Topps Allen & Ginter baseball has been out for nearly two weeks, however I have not seen a single pack of it at retail. What I did find, however, was a single blaster of Topps Olympic and Paralympic Team Hopefuls. With the Olympics kicking off this week in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, I figured now was as good a time as any to bust one of these blasters. And as it turned out, I defied the odds greatly with two hits in just eight packs.

Here’s a breakdown of each pack with a few takeaways at the end.

Pack 1

Parallel: Bronze Kami Craig; Insert: Kim Rhode

Base: Gabby Douglas (Gymnastics), Claressa Shields (Boxing), Nathan Adrian (Swimming), April Vioss (Volleyball), Adeline Gray (Wrestling), Diana Taurasi (Basketball), Sam Mikulak (Gymnastics), Candace Parker (Basketball)

Pack 2

Parallels: Silver Candace Parker (Basketball), Bronze Perry Baker (Rugby)

Hit: Bronze Relic Paige Selenski (Field Hockey) 64/75 (odds: 1:132 packs)

Pack 3

Parallels: Silver Phil Dalhausser (Volleyball), Bronze Leo Manzano (Track & Field)

Base: Matt Stutzman (Archery), Jake Dalton (Gymnastics), Claressa Shields (Boxing), Danell Leyva (Gymnastics), Tatyana McFadden (Track & Field), Summer Ross (Volleyball), Kim Rhode (Shooting), Ryan Lochte (Swimming)

Pack 4

Parallels: Gold Sam Mikulak (Gymnastics), Bronze Brittney Griner (Basketball)

Base: Alana Nichols (Para-Canoe), Lex Gillette (Track & Field), Cullen Jones (Swimming), Nathan Schrimsher (Modern Pentathlon), Bob Beamon (Track & Field), Madison Hughes (Rugby), Jenny Thompson (Swimming), Carly Patterson (Gymnastics)

Pack 5

Parallels: Silver Tom Shields (Swimming), Bronze LaShawn Merritt (Track & Field)

Hit: Bronze Commemorative Olympic Medal (1:122 packs)

Base: Conor Dwyer (Swimming), Brad Snyder (Swimming), Margaux Isaksen (Modern Pentathlon)

Pack 6

Parallel: Bronze Jake Gibb (Volleyball) Insert: Sam Mikulak (Gymnastics)

Base: David Boudia (Diving), Brady Ellison (Archery), McLain Ward (Equestrian), Haley Anderson (Swimming), Joe Kovacs (Track & Field), Merrill Moses (Water Polo), Galen Rupp (Track & Field), Courtney Mathewson (Water Polo)

Pack 7

Parallels: Gold Nathan Adrian (Swimming), Bronze Emily Day (Volleyball)

Base: Aly Raisman (Gymnastics), Missy Franklin (Swimming), Ryan Lochte (Swimming), Megan Rapinoe (Soccer), Abby Wambach (Soccer), Carlin Isles (Rugby), Elena Delle Donne (Basketball), Sue Bird (Basketball)

Pack 8

Parallels: Silver Abby Wambach (Soccer), Bronze Gary Hall Jr. (Swimming)

Base: Steven Lopez (Taekwondo), Simone Biles (Gymnastics), Jake Dalton (Gymnastics), Natalie Coughlin (Swimming), Mariel Zagunis (Fencing), Kayla Harrison (Judo), Paige Selenski (Field Hockey), Rulon Gardner (Wrestling)

Takeaways:  It’s not every day you nail two hits in a single blaster. This feat seems even more improbable since you are not “guaranteed” even a single hit. What’s interesting to note is that the relic card of the Field Hockey player is like twice as thick as the Bronze Medal card.  It just seems like it would have been the other way around since the medallion is heavy and the relic seems to be a piece of a T-shirt.

Also, look at the star power in pack No. 7. That’s a star-studded Olympic lineup right there from across all sports at the Olympics.

I posted briefly on Twitter about this blaster and someone wrote back they they didn’t have much luck in theirs. My response bears repeating: The product is always hit or miss. The key is to limit how much you buy. Even though it’s not mainstream sports cards, it’s enjoyable in small portions.

In case you’re wondering, here are the posted odds for these blasters:

This entry was posted on August 3, 2016 at 6:43 am and is filed under Box / Pack Break with tags Abby Wambach, Aly Raisman, Bronze Medal, Gabby Douglas, Gold Medal, Gymnastics, Missy Franklin, Olympics, Ryan Lochte, Silver Medal, Swimming, Topps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.