I Don't Learn, You Don't Listen

Starting things I can't finish again. 

The Topps Heritage line has been around for 16 years now, which is more years than I've put into seriously collecting cards, and twice as many years as this blog has been around. You would think that I would be smarter by now and had gotten more selective with my interests considering how often I wind up purchasing cards these days. I still can't resist Heritage and I still can't resist a good old fashioned "traded set", so there I was at the card show last month, plunking down $15 on a shiny new blaster. 2016 Topps Heritage High Number Baseball, here we come! Someone please remind me that I still haven't finished any of these sets ever.

Before I write anything further, I just want to point out the obvious - these cards aren't for trade. I'm ripping all of the fun out of this post and showing off cards for a set I make a rather poor attempt at collecting. I plan on keeping these. There are other posts where I show off stuff I don't want, but this isn't one of them.

Let's see who fails the test.

Jose Berrios. Cool, cool... who are you? I have to admit that the AL Central is almost invisible to me, for reasons I can't really explain. Actually, that's not quite true. I think the AL East is force fed down our collective throats by the media, and the AL West has a team in my local TV market (not to mention all the late start times.) But the Central is kind of a blurry mystery at times, especially when you're talking young players. I'm fully expecting the Twins to make the playoffs in 2018, though. Topps likes to short print a bunch of stars in the 500 card regular Heritage set, but they toss in a bunch of sometimes desirable rookies to short print in the short 225 update set. I have a feeling this year's crop won't quite stand up to last year's, which included Carlos Correa and Kris "Hall of Fame" Bryant.

Here's Berrios again, on a Rookie Performers insert. This year's design has sort of a carnival look to it.

My first Cardinal of the box is one of my... less... than faves? I complained about Broxton all season long, and then 90% of the pitching staff fell apart and he went and had a competent September, so what do I know?

I have no idea what to do with Heritage minis, which come serial numbered to 100. I don't think I'm quite collecting them per se, but I have one or two others somewhere and I haven't gotten around to putting them up for trade. I had to look up C.J. Wilson, who I actually had no idea was still in the game. As it turns out, he didn't throw a single pitch this season, which makes him exactly wrong for a set like this. I don't know what Topps was thinking.

Worst buddy comedy ever. This is a "Combo Card" insert, but could easily be mistaken for just another base card, which is exactly what I did when I first opened the pack it came in.

Topps flips the whole "Then & Now" staple of their Heritage set on its head with these inserts, but aside from the "clever" name it doesn't really make sense. Here's their 1094th Kershaw insert, with some sort of patriotic ribbon design on the side and bottom.

No, Dallas Keuchel's beard was the real award winner.

Here's one for the Dept. of Weird Cards to Look at in Fifteen Years.

Not all of the SPs are rookies, as the former Notre Dame wide receiver sneaked in here. I believe Samardzija made it into both the regular and "high numbers" version of the past two Heritage sets if I'm not mistaken.

Here's another from the Short Print Collection. If you stitched together Trevor Story's and Gary Sanchez's seasons to make one big Frankenseason, you would have... um... a really amazing baseball player? Sorry, I probably scanned too many images for this post.

Talented young Pirates pitcher. He was hurt a lot as a prospect. I know him because he's in the other Central division.

This is a good way to end it. It's weird to see Waino in an update type set, but he barely pitched last season, so I guess it makes sense. Not that the C.J. Wilson card will ever make sense, though.