5 on the 5: 2008 Topps Heritage

I picked up 5 loose packs of 2008 Topps Heritage at Target over the weekend. These were truly loose packs as whatever box they may have been in originally had disappeared, and about a dozen packs were laying sideways in between boxes of other products like someone had carefully arranged every pack before deciding searching each pack for the good ones. I don't know why I decided on 5 packs. It just seemed like a satisfying number at the time. With only 5 non-short printed base cards in the Cardinals team set, I knew that odds were long that I'd pull any, but I am seriously thinking about collecting this set. Along with 2007 Turkey Red, maybe I can afford myself to collect one set from each year going forward. Normally, I just stick to Cardinals cards and consider everything else expendable.


Pack 1:
146 - Joey Votto RC
145 - Eugenio Velez RC
342 - Matt Chico
50 - Ken Griffey Jr.
355 - Edgar Gonzalez (the Diamondbacks pitcher, kinda looks like a Red Sox-era Johnny Damon)
336 - Ian Kinsler

HTCP11 - Ichiro Suzuki Target Mini T205 (yet another Ichiro for me)
45 - Chris Ray Black Back

Pack 2:

290 - Nate McLouth (nice looking card of the noted Cardinal-killer - he had a hot start to the season but has tailed off a bit)
142 - Rich Thompson RC
138 - Steve Pearce RC (finally getting a shot with Nady and Bay gone)
398 - Ryan Church (hopefully ESPN is done showing replays of him getting kicked in the head)
391 - Ryan Zimmerman
41 - Kelvin Escobar

HTCP3 - Matt Holliday Target Mini T205 (whoa, 2 of these in a row)
263 - Melky Cabrera Black Back

Pack 3:
119 - Lance Broadway RC (who is this guy and why do I have so many of his cards?)
137 - Ross Ohlendorf RC
114 - Orlando Cabrera (noted jerk, but he's been solid for one of my fantasy teams this year)
278 - Delwyn Young
365 - Adrian Beltre
210 - J.J. Putz (a fantasy flop for me)
HTCP13 - Vladimir Guerrero (3 in a row! he's currently been challenged by Manny Ramirez in a battle for most disgusting batting helmet in L.A.)



91 - Matt Garza Black Back (Garza might have the worst card photo of the entire set... my girlfriend gets credit for pointing out to me that all of the text on these variations is in black, not just the box that houses the card number - silly me)

Pack 4:
287 - Matt Kemp
244 - Carlos Pena
56 - Jeff Francis
89 - Conor Jackson
207 - Dave Roberts
224 - David Wright (an actual Topps robot in the disguise of a live human baseball player)


NF1 - Alaska News Flashbacks (Hooray, Alaska!)

323 - Juan Encarnacion Black Back (finally, a Cardinal... wait, WHAT? coming next season: Maicer Izturis appears on a Cesar Izturis card... I mean, they both have red uniforms, right?)

(Side note: this "cartoon" on the back of his/Edwin's card is not hilarious at all, as Juan's career was more than likely destroyed last season along with some of his vision and his eye socket)

Pack 5:
300 - Chase Utley
191 - James Shields
115 - Ryan Garko

111 - Cincinnati Reds Team Card (for some reason I love the team cards in this set)
378 - Johnny Estrada
3 - Eric Byrnes
470 - Lenny DiNardo SP
177 - Robinson Tejeda Black Back

I ended up with the 3 mini cards which are seeded at 1:4. I only had the Ryan Braun card previously, and now I think I might want to collect all of them. I also got my first News Flashback card and one SP and, best of all, no noticeably damaged cards. That's always a plus for packs that have obviously been picked through and tormented. I'll leave you with the ever-popular obligatory YouTube clip.