2009 Topps Heritage and other random stuff for a Wednesday morning

Big day today. Ash Wednesday. Spring Training games kick off. Topps Heritage is scheduled for release. I've been keeping an eye out for singles on the Bay and I have bad news:

No 2009 Topps Heritage singles on eBay yet. This isn't a good sign, as the new products are usually distributed to the big boys a day early and ripping parties ensue. I did some poking around and it does look like it may be delayed until Friday. Also noted here and here. I'll do some recon at the card shop today and file a full report. But wait, there's worser news:

2009 Spectrum is live. I wasn't crazy about this set last year, but I did buy a blaster for the hell of it. Not this year. I have six new sets I'm far more interested in buying instead of this shiny junk (In order: Heritage, Upper Deck, Topps, T51 Murad, American Heritage, and Mayo(and I don't even like Mayo all that much)) and I can't be dropping cash on this stuff anymore. I might pick up a retail pack just to show off the mediocrity, but hobby packs were 6 dollars a pack and up last year and there ain't no chance I'm paying that. You shiny hit chasers can go rip some boxes of that, I'll eagerly await the scan of the Lita Ford auto you pull. But wait, there's gooder news:

T51 Murad is live. If I could get a box for $60, I'd buy one of them tomorrow and wait a few weeks on the Heritage. They will probably be closer to $75-$85 at the card shop so don't worry about that happening. T51 Murad is basically Topps' version of an Allen & Ginter style retro set. They are based on a very colorful Tobacco card set from 1910 that featured college sports subjects. The set had the very first basketball themed card so Topps chose that design to swipe. I have been pestering my card shop for this set for weeks, so hopefully there will be a box there tomorrow as a consolation prize for the delayed Heritage.

Finally, BlackBorderGate is spreading, I found a couple more Wal-Mart blaster breaks on The Bench, both with black borders. Apparently the cards have a Chrome finish to them as well? No chrome finish, that poster ate too many strange mushrooms. I honestly have no freaking clue what the hell is going on with this. I'm torn between avoiding Topps altogether now because of this stupidity and hunting down a blaster just to get some damn information on what the hell this stuff is. We'll see. There might be a box break one way or another tomorrow. It just seems inconceivable that Topps would have all their Wal-Mart blasters have completely different cards in them. If you're going to do a black border early Chrome set, put a big red label on the blaster that says warning! lark's vomit black border Chrome! I've already got about 150-200 cards from the set, if I bought a Wal-Mart blaster in order to work on finishing that set and I got a completely different product I'd be pissed.

As your reward for all that wordiness, here's something very cool I found while working on that 1960 Topps post. Here's the back of that Al Lopez card I showed off:

All cartoons, just like I said. I can't freaking wait for Bobby Cox's cartoons. The toons looked familiar though, so I pulled out a card from 2009 American Heritage:

Hmmm... notice anything similar?

Al Lopez
Gettysburg Address guy

Topps recycled the cartoons! I have half a mind to abandon 2009 sets altogether and search through all my vintage stuff for cartoons. If Topps buggers up their base set anymore, I just might do that...