Cardola: 2009 Topps Heritage Hobby

Editors note: Stale Gum will be on vacation in Florida for the next week. So, here's something to tide you over.

Insulting Our Collective Intelligence, One Gimmick at a Time.

The sad thing is, someone at Topps has convinced himself that collectors actually want these gimmicks.

Seriously, Who Cares Anymore?

It's like they're not even trying.

(h/t topps-heritage.com)

Video Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Baseball Updates & Highlights Presents 2008 Topps Heritage High Number Series Hobby

One Hobby box of 2008 Topps Heritage High Numbers (paid $65)
24 packs per box; six Heritage and two Updates & Highlights cards per pack

Part One


Part Two


The Pulls

Chiptoppers
1 Advertising Strip (one per box): D. Navarro/J. Crede/R. Ludwick
1 Buy-Back (1:2 boxes): S. Bilko

Base Set
Heritage High Numbers: 106 of 220 (48.18%)
Five Doubles

Short Set: 97 of 185 (52.43%)
Short Prints (1:3): 9 of 35

Updates & Highlights: 48 of 330 (14.55%)

Variations
15 Black Backs

Parallels
8 Chrome (100 cards, 1:3, numbered to 1959) K. Wood, J. Soria, E. Longoria, J. Cueto, A. J. Pierzynski, D. Span, E. Aybar, M. Gonzalez
2 Chrome Refractors (100 cards, 1:11, numbered to 559) J. Wright, R. Barajas

Inserts
2 Rookie Performers (15 cards, 1:12) M. Aviles, M. Scherzer
2 Then & Now (Ten cards, 1:12) L. Sherry/M. Lowell, L. Aparicio/O. Cabrera
2 Flashbacks (Ten cards, 1:12) KosFu, C. Delgado

Autogamers*
1 Clubhouse Collection: C. Granderson

*Odds of finding an autograph or a gamer: 1:24

The Review

The one thing I always thought was missing from the Heritage brand was an update. Think about it. Imagine if the 2001 set had an Update with RCs of Albert Pujols and Ichiro? So it's great that Topps has finally gotten around to issuing "2008 Topps Baseball Updates & Highlights Presents 2008 Topps Heritage High Number Series" -- and yes, that's the full name.

The set contains 220 cards, and like most Update sets is heavily weighted towards rookies (KosFu, Jay Bruce, Evan Longoria, and the like). 35 of the cards are short-printed, and has become par-for-the-course for Heritage, it's up to you the collector to figure out which ones are SPed. There are also another 35 black-backed variations, and Chrome parallels for your collecting pleasure. Inserts include another batch of "Then & Nows" and "Flashbacks," and a 15-card "Rookie Performers" which replace the "New Age Performers." In addition, you get a autograph or a gamer in each box.

Each waxpack has two cards from the Updates & Highlights set. All of these cards are base cards. (Yay.)

The Bottom Line

The box yielded about half the base set, and each pack had either a black-back or an SP. All the inserts, including the Chromes, were as promised.

The big "hits" were an Evan Longoria Chrome and a Curtis Granderson game used pants card. (Although I'd hate to know what part of the pants it came from.)

Product Rating: 4 Gumsticks.

UPDATED!!!! 1st Impressions: Various Topps Late-Season Products

UPDATED!!!!

Updates & Highlights

The sell sheets for TU&H have been posted for a while on this one. There are the usual inserts, and one-per-box autogamers. But the selling point is, of course, the 330-card base set.

A certain player who should have been card #645 in series two, is listed on the checklist as card #UH1. Then again, this is Topps, and given their track record this year I wouldn't put it past Topps to find a way to gimmick this up as well.

Stadium Club Retail

2008 Stadium Club is starting to look a lot like last year's Ultra SE after all, as Topps will release a stripped down version for retail. That the good news. The bad news: I finally figured out what's actually in Stadium Club.

Of the 150 cards in the base set, 50 are gimmicked "rookies" each numbered to only 1499 copies. If that's not bad enough, while each Hobby five-card pack will have a base rookie, retail has a "Retail Exclusive Rookie First Day Issue Parallel Card." So, are we supposed to believe that the base set rookies are Hobby-exclusive and the retail (read: the version for the rest of us) is stuck with a one-per-pack parallel?

That would royally suck.

Topps Heritage High Numbers

UPDATE:

Base Set: 220 cards (numbered 501-720). 45 cards are of rookies, 35 will be short-printed -- no odds stated.

Each pack will have two cards from the Topps Updates & Highlights set -- therefore giving you an excuse NOT to buy TU&H.

