The Pope Has Arrived

When I window shop on eBay, I always run into the funnest (still not sure if this is a word) cards that weren't even a part of my shopping.

One of those cards popped up in the past couple of months when I was window shopping for presidential relic cards from the 2009 Topps American Heritage set. 

I immediately added the card to my watch list as I didn't have the funds, which is how it works for me with most cards I want.

Luckily for me this time, I fell into a situation of winning a contest on Twitter and was able to bring the card home. The contest was from @GloriousMattB who would purchase a card on eBay under $25 for the winner. I was chosen because the card was so unique.

This Pope Benedict XVI card fit my non-sport card collection, my Yankees collection and my unique relic collection all in one. 

The card showcases the Pope and features a swatch of authentic Yankee Stadium Wall.

 

Back of the card gives the usual gibberish. If Panini wrote this card back, it may have said this wall relic is not from any specific Pope event, not Pope warn, Pope touched, or even from Yankee Stadium.

These relic cards weren't terribly tough to land like some cards in the set as it fell 1:33 hobby and 1:135 retail packs. Some of those tougher to find relics are the ones I really want with pieces of the White House. That's pretty cool!

If you are curious about the Pope and Yankee Stadium connection, it's from when the Pope did his U.S. tour and held a massive mass in 2008 at Yankee Stadium. I guess you can say this is a moment in history on this card.

Thanks again to Matt for the card. It's a lot funner (yes blogger keep red underlining this word as a misspelled word, but I plan to keep using it) to actually own the card.

Thoughts on my latest addition and if you have seen or heard of this card before welcomed in comments.

Cardboard Review:2021 Topps Heritage Minors

As baseball season winds down, still can't believe we are in the World Series and still can't believe the matchup we ended up with as well, the baseball releases are as well.

Today, we look to the future of baseball with my break of 2021 Topps Heritage Minors.

In every box of 2021 Topps Heritage Minors is 18 packs of 8 cards. There will also be 2 on-card autos in every box and boxes currently run an affordable $70 or less.

 

There is also one box topper as well.

1972 Topps Baseball Posters are within. There are also 1/1 foilboard versions and autograph versions of these as well. There are 20 of these cards overall.

BASE:

The base set is designed after the 1972 design and includes In Action and 1972 Topps Traded subsets.

(some collectors are not happy about these, not sure why)

The overall base set is 200 cards deep with many of the upcoming stars.

SHORT PRINTS/PARALLELS:

There are 20 base card Sp's that covers numbers 200-220.

/Black Border parallel  and are /50

Erik Rivera flip stock /25. It's glossy on the back and cardboard feel on the front.

INSERTS:

There are a variety of inserts in Heritage Minors.

 

There are 21 cards to collect in the Pack Cover set that falls 1:6 packs.

1:4 packs you will find yourself Boyhood Photos Of The Stars. There are 14 of these to collect overall.

1972 Topps Venezuelan Stamp Cards Set falls 1:4 packs and has 15 cards to collect.

HITS:

I don't know the players, but the signatures themselves are solid. Some effort put in and they are on-card.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Garrett Mitchell, Spencer Torkelson, Austin Martin are among the big names you can find on the autograph checklist.

I think the cost per box with a solid checklist seems worth the risk here.

Let me know your thoughts in comments!

CARDBOARD REVIEW:2020 Topps Heritage Baseball

Welcome to 1971! Well, a look at what a card design looked like in 1971.

Last year we saw Heritage take on the 1970 design and today we dig in 1971, the dark year. Once again, I am talking about baseball cards.

When seeing mockups for the design I was worried about having a black border like that on cards again. I could see chipping issues galore!

But, would I feel that way after I opened the box? Well, read on to see my thoughts.

In every hobby box of 2020 Topps Heritage baseball, there are 24 packs of 9 cards. There is one hit per box either autograph or relic and boxes currently sit at $70 or so.

Each box also comes with 1 buyback box topper

Here is what my pack had. PC add. So can't complain.

BASE:

 Like I said earlier, the base card design tackles 1971 design in spectacular fashion. I also must mention now that I didn't run into any dinged corners but that doesn't mean with this design that there won't be any.

There is also a whopping 500 cards in the base set including Sp's. That's insane for a product from today. I didn't say it was a bad insane either for those set chasers that still exist this is heaven.

Those darn short prints are out again to make us blind. Here is the back of the base card Pujols which tells us the CMP code ends in 13 which means base.

HOWEVER, a big HOWEVER, this years version labels the variations on the back of the card just below the name. If only I had known that before hand I wouldn't have wasted my time looking at the CMP codes. You still have to turn the card over to see what you have, but, that's easier to read than the code.

If you still want the codes to help you decipher what you have, here they are,

• Base cards 1-400 are 13
• Base SP cards 401-500 are #27
• French Text  have a #40
• Error has a #44
• Missing Signature has a #45
• Silver Team Name has #46
• Action Image has #47
• Throwback has #48
• Nickname has #49

BASE SP's

 Here were the Sp's I found in my box. These fall 1:3 packs.

 CMP CODE on the back.

Here's a couple of my favorite base cards in the set

 My first Cole in a Yanks uniform

And this photo of Judge is superb!

