ONLINE MEGA BOX - PART 29

IT'S MINI TIME WOOOOOOOO! IT WAS MINI TIME LAST POST TOO BUT THIS IS ALLEN & GINTER MINI TIME WHICH MEANS WE NOW GET TO PLAY "DOES THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?" YOU'D THINK I'D KNOW THIS ALREADY SINCE I FINALLY GOT A NEED LIST TOGETHER FOR MY BASE, A&G BACK AND BLACK BORDER SETS BUT HONESTLY I PICKED OUT THESE CARDS WITH THE ONLY CRITERIA BEING 'OH HEY, THAT'S COOL' AND DISREGARDED THE NUMBERS ON THE BACK COMPLETELY

CATEGORY - MINIS

THE MAJORITY OF CARDS IN MY GINTER MINI BINDERS ARE FROM 2013 AND EARLIER SO ANY RECENT MINIS AUTOMATICALLY GET AN EDGE. ALSO VERY FEW CARDS AREN'T GETTING REPLACED BY JOEY VOTTO 

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

YES

JOEY BOUNCED A 2013 IAN KINSLER MINI. SORRY IAN

ANOTHER 2019 MINI, THIS DESIGN HAS AN EXTRA EDGE BECAUSE OF THE LARGER PHOTO THAT TAKES UP ALMOST THE ENTIRE CARD. THIS REALLY MAKES THESE CARDS STAND OUT AGAINST SOME OF THE OTHER DESIGNS. PLUS BILLY HAMILTON PLAYED FOR THE BRAVES FOR LIKE A WEEK AND A HALF. LONG ENOUGH FOR ME TO REMEMBER HE WAS A BRAVE AT LEAST

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

YES

BILLY REPLACES A 2014 JAY BRUCE MINI. I DON'T HAVE AS MANY 2014 CARDS IN THE BINDER BUT THE GIGANTIC TEAM NAME AT THE TOP OF THE CARD REALLY SQUASHES THE PHOTO. GIANT BILLY OR TINY JAY WASN'T A FAIR FIGHT

YOU ALREADY KNOW TODD HELTON'S IN THAT BINDER, WHO'D HE REPLACE

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

YES - WITH REGRETS

THIS CHOICE WAS TOUGH. YEAH THIS CARD LOOKS GREAT AND IS OF A FRESHLY MINTED HALL OF FAMER BUT THE OTHER CARD NUMBER 105 IN THE BINDER WAS A 2006 ANDY PETTITTE MINI. PETTITE IS ARGUABLY AS GOOD AS HELTON AND IS FROM THE VERY FIRST ALLEN & GINTER SET. WELL, NOT THE FIRST FIRST ALLEN & GINTER SET BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. THE MAIN REASON ANDY GOT BUMPED IS THAT THERE WERE THREE OTHER 2006 MINIS ON THAT PAGE ALREADY. FRANKENSETTING IS HARD SOMETIMES

I DON'T THINK MARTIN MALDONADO WAS MY FIRST 2022 MINI, BUT IT WAS MY FIRST 2022 SHORT PRINT MINI. I HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT IF THIS IS A GOOD DESIGN YET BUT IT SURE IS A LOT OF DESIGN

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

YES

MARTIN REPLACES A 2009 JUSTIN MASTERSON MINI. THERE'S ALREADY AN '09 CARD ON THE PAGE SO UNLIKE ANDY JUSTIN WON'T BE MISSED

IN 2019 TOPPS SOMEHOW GOOFED THE NUMBERING SO BADLY ON THE SET THAT THERE WERE NO CARDS 301-350 AND THE SHORT PRINTS WERE NUMBERED 351-400. HOW THIS HOPPEN? WHO THE HELL KNOWS. THIS SCREWS UP MY FRANKENSET CONCEPT PRETTY BADLY SINCE THE WHOLE POINT OF THE EXERCISE IS TO BUILD A SET NUMBERED UP TO 350 WITH ONE CARD PER NUMBER. I WILL NOT LET TOPPS' SHENANIGANS RUIN MY FUN SO FOR THE SHORT PRINTS OF VICTOR ROBLES AND JORDAN HICKS I MENTALLY SUBTRACTED 50 FROM THEIR CARD NUMBERS. I WILL NOT FORGIVE TOPPS FOR MAKING ME DO MATH

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

NO

CARD NUMBER 361-50 = 311 WHICH IN THE BINDER IS 2007 DAVID ROSS. FORMER BRAVES PLAYER IN FULL CATCHER'S GEAR? NOT BEATING THAT WITH A WONKY NUMBERED CARD.