Inserts: 15 Rookie Performers, 10 Then & Now, 10 2008 Flashbacks.

Two Chrome/Refractors per waxbox.

One Autogamer per waxbox.

Street Date: Oct. 13

Video Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Heritage (Hobby)

Part one...




Part two...


The Pulls

Paid $69

Chiptopper: 1 J. Pierre, B. Molina, D. Murphy Advertising Panel

Base Set: 154 of 500 (30.8%)

short set: 146 of 425
Short Prints: 8 of 75 (1:3)

Black Backs: 25 (one-per-pack)

Parallels:
3 Chromes: T. Hunter, R. Oswalt, J. Francis (1:8, numbered to 1959)
1 Chrome Refractor: E. Byrnes (1:29, numbered to 559)

Inserts:
2 New Age Performers: D. Wright, J. Peavy (1:15)
2 Then & Now: E. Mathews & A-Rod, D. Drysdale & J. Peavy (1:15)
1 Baseball Flashbacks: O. Cepeda (1:12)
2 News Flashbacks: Dalai Lama, Hawaii (1:12)

Autogamers:
1 Clubhouse Collection: T. Hunter jersey (1:24)

Video Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Heritage Target Blaster

We interrupt this Fleer tribute to present a video Blaster box break of 2008 Topps Heritage.

Seven packs + one "Bonus Pack" per box; eight cards per pack. (Paid $19.97 + tax)



Base Set: 46 of 500

short set: 43 of 425
Short Prints: 3 of 75 (1:3) K. Gregg; Snell, Capps, Maholm, Gorzelany; Verlander All-Star

Variations
7 Black Backs: B. Lidge, P. LoDuca, B. Penny, C-L Hu RC, M. Cameron, A. Lind, R. Ankiel

Parallels
1 Chrome: J.J. Putz (1:15, numbered to 1959)

Inserts
1 New Age Performer: Ichiro (1:15)
1 Then & Now: Aparicio & Reyes (1:15)
4 T-205: C-H Hu, R. Howard, V. Guerrero, W. Balentien

Autogamers
NONE

I Take Back Everything I Said About 2008 Topps Heritage.

Just read the Cardboard Junkie's rant on the "super duper ultra whooper collectors take it in the pooper short print gimmick cards" in 2008 Topps Heritage.

Topps, you are officially "On Notice"

If you're ever going to catch for Houston, be sure to bring a towel.

This is just too easy.

Box Break and Review: 2008 Topps Heritage

One Hobby box of 2008 Topps Heritage (Paid $62)
24 packs per box, eight cards per pack (MSRP $2.99)

The Details

Chiptoppers:
One Stamped 1959 Buyback (1:2 boxes)
One of Advertising Panel (one-per-box)

Base Set: 500 cards

Short Set: 425 cards
Short Prints: 75 cards (1:3)

Variations
Black Backs: 110 cards (one-per-pack)

Parallels
Chrome: 100 cards (1:8, numbered to 1959)
Chrome Refractors: 100 cards (1:29, numbered to 559)
Black Bordered Chrome Refractors: 100 cards (1:315, numbered to 59)

Inserts
New Age Performers: 15 cards (1:15)
Then & Now: 10 cards (1:15)
Baseball Flashbacks: 10 cards (1:12)
News Flashbacks: 10 cards (1:12)

Autogamers*
Clubhouse Collection Relics: 40 cards (production varies)
Clubhouse Collection Dual Relics: five cards (1:5582)
Flashback Stadium Relic: 10 cards (1:162)
Dual Flashback Relic: five cards (1:55,000)
Real One Autograph: 46 cards (1:247)
Real One Special Edition: 46 cards (1:835)
Real One Dual Autograph: 10 cards (1:6869)
Flashback Autograph: 10 cards (1:14,900)
Clubhouse Collection Auto Relic: 10 cards (1:6875)
Flashback Auto Stadium Relic: five cards (1:22,100)
1959 Cut Signatures: 10 cards (1:98,200)

*Odds of finding an autograph or game used card: 1:24

The Pulls

Chiptoppers
1 1959 Harvey Kuenn Buyback
1 A-Rod, Huston Street, M. Grudzielanek Advertising Panel

Base Set: 156 of 500 (31.20%)

Short Set: 148 of 425 (34.82%)
Short-Prints: 8 of 75 (10.67%) R. Freel, J. Peavy, F. Lopez, B. Giles, M. Owings, J. Contreras, O. Husdon All-Star, J. Beckett All-Star

Variations
24 Black Backs

Parallels
3 Chrome: B. Penny, T. Hudson, M. Ordonez
1 Chrome Refractor: J. Isringhausen
1 Black Bordered Refractor: A-Rod

Inserts
24 sticks of gum
1 New Age Performers: M. Holliday
1 Then & Now: D. Drysdale & J. Peavy
2 Player Flashbacks: E. Banks, M. Mantle
2 News Flashbacks: Alaska, Antarctica

Autogamers
1 Real One: S. Podsednik (Redemption)




The Review

I'm going to keep this short and sweet.

