2014 Topps Heritage: High Numbers Varitations

Sometimes when I am working with Topps cards I feel like I could write a whole novel on the different variations that they put into their sets.  I had heard bits and pieces about codes and errors made on purpose, but I decided to stay above the madness of it all and walk into my Heritage boxes a blank slate.  I got my two boxes of Heritage from Big D's Cards, in Raleigh, North Carolina, last Saturday.  Luckily the owner Jimmy had seen a few boxes opened before I opened my boxes, so he was able to walk me through some of the different variations and help me out as I went through my box. 

Here's a few of the different variations that landed in my boxes:

The Heritage Chrome cards are the easiest variation to identify for obvious reasons since the finish of the cards is different from the base cards.  Topps has had the Chrome finished Heritage cards in every set since the inception of Heritage.  There are always two types of Chrome cards.  The Longoria Chrome card above is the base.  The card is serial numbered to 999, and if you are good at spotting it, this card is not a refractor.  The Ian Kinsler below is a refractor.   Note the "shinier" finish on the card and the word refractor appears just below the card number on the back left-hand side of the card.  The serial number is also lower. 

Within the Heritage Chrome cards there are more variations then shown.  The primary variation most popular with collectors are the black framed copies of these cards which are limited to a print run of just 52 cards.  Really great card to find for younger players, but also a good add to your collection if you have a favorite player in the set.  On to the really fun variations and high numbers:

The most common variations can be determined by reading the code in the bottom right hand corner of the card next to the MLB logo.  Base cards have the last three digits of 119.  Anything that is a short-print, variation, or inset has a different number.  The Anthony Rendon card above is a short print.  Flipping the card on the back and focusing in on the code shows a 123:

All of the high numbered short prints in the set feature this code.  While it strains the eyes slightly, and sounded annoying at first, I actually like the idea of having the code on the back.  It's a really quick way to identify the short prints in this set without consulting a checklist every time you open a box or sort a stack of cards.  My two boxes had a big handful of short prints.  I traded one to Jimmy at the card shop for a sweet Prince Fielder Finest Orange card numbered to 99.  I will put a picture of it up on my Facebook page later tonight. I pulled two cool variations out of my boxes.  First, an action variation of Derek Jeter:

The action variations have a code of 126 as the last three numbers on their code and are seeded about one per box of Heritage.  Pretty nice cards and they seem to be fetching a pretty penny on Ebay.  Anybody like Derek Jeter?  I also picked up a mini-variation of Giancarlo Stanton

 

Mini.  I was surprised to pull a mini and did not even realize that Topps was using minis in the Heritage set this year.  These cards a tough pull at 1 per every 220 packs.  The card is serial numbered to just 100 copies:

 

Topps has a few other variations which I did not manage to pull.  The three other biggies are the error cards which I hear mangle the spelling of Pittsburgh and the spelling of Kevin Correia's name.  Pittsbufgh, or something like that.  There are also throwback jersey cards and throwback logos.  The variaitons and short prints actually seem this year.  I will see if I can pick up a few others.  Anybody on Jeter? 

30 Year Top 50: 2010 Bowman

#33-Looking to buy a set for future?  This is your post.  The 2010 Bowman set mainly revolves around three big cards of players appearing all in only their third professional seasons.  However, this set appears this high in my countdown because of the flashes of brilliance shown by the key rookie players in this set.  Think about that for a second.  Of the hundreds of sets that have been released over the past thirty years I am trying to pick out the best fifty.  This set, three years old, potentially has three rookie cards that are already more important to the hobby of baseball cards than Chipper Jones, Pedro Martinez, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Roberto Alomar, Craig Biggio, Joe Mauer, Josh Hamilton, Matt Kemp, Felix Hernandez, Barry Larkin, Barry Bonds, Randy Johnson, Tino Martinez, Robin Ventura, Jeff Bagwell, Mike Mussina, and a few others I am sure I am missing from the previous entries in this series of blog posts.  Let's look at each card.

2010 Bowman Buster Posey

This card is the most underrated of the three rookie cards in this set.  Underrated.  In three seasons in the Majors, Posey has won the Rookie of the Year, Two World Series titles, a batting average crown, and will have an MVP award sometimes later this week.  Pretty impressive resume given he has played just three seasons and one of them was lost to a really bad leg injury sustained in a collision blocking the plate.  Posey isn't going to fool anyone into thinking he's a great defensive player, but a quick glance at his Baseball Reference page shows he has similar numbers at 25 to Mike Piazza, Yogi Berra, Gabby Harnett, and Carlton Fisk.  Underrated.  

2010 Bowman Jason Heyward

Of the big three rookies in this set this is the card I am most unsure on.  I figure that at worse Heyward is a solid and productive Major League outfielder.  However, for those who regularly check out the Braves there are definitely some flashes of brilliance which make Braves fans drool.  The first half of his 2010 rookie season was incredible.  Heyward trialed off in the second half of the season, had a down year in 2011, but responded nicely this past season to post career highs in several offensive categories and won a Gold Glove.  It's also easy to forget that Heyward just turned 23 at the end of last season.  Plenty of time for Heyward to grow as a player.  His cards have trailed off in value over the past year, so picking up one or two nice cards and putting them away for a few years may not be bad notion.  

2010 Bowman Stephen Strasburg

I won't call Strasburg's cards underrated, but you should put a few of these away in your collection soon.  Strasburg has pitched parts of three seasons and looked pretty untouchable along the way.  I can't imagine the Nationals will place many restrictions on him next year and I have little reason to doubt he will not be anything less than stellar.  Card really doesn't need much selling.  Awesome player, awesome card.  Buy one, trade for one.  You need one.  

