All right, welcome to my 2024 Heritage box break. This is the first hobby box I have purchased since 2011, when I bought a box of Allen & Ginter for the third year in a row. After that I went into box-breaking rehab and have done quite well, except for falling off the wagon ... right now.
I don't buy hobby boxes these days for a lot of reasons, but one of the big ones occurring to me now is I just don't have time for these things. Nothing in my schedule is going to allow me to open 24 packs at once. I still haven't opened all of the packs in this box and probably won't until Saturday.
But half of the box is open and I think splitting it up into two posts will make it manageable for anyone who wants to read. Part 1 is now, part 2 will be Saturday or Sunday. Then I'll get back to regularly scheduled programming.
First up is Pack 1 again just for posterity but I'm not going to relist the particulars, just check out the last post if you want to know card numbers.
PACK 1
The color combos used in that pack:
Brown-orange
Tan-light blue
Red-yellow
Orange-yellow
Red-blue
Red-orange
Light blue-green
Blue-orange
Green-purple
Yellow-light blue
PACK 2
297 - Yordan Alvarez, Astros
491 - Daniel Palencia, Cubs (RC)
466 - World Series 2023, Game 5
249 - Nick Allen, Athletics
471 - Tyler Soderstrom, Athletics (RC)
394 - Jacob Young, Nationals
300 - Esteury Ruiz, Athletics
164 - Brady Singer, Royals, white border variation
270 - Nick Catellanos, Phillies
'75 card number comparison:
297 - Craig Kusick, Twins
491 - Doyle Alexander, Orioles (color combo match)
466 - A's Do It Again (WS moment match)
466 - A's Do It Again (WS moment match)
249 - Danny Thompson, Twins
471 - Bob Stinson, Expos
394 - Larvell Blanks, Braves
300 - Reggie Jackson, A's (team match)
164 - Mickey Rivers, Angels
270 - Ron Fairly, Expos
The Ruiz-Jackson compare is possibly an intentional match though they're not the same type of player at all. Nothing else is in the pack is an obvious match.
Pack thoughts: The white border variations are not particularly interesting, my guess is the black variations stand out more ... Seeing "Athletics" instead of "A's" on the '75 borders makes my little kid heart sad.
Border combos used update:
Brown-orange
Tan-light blue
Red-yellow
Orange-yellow
Red-blue
Red-orange
Light blue-green
Yellow-light blue
We're up to 10 used.
Phew! Now you know why I'm splitting this box into two posts!
PACK 3
112 - Aaron Judge, Yankees
484 - Sandy Alcantara, Marlins
205 - 2009 MVPs, Joe Mauer/Albert Pujols
363 - Walker Buehler, Dodgers
451 - Sal Frelick, Brewers
191 - 1959 MVPs, Nellie Fox/Ernie Banks
T&N11 - Then and Now, Bert Blyleven/Spencer Strider
419 - Bryson Stott, Phillies
442 - Austin Wells, Yankees (RC)
'75 card number comparison
112 - Larry Hardy, Padres
484 - Glenn Beckert, Padres
205 - 1967 MVPs, Yastrzemski/Cepeda
363 - Carmen Fanzone, Cubs
451 - Rick Dempsey, Yankees
191 - 1953 MVPs, Rosen/Campanella
419 - Dave Goltz, Twins
442 - Maximino Leon, Braves
No matches, not even the two MVPs subset cards. There's a '67 MVP card in the Heritage set (foreshadowing!) but it's not matched with the '75 '67 MVP. Same deal with the 1959 MVP card used in 2024 Heritage.
Speaking of that, let's see the two '59 MVP cards together:
The 2024 Heritage card (on the top) is lighter but otherwise not much of a difference. Now the back:
A lot of shortening and rewording there, maybe to make sure the words fit in less space, but you can see there is extra room on the Heritage card.
I also want to compare the Walker Buehler card just to make sure the purple-pink comparison I made in the last post isn't a one-time thing.
Yeah, the purple and pink, especially the purple, is different in 2024 Heritage. I don't know why that is, because here's a comparison using 2019 Archives, which used the '75 design:
The purple is definitely deeper on the Archives Ohtani card (Ohtani has been exonerated, conspiracy chumps!). Did purple ink change in the last five years? Is it the difference in cardboard?
And here's the other color combo with purple to compare so you can see it's not just the purple-pink cards.
