allen & ginter meets minnie & paul

the dodgers visited minnesota in june for a three game series. i only made it to one game (the second of the series) which means i believe i missed a dodger game in minnesota for the first time in my lifetime. the first game featured three solo home runs (shohei ohtani and freddie freeman for the dodgers and byron buxton for the twins) and the third game saw mookie betts hit career home run number 300 in support of ohtani on the mound. as for the game i did see, it was a bit sloppy with a 30 minute delay at the start due to heavy rains earlier in the evening. the twins didn't play too well defensively, and the game devolved into a bit of a runaway for the dodgers.

there was only one topps now card created for the games, and it was all about mookie's milestone home run. i likely won't seek it out since it was from a game i did not attend, but it's a dodger card so you never know. thankfully, i have some other cards to show that are tangentially related to this topic.

i am a fan of the insert sets in topps' allen & ginter('s) releases. i may not collect them all, but there are some interesting categories and subjects. i will most definitely find some that appeal to me or have some sort of meaning - case in point, the "beachin' it" inserts from last year's issue.

here are some that have also made it into my collection...

from 2023 topps a&g's "only in..." insert set

that would be the minnie and paul sign at target field. more about it on the back:

the sign and logo are even more significant these days, with the twins' triple-a team playing in st. paul.

in 2024, topps included a 50 states insert set. here's how the land of 10,000 lakes was represented

the back is interesting to me

and i am left wondering why the inset image is not of something relative to the text, such as the paul bunyan statue in bemidji. the image shown is of the lowry bridge over the mississippi which is not the most iconic bridge in the city of minneapolis, let alone the state. curious about how that image was selected.

in 2025, topps gave us the state bird insert set. here's minnesota's

with explanatory text on the back:

i have spent many a morning hearing the call of a loon from one of minnesota's lakes.

also in 2025, ginter had an insert set focused on lighthouses. the split rock lighthouse was included

here's the back

i've been up to split rock a couple of times. it's up on the "north shore" which is the westerly side of lake superior. it's a nice drive between duluth and grand marais (and all the way up to canada), and this lighthouse gives some nice views of the lake. plus, castle danger's brewery is close by.

i've lived in minnesota for nearly 30 years, and i appreciate seeing it and its features included in these sets. i'm looking forward to 2026 allen & ginter and seeing what insert topics are included.

back to the dodgers having been in town, i'll go ahead and show this 2024 topps chrome insert of betts

since i did spend part of my summertime in the park watching him and his teammates play. i am still a dodger collector at heart, you know. or should i say, you betcha?!

life's a beach

i like to travel. these days, i most enjoy travelling internationally. it's funny as i was well in to my 30's before i left north america, but now i do most of my travelling to countries other than canada or mexico. i still do some travelling domestically, but a lot of that is work related and of shorter durations.

anyway, the "beachin' it" insert set in 2025 topps allen & ginter drew my attention shortly after the cards were released because i saw quite a few cards on the checklist that were perfect for my "meaningful and just because" mini-collection. for about 16 years starting in the 2000's, i went on a tropical vacation each winter, so i've been to a lot of beaches. let's take a look at the beaches in the set that i've visited.

eagle beach, aruba

i was surprised how much i enjoyed aruba. we stayed in a condo right across the street from eagle beach and spent most of our days there, at least for a little bit. we explored other parts of the island, including the totally different landscape of the island's east coast, but enjoyed relaxing under one of the palapas on eagle beach the most. here's the back:

i don't recall seeing any turtles, but we did see the fofoti trees at the north end of the beach.

grace bay, turks & caicos

we've been to turks three times, staying on or near grace bay each time. it's fantastic. here's the back:

we snorkled out near the reef that is mentioned, and it was a bit hairy. essentially open ocean with a big drop off on the other side of the reef.

seven mile beach, cayman islands

there are a lot of resorts on this beach in grand cayman, but as the back mentions

the beach is for everyone. 

south beach, miami

we visited this beach on a stopover on our way to the caribbean once. we walked along the beach and ate at a restaurant in one of the signature art deco buildings. saw versace's old place and got a feel for the vibe even though it was off-season. here's the back:

we didn't see any filming going on during our visit, but i do remember some scenes from the real world: miami that were shot there.

siesta beach, florida

we hit a bunch of beaches in a fairly recent trip to florida (a trip that included my lone visit to the trop) and siesta was one of them. parking was a bear - we lucked into finding a spot at one of the smaller beach access lots (it was a bit of a free for all) - but it was worth it. we set up an umbrella and had a nice afternoon on the beach. here's the back:

i don't believe we partook in the esplanade (but maybe we did). i do know we headed in to sarasota to eat after leaving the beach.

coast guard beach, massachusetts

my first trip to boston, i wanted to go to a beach with the iconic fencing shown on this card, and coast guard beach was where we headed. it was the fall, so we walked down on to the beach, took a few photos, and that was it. here's the back:

i didn't know that thoreau opined on the beach, but we did also visit walden pond and the recreated cabin. probably my favorite part of that trip, along with visiting "author's row" in concord.

laguna beach, california

i lived and worked in orange county for almost 10 years, and laguna was a frequent spot to visit. my most recent visit to the actual beach there was about 10 years ago. when i lived in oc, we frequented newport beach more often if we wanted to actually beach it.  here's the back:

laguna was most definitely an artist's colony back in the day, and it still has an art festival as far as i know. like most places of its kind, i doubt there are too many artists who can afford to live there these days.

