2010 Topps Heritage Baseball

Here's another Heritage blaster.

2010 Topps Heritage Baseball

I needed to take a break from the Tournament of Gimmicks so I picked up another blaster of Heritage.

2010 Topps Heritage Baseball

Another blaster of Heritage.

2010 Topps Heritage Baseball

Video Box Break and Review

One retail blaster of 2010 Topps Heritage baseball
8 packs per box, 8 cards per pack (Paid $19.98 plus tax)

The Video

The Pulls

Base Set: 57/425 (13%)

Short Prints: 3/75 (3%)

Parallels
1 Chrome Refractor (1:59 packs) A.McCutchen 115/561

Inserts
1 News Flashback (1:12 packs) Berlin Wall
1 New Age Performers (1:15 packs) J.Mauer
1 Then and Now (1:15 packs) L.Aparicio, J.Ellsbury

The Review
Without any question the highlight of the hobby season for me is the annual release of Topps Heritage. I know that many other collectors feel the same way about Allen & Ginter but for me I can't get nearly as excited for A&G as I do every year for Heritage. I think it's because more than any other product on the market today these cards remind me of what baseball cards used to be. Yes, it would be even better if the gum wasn't wrapped, wasn't made in China, if the packs were wrapped in wax instead of plastic, if it was one series of 792 cards, if there were no inserts, no autogamers, no serial numbered chrome thingys, if they were closer to 99 cents rather than $2.50 a pack, but this is as close as we will probably get in an era where Topps is enslaved to Joe Collectors.

I am particularly pleased with this year's set. I was really worried when it came time to mimic the 1961 set because I feared Topps would be compelled to meddle with the boring design. Instead these cards are plain and simple, just like their '61 counterparts. Many collectors have complained that this design is just too plain boring but I absolutely savor it's simplicity. Topps deserves credit for remaining faithful. Better yet, the entire base set is printed on gray cardboard stock.

One thing I'm not too crazy about is that the photos have been tinkered with a tad too much in Topps' compulsive zeal to approximate 60's era cards. It seems that they've really softened the backgrounds on a lot of the photos and tried to embellish the players. Rather than look like 1961 baseball card photos they look really "touched up." But that's a minor quibble in a set that in all other respects is very pleasing to the eye.
Like always, the many subsets mimic similar ones found in the original '61 edition. One feature that I think is really neat is that the league leader cards feature old timey head shots on the front and the backs list the past fifty years of league leaders in each category. Every back is worth at least five minutes of wonderment at names you heard of and many one year wonders you haven't while you recall summers long past.

The team cards are here again but the ridiculous backs with "every player's stats against every team in the league in agate size type" are so impossible to read that Topps really should have just put something else on them. I'm guessing the '61's had something to do with this but I doubt seriously they had to list stats against 18 teams on the back.It's also a bit disappointing that with the rookie cards, Topps was forced to use that ridiculous Official Rookie Logo AND the '61 Star Rookie logo. MLB really needs to loosen up. Especially now that there is only one licensed manufacturer. On a positive note, the return of those gorgeous early sixties Topps Rookie Cups are more than a welcome sight.And did I mention that I absolutely love the MVP, All-Star, Baseball Thrills and checklist cards?With all the pluses and minuses considered I have to give Topps an overall thumbs up. I can't wait to break another blaster.

2010 Upper Deck Baseball

So I've been snowed in just like the rest of the east coast. Fortunately I've got plenty of stuff for you to pass the time with including the apropos 1990 Fleer card number 5 Storm Davis. And I also picked up an illegal blaster of Upper Deck before Snowmageddon hit. So sit back, relax, and enjoy, you can't go anywhere anyway.

2010 Topps Baseball

Here's the long awaited 2010 Topps blaster. Feast your eyes on a ton of inserts, Target throwbacks and a patch card.

2010 Topps Blaster

My Target got 2010 Topps, and not just retail packs, blasters! With goofy throwback packs and manufactered patches (yay). I should have a vid up by Saturday afternoon.

2009 Topps Heritage High Number Series

Picked up another blaster of Heritage High Numbers.

