First look: 2015 Topps Heritage baseball cards
By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor
Next year’s Topps Heritage baseball set means it’s 1966 all over again.
Topps unveiled the first looks at its long-running baseball card brand’s next edition on Monday with 2015 Topps Heritage being a brand that arrives on March 4 with one autograph or Relic in every 24-pack hobby box.
The model here is largely the same as past Heritage releases with 425 cards in the base set capped by 75 short-prints. Returning for next year are throwback team uniform photo variations as well as action image variation cards that will only be found in hobby boxes. Also back will be mini versions limited to just 100, Chrome cards with Black (/66) and Gold (/5) parallels. The back variations from the last few years continue with blue being the ink of choice for this year.
As with past releases, Real One autos are back with past and present players signing in standard blue ink and with red-ink versions limited to just 66 copies. Also to be found are Real One dual and Triple autos with the duals limited to 25 and the triples limited to just five. Also returning are Clubhouse Collection auto Relics limited to 25, CC dual auto Relics limited to 10, Flashback auto Relics to 25 and 1/1 1966 Cut Signatures.
Two new additions can be found in the Relic lineup with triples and quads in the mix. Quads will show four players and be limited to just 10 copies, while triples are limited to 25 and duals are limited to 66. The standard Relics are not numbered but will have a Gold parallel limited to only 99 copies once again.
The Heritage lineup would not be complete without a selection of buybacks and alternative Relics and this year’s lineup includes Lost In Space, Get Smart and Batman buybacks from 1966 along with Rub-offs from the sports card world. Those will all be stamped with a 50th anniversary logo. Also back are postage stamp Relics and hobby-only coin Relics that include nickels (/15), dimes (/10), quarters (/5) and half-dollars (1/1s) embedded into the cards.
For traditional insert cards, there are four familiar offerings in Heritage — New Age Performers, Then and Now, Baseball Flashbacks and News Flashbacks. These will take a look back at 1966, of course, while 1966 ad panel cards will be box-toppers along with originals buybacks and 1966 Oversized Punchboards. These hobby-only newcomers to Heritage styled after the 1966 game will have an insert version limited to 50, a jumbo patch Relic, autographs limited to 10 and auto jumbo patches also limited to just 10 copies.
A preliminary checklist and autograph subject list was not released.
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
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Love Heritage, one of my favorite things in the hobby. I pray that the Cano is not representative of the photo quality in this set. I get that it’s supposed to look old, but that’s over doing it.
No RC logo on the Jose Abreu?
Are they going to not use it on heritage … I hope?
Same 500 cards.
Same stupid gimcracks.
Same meaningless parallels.
Same worthless relics.
Same pointless minis.
Same, same, same.
If they don’t care, why should we?
The Cano is a tad fuzzy as I needed to blow it up to be a larger size.
Abreu would not be an RC — and the All-Rookie team hasn’t been announced yet.
66, 69, 70, 73, 74 are some of Topps most ugliest designs.
On the flip side, Stale, if they changed the Heritage model — Heritage — how many would complain?
I wish they would include printing plates in boxes. Like they do in the topps heritage minors.
Chris….need a neutral vote choice. I don’t like or hate Heritage, always some great looking cards as well as ones that are just a waste of money as I no longer set collect. I’ll get my usual 3-4 boxes plus some retail (I assume Target Red & Wal Mart Blue border’s will continue) so I have something to swap for Phillies, PC guys and RC’s.
BTW…1970 Topps is awesome AE, my favorite set!
I look forward to this set every year. As a Met fan I hope Topps includes Choo Choo Coleman and Ron Hunt in the Real One Autos .
1966 is my favorite design of the 60’s. I have been waiting for this set for a long time. Heritage is one of the few complete sets I still chase.
The idea of Heritage is nice, and the cards usually look sharp, but I think it stopped being innovative years ago, with the same tired insert sets and annoying short-print slog year after year. I want to like Heritage, I just don’t feel it delivers the same enjoyment it once did.
Looking forward to 2015 heritage. It’s surprisingly one of the better looking sets, unlike 1962 topps which was one the worst looking sets they ever made. Hopefully when they do high number, it will be more than 100 cards, also dropping the H in front of the card number. Also easier to get.
I pulled and arod card from a pack and it’s got a giant white dot on his forehead was this done on purpose ? Like the gum stains