2008 eTopps Allen & Ginter Presidential Candidates is one of those sets that mixes several eras of collecting, including the 2008 election where politics made their way into a lot of sports card releases.
In some ways, this is one of them. At the same time, the set stands on its own as a limited time online release.
Just as the name suggests, the focus is on the final names in the running for the 2008 Presidential Election. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton represent the Democratic hopefuls while John McCain and Mitt Romney are present for the Republicans.
The general design and layout mimic the main Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball mini card layout. Those are rooted in Allen & Ginter tobacco cards from the late 1800s. Bringing it into the present day is the premium foil stock.
Another nod to baseball can be found with the photos. All but Romney show the politicians wearing MLB gear and throwing a ceremonial first pitch.
The 2008 eTopps A&G Presidential Hopefuls were never available in packs. Rather, they were made available to order of the now defunct online eTopps platform where they sold out the entire production run of 999 copies quickly. All are serial numbered. It’s possible that not all sets are in circulation as a lot of collectors opted not to have them ship while eTopps was still active. They do exist, though, and could one day make their way to the secondary market if Topps decides to send out all the cards they have been holding.
Not surprisingly, Obama is the most valuable card in the set today. It remains one of his more popular somewhat mainstream releases as well.
2008 eTopps Allen & Ginter Presidential Candidates Checklist
4 cards.
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1 Hillary Clinton /999
2 Barack Obama /999
3 John McCain /999
4 Mitt Romney /999