Other pack thoughts: The 2009 MVP card uses Albert Pujols' Update card instead of his base card. I assumed that was because the base card was horizontal and this was easier, but that's not the case (more foreshadowing!).
PACK 4
364 - Cade Marlowe, Mariners (RC)
440 - Matt Olson, Braves
208 - 2015 MVPs, Josh Donaldson/Bryce Harper
410 - Pete Alonso, Mets
261 - Carlos Rodon, Yankees
195 - 1980 MVPs, George Brett/Mike Schmidt
474 - Elias Diaz, Rockies
14 - Matt Manning, Tigers (SP)
196 - 1981 MVPs, Rollie Fingers/Mike Schmidt
'75 card number comparisons
364 - Doug Bird, Royals
440 - Andy Messersmith, Dodgers
208 - 1970 MVPs, Boog Powell/Johnny Bench
410 - Mike Cuellar, Orioles
261 - Andy Hassler, Angels
195 - 1957 MVPs, Mickey Mantle/Hank Aaron
474 - Luke Walker, Tigers
14 - Milt Wilcox, Tigers (team and position match)
196 - 1958 MVPs, Jackie Jensen/Ernie Banks
The Manning/Wilcox looks like a match, though the same border color would have sealed it.
Pack thoughts: That Matt Olson is a nice-looking card. The red-blue combo is one of my favorites. ... Three MVP cards in this pack. The green used in the Brett-Schmidt MVP card is waaay light, almost yellow. I didn't get time to make a comparison there though. The Rollie Fingers '81 card is from the Update set as he was a Padre in the regular set.
Border combos used update:
Tan-light blue
Red-yellow
Red-orange
Light blue-green
Yellow-light blue
Up to 13 color combos used!
PACK 5
365 - Vinnie Pasquantino, Royals
263 - Coco Montes, Rockies (RC)
307 - Home Run Leaders (Ohtani/Olson)
289 - Alek Thomas, Diamondbacks
179 - Wade Meckler, Giants (RC)
178 - Gavin Lux, Dodgers
168 - Owen White, Rangers (RC)
428 - Patrick Wisdom, Cubs
189 - 1951 MVPs, Yogi Berra/Roy Campanella
'75 card number comparisons:
365 - Bob Bailey, Expos
263 - Jim Perry, Indians
307 - Home Run Leaders, Dick Allen/Mike Schmidt)
289 - Ken Rudolph, Cardinals
179 - Tom Bradley, Giants
168 - Bill Greif, Padres
428 - Dave Hamilton, A's
189 - 1951 MVPs, Yogi Berra/Roy Campanella
The two subset cards, HR Leaders and 1951 MVPs are matches. Well, sort of:
The Heritage card shows Berra's actual '51 Topps card with all of the text, instead of the mock-up on the '75.
Pack thoughts: Three rookie cards in this pack and around now I'm wishing Topps used the four-player rookie cards to weed out all these rookie cards. The rookie-card influx is a pox on this set, it's a pox on all modern sets -- except Bowman and I wish they would STAY IN BOWMAN. ... The "Cubs" team headers don't look quite right in this set, but I'm sure I could say that about every team.
No color combo update, no new ones.
PACK 6
446 - Cal Abrams, Nationals
127 - Marcus Semien, Rangers, All-Star (but not yellow-red!)
328 - Ezequiel Tovar, Rockies
438 - Spencer Torkelson, Tigers
148 - Lawrence Butler, Athletics (RC)
182 - Christen Encarnacion-Strand, Reds (RC)
204 - 2023 MVPs, Ohtani/Acuna Jr.
NAP11 - Francisco Lindor, Mets, New Age Performers
332 - Brice Turang, Brewers
'75 card number comparison:
446 - Bart Johnson, White Sox
127 - Glenn Borgmann, Twins
328 - Sonny Siebert, Cardinals
438 - Don Carrithers, Expos
182 - Don Hahn, Mets
204 - 1966 MVPs, Frank Robinson/Roberto Clemente
332 - Fred Kendall, Padres
Nothing there. I think Fanatics axed the card number tributes. I'm not seeing any pictures springing out at me as tributes to famed '75 photos either.
Pack thoughts: I like the design of the New Age Performers, it's quite Electric Company-ish.
Border color combos used update:
Red-yellow
Red-orange
Light blue-green
Two more crossed off in tan-light blue and yellow-light blue, just three left!