Along with some great photos, there are a few subsets as well.

Such as teams celebrating World Series wins and LCS wins. They are just missing the Yankees celebrating.....

 League Leaders

Rookies

Rookie Cups

BASE CARD VARIATIONS
Falling at 1:27, easiest to find of the variations, was this Action Photo.  Luckily for me out of all of them I landed this guy...

 Mike stinkin' Trout!

CMP is 47

BASE CARD PARALLELS
There is two parallels to find White which is limited to 50 copies and Flip Stock which is to 5 copies and to my surprise I found one that is 1:67 packs

White Parallel

Base and Parallel side by side. I think the black looks better.

INSERTS

 25 of the leagues youngest talent is here in New Age Performers. Found that Vlad guy here.

 Flashbacks has 15 cards to collect and commemorates things that happened at that time.

 20 Giants has well, 20 cards.

Then and Now has 15 cards to chase as well.

HITS:
The odds of hitting an autograph card from this product is astronomical, at least in my opinion. A box that doesn't pass by where I don't land a relic from this product and I did once again with a familiar face. This will make the 5th Pujols relic I have pulled in the past year from a one-hit product.

At least this time it's  a bat swatch. I also dig the design.

Other hits not found in my box but could be in yours includes,

• Base Chrome
• Base Mini Set
• Real One Autographs
• Real One Dual Autographs
• Real One Triple Autographs
• Senators Final Season Autographs
• Cut Signatures
• Clubhouse Collection Autograph Relics
• Clubhouse Collection Dual Autograph Relics
• Flashbacks Autograph Relics
• Clubhouse Collection Dual Relics
• Clubhouse Collection Triple Relics
• Clubhouse Collection Quad Relics
• 1971 Mint Relics
• 1971 U.S. Postage Stamp Relics

OVERALL:I was actually quite impressed with my break. Nice Trout find, Pujols white, even a Pujols relic. Probably the best break I have had of the product by far.

I do like this years design as the black really makes the color photos pop and the insert themes keeping that throughout is great as well.

If you have collected Heritage in the past and are a fan, I don't think you will be disappointed by this years. I like this years a lot.

Thanks to Topps for providing me this box to review and to giveaway some of the cards on Twitter. You can check out Topps website HERE. And find them on FACEBOOK  and TWITTER as well! Don't forget to give them a follow on each!

CARDBOARD REVIEW:2019 Topps Heritage Minors Baseball (bonus auto!)

If you are into prospecting, the best way in my opinion to do so affordably, is looking at minor league products.

Yes, they are no Bowman Chrome value, but they can reach those heights if you find the next Mike Trout hidden within.

I was able to bust a box of the 2019 Topps Heritage Minors so let's check it out to see how it went.

In every box of 2019 Topps Heritage Minor League baseball there are 18 packs of 8 cards. You should find one autograph and one relic card per box and boxes currently run for under $60.

Each box also comes with a box topper.

The 1970 Topps Super Baseball toploader set also has rare autograph versions numbered to 25 copies.

BASE CARDS:

The base card design revisits the 1970 design just like it did for regular Heritage.

Before I continue, we have to bring in the CMP code talk as there are variations and Sp's to find in this product. If I know about these Sp's ahead of time, I usually look card by card at the CMP code located at the bottom right hand corner on the back of the card and see if I have any that are different. I find doing it pack by pack not to be as much of a pain as looking at the very end. It also gives me time to check out the card backs which many ignore.

Back on topic, let's check out the CMP codes to find the variations and base.

• Base 1-200 end #636
• Base SP 201-220 end #650
• Image Variations end #651
• Missing Name Variations end #652

 Tim Tebow

 ends in 36

However, these.....

End in 50 which makes them the Sp that make up base cards 201-220. Which is an extended part of the base set. I didn't find any other form of Sp or variations in my box.

 Sporting News subset

League Leaders subsets.

Parallels:

I think it's normal just to pull the one parallel per box which helps with value on these. This one numbered to 99/

Overall look at parallels include,
Blue /99, Black /50, Flip Stock, Gold /15 and Red 1/1.

INSERTS:

 Fantastic Feats has 20 cards in the set to collect

Fresh On Scene finds 30 cards to collect has a fresh design I totally dig.

 And you will find two of these per box as well. Go grab your chance!

HITS:

Clubhouse Collection relic

 Tristan Pompey auto

Fresh On The Scene Brock Deatherage

Bonus auto! Can't complain!

Other hits not found in my box but found in yours could be,

• Real One Dual Autographs
• 1970 Mint Autograph Relic
• Bazooka Autographs
• 1970 Mint Relics

Find the complete checklist HERE.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I didn't recognize any of the name I hit in here, but what I do know is this is a product to sit on. You may not know the names now, but in two to three years you might. And for under $60 how can you not want to take a shot here. There are also some big names to find in this product for autographs as well. Minor League products don't get enough love.

If you want in on a box break of this product without paying box prices, I suggest Midwest Box Breaks as they pull fire!

Please make sure to take a minute out to thank Topps for providing this box for me to review and to be able to add cards to the giveaway on Twitter I am hosting. Please follow me there to enter @SportCardCollec. Also follow Topps on all social media sites and visit their SITE, as well