A Missed Opportunity

A #CrackinWaxMailDay from @CrackinWax shows what a great set 2019 Bowman Heritage could have been. 

I'm not thoroughly against the idea of Topps or other card companies creating sets to sell exclusively online, but many of them are not my thing. My thing does happen to be Heritage cards, so when I heard that Topps had revived Bowman Heritage as an online exclusive I wasn't sure what to think. I entered into a couple of box breaks over at Crackin' Wax once again that featured this online exclusive and was blown away at how much I liked it.

If only this set had gotten a wider release. Since this isn't a widely available product, I can't afford to go after the whole set, but I can still enjoy the cards I got for my team collection. I was able to complete the basics, though, so I'm just looking for parallels at this point.

Much like previous Bowman offerings, the set is broken up into two categories - rookies/veterans and prospects. Both feature the same basic design, which is modeled after 1953 Bowman. It's great.

I'm always curious about the card stock that Topps uses for each set, and this one did not disappoint. This feels like cardboard! Why can't (most) modern products actually feel like... you know... cards? And those card backs look fantastic.

Topps even got the rookie backup catcher into the mix.

Of course, Topps being Topps, there are parallels of a Chrome and non-Chrome variety. I actually like the Chrome cards in this one, even if they veer away from the basic appeal that Heritage cards have to me. This is a classy Genesis Cabrera card.

My big pull, if you will, was another card of the Large Lad Luken Baker, on a blue Chrome refractor numbered to 99.

I also bought into a 2014 Bowman Draft break, hoping for some Flaherty magic as this set features his "1st Bowman" card, something people are starting to care more and more about these days. I didn't luck out in the magic department, but I did pick up this needed Chrome version.