(Note: I'm still waiting for Dana to get back to me with an address so I can mail the winnings from the 6,000th post contest. I'll give it another week for an answer. If I don't hear by then, the No. 2 person on the contest list gets the prize (I'll need his address, too)).
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One of my all-time favorite "impossibles" when it comes to card sets is the 1967 Topps Giant Stand-Ups, a 24-card proof set that wasn't released.
I love the look -- the floating heads on the dark background -- but I'll never land any, which is why I still have the 2009 REA Auctions book that includes pictures of the set.
The next-best thing, I guess, is the 2016 Heritage insert set, a tribute to that test set. They're not the same thing -- it's 15 cards instead of 24 (neither fits nicely in a 9-pocket page), and the cards are smaller as they're standard 2 1/2-by-3 1/2. Finally, unlike the originals, the Heritage stand-ups DO NOT STAND UP. Kind of makes the name of the set meaningless.
However, it's one of the better Topps insert sets of the last 10 years. You know what most inserts are like now -- "excuse to show stars and rookies with vaguest theme possible to tie it together," which is why in 2026 we have "MLB Stars of the Game," "Titans of the Game", "Big-Ticket Players," "Glove Work," "Perennial All-Stars," "Profiles," etc. These are all basically the same insert with different headings and graphics.
So, because of all this, I finally decided to finish the 2016 Heritage Stand-Ups set. It's very unlike me to go back and complete an insert set from 10 years ago, but I guess I broke out of my comfort zone.
These cards are kind of "old" in modern terms, so let's look at each of them and see how the player is doing these days.
1 - Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
Harper was 4 or 5 years removed from his status as the Youth Phenom of Baseball at this point. Two years after this card, he'd move on to the Phillies (a year before the Nationals won the World Series) and that's where he is now. He's back in the outfield, too.
2 - Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
Bleah, this guy. Madison Bumgarner had three rings by this point, but 2016 was his last great season. He'd pitch for seven more years, both with the Giants and Diamondbacks with his last season in 2023. I was surprised he was still pitching in '23.
3 - Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
My favorite player in 2016, Kershaw still had a few more great seasons ahead though probably none as good as what came earlier. He still hung on to play in a lot of World Series and even win a few before retiring after last season. This is the only card for which I have duplicates, for obvious reasons.
4 - Josh Donaldson, Toronto Blue Jays
"The Bringer of Rain" is sporting the hatless look even though he had been a Blue Jay since 2015. Donaldson was at the top of his game at this point, with MVP honors in 2015. By 2018 he was playing for almost a new team every year until retiring after 2023.
5 - Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
Like all Giants in 2016, Buster Posey was still a huge deal, which means I found him annoying (this set is explaining another reason why I don't try to complete many multi-team insert sets). Posey is now the Giants' general manager -- and not really having a good time.
6. Andrew MucCutchen, Pittsburgh Pirates
A superstar in Pittsburgh, McCutchen would leave the Pirates after 2017 and visit several other teams before returning to Pittsburgh, then leaving again. He finally reached the end of the line (I think) this year after his release from the Rangers.
Also, anyone remember the former card blogger and Twitter account who would loudly announce "His Name Is Andrew McCutchen!" any time a media member misspelled McCutchen's last name? Good times.
7 - Carlos Correa, Houston Astros
More bleah. Correa was on the verge of ruining my life with his garbage-can-aided World Series performance against the Dodgers in 2017. Injuries hampered him in the years that followed (karma!) and then he tried to get back on my good graces by joining the Twins, but I always knew he'd return to the Astros where he is currently.
8 - Zack Greinke, Arizona Diamondbacks
Zack Greinke had just joined the Diamondbacks after a strong stay with the Dodgers. His photo here is the same as the one of him with the Dodgers on his 2016 Heritage Chrome card:
Weirdly, Greinke's regular Heritage card is the same photo with the Diamondbacks photoshop.
I didn't expect Greinke to stay with the Dodgers, given his traveling ways, but he stayed with Arizona longer than I expected before moving on to Houston and back with Kansas City until calling it quits in 2023.
9 - Kris Bryant, Chicago Cubs
At the peak of his powers in 2016, having just had some of the most coveted cards in 2015, Bryant and the Cubs won a World Series in 2016 (thank goodness I pack-pulled this in 2016). After a few more decent Cubs years -- and injuries -- he moved on to the Giants and then the Rockies, where his career has fallen off a cliff. He hasn't played at all this year due to his back.
10 - Jake Arrieta, Chicago Cubs
Jake Arrieta was the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner and a 22-game winner in 2015 when this card was issued. He also no-hit the Dodgers that year. He still was tough to hit for a couple more years, played for the Phillies in 2018-20, then back with the Cubs and closing it out with the Padres in 2021.
11 - Stephen Piscotty, St. Louis Cardinals
Topps does love shoving the young studs in with the stars even if they haven't entirely proven themselves -- it makes many of its insert sets wonky. Piscotty was a top-five rookie in 2015 and enjoyed a really good 2016. But many injuries and his mother's tragic disease (ALS) sidelined his career. He tried multiple comebacks but his last MLB season was 2022.
12 - Matt Harvey, Mets
After helping lead the Mets to the World Series in 2015, Harvey struggled for the rest of his career, playing with five different teams between 2018-21.
13 - Kyle Schwarber, Chicago Cubs
The current star of this set, Kyle Schwarber is at the top of his game in 2026 as a member of the Phillies where he's played since 2022. Schwarber has also played for four teams that have reached the World Series in the last 10 years (Cubs, Nationals, Red Sox, Phillies), though he wasn't with every team when they went to the WS.
14 - Mike Trout, (Los Angeles) Angels
Surprisingly the only guy in this set that is still playing with the same team. Mike Trout has not known a winning season since the year before this card was made.
15 - Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers
Miguel Cabrera retired after the 2023 season and is waiting on his Hall of Fame call.
Cabrera and Trout were the last cards I needed to finish the set. I thought they might cost me, but none of the final cards I needed (Cabrera, Trout, McCutchen, Greinke) cost more than a couple of bucks.
That's a good feeling and nice to know. It might be the last insert set I complete at the rate that Topps is going.
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