Monday, March 6, 2017

2 Hanger Boxes of 2017 Topps Heritage

For the second time this year, Target let me down.

A month or so ago when Series 1 came out, and I raced gleefully towards the sports card aisle to grab some, there wasn't a single pack to be found. I had to get my Series 1 fix from Toys R Us, which was kinda eerie, to be honest.

So today, rounding that very same Target aisle, I saw dozens and dozens of hanger boxes of Topps Series 1...but no Heritage to be found, whatsoever. I wasn't gonna hit Toys R Us again, because...they usually just get flagship, so I figured...where else can I go that had Heritage, most likely?

Ah. Wal-Mart. You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

They had some, but I had to make sure I spent only a few moments in there, or else I'd be forever scarred by the insane degree of unfortunate characters that lay within. I got two hanger boxes, sped to the self-check, left and went home. That simple.

Today, I'll rip them both. As it's a nicer product, there's 35 cards per box, but it's Heritage, so it's still pretty good.

Box #1-
122- Brandon Drury. As someone who's customized the 1968 design a trillion times, I'm relatively impressed with this design. Not perfect, but it doesn't have to be. Also, Drury is one of 3 billion Diamondbacks in this set, as it seems.
335- Carlos Gomez. Great to see he's back to playing well. Would have been interesting to see how he would have ended up in Queens instead of Cespedes.
114- Tom Koehler. Yeah, seeing post-68 expansion teams on this design is kinda weird.
263- MVP Company Combo Cart- Kris Bryant and Bryce Harper. Nice one, but I wish it was more than just some heads.
211- Jake Barrett. Another Diamondback.
287- Adrian Beltre. Future Hall of Famer, unless the sportswriters get snippy and keep him out.
298- ICHIRO SUZUKI. Well, I don't have to get anymore packs of this now, I got the Ichiro. If he's not a Hall of Famer, the system's broken.
234- Cardinals Team Card- of ALLLL TEAM CARDS TO PULL...
143- Marwin Gonzalez
290- Brandon Belt.
148- CLAY BUCHHOLZ IN A PHILLIES UNIFORM! HOORAY! Sidenote- people are now saying it was a bad idea for the Sox to give up Buchholz. Let's just see if he pitches well in Philly, then you can say that.
154- WS HL- Jason Kipnis.
94- Francisco Liriano. I'm thinking the Blue Jays want him to do mostly relief work in 2017, which is...quite foolish. You've got strikeout artist Francisco Liriano on your pitching staff. Let him throw more strikeouts!
116- Asdrubal Cabrera
284- Alcides Escobar, a rare action shot in Heritage. Though, sadly, this is not an action variation. Welp.
367- Corey Seager AS- THESE CARDS ARE SO ACCURATE AND COOL
Then and Now insert of Lou Brock and...Rajai Davis. Not a great comparison. Not sure if Davis' 2017 will be anywhere near last year.
495- Jerad Eickhoff. Always nice to pull a short-print of a beloved Philadelphia Phillie. Good stuff, Topps.
Disc Insert of MANNY MACHADO
340- Jose Ramirez
230- Adam Duvall. Adam Dunn 2.0
362- Mookie Betts AS. I still love these
53- CJ Cron.
187- CHASE UTLEY. I don't care if he's still a Dodger, and I don't care if this is most likely his last season- he's still Chase Utley, and he's still a legend in Philly.
126- Matt Duffy, as a Tampa Bay Ray.
2- Batting Leaders
170- Andrelton Simmons, who better have a better 2017
294- Cesar Hernandez, who finally decided to show up in his first full season as the Phils' 2nd baseman.
41- Melky Cabrera
128- Twins TC
52- Welington Castillo, the new Orioles catcher. Not necessarily an upgrade from Wieters, but there ya go..
17- Rougned Odor
149- Justin Bour, who will hopefully be better in a full season
133- D-Backs TC.
341- Patrick Corbin. This concludes what was essentially a pack full of Diamondbacks

Box #2-
51- Derek Norris, now the Nationals' BACKUP catcher.
80- Eddie Rosario
319- Nationals Rookies. Haven't heard of either.
201- Martin Maldonado. The Angels finally have a good catcher.
219- Pedro Alvarez. Not sure if he's done or not.
220- Joe Mauer. Not necessarily a Hall of Famer, but a Twins legend for sure.
275- Phillies rookies- Jake Thompson is in there.
252- Ender Inciarte, who'll probably have a better season with a reformed Braves squad
109- Chris Iannetta
357- Mark Reynolds, likely backing up Ian Desmond this year.
371- Bryce Harper AS.
399- Sean Manaea
37- Mike Napoli. Sadly this was finished too late for the Rangers gig to be included.
90- Billy Hamilton. I wish he'd have come along at a better time for the Reds
361- David Ortiz AS. Okay, that's pretty friggin' cool, and nice of Topps
71- Pat Neshek
471- Danny Salazar FOIL #'D TO 999. Pretty nice pull if I say so myself.
'68 Play Ball insert of Mookie Betts, which is also pretty nice
432- A GREAT posed shot of George Springer
161- David Freese. I know he's on a better team now, but UGH
85- Brett Gardner, who cooled down slightly but is still a great Yankee presence.
279- Nationals TC
198- Zack Greinke. Hoping for a rebound season in Arizona.
115- Elvis Andrus
137- Adeiny Hechavarra, essentially the NL version of Elvis Andrus
129- Rockies TC
392- Rickie Weeks
207- Chris Tillman, who better stay healthy this year
142- Byung-Ho Park
16- Padres Rookies- Manuel Margot and Hunter Renfroe, who are probably both starting this year.
33- Jhonny Peralta
184- Jeanmar Gomez, who started strong last year and finished...not so strong
178- James Shields, who needs to get back on track
385- Indians TC
326- Ben Zobrist, a pretty great way to end the rip.

Heritage is pretty nice this year- imperfect, but nice. I'll probably buy a bit more if I can.

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