2006 Bowman Heritage Short Prints

OK, it looks like the even numbered cards from 202-300 are the short prints and not the list given to Beckett by Topps. Pretty odd decision there, looking at the checklist the top 50 cards would have made a good selection of SPs. Numbers 251-300 include 25 stars and 25 top rookies. Maybe there was a mixup at the printers. Maybe the Topps design team needs to quit taking so many 6-martini lunches. Maybe Al-Qaida has a sleeper cell in Brooklyn dedicated to confusing set builders. Who cares, at least now Mickey Mantle's not an SP.

SPs are seeded 1:3 packs, the White variation is 1:6 packs, plus the Prospects insert set is also listed as having White variations at 1:6 packs as well. The average per box is 6 SPs, 4 White main set parallels and 4 White insert set parallels. That is assuming you can figure out exactly which ones are the parallels. To help things out a bit, the SP/variation/autograph card has been located right behind the foil or relic card in all the packs I've seen. If in doubt, sleeve that card and try to convice someone that it actually is a White variation. It's not like they'd know in any case. Your guess is as good as mine on the Prospect insert variations, I haven't actually recognized one as such yet, so I couldn't say for sure if it would be the first or second one in the pack.

Here is the complete list of SP's for 2006 Bowman Heritage:

202 Alay Soler
204 Mike Napoli
206 Mike Pelfrey
208 Josh Willingham
210 Willie Eyre
212 Scott Thorman
214 Boof Bonser
216 Justin Huber
218 Jason Bartlett
220 Francisco Liriano
222 Ricky Nolasco
224 Scott Olson
226 Martin Prado
228 Kevin Thompson
230 Josh Johnson
232 Tony Gwynn, Jr.
234 Taylor Tankersley
236 Jeremy Sowers
238 Adam Wainwright
240 Russ Martin
242 Tony Pena
244 Darrell Rasner
246 John Lester
248 Chad Billingsley
250 Justin Verlander
252 Hank Blalock
254 Mike Mussina
256 Jason Giambi
258 Carlos Beltran
260 Pedro Martinez
262 Melvin Mora
264 B.J. Upton
266 Gary Sheffield
268 Ryan Zimmerman
270 Johan Santana
272 Brandon Webb
274 Michael Young
276 Jonathan Papelbon
278 Melky Cabrera
280 Josh Barfield
282 Lastings Milledge
284 Jose Capellan
286 Jason Botts
288 Sean Marshall
290 Stephen Drew
292 Kuo Hong Chih
294 Angel Guzman
296 Fausto Carmona
298 Matt Cain
300 Kenji Johjima

Pretty nice selection of players in that list, although it would be interesting to see just how many of those rookies are actual rookie cards and not just 'MLB approved' rookie cards.

I just broke a box, so as soon as I can start scanning I will share some examples of the White parallel variations. When you see them side by side it's pretty obvious, but by themselves it's diffcult except in some situations (you'll see what I mean when I post the A-Rod White variation). I looked all over the front and back for any indication that the card was a variation, but no dice. Disappointing, as there are several different variations in the original set that could have helped out with this, including the obvious 'name on front' variety and the script/print variations of the names on the back. Or they could have even switched up the placement of the logos on the back in homage to the ads on the back of the original '49s. Or, heck, even put ads for MLB rings and baseball banks on the back! I don't really want a ring, but I wouldn't mind sending Topps all my wrappers for a plastic MLB game with mini players that can be ued as a bank. Oh well, at least now sharp-eyed scroungers might be able to find a few White variations in common bins.