Wednesday, March 6, 2013

2013 Heritage, not for me.

I went to my local card shop yesterday and I hoping  to pick up a pack or two of some new product.  I've already taken a pass on Topps flagship, but was thinking that Heritage might suit my collecting interests.

Bummer, a day early!  So I splurged on a shiny Anthony Rizzo and headed happily home.
Ooooh!  Shiny!

I returned to my LCS today and bought just a pack of Heritage.  I never really purchase more of a product unless I've decided to collect the set.  So, one pack was it and I was really to perform a taste test of sorts.  I've always liked the 1964 Topps design, so expectations were high!

Here's the first card that was staring back at me:
It's a nice shot of Mr. Andrus.  He's been my fantasy baseball team's shortstop the last three years. In my eyes, a good way to start a pack.

Daniel Nava and Jean Segura?  Huh.  Heritage is a 500 card set.  That's roughly 16 or 17 cards for each team on average.  So, I guess finding a couple of names that I'm not really familiar with shouldn't be too shocking.

 There we go!  Much better, a couple of guys that have played in the Mid-Summer Classic.
Side note: The "REDS" is purpleWouldn't it make more sense for it to be, um, I don't know, red?  Come to think of it, "Red Sox" on Nava's card is green.  Weird.  Is there rhyme of reason to the color schemes?  Was it this mind boggling back in 1964?

A guy who almost signed with the Cubs, but still no Cubs.  Bummer.  The next card is of some guy that must be good or something, because he has a rather large trophy on his card.  Turns out the Trout is a short print, which are planted in one of every three packs.  Win for me!

Here's how the pack finished off:
 Huh, players from two teams with similar team colors.  Yet, Ellis' name is in black while the position's text is white, and Hochevar's is just the opposite.  I think I'm becoming more OCD as I age.  Why do things like this bother me?

Final Verdict:  Nope, this will be last pack of 2013 Heritage I'll buy.  

I'm really happy with the Trout, but the I just can't get over the color schemes.  I've done a little research, and all the Dodgers cards back in 1964 were the same color scheme: Dodgers in red, player name in black, and position in white.  (FYI: The Royals weren't around in '64.)

For the record, Pete Rose's card from '64 also features "Reds" in purple, just like my Brandon Phillips.

Okay.  So Topps didn't really change the model.  Good for them for sticking to what apparently works.  I still don't like it and I can't sink a wad of cash into something that's going to drive me crazy.

My search for a 2013 product to collect continues. 

3 comments:

  1. My feelings exactly. Will pick up the Cubs but not much else.

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  2. If the color schemes bother you that much, prepare to skip Heritage for the next 20 years or so. Topps didn't consistently match the colors it used for teams with the team's colors until the late 1980s, and not truly until the 1990s. So Heritage will continue with the same mismatched colors until it gets to those sets around 2038.

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    Replies
    1. I didn't have the fortune of being introduce to cards until 1988. I haven't had much exposure to vintage cards, at least not enough to truly notice these little coloring quirks.

      So, I guess, because of when I started collecting and what I was exposed to on a pretty regular basis, I just assumed that Topps had always color coordinated. Huh, you know what they when you assume!

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