Should I go for three?

 

So I grabbed a blaster of 2025 Heritage when I was at Dave and Adam's last week. I know they're not called "blasters" anymore but it's still the word I use when I want people to know what I am talking about.

 

Buying Heritage is instinct at this point. We're at the designs during my first years of collecting. While I could pick-and-choose whether I was going to collect Heritage 10-15 years ago (1966 design? Pass), these designs mean so much to me that every year I think seriously "am I trying to complete the set this year?"

 

This thought would seem ridiculous a few years ago -- it took me more than a decade to finish 2008 Heritage. But in the last two years, I have completed 2023 Heritage (1974 design) and 2024 Heritage (1975 design) within the year. It can be done. Should I go for the trifecta?

 

It's tricky. Because Heritage is tricky. Here are the pros and cons to attempting a third straight completion:

 

PROS

 

1. I love the 1976 design. Although vastly different than my first love -- the '75 design -- the look of the cards has stayed with me for almost 50 years, not only the colors used for each team but whether the colors were on the top or the bottom. And, of course, the first position logo I knew (I didn't see the '73 position guy until later).

 

2. I love the subsets. I've dedicated blog posts to three of them -- the Record Breaker series, the All-Time Greats series and the League Leaders series, some of my favorites from each subset of all-time.

 

3. The sheer nostalgia in each pack is off the charts. While I have hazy memories of each trip to buy 1975 Topps, the memories are a little clearer for '76 Topps. These are the cards that my friend and I brought to class in 5th grade and stashed under our table station (there were no desks in our "experimental" classroom) so the teacher wouldn't see.

 

4. Not really a "pro," more like a "must". I can't possibly stand by while people are collecting this set/design and I am not. I know folks are trying to complete this because it's their birth year set. Well, I lived this set as 10-year-old kid. Is there a better excuse for collecting it?

 

5. Trying to complete Heritage costs money, of course. But I don't see myself buying a lot of any other 2025 product this year. Forget A&G or Archives or even Series 2 (unless someone sends me a bunch like Series 1). Heritage is the only set I see that interests me. With the others out of the way I could finally have focus.

 

CONS

 

1. No surprise, but we're looking at 100 short-prints again. They're back at the end of the set instead of the weirdness of putting them at the start last year (still no explanation on why that was done). Collecting SPs are tough and often infuriating (NO SUCH THING AS SP's IN 1976 TOPPS), but I've done it the last 2 years.

 

2. It became very clear in last year's set that Heritage isn't bothering to fully replicate the set, especially in terms of photo choices, but also font and design choices. It's brutal that this decision was made during the time period I really care about, and, yes, it diminishes my enthusiasm.

 

3. The rookie influx. As I've mentioned before, there was no rookie card logo in Heritage even six years ago. It was reserved for the High Numbers series. Now it's appearing in the main set and at a rate of 2-4 times per pack sometimes. Pulling players I don't know out of Heritage may match my mind-set when I was 10, but in another couple years, it won't because I knew every last player to come out of a pack of 1979 Topps.

 

So that's why I'm waffling a little. But that's enough words. I've got a bunch of pictures that you're waiting for, so let's go.

 

 

PACK 1

 

 

357 - Yariel Rodriguez, Blue Jays

 

First card is of someone I don't know, but he's got 30 game appearances over last year and this year, so that's more me not following the Blue Jays. The Jays, of course, did not exist in the '76 set (though they were born in 1976!), so the Blue Jays borrow the Expos' colors.

 

A sample of the back. My fear with this set is the backs would be even more unreadable than the 2024 Heritage backs because the 1976 backs are well-known for being difficult to read (black type on dark green). These are somewhat tough to read, but not terrible. I'll get to the card number in a minute.

 

 

190 - George Kirby, Mariners

 

Another team that did not appear in '76 Topps but was also born in '76. The Mariners use the colors (and the order) used by the Mets in '76.

 

I wish Topps/Fanatics/whoever would stop using the "looking off into the distance" pose in Heritage. It was not used in this fashion back then. Would it take extra effort for Kirby to pretend to throw a pitch? Because that was all over '76 Topps.

 

 

22 - Grant Holmes, Braves

 

All right, finally a team that existed on the field in 1976. Let's contrast!

 

 

Immediately I can tell that the colors used for the name and team background bars are lighter for Heritage. Also, the name font is a bit off and so is the team font, and, heck, the position font, too. It doesn't bother me quite as much as it did with 2024 Heritage (those team names are hard to miss), but I don't understand.

 

 

And talk about light-and-dark, here is a back comparison. Wow. I don't know if Topps was making sure that the back could be read and lightened the whole thing, but those card numbers are much too light. Also note that the player names aren't even close to being as bold as they were in '76.