PACK 7
200 - 1997 MVPs, Ken Griffey Jr/Larry Walker
232 - Tony Gonsolin, Dodgers
337 - Declan Cronin, White Sox (RC)
237 - Oswald Peraza, Yankees
239 - Rafael Devers, Red Sox
279 - Matt McLain, Reds
344 - Kyle Leahy, Cardinals (RC)
15 - Michael Kopech, White Sox (SP)
351 - Liam Hendricks, White Sox
'75 card number comparison
200 - 1962 MVPs, Mickey Mantle/Maury Wills
232 - Diego Segui, Red Sox
337 - Kevin Kobel, Brewers
237 - Carl Morton, Braves
239 - George Stone, Mets
279 - Milt May, Astros
344 - Ben Oglivie, Tigers
15 - Jose Cardenal, Cubs
351 - Bob Boone, Phillies
Nada. Maybe I should stop comparing numbers.
Pack thoughts: I'm doing fairly well pulling Dodgers. Would still like to see a Betts or Kershaw. ... Declan Cronin and Kyle Leahy, neither of whom I've heard of, have about 12 MLB games pitched combined. FOUR-PLAYER ROOKIE CARDS PLEASE! ... Matt McLain is the first rookie cup in the box.
Border color combos used update:
Red-yellow
Light blue-green
Down to the final two, red-yellow and light blue-green.
PACK 8
176 - Curtis Mead, Rays (RC)
177 - Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs (RC)
172 - Quinn Priester, Pirates (RC)
294 - Miguel Amaya, Cubs
324 - Kyle Harrison, Giants (RC)
111 - Sparky Anderson, Reds, manager
490 - Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals
374 - Eury Perez, Marlins
498 - Carlos Estevez, Angels
The only card number match between 2024 Heritage and '75 Topps is Paul Goldschmidt, whose card number matches with Reggie Smith, who was with the Cardinals that year. Color combos aren't the same.
Pack thoughts: Four rookie cards, including three straight (The love parade for Pete Crow-Armstrong continues). Hell, even the Sparky Anderson manager card looks like it's from his rookie managing year. There are minor league stats all over this pack. ... The manager cards are a weird inclusion in this set as for the first time in awhile 1975 Topps did not have separate manager cards. Did Topps know this?
No new border color combos.
PACK 9
206 - 2013 MVPs, Miguel Cabrera, Andrew McCutchen
159 - J.T. Realmuto, Phillies
400 - Corey Seager, Rangers, All-Star (not yellow-red!)
401 - Dan Dunning, Rangers
353 - Lane Ramsey, White Sox (RC)
464 - World Series 2023, Game 4
464 - World Series 2023, Game 4
172 - Quinn Priester, Pirates, chrome parallel
BF6 - Hank Aaron, Brewers, Baseball Flashbacks
335 - Jon Gray, Rangers
No notable card number comparisons. Seager and Dick Allen are both 400 and All-Stars but that's where the similarities end. Jon Gray shares the card number and color combo with Jim Palmer, but hardly the same pitchers.
Pack thoughts: Rangers hot pack! ... The Baseball Flashbacks design shares the same colors that were on the wallpaper in the kitchen of my house when I was a kid in the '70s. If my mom picked wallpaper that was lightning bolts instead of flowers, it'd be a perfect match.
But let's address this:
That's some scrambling-on-deadline work if I've ever seen it. I thought that the 2009 Update Pujols was used to avoid the horizontal base card but then there's this??? McCutchen's card is so tiny and pathetic and look at that vast expanse of purple nothingness!
Also, DO THIS ....
Really not hard. I don't get it.
No border color combo update.
PACK 10
489 - Gavin Williams, Guardians (RC)
203 - 2006 MVPs, Justin Morneau/Ryan Howard
382 - Drew Rom, Cardinals (RC)
492 - Max Meyer, Marlins
468- Jose Berrios, Blue Jays
186 - Alejandro Kirk, Blue Jays
154 - Taylor Kohlwey, Padres
48 - Ty France, Mariners (SP)
486 - Craig Kimbrel, Orioles
Alejandro Kirk's card could be a match with the Barry Foote card?
The card numbers don't match and neither do the border colors. Yeah, I'm reaching.
Also, Taylor Kohlwey? I'm starting to think Topps is making up players.
Border color combos used update:
Red-yellow
Light-blue green is off the list, so just red-yellow to go.