JORDAN HICKS IS A CARDINAL WITH A GOOFED UP CARD NUMBER. THAT'S TWO STRIKES ON HIM ALREADY

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

NO

CARD NUMBER 355-50 = 305. THAT'S A 2008 RANDY JOHNSON MINI. STRIKE THREE 

JUST LOOK AT THOSE NUMBERS. I MEAN, C'MON TOPPS. IT'S OBVIOUS WHICH OF THESE MADE THE BINDER

THE NEXT THREE CARDS ARE ALLEN & GINTER PARALLEL BACKS. THESE HAVE AN ADVANTAGE TO GET IN THE BINDER BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE NEARLY AS MANY OF THESE AS THE BASE MINIS. I'M NOT TOO FAMILIAR WITH TYLER KEPNER'S WORK BUT HIS BOOK A HISTORY OF BASEBALL IN TEN PITCHES IS ONE I'M INTERESTED IN CHECKING OUT

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

YES

TYLER WAS UNCONTESTED AND FILLED AN EMPTY SPACE IN THE BINDER. HOORAY!

I HAVE SO MANY JAVIER BAEZ CARDS AND I DONT' EVEN COLLECT THE GUY. I DON'T HAVE MANY 2021 MINI CARDS AT ALL

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

YES

ANOTHER EMPTY POCKET TO FILL. WAIT, HAVE I MARKED THESE TWO CARDS OFF MY WANTLIST YET?? 😬

THIS CARD OF HILARY KNIGHT WAS THE ONE I THOUGHT WOULD BE THE AUTOMATIC CHOICE FOR THE BINDER. AN ACTUAL WORLD CHAMPION CHOMPING HER OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL? THIS IS THE KIND OF CARD THAT MAKES ALLEN & GINTER WHAT IT IS!

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

YES - AGAIN WITH RESERVATIONS

THIS CARD WAS DEFINITELY IN THE BINDER UNESS IT WAS TRYING TO KNOCK OUT SOMEONE LIKE HANK AARON OR PELE SO A 2008 CARD OF CARLOS PENA DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE. HOWEVER I STILL FELT BAD REMOVING A CARD WITH THE ORIGINAL OLD PLANTER BACK. CARLOS LOOKS REALLY SAD TO BE LEAVING THE BINDER AS WELL. SACRIFICES MUST BE MADE

I MEAN - LOOK AT THAT GOOFY LOGO THAT LOOKS MORE LIKE CAG THAN A&G. I REMOVED OLD PLANTER FOR THAT. REGRETS.

THE LAST FOUR BASE MINIS ARE BLACK BORDER PARALLELS AND I HAVE EVEN LESS OF THOSE (OR IS IT FEWER? YELL ABOUT MY GRAMMAR IN THE COMMENTS) THAN THE A&G BACKS. IT'D BE GREAT IF ALL FOUR FILLED UP EMPTY SPACES BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN I IGNORED MY WANTLIST. ALSO ONCE AGAIN JAVY BAEZ SHOWS UP. HOW DO I GET SO MANY OF HIS CARDS??

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

YES

JAVY'S GOT THAT EMPTY POCKET LUCK TODAY

I INCLUDE THESE RACK PACK EXCLUSIVE GOLD BORDER CARDS IN WITH THE BLACK BORDERS BECAUSE I'M SURE NOT STARTING A FOURTH MINI FRANKENSET FOR THE DAMNED THINGS. I STILL HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY OF THE GINTER X MINIS OR THE CHROME, LORD KNOWS WHAT I'LL DO WITH THOSE. THEY BOTH HAVE THE FANCY VICTORIAN WROGHT IRON FENCE BORDERS IT'S JUST ONE IS PAINTED BLACK AND ONE IS GILDED. NAME THIS ONE THE FENCE SET AND WE'RE GOOD. THIS FENCE DESIGN IS EXTRA FINICKY FOR 2019. POOR DAVID BOTE LOOKS LIKE HE'S TRAPPED IN AN ARISTOCRAT'S FANCY GARDEN PARTY WONDERING HOW TO MAKE SMALL TALK WITH THE GRAND BARONESS OF GILDERSLEEVE

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

YES

MORE EMPTY POCKET MOJO FOR THE CUBS

MATT CARPENTER IS GIVING ME THE STINK EYE AFTER PUTTING TWO CUBS IN THE BINDER. 'YOU'RE GONNA PUT ME IN THE BINDER TOO, RIIIIGHT?'

