Blaster power rankings: 2019 Topps Heritage

So I wasn't going to bother with buying any blasters of Heritage this year. But then I felt sympathy rage for one of my fellow collectors and I set out to prove a point.

The other day, Oscar from All Trade Bait, All The Time, a noted follower of the only team that matters, posted video of his own Heritage blaster break. It was amusing seeing him go through the cards -- card after card of players and teams he didn't care about in the least -- and come up almost empty pulling Dodgers (he did pull an SP Kenta Maeda, which made me quite jealous).

I was nodding my head vigorously as I watched the video because this happens to me! All the time! How can a blaster yield 6 Giants but one or zero Dodgers? This is an injustice! I demand a demonstration! I want signs painted and chants sung and ... where are my Dodgers????

So, I went out and bought a blaster just to confirm what Oscar showed, that the blaster gods conspire against Dodger collectors.

I also thought I could make this a Blaster Power Rankings post. I haven't done very well keeping up with this series. I just can't get myself to buy blasters on a regular basis. I did only one Blaster Power Ranking post all of last year. I guess I just need to get riled up over something.

When we last left the Blaster Power Rankings series, the ... um ... Dodgers were actually leading the standings at 24 total card pulled through five power rankings posts. The Yankees were second with 22. I guess none of this a surprise at all, and kills mine and Oscar's conspiracy theory. OK, actually it's only my conspiracy theory. Oscar didn't say anything about that.

But anyway, I've opened all the contents of the 2019 Heritage blaster and it's time to rank the teams! As always, for ranking purposes, inserts count less for teams because we're supposedly trying to complete a set here.

Blaster Power Rankings: 2019 Heritage

1. LOS ANGELES DODGERS (6 cards)

Well, this is embarrassing. The Dodgers came out first and are starting to pull away from the pack.

I'm not the least bit sorry about this though. How can I be upset when I pulled the "When Puigs Fly" card, and I pulled three Dodger playoff victory cards, and I pulled the short-printed Clayton Kershaw card. This is the best blaster ever!!

2. ATLANTA BRAVES (5 cards)

You can see by the poses that the photographer BARELY MOVED to shoot these guys. They all stopped at an X on the floor in the stands and got their pictures taken. When I dwell on this it makes me want to punt this blaster into the river. Baseball card photography is so homogenized now, I don't know how it doesn't annoy everybody. Make an effort, somebody! Or make it a little less obvious.

3. HOUSTON ASTROS (4 cards)

I pointed this out on Twitter: but try to tell me that Tyler White and Max Stassi are different people by looking at these two photos. I don't believe you.

4. TORONTO BLUE JAYS (4 cards)

Bravo for Stroman's blue glove. I love color coordination like this.

5. CHICAGO CUBS (4 cards)

The scratch off card is very legitimate in look and feel. It opens up to the familiar series of black rectangle scratch offs (I didn't try to scratch any off -- this card will likely go to one of the many Cubs collectors out there and I don't want to get them peeved). So I think you can play the game with these!

6. LOS ANGELES ANGELS (4 cards)

I like the New Age Performers design even more so in person. Nice and flashy. It reminds me more of the '60s though, not '70s.

7. TAMPA BAY RAYS (4 cards)

The Rays were dead last in the power rankings before this blaster, so this will help quite a bit.

The Blake Snell item is one of the candy lids that you can find in Heritage blasters. I find the reverse side even more fun than the player side:

Smile, Scherzer!

8. BALTIMORE ORIOLES (3 cards)

The Manny Machado As An Oriole card is interesting, considering his most recent team, as far as playing on the field, was the Dodgers. I thought that the connection to The Sporting News would explain it. The Sporting News names an all-star team each year, but nope. The 2018 AL shortstop on the Sporting News team was Francisco Lindor. So I have no clue what's going on (once again).

9. CLEVELAND INDIANS (3 cards)

The Indians have a Bieber and an Santana on their team.

10. WASHINGTON NATIONALS (3 cards)

Bryce Harper is getting in trouble because he said words. Someday nobody is going to be allowed to say words. And we wonder what happened to all the colorful athletes.

11. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (2 cards)

12. BOSTON RED SOX (2 cards, gag)

13. CINCINNATI REDS (2 cards)

14. COLORADO ROCKIES (2 cards)

15. DETROIT TIGERS (2 cards)

I like the close-up shots. We didn't get enough of that in the last couple of Heritage series, even though closeup head shots were all over late '60s Topps sets.

16. MILWAUKEE BREWERS (2 cards)

17. NEW YORK METS (2 cards)

18, NEW YORK YANKEES (2 cards)

19. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (2 cards)

20. PITTSBURGH PIRATES (2 cards)

21. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (2 cards)

Delivery Dudes!

Somebody needs to alert Kolten Wong and everyone involved in Heritage photo shoots that nobody but nobody posed like that in 1970. Your view of history is skewed.

22. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (2 cards)

23. TEXAS RANGERS (2 cards)


24. CHICAGO WHITE SOX (1 card)

25. KANSAS CITY ROYALS (1 card)

26. SAN DIEGO PADRES (1 card)

27. SEATTLE MARINERS (1 card)

28. MIAMI MARLINS (0 cards)
29. MINNESOTA TWINS (0 cards)
30. OAKLAND A's (0 cards)

This Heritage blaster was a little more spread out among teams than last year's and all of the teams that were shut out are likely subjects.

Here are the updated power rankings:

1. Dodgers - 30
2. Yankees - 24
3. Cubs - 23
4. Blue Jays - 22
5. Braves - 22
6. Tigers - 21
7. Astros - 20
8. Mets - 20
9. White Sox - 20
10. Red Sox - 19
11. Cardinals - 19
12. Giants - 19
13. Pirates - 18
14. Reds - 16
15. Royals - 16
16. Phillies - 14
17. A's - 13
18. Brewers - 13
19. Diamondbacks - 12
20. Nationals - 12
21. Mariners - 11
22. Rangers - 11
23. Rockies - 11
24. Angels - 10
25. Orioles - 10
26. Padres - 10
27. Twins - 10
28. Marlins - 9
29. Rays - 9
30. Indians - 8

All right, obviously, with results like these, I should be buying blasters all the time. And that's all I should be buying.

I doubt that will happen though because even if I fully intend to continue this series I can't count on wanting to spend money on 2019 cards throughout the year.

But if I get a little discouraged by the lack of Dodgers like Oscar did the other day, then I know what to do.