Shall I continue?

 

Just because I finally completed the 2008 Heritage set doesn't mean I'm done with cards Topps created in 2008 to look like the ones it issued in 1959.

No, I'm not going back on my promise to ship off all the black back variations to Derek. The envelope is already packaged, and I can't stand reopening packages.

I'm also not referring to any of the inserts in that set, I simply don't care about them, especially those Dick Perez things.

I am talking about the High Numbers series from that year.

In the frenzy that was me buying every card that I saw on store shelves in 2008, I accumulated quite a few cards from the Heritage High Number set that year.

I don't know how I did that. If you remember, Topps didn't making buying the cards all that appealing, at least on the retail level.

Remember this wrapper? This is how I bought Heritage High Number packs from Target that year. It was a package deal: if you wanted those High Numbers, you had to buy a couple of 2008 Updates & Highlights cards, too. I had zero interest in the Update & Highlights series, so I resented just about every pack I bought. But I bought them (Also, note that the Jay Bruce and Evan Longoria "cards" on the wrapper, do not exist. Bruce and Longoria are in the set, but they are featured on the "Rookie Stars of 2008 design with the red, white & blue banner behind them).

I believe this was the first time Heritage included a High Numbers series. It was 220 cards. I have 207 of them.

Before we get to what I don't have, here is one of the main reasons I have little incentive to finish the set:

This set is packed with notable rookies and I've accumulated all of them. So why continue with chasing down some nobodies?

Especially when every single one of those nobodies is a short-print. There are 13 cards left to pursue, all SPs.

Here's the list:

688- Gio Gonzalez

690- Jonathan Sanchez

695-Ross Gload

697-Nick Hundley

698-Kevin Correia

700-Eddie Kunz

704-Kenny Rogers

707-Wilson Betemit

708-Brandon Morrow

713-Seth McClung

715-Chris Perez

718-Matt Joyce

719-Brad Ziegler

Not really an inspiring lot. But I'm a set-collector! I'm supposed to be all about all the minor players that make up this great game we follow! And I've finished the main set! That's inspiration to continue, right?

So I added up what it might cost me to get those 13. I looked on Ebay and then on Sportlots and then I looked at what it would cost me by picking the cheapest between the two sites. The totals and averages:

Ebay: $51.93 (average $3.99)

Sportlots: $64.48 (average $5.86 and two of the cards aren't available)

Combination: $42.07 (average $3.24)

Obviously the last option -- being a prudent shopper -- is the best, but still, three bucks a card?? For Seth McClung? And that's before shipping.

I suppose this is Heritage's version of the early '70s high numbers when I was paying 10 bucks for Tom Tischinski. But vintage is vintage. 2008 is no vintage.

So, that's where I am. Shall I continue? I don't know. Just know it's not happening anytime soon.