2023 Allen and Ginter Cubs Team Set

The 2023 Allen and Ginter set was released just before I left on our Germany trip.  I bought all of my Cubs cards just before we left and then they stacked up at the post office while I was gone.  When I picked up my held mail, there was a nice pile of envelopes filled with cards.

Before I get to the Cubs cards, I have a few thoughts on the set in general.

• The design in more colorful that most in the past.  Ginter usually had lots of white on the card.  There isn't any white this year except for the border.

• When I caught a quick glimpse of my first Cubs card I thought it was an error card because there was an Arizona Diamondbacks logo on it.  The colors of the A&G logo are almost the exact same as the Diamondbacks and that confused me for a second.

• Upon a closer look at Ginter's logo, it reminded me of the logo used by the Chicago American Giants of the Negro Leagues.  Anyone else catch the similarity?
• For the first time, I won't be buying a complete set.  My run, which starts with the first Ginter set in 2006, will end with the 2022 set.  It has gotten too expensive.  The cheapest sets I've found were going for at least $150 for the full 400-card set.   It's not worth it to me.

Now on to the Cubs cards.  The team set consists of eleven players with thirteen cards.  Greg Maddux and Andre Dawson each have two cards.  One is in the base set and the other is a short-print full sized card of their mini rip card.  That gimmick is new this year and added 50 cards to the SP set.  That is part of the reason for the higher complete set price.

When you subtract the four Maddux and Dawson cards, you're left with nine regular Cubs.  Three of the off-season pickups, Bellinger, Mancini and Swanson, were included, while Taillon and Hosmer were left out.  Three rookies, Assad, Morel, and Wesneski, made the set.  The final three were holdovers from previous seasons, Hoerner, Suzuki, and Wisdom.