 

Also, this probably amuses only me, but pulling Grant Holmes' card makes me recall when I was pulling his card as a Dodger prospect more than 10 years ago.

 

 I know more than a decade has passed but is that the same guy? Also how weird that there is a rookie card logo for a guy I was pulling out of packs in 2014.

 

 

 203 - N.L. Strikeout Leaders

 

If there is one kind of card that could convince me to collect 2025 Heritage, it is the leaders cards from '76. I loved these things in '76 and I still do.

 

 There are color differences again, particularly with the box color for the leader, why isn't Chris Sale's box light blue? Also why is "N.L." italicized in the Heritage card? The Sale box isn't as deep as the Seaver box either.

 

 

My favorite part of the 1976 leaders cards was the year-by-year listing of the leader in each category, going all the way back to 1901! Of course Heritage couldn't have done that with 50 more years passing (it just goes back to 1971) but it sure could've fit in some 1960s years without all the legalese!!

 

 

184 - Porter Hodge, Cubs

494 - Bryan Woo, Mariners (SP)

117 - Orlando Arcia, Braves

389 - Jackson Jobe, Tigers

 

The rest of the pack. Even more so than any font differences or rookie card logos, something like a night game scene, as in the Arcia card, takes me right out of the Heritage vibe. I know that's just a fact of modern baseball life, and as a known lover of night cards, I should get over it, but haven't gotten there yet.

 

 

PACK 2

 

303 - Yasmani Grandal, Pirates, dark green border parallel

 

There were two green border parallels in the box. It's one of the many random border parallels that aren't necessary. But the dark green ones seem to fit with the '76 design, probably because of the dark green backs.

 

 

294 - Adley Rutschman, Orioles

 

Woo! My first All-Star star pull. Like the '75 All-Stars this logo packed quite a punch among kid collectors in '76. For me, the ASG logos would continue to make treasured cards until around 1981.

 

Now we must compare to see how Heritage screwed up:

 

 The major difference, which jumped out at me when I first pulled the Rutschman card, is the position "catcher" in all-caps. I still don't know why Heritage does stuff like this and I don't remember it doing stuff like this 10 years ago. Maybe I need to go back and look at those sets.

 

Of course with 2024 Heritage, it didn't even bother to use yellow-and-red borders so this isn't quite as jarring.

 

 

208 - Bryan King, Astros (first time the lefty pitcher logo has been used)

351 - Bradley Blalock, Rockies

212 - Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees

254 - Lake Bachnar, Marlins

 

Three rookie logos, good thing Stanton showed up or I might as well be pulling cards of NASCAR drivers (also bonus points for Topps accurately listing the position as "Des. Hitter"). Both the Rockies and Marlins are using the Brewers colors. Seems like one of them should have placed the purple on the top and pink on the bottom.

 

H25-5 - Paul Skenes, Pirates, 25th anniversary insert

 

This is an insert celebrating 25 years of Heritage (it started in 2001) with a 25-card insert set, using each of the past Topps designs it's gone through with a current player on each design. Of course, the players used are the hottest players in the game -- which seems to be the template for any Topps insert.

 

 

143 - J.T. Realmuto, Phillies

236 - Dalton Varsho, Blue Jays

 

 

 Varsho is the first card I pulled with a cartoon on the back. 1976 Topps collectors know that cartoon appeared only when Topps could fit them on the bottom (a big drawback for me as a kid). I'm sure this was a relief for Topps this time around.

 

 

PACK 3

 

360 - Ke'Bryan Hayes, Pirates

 

Finally an action photo that is similar to ones used in '76 Topps. The '76 Topps set is known for placing greater focus on the photo and taking the next step in action photography on cards. But I haven't seen much of it so far in Heritage (is there a Johnny Bench shot?)

 

 

327 - Jonatan Clase, Blue Jays
38 - Jose Berrios, Blue Jays

97 - Jorge Polanco, Mariners

 

Three 1976 expansion teams. This blaster contained more Blue Jays cards than any other team. Maybe because I bought it so close to Canada?

 

 

346 - Hank Aaron, Braves, All-Time All-Stars insert

 

Good to see these included. I ran out of time to find a '76 All-Time All-Stars card to compare, but obviously those did not say "The Topps News" in '76 but "The Sporting News". The checklist for this insert set is pretty on-point though I know Topps used whichever licenses it had in its stable.

 

Willie Mays

Bob Gibson

Ernie Banks

Yogi Berra

Roberto Clemente

Hank Aaron

Tris Speaker

Mel Ott

Mickey Mantle

Stan Musial

 

 369 - Julio Rodriguez, Mariners, Chrome parallel

 

That's a nice pull. I like these more than the 2024 Heritage Chrome cards and I think it's because there's more focus on the photo. Weirdly, the cards are not numbered. I think they've always been numbered in Heritage though I could be wrong.

