2010 Topps Heritage Bonanza

Target now has Heritage rack packs. At $5 a pack for 14 cards I don't see myself picking up too many of these. However, since you can easily read 3 of the 4 cards showing, I went through the dozen or so packs that were there and found three packs with Verlander's name showing and one pack with Granderson's and I bought those 4 packs.


There were a total of 8 Tigers in the packs, and the Granderson was a chrome card. There also were cards of Edwin Jackson in his new threads and Johnny Damon in his old ones.


I've posted pics of most of the Tigers cards. I got two cards of both Dlugach and Marcus Thames.


That Kaline card is pretty damn sweet. I probably sat in one of those seats at one time or another in the mid-80's cheering for Kirk Gibson.


As usual, I think this will be the coolest set of the year, but between the price and all the frigging variations and short prints it won't be one that I'll be trying to put together. I usually end up with around 50 to 100 or so Heritage cards from each year that I keep in a binder all to themselves. I think of all the Heritage sets so far I'd rank these up there with '59 and '57 sets.


One suggestion I would make to Topps. PLEASE LEAVE THE HISTORY LESSON CARDS OUT OF YOUR SETS!!! There's nothing worse than pulling an insert card commemorating the passing of the 23rd amendment (not that I am against Washington D.C. getting voting rights or anything). Well ok, I lied. There is something worse than pulling one of these cards......can you guess what it is?


You got it. Two of those fuckers.....

2008 Goudey

Enough blogging about mediocre Fleer sets for awhile. Time to blog about a lights out issue. The 2008 Goudey.

I guess this is Upper Deck's answer to Topps Heritage. So much so that they've resorted to the same old different colored back variations and what not. But since reprints of 1994 Upper Deck don't appeal to me in the slightest, this is likely the best they can do, and I love it. I vaguely recollect Fleer doing a Goudey set a few years back. I guess since Upper Deck bought Fleer that they have the rights to do these now. And I thank them for doing it.

The cards are on the same type stock as Heritage, which I hope someone figures out in the near future is SO much cooler than the usual glossy stock with some sort of foil stamping, and will one day produce a full set like this.

I picked up the following Tigers at the National:

68 Justin Verlander

69 Curtis Granderson

70 Miguel Cabrera

71 Gary Sheffield

72 Magglio Ordoñez

73 Jack Morris

I have also seen on ebay that there is a SP card of Al Kaline, #211.

IT'S ABOUT TIME SOMEONE RELEASED A SET COMBINING CURRENT PLAYERS AND ALL-TIME GREATS IN A SINGLE SET!!!

I'll be the first to admit that offering base set cards of players like Morris and Kaline is infinitely better than offering cards of Nate Robertson and Fernando Rodney. As successful as the Topps Archives were in the early 00's, I have never figured out why someone wouldn't do a set that mixes the best of the present and the past.

Well now they have. Hopefully next year it will be bigger, and ultimately, better. 

P.S. Why the fuck did they have to put Derek Jeter on the bottom of EVERY card? Why couldn't they do it by team? How much cooler would it be if at the bottom of every Tiger card it had Magglio or Granderson "saying it..."?

Topps Responds!

The good news is that it appears that Topps has one hell of a customer service department.

The bad news is that they seem to be fully aware of their shady doings.

I received this form letter from Topps today.

Dear Mr. RobbyT

We are sorry your Topps Trading Cards are not to your satisfaction. Here is some general informaiton (sic) which may assist you when sending to Topps for replacement. Your cards have been replaced according to there (sic) guidelines.

Cards which have significant factory produced flaws will be replaced while supplies last or for one year from their release date, whichever comes first.

Up to 25 cards can be replaced on a card-for-card basis per submission. Please enclose a list in numerical order of these cards.

Official Topps Complete Sets will be replaced while supplies last or for one year from their release date, whichever comes first. If less than 25 cards are involved return them with numerical list of the numbers to return the whole set for replacement. (???)

Any cards, products, or other material you value must be sent in a manner that proof of delivery is available if necessary. Topps is not responsible for lost or misdirected mail.

If missing cards from packs or packs from boxes, please send in bottom panel of box along with a list of the missing items.

Please send your request to the address listed above. (I am adding it here)

The Topps Company, Inc.

401 York Avenue

Duryea, PA 18642

Also include your complete mailing address and a daytime telephone number where we can reach you if needed.

We appreciate your interest in our products and would be happy to answer your specific questions at 1-800-489-9149 Monday through Friday between 8:30am-5:00pm.

Sincerely,

The Topps Company, Inc.

Consumer Relations Department

Enclosed with my letter were two new cards of the two 2008 Topps Heritage cards that I sent in. One a very nicely centered Kason Gabbard, and the other a very nicely centered Matt Holiday All-Star card. (With a nice little ding in the upper left hand corner)

At least they made the effort. I won't be buying anymore packs of Topps anytime soon, but at least they did something (which I didn't ask for)