Things I like about 2008 Topps Heritage

• The design
• The one-per-box every-other-box buybacks
• Fewer short-prints

Things I don't like about 2008 Topps Heritage

• Fewer cards than 1959 Topps
  
• The one-per-pack black-back variations
• The advertising panel chiptoppers

Things I really, really like about 2008 Topps Heritage

• No mirrors
• No Mickey Mantle overload
  

Product Rating: 4 Gumsticks (out of five)

Box Break and Review: 2007 Topps Heritage

One Hobby box of 2007 Topps Heritage (paid $55)
24 packs per box, eight cards per pack (MSRP $2.99)


The Details

Chiptoppers:
One of 16 13 Individually Wrapped Felt Team Logos

Base Set: 494 cards

Short Set: 384 cards
Short-Prints: 110 cards (1:2/packs)

Variations*
Yellow Letter Name: 17 cards
Yellow Letter Team: 16 cards

*Overall odds of finding a Yellow Letter: 1:6 packs

Parallels
Chrome: 110 cards (1:11, numbered to 1958)
Chrome Refractors: 110 cards (1:39, numbered to 558)
Black Bordered Chrome Refractors: 110 cards (1:383, numbered to 58)

Inserts
Individually wrapped stick of bubble gum: one-per-pack
New Age Performers: 15 cards (1:15)
Then & Now: 10 cards (1:15)
Flashbacks: 10 cards: (1:12)

Mirrors
Alex Rodriguez Bullshit Waste of Space: 25 cards (1:24)
Mickey Mantle 1958 AL Home Run Champion: 42 cards (1:6)

Autogamers
Clubhouse Collection Relic: 66 cards (production varies)
Clubhouse Collection Dual Relic: three cards (1:13,900, numbered to 58)
Flashback Relic: ten cards (1:484)
Flashback Dual Relic: three cards (1:82,544, numbered to ten)
Real One Autograph: 37 cards (1:327, limited to 200)
Real One Special Edition Autograph: 37 cards (1:1129, numbered to 58)
Flashback Autograph: five cards (1:19500, numbered to 25)
Clubhouse Collection Auto Relic: six cards (1:16,100, numbered to 25)
Flashback Auto Relic: five cards (1:19,500, numbered to 25)
A-Rod Road to 500 Autographed: 25 cards (1:100,500, one-of-one)
1958 Cut Signatures: three cards (1:403,200, one-of-one)

The Pulls

Chiptoppers: One Fierce Cincinnati Red Legs Beer Coaster

Base Set: 175 of 494 (35.43%)

Short Set: 163 of 384 (42.45%)
Short-Prints: 12 of 110 (10.91%) W. Ledezma, B. Abreu, B. Hawpe, C. Hamels, J. Vidro, C. Lee, J. Conine, A. Sanchez, Red Sox Team Card, J-Roll, K-Rod, R. Hernandez

Variations:
1 Yellow Letter Name: R. Zimmerman
3 Yellow Letter Team: R. Cano, M. Buehrle, H. Ramirez

Parallels:
2 Chrome: J. Zumaya, Delwyn Young

Inserts:
24 sticks of gum
2 New Age Performers: D. Jeter, R. Clemens
2 Then & Now: Aparico & Reyes, Podres & Harang
2 Flashbacks: W. Spahn, Sen. J. Bunning

Mirrors:
1 A-Rod Bullshit Waste of Space: #54
4 Mickey Mantle 1958 AL Home Run Champion: #2, 20, 30, & 41

Autogamers: NONE

The Review

As of this writing, it has been almost ten months since the release of 2007 Topps Heritage. Don't ask why, but I just never got around to collecting last year's Heritage. I don't know if I can fully explain it, but it's just that Topps has done the whole "Retro" thing to death and the thought of collecting yet another Topps Heritage set just doesn't have the same panache as it did five years ago. Don't get me wrong, Topps has issued some great retro-themed sets over the last few years (Allen & Ginter); but they've also put out some stinkers. (Topps 52)

With that said, I went to the New York Ass Slap wanting to rip something. This being the two-month interregnum between the last of the '07 sets and the first of the '08s, there wasn't much of anything new and the available junkwax was just as unappealing. But there they were: a stack of surplus 2007 Topps Heritage waxboxes. "Oh, what the hell!" I thought as I handed the dealer $55 for the box.