 

 

292 - Seth Brown, Athletics

175 - Brenton Doyle, Rockies

 

Note it's "Athletics," not "A's" as in 1976 Topps. Pulling Athletics cards in Heritage is a bit sad, not just because they're a team without a city but because the 1976 A's checklist featured TITANS and some of the greatest cards in the set, All-Stars aplenty like Jackson, Blue, Tenace and Rudi and other great cards like Fingers and Bando.

 

 

PACK 4

 

 

 348 - Mel Ott, Giants, pink sparkle chrome parallel

 

Wow. These sparkle things (yes there are a variety of colors) are totally unnecessary in Heritage.

 

 

260 - Eric Wagaman, Angels

332 - Daniel Schneemann, Guardians

129 - Cody Bellinger, Yankees

 

Speaking of pink, setting aside that I don't know who Eric Wagaman is, I'm happy to see the Angels and the pink color used. Thanks to 1976, 1977 and 1978 Topps I have associated pink with the Angels ever since even though they never have really worn that color.

 

 

172 - Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers

 

First Dodger card! Another cynical theory I have is Heritage insists on these zoomed-in mid-section shots to highlight the Nike logo better.

 

365 - Ozzie Albies, Braves (Nike!)

71 - Jace Jung, Tigers (Nike!)

354 - Gleyber Torres, Tigers (Nike!)

393 - George Springer, Blue Jays (Nike!)

 

PACK 5

 

 416 - Walker Buehler, Red Sox, dark green parallel

 

Buehler was actually in a Dodgers uniform for this pose, I recognize that blue glove anywhere. Also, disappointed with this parallel as this is a short-print card. Set-collectors understand.

 

 

299 - Christopher Morel, Rays

400 - Marcus Semien, Rangers

213 - Rob Refsnyder, Red Sox

319 - Justin Wrobleski, Dodgers

 

The Rays use a similar color combo to the Mets (and the Mariners) but the blue is more of a Rays blue. ... I really liked the look of the Rangers cards in '76 (basically a reverse of the Dodgers cards) and it's cool to see an All-Star logo with the Rangers. But the All-Stars in '76 did not read "SECOND BASE," they read "2nd Base".

 

 58 - Spencer Schwellenbach, Braves

217 - Hunter Goodman, Rockies

229 - Francisco Lindor, Mets

256 - Hunter Bigge, Rays

 

I like that Lindor card.

 

 

PACK 6

 

131 - Pablo Lopez, Twins

100 - Jordan Hicks, Giants

341 - Willie Mays, Giants, All-Time All-Star

142 - Luis Gil, Yankees

 

 

35 - Will Wagner, Blue Jays

500 - Yordan Alvarez, Astros (SP)

164 - Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Diamondbacks

261 - Lane Thomas, Guardians

 

MOAR Blue Jays I don't know! But the Yordan Alvarez is a nice SP pull. The Diamondbacks combo is the same as the Reds combo.

 

 

PACK 7

 

51 - Blake Dunn, Reds

210 - Trevor Megill, Brewers (finally a Brewers card after a 100 Rockies cards using the Brewers' pink-and-purple)

358 - Yuki Matsui, Padres

83 - Brent Rooker, Athletics

 

 

293 - Brendan Rodgers, Rockies

349 - Mickey Mantle, Yankees, All-Time All-Stars, chrome parallel

372 - Yilber Diaz, Diamondbacks

338 - Angel Martinez, Guardians

 

(Nice pull with the Mantle chrome)

 

 

PACK 8

 

8 - Isaac Paredes, Astros, pink sparkle chrome parallel

 

Somewhere along the way I tried to determine why these garish things were showing up in Heritage this year.

 

 Maybe with Heritage not doing checklists, this is their attempt to stay in the spirit of '76?

 

 

98 - Alec Burleson, Cardinals

197 - NL Stolen Base Leaders

27 - Ryan Mountcastle, Orioles

266 - Duke Ellis, Yankees

 

No idea who Duke Ellis is, but check out that Stolen Base Leaders!!!! Of course, I'll need two.

 

 

55 - Andrew Heaney, Rangers

346 - Hank Aaron, Braves, All-Time All-Stars, chrome refractor

74 - Jhoan Duran, Twins

326 - Curtis Mead, Rays

 

That Aaron refractor (again, not numbered) is probably the fanciest card in the box.

 

So there you go -- sorry about the length, but it's Heritage!! A little disappointed I didn't pull a single Royal but so many Rays, Rockies and Blue Jays.

 

However, I preordered a Heritage "mega box" from Fanatics before I even knew I was going to Dave & Adam's and that's not here yet. Also, Rod of Padrographs said he'd send some of his extras, so I guess I have to collect it for good?

 

Yeah, I know. Hold me back.