pfeiffer beach, california

part of the big sur coastline, this beach sits along my favorite road to drive - pch. it's actually a ways off of the highway so it's been a while since i've been there. i have spent more time at limekiln beach or main street beach in carmel in recent years. here's the back:

pretty sure i have some pictures from my childhood with keyhole rock behind us.

santa monica beach, california

it's hard to miss this beach with the iconic pier. it's a monday night football staple scene when the rams or chargers are hosting the game. i am not sure that i've laid out on this beach, but i've been to the pier several times. here's the back:

not mentioned is that the pier is the terminus of route 66. get your kicks!

playa del rey, california

when you fly into lax and want to get to the beach quickly, playa del rey is the place to go. despite what the back says

the beach is directly west (not east) of los angeles, and lax more specifically. i've driven directly to this beach a couple of times after arriving back in california from extended absences.

el matador state beach, california

i used to fly into lax more often than i do these days (now i prefer sfo), but driving up pch from los angeles was always a favorite thing to do. this beach is one of several along the way to the central coast. i don't think i've stopped there since i was a kid when we would picnic along the way on our many road trip vacations. here's the back:

i understand that some scenes from "the notebook" were filmed at this beach. 

coronado beach, california

home to the famous coronado hotel, we visited here in january of 2020 after spending a couple of weeks in hawaii (more on that in a minute). it's a big beach for sure! here's the back:

excuse me, it's the hotel del coronado. i believe it is one of the largest wood structures in the country. this card gets the hollywood trivia, whereas the previous one did not. i will say that on some recent trips we've tried to capture photos that match up with scenes from movies or tv shows. i'll have to watch "some like it hot" before the next time we head to san diego.

wailea beach, hawaii

on that trip to hawaii, we stayed on maui, but not at wailea beach. we did, however, drive there and walked along the beach. later, we wound up snorkeling off the coast as part of a molokini excursion. here's the back:

we saw some turtles after seeing a black tip shark in molokini. we also snorkeled on the back side of molokini which was crazy. probably the deepest water i have ever been in and it was a bit freaky.

poipu beach, hawaii

my visit to this beach came on a different trip to hawaii, and it was a result of a snorkeling excursion. here's the back:

i preferred the napali coast on that trip, but it's not known for any beaches, so it doesn't get a card.

here's a reminder that another beach i visited was featured in an earlier a&g insert set, and there are a few other beaches in this set that i'd like to get to, so maybe i'll be adding some more of these cards in the future. 

it's past memorial day which is the traditional kickoff to summer, so get to the beach! just remember to apply sunscreen first!

last word on the pete rose memorial patch

i've been keeping an eye out for memorial patches on late year 2025 and 2026 card releases since there were a number of teams that wore patches during the 2025 campaign. i've already shared the card that represents the dodgers' fernando valenzuela patch in my collection, and this post will do the same for the reds' pete rose patch.

perhaps if my 2026 topps heritage hunter greene black border parallel hadn't been damaged (still waiting on a replacement card from topps) it would have been the one to represent the black circular patch with rose's number 14 in white, but instead, i am using elly de la cruz' 2025 topps allen & ginter card

topps photoshopped out the kroger patch that the reds wore below rose's tribute, which is odd to me since they haven't done that on any flagship cards that i've seen.

rose passed away in september of 2024, and i wrote some thoughts here. i was glad to see the reds recognize his passing with a patch, which seemed like a no-brainer but you never know when it comes to charlie hustle.

the closer

i know that he is back in the starting rotation, but roki sasaki has proven to be a closer for me in the early goings of 2026. no fewer than three dodger team sets had sasaki as the last card i needed.

2025 topps allen & ginter

2025 topps archives

and 2025 topps chrome update

all waited for sasaki's card to show up.

i've completed a few more sets that didn't include sasaki recently, including 2016 topps gypsy queen.

that kenta maeda rookie card was the last card i needed. it's a short print so i guess it makes sense that i waited for maeda to return to japan before seeking it out. i'll show the penultimate card i needed for the team set in a different post.

a sportlots seller had the last three cards i needed for 2023 topps chrome platinum anniversary

i understand that topps is planning to reintroduce this set in 2026, but they will call it 2025 so that using the 1955 topps design makes sense from a platinum anniversary standpoint. topps/fanatics just can't seem to get out of its own way sometimes.

another sportlots seller had this 2025 panini prizm pee wee reese card

that shut the door on my team set from that unlicensed release chock full of prospects and retired players and not much in between for licensing reasons.

2025 topps stadium club came down to two cards - hyeseong kim

and yoshinobu yamamoto

both of which came from a sportlots order

my 2026 topps series 1 dodger team set is also now complete, thanks to dalton rushing's card

showing up in my mailbox a few weeks ago.

i've got one other recently completed team set to visit. sasaki was the second to last card i needed to complete the 2025 topps all-star game dodger team set

with shohei ohtani being the closer in this instance

i've slowly been accumulating dodgers from this set via various sources, and now i'll show the cards i haven't shown before (which i believe is all but kim's).

mookie betts

freddie freeman

clayton kershaw

yoshinobu yamamoto

i also added a classic swings insert of betts

as well as kershaw's all-star game greats insert

the back

focuses on the 2022 midsummer classic which was held at dodger stadium and saw kershaw make the start for the national league. synchronicity at its finest.

you knew this was coming - i added another steve garvey parallel from the set. this is his black autograph parallel

numbered to 10. here's the back

interesting that these were exclusive to mega boxes. or is that the only way this set was distributed? i wonder if there will be a 2026 version? and will it include former greats like the inserts did in 2025? if so, get ready for a bunch of phillies. now that i think of it, i could use some new pete rose cards (or to fit in with the title of this post, tug mcgraw), so bring it on!