i have collected every Topps Heritage Baseball Set from 2001 through this years 2012.
it's the one modern baseball card set that i am genuinely excited about. i watched as other pissed on Topps shortly after the 2012 version was released back in March. Not enough of this, too much of that, yada, yada, yada. Some of the complainers were old, some new, more or less the same ol' same ol'
i stood up for the release. i am a fan of the set it represents, 1963 Topps. i bought my share, then bought some more. i am less then 100 insert cards from finishing my 2012 Set.
i love heritage. i love heritage because it reminds me of days gone by. days when there were no "SUPER MOJO RARE MEGA-$$ HITS". There were cards, gum and cards. that was it. Yes, things have changed.
i collect the heritage set each year. i collect all the base cards (1-500) and then all the basic inserts. i do not collect Chrome cards, fabric cards, bat cards, or cards with writing on them (aka autos). i welcome those if i pull them from my packs. they make for great trading bait.
i learned over the summer that there was going to be a Heritage High Number Set. i was as excited as anyone that there would be such a release. i learned that it would be in factory set form, and only available on-line.
i was worried about set cost and expressed my concerns. turns out i was right. Yesterday Topps announced that the set would be released early next month with a SRP of $99.95. yes, 100 dollars for a set of 100 base cards. the "bonus" as they call it, is that there will be an "Autographed" card in every set. As someone that doesnt have any interest in ink cards, its a kick in the junk that this "bonus" is driving the SRP through the roof.
i honestly don't know what to do. it's easy enough to just give Topps $100. But i feel they've done collectors totally wrong with this release. i feel enough so that i am thinking about calling it quits on the brand.
I would collect a lot more Heritage sets if it weren't for the volume of short prints, especially the ones you still can't find for less than five bucks each. Not to mention that the inserts are exactly the same every year.
ReplyDeleteNow instead of innovating the content, they're messing with the corporate marketing model. Thanks a lot, Topps.
I wish they would put out 2 sets biannually, myself.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be at least 20 years before most collectors even begin to see the sets they collected when they were young.
I realize there are collectors who got to experience the 2001 set just the way they did when they were young in the '50s, but, I will be in my 60s before I get to see the 1986 design.
They could do it easily by just not making any inserts at all.
Go back to straight up wax pack again(with gum).
One can dream.
Think about this: even the youngest person reading this comment will be in their late 50s before the 2012 set is featured.