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

NO

A 2013 DEREK HOLLAND BLACK MORDER MINI BLOCKS MATT. I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE PUT MATT IN, I ALREADY HAD A 2013 CARD OF ANDRE DAWSON ON THE PAGE, BUT THE COMBINATION OF AN ACTUAL BLACK BORDER CARD THAT WAS ALSO ONE OF THE LAST ONES THAT ACTUALLY HAD A MOSTLY SOLID BLACK BORDER AND NOT A FANCY GARDEN FENCE 

THE 2022 BLACK BORDER PARALLELS LOOK A LOT LIKE THE BASE CARDS JUST WITH A LITTLE EXTRA OOMPH. I DO LIKE THE CHANGE THOUGH, THE PATTERN LOOKS MORE LIKE A FANCY EMBOSSED LEATHER BOUND BOOK THAN SOMETHING TO PUT AROUND THE HYDRANGEAS TO KEEP THE RABBITS OUT. MICHELLE WIE WEST IS ALSO A BREATH OF FRESH AIR AS A RECENT A&G NON-BASEBALL SUBJECT WHO ACTUALLY PLAYS A SPORT AND ISN'T AN INFLUENCER OR YOUTUBER OR PODCASTER

DID THIS CARD MAKE THE FRANKENSET?

YES

THIS ONE BUMPED A 2014 CARD OF CARL CRAWFORD. 2014 WAS THE FIRST YEAR OF THE FIDDLY NOT-COMPLETELY-JET-BLACK BORDERS AND I REALLY DON'T CARE FOR THE DESIGN. IT ALSO LETS YOU KNOW VERY CLEARLY HOW OFF CENTER YOUR CARD IS. NAW, GET OUT 

BONUS! A PIC OF THE COMPLETED PAGE WITH VOTTO AND HELTON

EXTRA BONUS! ALL THE REJECTS

I'M SORRY OLD PLANTER, PLEASE FORGIVE ME...

UP NEXT: MOAR MINIS BUT INSERTS!

NON-SPORT FRANKENSET - CARD #13

LOL I WAS SO EXCITED TO POST A JACK DAVIS CARD I FORGOT CARD #13

COUNT DUCKULA! Y'ALL KNOW I AM A FAN OF VAMPIRES, AND WHY SHOULDN'T DUCKS BE ABLE TO GET IN ON THE BLOODSUCKING ACTION. COUNT DUCKULA PREMIERED IN 1988 AFTER SPINNING OFF FROM THE SERIES DANGER MOUSE. I REMEMBER IT WAS PRETTY DECENT, A SERIES ABOUT A VEGETARIAN VAMPIRE DUCK IS A NEAT CONCEPT. IT WAS NO DANGER MOUSE, BUT WHAT IS. BUT WAIT, THIS ISN'T THAT COUNT DUCKULA, THIS IS FROM A CRUMMY COMIC BOOK MOVIE

13 - 1986 TOPPS HOWARD THE DUCK - DUCK-O-VISION: COUNT DUCKULA

HEY A MARVEL MOVIE. EVERYONE LOVES MARVEL MOVIES... RIGHT? THIS ONE NOT SO MUCH, WHICH IS A SHAME BECAUSE IT'S A PRETTY INTERESTING MOVIE 