2009 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee Baseball

Using footage from both cameras I had rolling I have made a "director's cut" of the blaster of OPC I busted live Xmas Eve on Blog TV. You know, this multiple camera thing is kinda cool, I'm gonna have to do this more often.

2009 Topps Heritage High Number Series

Here's another blaster of Heritage High Numbers.

2009 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee Baseball

In case you missed it, here's the blaster of OPC I busted live on Blog TV Xmas Eve.

2009 Topps Heritage High Number Series

For those of you who missed it, here is the blaster of Heritage High Numbers I busted live on Blog TV yesterday. The show went fairly well, I think I had 7 viewers at one point. I will be doing some more of these in the future and work out some of the kinks. Hopefully I will see more of you guys at the next one.

2009 Topps American Heritage Heroes Edition

Video Box Break and Review

1 retail blaster of 2009 Topps American Heritage Heroes Edition
8 packs per box, 8 cards per pack (Paid $19.99 plus tax)

The Video



The Pulls

Base set: 46/125 (37%)

Short Prints: 2/25 (8%)

Parallels
1 Base Card Chrome (1:8 packs, 125 cards) Mother Jones (927/1776)

Inserts

4 Medal of Honor Winners (1:4 packs, 50 cards)
Thompson, Kelly, Madison, Day

2 Presidential Medal of Freedom Winners (1:4 packs, 25 cards)
Mother Teresa, Arnie

2 Heroes of Sport (1:4 packs, 25 cards)
Mathewson, Magic

2 Heroes of Spaceflight (1:6 packs, 28 cards)
Liberty Bell 7, Gemini V

1 A Hero's Journey (1:8 packs, 15 cards)
Rising Star Emerges in Debates

Hits
1 American Heroism Relic Group B (1:140 packs) World War II Captain's Uniform

The Review
First off, I gotta say that I think the folks at Topps struck gold with the American Heritage concept and it seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. The only problem I can see is if Topps starts using the same designs over and over (1961) or overexposing the same subjects (Abraham Lincoln). As many have already noted, these cards are perfect for young students or anyone who is a history buff. Now for a few quibbles. The one thing I find maddening about this set, and really any Heritage product, is that sorting these cards by number is excruciatingly painful. Not just because of the different backs but because many of the backs are upside down from the card fronts. Considering this is a set-builder's product, that's a big problem. However, as set-building sets go these days, this one is nearly a dream come true. The set is small and easy to complete (a blaster yields over a third of a set!) The inserts are relevant, well done, small in number and collectible. Thankfully we get only a chrome parallel for people who are into those. The relics are actually enticing and meaningful (I was quite pleased with the WWII uniform I pulled). The only complaints I have is the over redundancy of Lincoln cards. Do we really need or want a short print subset of 25 Lincoln/Obama cards that are virtually identical? Or, for that matter, 15 Hero's Journey Lincoln insert cards that are also all extremely similar? But those are small problems in a set that otherwise is fun and easy to collect. I have to give Topps an A for this effort and I look forward to the next American Heritage issue.

2009 Topps Allen & Ginter Baseball

Video Box Break and Review

One retail blaster of 2009 Topps Allen & Ginter baseball
8 packs per box, six cards per pack (Paid $19.99 plus tax)

The Video


The Pulls

Base set: 24/300 (8%)

Short Prints: 4/50 (8%)

Parallels
3 Base Minis (one per pack, 300 cards) T.Glaus, S.Kazmir, I.Snell
1 A&G Ad Back Base Mini (1:5 packs, 300 cards) R.Halladay
1 A&G Ad Back Short Print Mini (1:65 packs, 50 cards) C.Gomez
1 Black Bordered Base Mini (1:10 packs, 300 cards) M.Phelps

Inserts
8 National Pride (one per pack, 75 cards)
1 Baseball Highlights Sketches (1:6 packs, 25 cards) M.Rivera
1 National Heroes (1:12 packs, 40 cards) W.Tell
1 World's Biggest Hoaxes, Hoodwinks & Bamboozles (1:12 packs, 20 cards) The Turk