PACK 11
435 - C.J. Cron, Rockies
480 - Tyler Wells, Orioles
223 - Julio Pablo Martinez, Rangers (RC)
359 - Whit Merrifield, Blue Jays
192 - 1967 MVPs, Carl Yastrzemski/Orlando Cepeda
310 - Victory Leaders
CCR-KB - Kris Bryant, Rockies, bat relic
398 - Jake Burger, Marlins
Lots to address here. For starters, Julio Pablo Martinez, who has been in the minor leagues for five years and is 28, gets 18-year-old rookie Robin Yount's card number.
The Victory Leaders cards match. The '75 card went with four because both the AL and NL had two pitchers with the same top totals. That's not the case with the 2023 victory leaders, but the effort is nice. Now if only there was an apostrophe in front of "23".
The back is another story:
The squoooshed American League leaders is plain unreadable in person. That could have been cut off at 13 wins. Sure that's only nine guys but better than squeezing the hell out of it. Or just write "7 tied with 12" in the 10th line. I am envisioning the Topps graphic department as a single 22-year-old with back-to-back-to-back impossible-to-meet deadlines, just terrified and sweating all over everything.
Wanted to compare the '67 MVP cards because the color combinations changed, which I guess is appreciated since it's basically the same card (with text on the back altered). Or maybe it's just a variation card.
Also, nobody is buying Heritage for the hits -- or shouldn't be -- but even I was underwhelmed by the Kris Bryant bat relic. Especially because I pulled the same thing out of a Heritage retail pack last year!
Think it's the same bat?
Finally, J.P. Martinez achieves another feat with is card!
Border color combos used update:
His card was the final color combo, red-yellow. Topps did use every color combo! Still want to see a yellow-red All-Star card though.
PACK 12
315 - Nolan Jones, Rockies
136 - Ryan Weathers, Marlins
248 - Freddie Freeman, Dodgers, All-Star (not yellow-red!)
483 - Bryan De La Cruz, Marlins
414 - Brandon Marsh, Phillies
276 - Corbin Burnes, Brewers
383 - Christian Walker, Diamondbacks
NAP-6 - Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres, New Age Performers
333 - Joe Kelly, Dodgers
Pack thoughts: Two-Dodger pack! Even though the All-Star cards aren't yellow-red, I still get a thrill seeing that giant '75 star, glad at least that wasn't screwed up. The colors used for "NL All-Star" and "AL All-Star" are correct, too.
So, that's half the box. And it's easily the most colorful box I've ever opened.
Second half to come. I'll try to make it shorter. No guarantees though.
Comments
Funny on the Kris Bryant in back to back years. Even though he has struggled since leaving the Cubs he will be one of my favorites and my 14 year old still years #17 for him (not Ohtani)...
I picked up a blaster today and pulled SPs of 41 Kyle Finnegan and 58 Brendan Rodgers. They are yours if you want/need them.
Of course! Just pointing out the disasters. Probably the last hobby box I buy.
@Jeremya1um ~
I do! Thank you very much.
Brandon Marsh is Oscar Gamble 2024.
They done my boy McCutchen wrong for his MVP card.
Though the overall look of the regular cards just don't feel like the 1975s (this is the same feeling I got with the 2021 Heritage and 1972s - A slight disappointment.)
I'll set it aside for you.
I'll be picking up a couple of pre-ordered hobby boxes later this weekend at my LCS Hopefully I hit something better than a Bryant bat relic.
Love that Aaron card too.
Checked out the gallery for the baseball and news flashbacks set on TCDB. Lots of boring photos in the baseball set, unfortunately. There's one of Eckersley that seems to be a poorly-colored black-and-white photo.
The News Flashbacks are the usual hodgepodge. There's one for first automobile rebate, which has to be one of the most obscure ones.
That 2013 MVP card is crazy, and, yes, Miggy does have a vertical all-star card in Update that year (as well as another vertical card in flagship saying he was the MVP in 2012) if they wanted to do the same thing they did with Pujols. But of course I had no doubt you of all people would know how they handled it in the original set. I still think there should have been parallels for the newer MVP cards showing their Heritage cards (and maybe even other sets) but I guess they didn't do that.
Now I wanna know if the Bryant relics are from the same bat!!!
I don't appreciate the rundown, because now I'm wanting to do this set too!!!!!
I have no willpower.