Here We Go Again

My mind was set. I'm not a big fan of the 1961 Topps design (the first year I can say that about in the Topps catalog) and since I started this blog almost two years ago I have yet to complete a set. Therefore, I was going to make the 2010 Heritage set the first one that I am actively not collecting. That means no blasters, no want lists... nothing. Sure, I'd buy a pack or two on a whim and I definitely would be looking forward to collecting the Cardinals, but I wasn't planning on treating this set any differently than any other licensed set that I wasn't trying to build. Once I get a few sets completed, then I figured it would be time to reassess. After all, I am the one who's actively encouraging people to send me their extra Heritage cards from earlier sets when I'm not even close to finishing the 2008 set.

Anyway, I was on my way to a card shop on Sunday when I had talked myself into getting just one pack if they had them. I knew they would have them. I also knew that this particular place likes to discount their packs if you purchase three of them. 11 dollars later, I had three packs in my hand and a whole heap of buyer's remorse. Well, it's not the same kind of buyer's remorse you would have if you got lousy packs or something. I just don't want to get sucked in again...

Pack 1:

373 - Boston Red Sox (Okay, here's my first 2010 Heritage card. Is it too late to return this pack?)

301 - Ryan Spilborghs

77 - J.A. Happ (Ah, the old rookie cup. This is far superior to the new-fangled rookie cup they unleashed on us this year.)

291 - Fernando Martinez

265 - Dexter Fowler

198 - Chris Iannetta (Is it bad if I like the backs better than the fronts?)

53 - Jason Varitek (When will he finally retire? When?)

148 - Chris Getz (Another rookie cupper.)

Pack 2:

115 - Kerry Wood (Still no save stats on the back? When did saves officially become a stat, anyway?)

218 - Jason Marquis (Here's the first Photoshopped card. Marquis looks like he was "caught" in a Nats uniform and isn't all that happy about it.)

163 - Jeff Mathis

106 - Scott Hairston (Topps would rather Photoshop Hairston back in a Padres uniform, a team he already played for in '09 and before, rather than use something from last year before he went over to Oakland.)

318 - Aubrey Huff (Photoshopped Giant.)

20 - Cole Hamels

119 - Royals Bashers (This is a terrible looking design.)

230 - Chone Figgins (That M's cap logo is way too big.)

Pack 3:

325 - Brett Gardner

17 - Checklist (I really like the way the checklist looks. Do the other checklists use different pictures? I hope so.)

46 - 2009 E.R.A. League Leaders (This is a nice design.)

261 - David Ortiz

C87 - CC Sabathia Chrome Refractor 183/561 (Not bad, not bad at all. This is up for trade.)

NT4 - Venera 1 News Flashback (I'm not sick of the News Flashbacks as long as I don't get doubles. I could see these being far less interesting as the years go on, however.)

385 - Hideki Matsui (Yeah, there's something off about this.)

483 - Mariano Rivera 2003 AL MVP (SP) (The short prints are again numbered 426 through 500 like last year.)

This year, the "dark backs" are actually the regularly printed cards while the "light backs" apparently are the SPs.

All in all, even without any Cardinals I could have certainly done worse with these packs. I'm still not going to actively collect this set, but I certainly won't turn away any of your unwanted cards from this one.