I didn't know what I was getting into ... but I've found my way out

 

I didn't realize when I started this blog, how interesting things would get.

 

From my posts being shared on major media outlets, to baseball scouts scolding me in the comments, to folks sending cards I'd never hope to own just because, to landing a national magazine gig, to people refusing to read my blog and announcing why, to former major leaguers commenting on the blog, it's been a wild adventure that I never expected when I first started typing: "Welcome! This is the first official post ..."

 

The same goes for collecting modern baseball cards, which I jumped into with greater enthusiasm the same year I started a blog. I had no idea what was waiting for me.

 

2008 was a year I thought I could still complete large sets like I did when I was a youngster. There were more of them in '08, of course, but, heck, I could do that, too. I'm older, have more money, have more resources, I'll do it.

 

There were four in particular that I liked that year: Allen & Ginter, Heritage, Stadium Club and Upper Deck Timelines.

 

It didn't take long for the cynicism to set in. I did finish A&G, that very year in fact, despite the short-prints. But I bailed on Timeline, trading off several of the cards. Last year I finally completed Stadium Club, which turned out to be one of the most bizarre sets I had ever encountered, only through making a number of concessions over what defines "complete" when it comes to '08 Stadium Club.

 

That left Heritage.

 

I loved 2008 Heritage. For me, it's the first Heritage set that I ever wanted to complete, because the 1959 set that '08 Heritage was replicating was so colorful and always was one of my all-time favorite looks, certainly one of the best of the '50s.

 

But it didn't take me long to figure out that Heritage sets are almost impossible to complete except for those few maniacs who make Heritage their sole quest each year. I have tried to stick to my set-collecting method from my childhood days. Heritage doesn't let you do that, with 75 (now 100) short-prints that don't come along very often and promptly soar in price ... and stay there over years and years and years.

 

Heritage sets from this time period also made things a bit more confusing by not putting all the SPs at the end of the set, but sprinkling them throughout. This is a very mean thing to do to very busy collectors with jobs and urchins to raise and with brain cells escaping by the day. So as I made my 2008 Heritage collecting journey, I kept finding pockets of tricky cards that I thought I had, but I didn't.

 

Eventually, I had all but a bunch of short-prints to get. And that's the way it stayed. For years, and years, and years.

 

I grew to resent Heritage for being so difficult and I refused to pay it attention, collecting other things instead and not feeling the least bit guilty. Eventually, over the last few years, I picked up an '08 Heritage card or two PER YEAR, just to tell myself I was still trying to finish it.

More than a year ago, I blogged about '08 Heritage and the few SPs that I still needed, in particular the Jacque Jones card.

It was selling for insane prices on the ebay, but a fellow collector was nice enough to send it to me after I complained about the wild prices. It was the third-to-last card I needed -- or so I thought -- and thanks to some online conversations about '08 Heritage, I was close to landing the final two cards as well.

But this was still in the thick of the pandemic and life upheaval remained a thing. The two cards I still needed didn't arrive quickly after Jones. In fact, months and months and months went by. I didn't even bother to look online for them, I knew the prices would be stupid. Heritage just didn't want to get completed, it was pretty obvious to me.

But clearly I simply needed to remain alive long enough for the required amount of patience necessary for the task. That's Heritage for you -- CAN YOU LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO COMPLETE THIS SET??? That should be Heritage's motto. It's really a question collectors should ask themselves before they dive in: Do I want to be on my death bed with this set incomplete?

About a month or so ago, the "last" two cards I needed arrived from The Cardboard Junkie himself. It was so very much appreciated.

Two final short-prints, including the stupidly-pricey Jon Lester card. We long-time bloggers still have our ways of circumventing the card-selling zealots.

So, there! I'm done! All the short-prints, ALLLLL the short-prints have been gathered! I decided to jettison the black-back variations in the recent giveaway so I needn't worry about those either! I'm golden! I have completed 2008 Heritage! Wow! I never thought I could do it, I never thought it would get done.

Uh, but let me just go through the binder and make sure there aren't more than two blank spots in my binder ...

Yeah, wrong move.

There were three blank spots.

Crap.

I'm not done.

I quickly looked up who I needed so I could get that one card ordered up and finished. Ryan Spilborghs? OK, Ryan Spilborghs. Is that even a short-print? No? All right, clearly I missed something there due to having a life of dodging bills, bosses and viruses. I won't apologize. I'll just order up that Spilborghs and make someone happy that their Spilborghs card actually sold.

Spilborghs arrived. Quickly. Much more quickly than anything '08 Heritage had ever arrived. I ran to my Heritage binder, inserted it into the slot and then my eyes traveled over to the facing page, up near the top and spotted ...

ANOTHER 2008 HERITAGE RYAN SPILBORGHS!!!!!

Nooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

*sigh*

I had slotted Spilborghs into the wrong spot. Resigned, I went to the laptop to find out what card No. 397 -- the card I actually needed -- was. I found out ... it was the Washington Nationals team card?

All right, so I ordered that one. At least these things aren't costing me much.

I hit ship and waited.

Days went by.

More than a week went by.

The estimated time when the card would show up went by.

I started to think about contacting the seller.

"Well, I'll just wait until after the weekend and then see what it's in my mailbox. It's a long weekend, so maybe that'll help." Rationalizing comes in handy with Heritage.

Tuesday finally arrived and -- lo! -- so did my Nationals team.

There it is.

I'm pretty sure everyone on that picture has forgotten they had a baseball career.

Once again, just to be sure, I looked through my Heritage binder for any empty spots. I found none!

So, that's it. That's really it! After 14 years, I've finally completed 2008 Heritage.

 

I don't love the set anymore. That feeling is long gone, just like the careers of everyone in the set not named Albert Pujols. All of the stars from that time, Jeter, Ortiz, Hamels, Martinez, they've long retired, and players like Ryan Church, Mark Teahen and Matt Chico are long forgotten (there are still players like Verlander and Cabrera kicking around).

 

I do respect it enough to know I don't want to do this again. 2008 Heritage taught me a lesson that I have paid attention to ever since. I don't think even 2024 Heritage and the '75 design will cause me to make the same mistake again.

 

Dayf sent me a few more cards along with the other Heritage ones, several that are also set-builders.

 

Those 1985 Fleer cards are most welcome, although I have been attempting to complete that set in not even one-fourth the time I was trying to complete '08 Heritage.

 

He also sent me a couple of owlies:

 

 

I don't feel like such a sage owl after blundering into the Heritage set.

 

On the packaging that included the cards, dayf wrote "only took 9 months," referring to how long he spent before sending the cards.

 

But that's just keeping in the spirit of the thing. What's nine months when 14 years have gone by?

 

I had no idea what I was getting into during those early blogging days, but at least in the case of 2008 Heritage, I've found my way out to the other side ... and, the important part is, I'm still alive.