Allen and Ginter, Eat Your Heart Out

After six years, I picked up my first Allen & Ginter rip card this summer, seen towards the bottom of this post. I remember when A&G first hit in 2006, there was a great deal of discussion about whether it was worth ripping the card. Along the same lines are the discussions on whether to peel protective coatings, open sealed vintage packs, or (for two years in the 1990s) open the cans.

But you may not be familiar with another "rip" card that came out nearly a decade before the first Allen and Ginter issue: Zenith's 5x7 cards. This set came three per pack of 1998 Zenith, with the regular-sized cards inside the 5x7s.

Of course, the Ginter rip cards are much more limited than these 5x7 cards, adding to their scarcity. And much like the Ginter cards, most collectors chose to slit the back to obtain the card inside.

Because this set was issued towards the end of the junk wax era (and just before the Donruss/Playoff bankruptcy), they're kind of tough to find, but when available they should be picked up for very little money. I theoretically overpaid for this card by handing over $1, even though it's intact. Will I open it? Most likely, the answer is no. But it's tempting!