Sunday, May 03, 2009

2009 Topps Heritage

For my first pack on the site, I have one 2009 Topps Heritage retail pack (from Target).

Each pack contains 8 cards (unless you get a relic card, in which case you only get 7).

17. Adam Lind
107. Jo-Jo Reyes
123: Will Venable
140: Lou Marson
218: Ozzie Guillen
316: Wilson Betemit

319: Mike Aviles

445: John Smoltz (short print)

The 2009 Topps Heritage set is based on the 1960 design, complete with a bunch of quirks. The last 75 cards are all short prints and are printed on a darker stock of cardboard. There are also five super rare "variations" that are based on real errors from the '60 set. As it turns out, the John Smoltz short print that I got in the pack is one of the potential error cards - unfortunately for my wallet, I pulled the "regular" version - the variation has Smoltz pictured in a Red Sox uniform.

Besides the rare variations and short prints, there are a few other quirks in the set that are noticeable if you like to put your sets in 9 pocket pages. Certain subsets within the set (such as the manager cards) are printed with the backs upside down. If you want the numbers on the back to all go the same direction, the managers will be upside down on the front...which really is nothing more than an annoyance. It's nice that Topps went all out trying to recreate the 1960 set, but there are some idiosyncrasies that could have been eliminated without losing the integrity of the project.

-Chris (FanOfReds) from Nachos Grande

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