Heritage High Blaster Break

No Cardinals were harmed in the breaking of this box.

It's been a long time since I've done a box break, let alone a blaster break, here at Cards on Cards. After tinkering the past couple of years with an online-exclusive factory set-only version of what's basically the Topps Heritage Traded Set, Topps brought this thing fully back in pack for for the first time since 2009. And unlike in 2009, they didn't group the set with the year end Topps Update flagship release, sticking everyone with lots of extra unwanted Aaron Miles cards. Each pack has the now-customary 9 cards. The set is small (225 cards including 25 SPs) and should be pretty easy to complete. (Famous last words.)

Pack 1:

695 - Alex Guerrero - You won't see a lot of big names in this set, aside from your flavor-of-the-month rookies. The rest of the set is focused on young players, overlooked players who didn't make the cut originally and a few cards of players who switched teams that didn't get the Photoshop treatment in the initial set.
619 - Melvin Upton Jr.
521 - Shane Greene
621 - Wil Myers

AW-3 - Corey Kluber - Here's a new-to-High Number insert series with a pretty decent faux-retro look.
537 - Anthony Gose
632 - Marlon Byrd
568 - Mikie Mahtook - Might he be one for the Great Sports Name HOF?
629 - Shane Victorino

Pack 2:
653 - Nate Karns
635 - Drew Pomeranz
649 - Nick Hundley
565 - Jordy Mercer

711 - Andrew Miller Chrome Black Refractor (18/66) - These are quite rare! Miller become one of the most valuable relievers in the league lately, but he falls into that category of guys who didn't make the cut last time around. This is up for grabs.
643 - Alex Torres - This is the goofy hat guy.
614 - Tyler Moore - Mary?
646 - A.J. Ramos
571 - Odrisamer Despaigne - I hope I spelled that correctly.

Pack 3:
564 - Delmon Young
595 - Trevor Cahill - This is the card Night Owl was most "excited" about.
508 - Angel Nesbitt
512 - Ruben Tejada

717 - Francisco Lindor - Cards 701-725 are short printed. Topps put rookies Kris Bryant (and Addison Russell for what it's worth) in the SP group because they are straight up jerks.
540 - Rafael Betancourt
502 - Brett Cecil
569 - Jeurys Familia
599 - Archie Bradley

Pack 4:
660 - Michael Lorenzen
506 - David Buchanan
527 - Eduardo Rodriguez - No idea who he is...z.zzzzz.zzzz.
510 - Justin Nicolino

RP-7 - Carlos Rodon Rookie Performers - Here's an insert concept they carried over from the 2008/2009 years. There are some really tough to get Rookie Performers inserts of key rookies like Kershaw and Votto from those years that make this stand up to those old Rookie Sensations Fleer inserts from their NBA sets. At least, that's what it reminds me of. I know they did those for baseball, too, but it didn't generate the same excitement.
600 - Sean Gilmartin
687 - Asdrubal Cabrera
627 - Tony Cingrani
700 - Casey Janssen - I don't know how Janssen went from sleeper pick for fantasy closer to forgotten reliever in an update set so quickly.

Pack 5:

630 - Steven Matz - It's kind of perfect that a guy named Matz plays for the Mets.
574 - Sean Rodriguez
516 - Vincent Velasquez
541 - John Ryan Murphy

CC-7 - King Royals - These look like base cards, but they're not. They use the same design as the cards in the first set that pay tribute to cards in the original 1968 Topps set, but I suspect that they are entirely their own creation.
505 - Jesse Chavez
511 - Nick Ahmed
602 - Justin Maxwell
654 - Christian Bethancourt - There are entirely too many Betancourts/Bethancourts in baseball.

Pack 6:
672 - Tuffy Gosewisch - He's no "Tuffy" Rhodes, that's for sure.
520 - A.J. Burnett
661 - Roberto Hernandez
609 - Leonys Martin

709 - Jesse Hahn - Another SP.
566 - Yunel Escobar
616 - Justin Bour - Bour kind of came out of nowhere to have a breakout year.
552 - Aaron Harang - Harang (Phillies) is like this set's equivalent of the 2009 Topps Heritage High Series John Smoltz (Cardinals) card, or maybe like Pedro Martinez (also Phillies). Well, except, a lot less HOF-worthy.
676 - Williams Perez - Two last names!

Pack 7:
536 - Jose Urena
524 - Alex Rios
658 - Nick Martinez
662 - Marcus Semien

723 - Yovani Gallardo Mini (015/100) - Another tough pull! I don't think I've ever pulled one of these minis before. Hanging on to this makes more sense for my collection than the silly shiny pseudo parallels, but I haven't decided what I'm doing with this yet.
651 - Kyle Blanks
663 - Robinson Chirinos - Back-to-back-to-back Rangers.
501 - Christian Walker
589 - Mason Williams

Pack 8:
613 - Tyler Olson
617 - Micah Johnson
612 - Hansel Robles - As I said, lots of cards with the RC logo.
664 - Tyler Flowers

NT-11 - Eddie Rosario Now and Then - I had to look this up three times before I could get Rosario's first name right. I've never heard of him. This is a funny reverse of the Then & Now inserts, but I don't even get what they're going for here. I can't decide if you the red design looks like something you could stab someone with or do drugs out of. (Okay, fine, it could be a sharp-edged soup ladle, I suppose.)
590 - Taylor Jungmann - There's a "young man" joke here, I suppose.
645 - Ubaldo Jimenez
519 - Cameron Maybin
579 - Garrett Jones

So that's it. I will add this set to my regular Topps Heritage want list soon. Did you happen to notice what's missing, though? There were no Cardinals in this box. There are, in fact, only 4 Cardinals cards in the entire set. There are no Cardinals non-relic/auto/numbered inserts. This will be a very easy team set to collect. (Famous last words.)