First Impressions - 2021 Topps Heritage

To be honest, I had resigned myself to the idea that I wouldn't see any Topps Heritage on my store shelves. They've been barren for so long, with only the occasional scrap left behind. Imagine my surprise when I recently went and found more packs than I've seen in years! Both Series One and Topps Heritage were available. I must have hit that sweet spot after restock but before the demons who have been buying up packs arrived. In my giddiness I bought a box and two packs of Heritage, knowing full well that if I returned the next day they would be gone. With cards in hand, I opened the box and mentally notated my first thoughts and impressions:

 

#311 Miguel Castro

 

The first card honor goes to Miguel Castro and the single dread that cascades from under his cap. I've said before, when it comes to these tribute sets, I'm not a stickler for details like font size and color scheme. It does a decent job of giving us the overall feel of the original.

 

#244 Tim Anderson (IA)

 

Recreating the 1973 Topps set means recreating the In Action subset. We take action shots for granted now, but I can only imagine how the original subset stood out from a set full of poses and head shots.

#272 Miles Straw

#50 Joey Bart (IA)

#293 Bo Bichette

#170 Mike Trout (IA)

#76 Alec Mills

#312 Jesus Sanchez (IA)

 

One of the best things about this set is the recreation of all the different card backs the original set had. Your basic stats are fine, but it's nice to see other stuff too. Puzzles (I see you Hank Aaron!), So You're A Baseball Expert trivia, League Leaders through history, and Topps News headlines give us plenty of reason to flip our cards over.

#399 Kolten Wong

#41 Willson Contreras

#396 Yasmani Grandal

#222 Blake Treinen

#43 Jose Altuve

#328 Jonathan Schoop

 

Speaking of the backs, here's a traditional stat based one. Cartoons are always welcome, even if I can barely read anything

 

#317 Mike Minor

#119 Max Kepler

#273 Sandy Alcantara

#473 Colten Brewer (SP)

My first Red Sox card, and it's a short print! The baseball card gods smile upon me! (Seriously though Topps - Colten Brewer? You're short printing a run of the mill middle reliever?)

#GO-25 Roberto Clemente (The Great One insert)

 

Heritage honors the legacy of the great Roberto Clemente with his a whole insert set dedicated to him. I much prefer these single player inserts of legends rather than repeating the same handful of current players. This is a very cool card utilizing the statue, too.

#247 Justin Verlander

#329 Gregory Soto

#223 Adam Haseley

#171 Jackie Bradley Jr

 

Another Red Sox card, but something seems off...wait a minute! Where's the hedge? This isn't a proper card for a Red Sox player! It's almost like Topps knew he wouldn't be back. You knew, didn't you Topps?

#326 Jon Lester

#257 Jakob Junis

#299 Ronald Acuna Jr

#62 Martin Perez

#268 Kris Bubic (BPOTS)

 

Another popular insert from the original, I question who decided which players got the childhood photo treatment. Bubic hardly qualifies as a star, right? Was his mom one of the only few to read the letter Topps sent out and actually submit a photo?

#275 Aaron Nola

#166 Jorge Soler (IA)

#177 Keston Hiura

#124 Matt Chapman (IA)

#286 Ian Happ

#126 NickCastellanos (IA)

#88 2020 AL RBI Leaders (LL)

Overall, not a bad set. The abundance of short prints prevents me from getting overly excited about Heritage, but given the choice between this and Series 1, I'll buy this every time. (At least until I see something new shows up.)