Autogamers
1 Framed Relic Group C (1:108 packs) F.Lewis Bat

The Review
What more can you about A&G that hasn't already been said. It's a collector's favorite and for good reasons. The cards are beautiful as usual although I wonder at what point Topps will have to drastically alter the basic design as every A&G set is starting to look the same. While we're on the subject of design, why does Topps insist on typing out everyone's stats on the back in letters? For example Batting Average Three hundred twenty-one. Does anybody read these? It just makes the backs useless. If they are not going to print stats why not just a short write up? The base set is relatively easy and inexpensive to collect. Good luck if you are going after the short prints or a master set of all the inserts, minis, variations which, to me, have been overdone.

2009 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee Baseball

Video Box Break and Review

One retail blaster of 2009 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee baseball
15 packs per box, six cards per pack (Paid $19.97 plus tax)



The Pulls

Base set: 55/500 (11%)

Last 100: 15/100 (15%)

Parallels
15 Black-bordered (one per pack)

Inserts
1 2008 OPC All-Rookie Team (10 cards): M. Aviles
1 The Award Show (20 cards): A. Pujols MVP
1 Face of the Franchise (30 cards): D. Wright
1 Walk-Off Winners (10 cards): C. Ruiz
1 UD 20th Anniversary: K. Dae-jung

The Review
When this product was first announced I was pretty excited because it was everything I was hoping Topps or Upper Deck would try. A real, honest to goodness, old style new set with a low price point. I like the retro design on real grey thin cardboard that is not directly ripping off any previous design (yes I know they look like '76 Topps but at least it's not an exact duplication). I also like that it is a large one series base product. Unfortunately, Upper Deck could not resist the temptation to be greedy. UD countered the low price by putting a mere six cards in a pack which means per card, these cost about the same as base Topps or UD. This is especially frustrating given that for a large retro set building product, you would be wanting more, not less, cards per pack. As a further ass-slap, UD insists on putting a multitude of large insert sets in the product that no one will have the money or patience to complete. And since this is a retro set builders product, why not waste everybody's time with one per pack black parallels!? To further put salt in the wound, those worthless 20th Anniversary inserts which are plaguing UD product this year are taking up spots in many of the packs. Thanks, Upper Deck. So let me get this straight, not only are we getting only six cards a pack for a 600 card set, but once you take out the black bordered parallel, "short print" (more on that mess later), and maybe an insert, you are really only getting 3-4 base cards a pack. Great. I should finish this set no later than 2056. Then there's the whole "short print" debacle which I am from now on referring to simply as the "last 100" cards because that's all they are. They are certainly not short printed. You can tell just by looking at my blaster. I have 11% of the short set completed but already 15% of the "short prints." That's because at one "short print" per pack and only 3-4 base cards per pack, I will complete the "short prints" long before I ever track down the 500-card short set. This is what happens when you make six card packs for a 600 card set. You magnificent bastards, Upper Deck. After reading this, you probably think I hate this product but I don't. Quite the contrary, despite the ridiculous six card packs, I love almost everything else about this set, and yes, I will probably drive myself mad and broke trying to complete it. It's as close to a retro, thin grey cardboard large set with a new design and players as you will find in 2009. And that includes Heritage. In other words, 2009 OPC is as close to 1991 Topps as we are going to get, for now.

2009 Upper Deck Goudey Baseball

Here's a blaster of Goudey I picked up last week.

2009 Topps Bowman Baseball

So here's that blaster of Bowman I bought a few days ago.

Coming Soon: 2009 Bowman Baseball

Don't ask me how much time I wasted making this.

2009 Upper Deck Goudey Baseball

So I stopped in Wally World and Target looking for Topps or Upper Deck series 2. No dice. But thankfully Tar-Jay finally restocked their Goudey as there were several more blasters and a fresh retail box. Thank goodness I'll have something to keep me occupied until series 2 products finally make their way out here.

2009 Upper Deck Goudey Baseball

Here's the blaster of Goudey.