What the hell.

---

I never liked the design of '58 Topps ('56 and '59 were much better), but for some reason I like 2007 Heritage better than I did 2006. Why? One word: authenticity.

For the first time since the inaugural Heritage set, the size of the base set matches that of the set it's based on -- 494 cards. Also, as a nod to the '58 Topps set, there is no card #145 and some selected players have "yellow letter" variations. (Not unlike the "black back" variations in '01 Heritage.) But they didn't make variations of any old players mind you. The exact same card numbers that were "Yellowed" in 1958 Topps are also Yellowed in '07 Heritage. Give Topps a +1 for keeping it real.

About the only thing not authentic are short-printed base cards. Unlike other Topps sets of the era, all the 1958 cards were produced in roughly equal quantities regardless of series. (In fact, Topps actually triple-printed the Stan Musial and Mickey Mantle All-Star cards!) But as has become par-for-the-course in Heritage, 110 of the base set cards are short-printed and seeded at the rate of 1:2/packs. In retrospect -- if only for the change-of-pace it would have brought to the Heritage brand -- 2007 Heritage could have done without the short-prints.

Other observations:

One thing they didn't have in 1958 is Adobe Photoshop; but if you like Photoshopped cards -- especially poorly Photoshopped cards -- then check out card #386. If you look closely, you might notice the "Veterans Stadium Final Season" patch on Chase Ultey's right sleeve. (For the record, The Vet's final season was 2003.) In 2003, Ryan Howard was playing for AA Reading, and Cholly was out of baseball. But hey, any card with Uncle Cholly is a good card in my book.

Willie Mays is card #5 in '58 Topps, but Derek Jeter is #5 in '07 Heritage. Barry Bonds should have been the obvious choice for #5, but the set was issued during the brief period where Barry Bonds' Topps contract had expired.

Other "similar numbers:"
#1: Ted Williams / David Ortiz
#30: Hank Aaron / Ichiro
#150: Mickey Mantle / Alex Rodriguez
#285: Frank Robinson / Ken Griffey, Jr.
#310: Ernie Banks / Ryan Howard
#418: Mantle & Aaron / Pujols & Ordonez
#436: Mays & Snider / Wright & Howard
#476: Stan Musial AS / Albert Pujols AS

On card #91, Royals otufielder David DeJesus appears to be holding the same pre-War era glove that his teammate Zach Greinke used as a prop on his 2006 Topps Allen & Ginter card.

The iconic All-Star cards at the end of the set have a reference to Topps Magazine, as opposed to the now-defunct Sport. For those of you not aware, in the early 90s Topps published a magazine that was essentially nothing more than an advertising vehicle -- think Nintendo Power. I remember one issue had a poster with the entire 1991 Stadium Club set.

Inserts include the good (New Age Performers, Then & Now and Flashbacks), and the bad (Chrome parallels and assorted refractors), and the stupid (a continuation of the A-Rod Waste-of-Space and a 42-card Mickey Mantle mirror set).

Finally, each box comes with one of sixteen thirteen five-inch diameter felt logo patches, packaged as a chiptopper. They're great on a T-shirt, sweater, or jacket. (Says so right on the side of the waxbox.)

The Bottom Line:

Zero doubles and inserts that all ran as promised add up to a pretty decent rip. I got a little more than a two-fifths of the base set, and a tenth of the SPs. If you're a set builder, then three boxes should be all you need. The chiptopper yielded a Cincinnati Red Legs logo. (Ol' Tail Gunner Joe would be proud!)

The only thing that sucks about '07 Topps Heritage are the mirror cards. You know that one episode of South Park when Kyle's cousin from Connecticut comes to visit? But everybody hates him, and it gets to a point where Kyle has to pay Cartman $40 just to stop ripping on him? But then even Kyle had had enough of his cousin's constant complaining and kvetching, and winds up tying him to a sled that's tied to the bumper of a Connecticut-bound bus. But then his cousin came back to South Park? Then they leave him in the woods, and he came back again? Then they put him on a plane to Antarctica, and he STILL CAME BACK TO SOUTH PARK? You know, that one?

The A-Rod Road to 500 mirrors are to Topps Heritage (and for that matter every other 2007 Topps set) what Kyle's cousin is to the South Park kids. You wish they'd just go away. But for some reason, they just keep coming back to ruin everything.

Product Rating: 3 1/2 Gumsticks (out of five)