2023 Heritage High Number blaster

 While we still have a little over 3 weeks until 2024 Topps drops, I’ve been getting an itch to open some retail. The local Wal-Mart has been bone dry the last few times I’ve been in, but I was off Saturday and we ended up at Target to return an air filter that was the wrong size. I wasn’t expecting too much as it’s mostly basketball and Allen & Ginter lately, but they had blasters of Heritage High Number and Chrome Update. I figured there was more of a chance of new cards with the Heritage High Number, plus Night Owl is collecting it, so why not?

I believe I got a few doubles, but mostly new cards. Night Owl gets first dibs (and you better believe he gets first dibs on any 2024 Heritage cards!!). 

I must’ve picked a partially bad blaster, as I believe I pulled the Casas insert in the last one, as well as the Hank Aaron one on the next photo. No worries, as there are tons of Red Sox collectors to trade with, and I actually need the Aaron because I gave it to John of Johnny’s Trading Spot last time we met up. 

This blaster was a good one for me, as I got 3 more Rays, a Tiger, and 3 guys I collect (deGrom, Gomes, and Profar). After logging my Rays into TCDB, I confirmed my suspicions that I do not have any completed Heritage Rays (or Tigers) team sets. I’m still 4 or 5 SPs short of this years set, but I have most of the base cards, which I’m happy with. I’ve never really been a big Heritage guy anyways. Maybe when the ‘91-‘98 sets come up, I’ll try to go for the set, but I just never got the big deal of the ‘72 and ‘75 designs, probably because I wasn’t born until 1983 and didn’t grow up with those sets. Let’s hope they keep the brand alive until the great ‘90’s designs make an appearance. 

Didn’t really get any big name rookies in this blaster. Maybe the Peraza, but that is a high-number that is earmarked for the great Night Owl (I’ll have to check his wantlist). The other 2 SPs were Wade Miley and Freddy Fermin. 

Those are the SP backs. At some point, I’ll log all of my Heritage SPs from every year into TCDB, and let the vultures go after them. Hopefully they can put dents into a few Topps sets. I have a feeling the next few ones I’ll try to complete will be 1982 (have a number coming in a trade), 2004 (need 1), 1989 (need 3), and 1996 (need like 15). Might just do a bulk order from one of the cheap common sites when our tax refund comes in and see if I can add some sets done. Hopefully I’ll find some difficult ones that won’t be easy to run across later. At any rate, I’ll be able to finish at least a few Topps sets this year no matter what, and hopefully I’ll have some stuff that will help others complete sets or add to a player collection. That’s really what collecting and trading is all about. I wish flippers could buy into that. Packs need to be opened in order for more inserts and base cards to get out into the open, but hoarding boxes and charging over market value for them and driving up prices and grading everything doesn’t help the cause. I hope 2024 is the year that the bubble bursts and cards are so overproduced that they start losing value. One by one the flippers will quit the hobby, there may be a few card shops that are casualties, but then there will be product on the shelves at retail outlets, and it will hopefully be priced decent as companies will want their products to sell. Collectors will be the ones opening the majority of the products and will get more of the cards they want to enjoy in their collections. We can only hope. 

I have some stuff in the mail already, and will have some more out either tomorrow or Tuesday. Some is for bloggers, some are parts of trades on other sites. I’ll hopefully start putting my Expos/Nats into TCDB tomorrow as well. It will be a nice way to relax after a long day at work. 

Thanks for checking out my latest post. 

-Jeremy