Card of the Day: Ian Happ 2016 Topps Heritage Minors #85

Phillies ’05 Bowman Heritage Auto Contest Winner Announced

Congrats to Nick m on being the lucky winner of the Jason Jaramillo 2005 Bowman Heritage Signs Of Greatness Auto.  Once Nick m sends me their mailing address, I will ship this card ASAP.  Thanks!

Phillies ’05 Bowman Heritage Auto Contest! – NOW CLOSED

This contest is for a Jason Jaramillo 2005 Bowman Heritage Signs Of Greatness Auto.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Sunday, April 16, 2017 @ 8:00 p.m. EST.
• To enter, please leave a comment in this post.
• You can enter once per day.
• The winner will be selected at random.
• Please provide a valid e-mail address when entering.
• The winner will receive an e-mail when the contest is over.
• The winner has one week to send me their contact information or the contest will be held again.
• Once the contest is over, I will need the winner’s mailing address so I can ship them this card for FREE!!!

Card of the Day: Hector Neris 2016 Topps Heritage #699

Cabrera ’17 Topps Heritage Jersey Contest Winner Announced

Congrats to johnnehill on being the lucky winner of the Miguel Cabrera 2017 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Jersey.  Once johnnehill sends me their mailing address, I will ship this card ASAP.  Thanks!

Cabrera ’17 Topps Heritage Jersey Contest! – NOW CLOSED

This contest is for a Miguel Cabrera 2017 Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection Jersey.  Good luck!!!

Contest Details:

• This contest will end Friday, March 24, 2017 @ 8:00 p.m. EST.
• To enter, please leave a comment in this post.
• You can enter once per day.
• The winner will be selected at random.
• Please provide a valid e-mail address when entering.
• The winner will receive an e-mail when the contest is over.
• The winner has one week to send me their contact information or the contest will be held again.
• Once the contest is over, I will need the winner’s mailing address so I can ship them this card for FREE!!!

2017 Topps Heritage Baseball Box Break & Review

The year was 1968.  Adam West’s Batman television series came to an end, Robert F. Kennedy/Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated, and Denny McClain became the first pitcher since Dizzy Dean to win 30 or more games in a single season.  Baseball collectors were introduced to the 598-card, speckle-border, set known as 1968 Topps.  They may not have had Hall of Fame careers, but guys like Jerry Koosman and Ron Tompkins will forever be linked to Nolan Ryan and Johnny Bench due to being pictured on the same rookie cards.

Topps is gradually working through their classic designs and applying them to the Heritage brand.  The 1968 design is up to the plate this year.  If you plan on building the base set, there are (500) total cards including (100) short prints.

Most base parallels are not serial numbered.  I like that as it adds a little mystery.  Obviously the print runs for each type of parallel were announced.

• Blue Border (50) copies
• Bright Yellow Backs (25) copies
• Gray Backs (10) copies
• Flip Stock (5) copies
• Base Mini #’ed/100

Chrome parallels come in a variety of colors:

• Chrome #’ed/999
• Refractor #’ed/568
• Blue Refractor #’ed/68
• Gold Refractor #’ed/5
• Superfractor #’ed/1
• Purple Refractor

When it comes to the Blue, Gold, and Purple Refractors, you really need to look in order to see the color.  Its a good thing they’re serial numbered.  I could easily see someone mistaken one color for another.  For some reason those colors aren’t distinct this time around.  The speckle-border may not have shown up as much when those colors were added.  Perhaps that is why they kept the color so light.

Although Heritage is not the only product that contains photo variations, collectors seem to want them more.  Especially the rarer ones.  In a hobby dominated by autographs and relics, its awesome to see the amounts some people are willing to spend on these.  Luckily, all you need to do in order to spot them is check the code on the card backs.  Look carefully.  Those codes are tiny.

• Color Swap ends in 74
• Traded ends in 73
• Throwback ends in 72
• Action/Rookie ends in 71
• Error ends in 70
• Base SP (401-500) ends in 69
• Base ends in 1867

I was pleasantly surprised to see how collectors responded to some of the box toppers.  Specifically the 3D cards and posters.  Anytime non-autographed and non-relic cards sell well is a positive in my book.

Heritage has a tremendous following.  A single hobby box can be loaded with stuff.  Topps gives you a lot more to look for than just your traditional “hit”.  I can’t wait to see how they handle the 1971 design.  1971 Topps is notorious for it’s all black borders.  It doesn’t take much for them to get damaged.

Here is what I pulled (Purple Refractor Hot Box):

Relic

• Miguel Cabrera Clubhouse Collection Jersey

Base Variation

• Kris Bryant #500 Action Image

Short Prints

• Justin Upton #438
• George Springer #432
• Chris Sale #405
• Mark Trumbo #461
• Carlos Correa #430
• Robinson Cano #422
• Jason Kipnis #448
• Giancarlo Stanton #401

Parallels

• Baltimore Orioles Blue Border (50) copies
• Freddie Freeman Chrome #’ed/999
• Aaron Judge/Tyler Austin 2017 Rookie Stars Chrome Purple Refractor
• David Dahl/Raimel Tapia 2017 Rookie Stars Chrome Purple Refractor
• Manny Margot/Hunter Renfroe 2017 Rookie Stars Chrome Purple Refractor
• Ian Kinsler Chrome Purple Refractor
• Jose Altuve Chrome Purple Refractor
• Christian Yelich Chrome Purple Refractor
• Justin Verlander Chrome Purple Refractor
• Aledmys Diaz Chrome Purple Refractor
• David Ortiz Chrome Purple Refractor
• Kenta Maeda Chrome Purple Refractor
• Danny Duffy Chrome Purple Refractor
• David Price Chrome Purple Refractor
• Albert Almora Chrome Purple Refractor
• Lucas Giolito Chrome Purple Refractor
• Mike Trout Chrome Purple Refractor
• Madison Bumgarner Chrome Purple Refractor
• Jay Bruce Chrome Purple Refractor
• Giancarlo Stanton Chrome Purple Refractor
• Todd Frazier Chrome Purple Refractor
• Corey Seager Chrome Purple Refractor
• Yu Darvish Chrome Purple Refractor
• Francisco Lindor Chrome Purple Refractor
• Bryce Harper Chrome Purple Refractor
• Aroldis Chapman Chrome Purple Refractor

Inserts

• J.A. Happ/Carlos Correa – The Topps News/Tyler Chatwood Advertising Panel Box Topper
• Aledmys Diaz 1968 Topps Game
• Felix Hernandez 1968 Topps Game
• Manuel Lee 1993 Rediscover Topps Bronze Buyback #488
• Mickey Tettleton 1987 Rediscover Topps Bronze Buyback #649
• Kyle Lohse 2012 Rediscover Topps Silver Buyback #26
• David Holmberg 2014 Rediscover Topps Gold Buyback #242
• Lou Brock/Jonathan Villar Then And Now #4
• News Flashbacks 1968 – Ivy League Goes Co-Ed #13
• News Flashbacks 1968 – Civil Rights Giant Slain #2
• Baseball Flashbacks 1968 – Johnny Bench
• Mookie Betts New Age Performers #3
• Manny Machado New Age Performers #8