The High Numbers are finally here on this #CrackinWaxMailDay from @CrackinWax (who else?)
If you've had a chance to check out 2020 Topps Heritage High Numbers, you've probably found or at least heard about the massive quality control issues. The scratches and off-centered cards won't really show up here in the scans, but the base cards in this set are by and large in pretty rough shape coming out of the packs, especially when compared to Heritage sets of the past. On top of this, the entire retail line was canceled after a lengthy delay that pushed the release out until the end of the year. This makes it significantly more difficult for someone with a budget like mine to put together the complete set. Heritage is usually pretty plentiful on the retail side, so it was disappointing to hear. (I should point out that a number of online checklists still list retail exclusives like megabox chrome cards, Bazooka inserts and scratch-off inserts that will never be found unless they enter the market through unscrupulous ways.)
That aside, I did pretty well on my half case break with Crackin' Wax.
Heritage High Numbers could also be called Bench Guys and Leftover Rookies. Brad Miller played a more significant role than expected with the Cardinals during the abbreviated 2020 season due to a hot bat to start and the expanded DH rule (is there a vaccine for the DH rule?)
Here you do see some of the centering issues. Nearly every player in this set is making this same pose or a slight variation on it.
KK opted for the over-the-shoulder look. Good for him. He was a fun pitcher to watch in what barely counted for a season, and I'm hoping for bigger things from him this year.
As always, I love the Clubhouse Collection design that's used for the game-used memorabilia. This time around they went with black borders and a background instead of the white that they used for the regular series.
The black is actually a bit washed out compared to the base cards, however. Still, they look nice, and I'm glad that I ended up with both jersey cards as they're pretty big names.
I also had the A's in the break as my randomly assigned team in the half case break. If you need any, I have tons of extras. I also ended up with two Chrome parallels of someone named Sheldon Neuse?
I also finally got ahold of some Topps UK by way of another CW break. The White Sox were unavailable for purchase and were randomly assigned to me, which added another card to my unintentionally growing Luis Robert rookie collection.
I did snag all of the Cardinals team set (sans Tommy Edman) along with this blue Yadi parallel, which is numbered to just 75. I have a feeling that the print run for this set was pretty small, but I'm not sure if there's a ton of demand to see the Topps base design yet again, only with a UK flag on it.
Love both of the Yadis and the Robert is kind of cool too!
ReplyDeleteAnother 2020 Topps disaster. I'd be in panic mode about 7 or 8 years ago when MUST GET ALL THE DODGERS was the main mission. But basically gets a shrug from me now.
ReplyDeleteI’m not a big condition snob or anything, so I probably wouldn’t notice unless it’s really bad. I guess it must be if it was pulled from retail.
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to get almost all of the set, along with the jerseys and some parallels. They didn’t put any SPs in it, did they? 2 series of Heritage with SPs would almost be enough for me to not collect Heritage at all.
There's 25 SPs in the set and 200 base, same as the last couple of years. They're roughly twice as easy to get as the regular series base, however, when you consider that the regular series has 400 base and 100 SPs.
DeleteSheldon Nuese is an infielder... that may or may not be with the A's in 2021. Read an article that he might be traded. If that's the case... he might be worth holding onto. The A's have a way of trading prospects (although he's played at the MLB level) that turn into solid players.
ReplyDeleteseems like QC has been an issue for lots of cards this year, hope it's due to COVID and not a precursor to more printing issues for '21. seen horrible issues with some high end stuff.
ReplyDeleteif you're going to start a random guy PC, LouBob is a good guy to go with.