Of course, there are other rookie cards in the set beyond Posey, Heyward, and Strasburg.  Aroldis Chapman, Madison Bumgarner, Dustin Ackley (GTHC), and Austin Jackson also appear.

Like the 2010 Bowman Set?  Not appearing in my Top 50 is the rest of the 2010 Topps baseball card lineup.  I had to pick one and I went with Bowman.  However, if you were going to ask me to point a year to buy up singles, wax, etc.  I would say you cannot go wrong with the potential contained within the 2010 card releases.  Topps did a great job of putting Posey, Strasburg, and Posey cards throughout their products during the 2010 calendar.  Collectors should also check out rookie cards from Mike Stanton, Starlin Castro, Aroldis Chapman, Madison Bumgarner, and Mike Trout.  Here are a few sets you can find some of these players in:

2010 National Chicle Buster Posey

2010 Topps Chrome Mike Stanton 

2010 Topps 206 Stephen Strasburg 

2010 Topps Update Jason Heyward

 2010 Bowman Prospects & Draft Picks

2010 Topps Pro Debut Mike Trout 

The Circle of Cards Pt. 2

So, when I last left you I had traded a great looking Mike Stanton Triple Threads autograph away for a Matt Kemp autograph and a Lance Lynn autograph.  You can read about the earlier details of this trade here.  So, in the process of working out my earlier trade I had connected with a trader in California interested in Matt Kemp autographs and had taken on a Lance Lynn autograph to fill out the Stanton trade.  I knew at the time of the trade that I was going to flip the Lance Lynn autograph around for some other cards with a collector back in St. Louis.  So how does this all turn out?

First, the Lynn card.  I packaged the Lance Lynn card together with a Gypsy Queen Jon Jay jersey and an Allen Craig autograph and ended up with two cards back in return.  The first was a 1996 Leaf Signature Matt Stairs autograph.  Pretty sweet card of a player with a big cult following.  The short Canadian has played for almost every team in the league and is renowned for his ability to provide power off the bench.

1996 Leaf Signature Matt Stairs Autograph

While the Stairs card is really sweet and I am happy to add to my collection there was a better card that I added to my collection.  So, I ask you this question?  If you were reluctant to give up a card what would sway you to trade it?  How about getting the card back?  Different version, but I traded a print run of 75 Mike Stanton Triple Threads card for a Matt Stairs autograph, another Mike Stanton autographed Triple Threads card out of 99, and I still had the Matt Kemp autograph too.  

2012 Topps Triple Threads Mike Stanton Autograph

The idea of getting back another Stanton autograph while only giving up duplicate Cardinals cards made me ecstatic.  However, I also continued to work with the collector on the Matt Kemp autograph.  He posted several nice Cardinals autographs which caught my attention.  I ended up flipping around the Kemp and a few Dodgers jersey cards for this gem:

2002 Topps Team Legends Stan Musial Autograph

This is my second copy of this particular Musial card, but I was happy to add it to my collection since it is an on-card autograph and it was issued before 2004.  Collectors interested in adding a Musial autograph should take note that his signature really started to fall off after 2005.  In fact, recent Musial autograph have had shorter prints, higher prices, and low quality.  No fault of Stan's.  He tries really hard.  

So, to summarize my trade I parted with a 2011 Triple Threads Mike Stanton autograph, a 2012 Gypsy Queen Jon Jay autograph, a 2012 Gypsy Queen Allen Craig autograph, a 2009 Triple Threads Matt Kemp autograph, and a set of four Dodgers jersey cards and got back a Mike Stanton autograph, a Stan Musial autograph, and a Matt Stairs autograph.  Not a bad week's worth of work.  

The Circle of Cards Pt. 1

I have been on a bit of a Twitter kick the past few weeks.  It's not a bad place to trade cards some days. In the waining hours of my vacation a few weeks back I ran across a cool collector that was looking for some Marlins cards.  How rare is that?  I've been collecting, buying, selling, and trading for a long time and can think of lots of different collectors I can turn to for all kinds of players and teams.  However, the Marlins have always been a little trick for me.

At the same time I run into my Marlins friend on Twitter, I run into another person on Twitter from the West Coast somewhere looking for Matt Kemps.  I have a few and listened a little more when I heard there were some Cardinals autographs in the mix.  So, I am managing two conversations at once of which I am not a huge fan.  Marlins guy throws up a Kemp card.

2008 Topps Allen & Ginter Matt Kemp Autograph

Very nice card indeed.   So, I dug through my Marlins cards and interested him in a nice Mike (Giancarlo) Stanton autograph out of last years Triple Threads.  Pictured below.  Now, the Stanton is a great card and I think that Stanton is going to be a nice player.  Honestly, I was a little bit hesitant to trade the card.  

2011 Topps Triple Threads Autograph

So, while I am listening to the offers for the Stanton card I am also listening to my Dodgers fan talk about Matt Kemp cards.  The conversation gets to the point where he basically tells me he is hunting down Kemp autographs one at a time and he needs on-card autographs.  Have I seen any? Hmm...  

2009 Bowman Chrome Lance Lynn Autograph

In the meantime, I am still working with my Marlins guy who try to find an additional card to throw into the trade for Stanton besides the Kemp card.  He has a bunch of Cardinals autographs, but they are all cards that are already in my collection.  He had put up a Lance Lynn autograph at one point and I knew someone back in St. Louis looking around for Lynn cards.  After a few hours I worked out a side deal to trade the Lance Lynn card away.  My hesitation to trade my Stanton were greatly relieved to say the least....