Project 2007 Heritage: Volume 1

I guess it's time for me to break down and admit that if it weren't for fiscal responsibilities I would probably try to collect almost anything. Take the Topps Heritage line, for example. It appears that I'm working on the 2008 set (regular and high series) as well as 2009's product. In actuality, there isn't a Topps Heritage card out there from any year that I could turn down. I would collect them all if it was realistic enough (maybe someday.) Of course, if I posted my 2002 Heritage want list, for example, it would contain nearly every card in the set.

2007 Heritage is certainly not the most appealing looking set, with all due respect to 1958 Topps, but it has recently become a lot more affordable to me. I ended up picking up 17 retail packs at the last card show for $1 a piece and have added significantly to the small pile that was already in my collection. With some reluctance, I am taking the plunge and adding this set officially to "sets I collect and probably will never finish". When I get enough of these cards, a proper want list will appear in the sidebar along with those other sets that I'm not doing so well on. In the meantime, here's the first 6 packs of the 17. Enjoy?

Pack 1:

73 - David Ross

354 - Freddy Garcia

416 - Jhonny Peralta (I can't ever look at this card without thinking of the Jack Nicholson mash-up from TribeCards.)

272 - Moises Alou

195 - Russell Branyan (SP) (It's nice to get a short print in the first pack right off the bat. Branyan recently turned down a contract offer from the Mariners because he's seeking multiple guaranteed years for the first time in his career. He might consider trying to stay healthy for a full season before making such demands.)

36 - Luis Gonzalez

90 - Pat Burrell (Rays fans seem to be happy to run this guy out of town at this point.)

154 - Chris Gomez

Pack 2:

114 - Brian Schneider

430 - Mike Cameron (Cameron is one of the better known free agent center fielders out there. He's also on the wrong side of 35, which I personally wouldn't complain too much about, but I also don't have to rely on my athleticism to perform my job. I've always thought he was incredibly overrated. He had a great glove back in the early part of the decade, but he strikes out like crazy and doesn't hit or get on base to any extent like Ryan Howard or even Adam Dunn in an attempt to make up for it.)

376 - Bill Bray

305 - A.J. Burnett

91 - Javier Valentin Chrome Refractors 425/558 (Ahh, shiny and rainbowy. I just wish Valentin was someone I liked or was more tradeable.)

440 - Chipper Jones

123 - Juan Lara

242 - Scott Downs

Pack 3:

373 - Chris Iannetta

84 - Kazuo Matsui

220 - Shea Hillenbrand

120 - Greg Maddux (Modeled after the 1958 set, this set is ripe with head shots and plain solid colored backgrounds. Maddux looks a little hesitant to participate here, however.)

239 - Doug Davis

493 - Roy Halladay All-Star (Unlike the 2008 and 2009 all-star Heritage cards, these ones are not necessarily short printed. It appears that there's only a couple that are, and Halladay isn't one of them. By the way, if I was a Jays fan and if Halladay ended up getting dealt, I would probably boycott.)

69 - Emil Brown

412 - Billy Wagner (Wagner apparently wants to pitch another 12 seasons. Or was that Mariano Rivera? I forget at this point. All of my relentless checking of mlbtraderumors.com is starting to turn into brain mush.)

Pack 4:

292 - Chris Young (Padres pitcher)

427 - Brian Fuentes

48 - Alex Rios (Another guy being discussed during the offseason. I'm not sure who is running the White Sox organization, but I'm glad it isn't me.)

274 - Abraham Nunez (An ex-Cardinal that I kind of forgot about. I hope he's doing well.)

33 - Vicente Padilla Chrome 1461/1958 (His name isn't spelled all that well. I am thinking that this never got corrected.)

432 - Josh Sharpless (I've never heard of this guy. 2007 was only a couple of years ago, too. Weird.)

198 - Ryan Dumpster

397 - Detroit Tigers

Pack 5:

233 - Lyle Overbay

25 - Brad Penny

268 - Rich Aurilia

269 - Phil Nevin (Nevin played for the Twins? Really?)

NP14 - Ichiro Suzuki New Age Performers (My token Ichiro card. I just checked and it appears Ichiro has had a New Age Performers insert in every single Heritage set from 2002 through 2009. I guess it's still a "New Age".)

70 - Magglio Ordonez

60 - Preston Wilson (Preston looks really inebriated here. This is the "white name" variation, which is to say it's the common version. Other versions have his name in yellow letters. There are also yellow team name variations for some cards. I'm glad that the 2009 set was much less gimmicky. I'm sure that this all relates to how the original sets are, so I'm hoping that 1961 Topps was variation free.)

467 - Glen Perkins

Pack 6:

350 - Gary Sheffield

160 - Richie Sexson

368 - Travis Hafner (We'll see if next year brings a bounce back season to 1/2-ner.)

79 - Corey Patterson (Terrible player who seems to be good at conning teams into signing him year after year.)

13 - Wilfredo Ledezma (This one is even more confusing. The regular Ledezma is a short printed card, and this is apparently a "yellow team" variation of the original. Who knows which version is actually harder to get.)

81 - Stephen Drew

460 - Jaret Wright

208 - Luis Castillo

The moral of the story? If you can't figure out anything else to trade to the Cards on Cards guy, you can at least dump off your old unwanted Heritage dupes on him.

I should also familiarize myself with the definition of the word "moral".