a number of seldom seen dodgers from the past to be included in a base set.

maybe he will show up in a future archives release. 2016 was the last time he was featured in that release, and it was as a short print, too.

of course, garvey received a fair amount of checklist space as an autograph subject last year, including in topps museum collection

those are the "base" and "copper" autographs

and topps tribute

that's the purple version that i added to the "base", "blue", and "green" versions i already had.

i am wondering if garvey and other retired fan favorites will get more play in panini releases like donruss now that those checklists will only be retired players and prospects. i know i would definitely rather have more base to chase than autographs at this point, but player collectors can't be choosers if they want to continue to add cards to the collection.