I DIDN'T SAY GOOD, I SAID INTERESTING

YES, IT IS A BIT LOT OF A MESS, AND THE DUCK SUIT IS KINDA GOOFY, AND THE PLOT IS BATSHIT CRAZY, AND THERE'S A LOT OF CRINGEY MOMENTS NOT LEAST OF WHICH IS A SCENE THAT EDGES UNCOMFORTABLY TOWARDS FURRY PORN, BUT! IT'S A COMIC BOOK MOVIE! WHO CARES IF IT MAKES SENSE, COMIC PLOTS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS LUDICROUS. THE MAIN CHARACTER IS LITERALLY AN ANTHROPOMORPHIC DUCK, THE SUIT IS CLUNKY BUT WORKS WELL ENOUGH. I... HAVE NO DEFENSE FOR THE FURRY STUFF. THERE ARE NEKKID DUCK BOOBIES WITHIN THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES. BUT SOME PEOPLE DIG THAT VIBE, LET PEOPLE ENJOY THINGS. IT AIN'T A CLASSIC BUT THE CAST IS GREAT, THERE'S SOME COOL ACTION PIECES AND FUN MONSTERS, AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY NO MORE EMBARASSING AND RIDICULOUS THAN 90% OF 80'S COMEDIES. IS A DUCK GETTING SUCKED DOWN TO EARTH FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION ANY MORE ABSURD THAN WHAT GOES ON IN BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS OR EVEN GHOSTBUSTERS? AND IT'S A HELL OF A LOT LESS EMBARASSING THAN SOUL MAN. THERE'S A BUDDY COP MOVIE WITH TOM HANKS AND A DOG, STUFF WAS GOOFIER IN THE 80S

I'LL ADMIT, WHEN I WAS 14 AND THIS CAME OUT I WAS AS LIVID AS EVERYONE ELSE. GEORGE LUCAS QUIT MAKING STAR WARS MOVIES FOR THIS??? UNACCEPTABLE. THE FILM HAD A LOT GOING AGAINST IT. THE LUCAS THING. COMICS WERE STILL DORKY IN THE 80S, EVEN WHEN BATMAN BLOWED UP. HOWARD WAS NOT A SUPER WELL KNOWN CHARACTER. EVEN WITH THE TECHNICAL KNOW-HOW GEORGE BROUGHT TO THE PROJECT A LOT OF THE THINGS THEY WERE TRYING TO DO DIDN'T QUITE WORK OUT RIGHT. PEOPLE STRAIGHT UP WEREN'T READY TO SEE LEA THOMPSON TRYING TO PLUCK A DUCK

BUT EVENTUALLY I DISCOVERED THE ACTUAL HOWARD THE DUCK COMICS AND THEY WERE FANTASTIC. CLEVER, CYNICAL AND VERY FUNNY. NOW WITH A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHARACTER I REWATCHED THE MOVIE AND... WELL, THE FILM DIDN'T GET A LOT OF THINGS RIGHT. IT TRADED THE CLEVER FOR SILLY AND A LOT OF THE HUMOR ENDED UP BEING UNINTENTIONAL. BUT IT GOT THE CYNICAL RIGHT, THE HUMAN WORLD IS A RIDICULOUS WORLD. AND A VERY ADULT AND SCARY WORLD AT THAT. SOME OF THE CHOICES TO SHOW JUST HOW ADULT THE WORLD IS LIKE HAVING HOWARD WORK IN A SEX CLUB AND SHOWING OFF DUCK BOOBS (A-WOO-OO) FAILED PRETTY HARD, BUT WHILE THIS MOVIE IS A FAILURE IT'S A DAMNED INTERESTING FAILURE. IT'S A BAD MOVIE BUT BAD MOVIES CAN BE A HELL OF A LOT OF FUN

ISN'T HOWARD HANDSOME IN HIS LITTLE SUIT. THAT'S ANOTHER THING WHERE THE FILM AND COMIC DIFFER, COMIC HOWARD DOES NOT WEAR PANTS. THERE'S A WHOLE STORY ARC ABOUT HOW THE OPRESSIVE OVERLORDS (LITERALLY DISNEY) FORCED HOWARD TO WEAR PANTS AND HE STILL ENDED UP CHUCKING THEM BY THE END OF IT. I'M NOT SAYING THE FILMMAKERS WERE WRONG FOR THIS. WE REALLY DIDN'T NEED HOWARD HANGING FREE ON THE SILVER SCREEN

UP NEXT: THE CORRECT CARD THIS TIME

NON-SPORT FRANKENSET - CARD #14

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK DAVIS

NON-SPORT FRANKENSET IS ANOTHER SERIES I'VE ABANDONED FOR YEARS BUT NOW I HAVE AN EXCUSE TO JUMP BACK IN. THE THREE PEOPLE WHO STILL READ THIS BLOG ALREADY KNOW WHAT A FRANKENSET IS BUT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE SPAMMERS PUTTING LINKS TO SKETCHY SHIT IN THE COMMENTS HERE IS MY DEFINITION OF THE FRANKENSET:

A CHAOTIC TRADING CARD SET COMPOSED OF CARDS FROM A SPECIFIC BRAND OR THEME NUMBERED 1-100 OR 200 OR 10000 OR HOWEVER LONG YOU WISH WITH ONE CARD PER NUMBER ON THE BACK. EXAMPLES OF FRANKENSETS I COLLECT:

ALLEN & GINTER MINI SET

TOPPS GOLD PARALLEL SET

PANINI GOLDEN AGE SET

THIS HERE NON-SPORTS SET

EACH SET IS WHAT IS SAYS ON THE TIN: THE A&G MINI SET IS MADE OF MINI CARDS FROM ALL ALLEN & GINTER SETS NUMBERED 1-300. THE TOPPS GOLD PARALLEL SET IS MADE UP OF THE NUMBERED PARALLEL CARDS FROM 2001-ONWARD FOR CARDS 1-660. THE GOLDEN AGE SET WAS MADE BECAUSE I HAD A BUNCH OF GOLDEN AGE CARDS BUT WAS NEVER GOING TO COMPLETE ANY OF THEM SO I MADE MY OWN DAMN SET. AND THIS HERE IS, WELL, THIS HERE. SO FAR I HAVE PUT TOGETHER TWO SERIES OF 44 CARDS AND A PAGE OF STICKERS! I SHOULD PROBABLY MAKE A POST LINKING TO ALL THE PREVIOUS ONES BUT I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THE FINGERS ARE TYPING AND I'M NOT GOING TO BREAK MY INERTIA

#14 1990 SUNKIST WACKY PLAYERS - THE CRUSHER

JACK DAVIS ILLUSTRATED TRADING CARDS FROM AT LEAST 1959 TO 2009. FIFTY DAMN YEARS OF TRADING CARDS! AND THAT'S JUST THE ONES I KNOW ABOUT, HE MIGHT HAVE A FEW OTHERS HERE AND THERE BEFORE OR AFTER. THIS SET WAS INSERTED INSIDE SUNKIST FRUIT SNACKS AND WAS A MULTI-SPORT SET OF WACKY SPORTS STARS. SPORTS WERE A GREAT SUBJECT FOR JACK'S ART STYLE AS HE COULD EXPRESS THE MOTION AND ENERGY OF ATHLETICS SO WELL. NOT TO MENTION THE HUMOR, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO SEE MANY MORE ILLUSTRATIONS OF A DUDE GETTING HIS HEAD STOMPED THAT'S FUNNIER THAN THIS ONE. IT'S ALSO A GREAT DEPICTION OF A MONSTER OF A FOOTBALL PLAYER. I'M SURE THE RED UNIFORM WASN'T AN ACCIDENT BY THE GEORGIA BULLDOG FAN

THERE'S LIKE TWO DOZEN GAGS ON THIS CARD AND THE BEST ONE MIGHT BE AVID GOLFER. WHOEVER DESIGNED THIS SET CERTAINLY HAD THE MAD MAGAZINE MINDSET OF THROWING EVERY JOKE AT THE WALL AND HOPING SOME OF THEM STICK. ALONG WITH MAD MAGAZINE, MOST OF THE JOKES DO LAND. I HAVE TWO CARDS FROM THIS SET AND I HAD TO REALLY THINK ABOUT WHICH ONE TO INCLUDE BUT IN THE END THIS WAS THE CLINCHER:

FUCK YEAH RAMONES. SO WHAT IF THE SONG IS ABOUT WRESTLING, YOU THINK THAT CRUSHER UP HERE WOULDN'T BE KING OF THE RING?

UPDATE: HERE'S THE FIRST ONE FIGURE IT OUT FROM THERE

A FrankenSet for Halloween

The Allen & Ginter mini card FrankenSet was completed just in time for Halloween. Cards 1-350, plus 10 honorable mentions to fill out the last page. Enjoy.

1-15

16-30

31-45

46-60

61-75

76-90

91-105

106-120

121-135

136-150

151-165

166-180

181-195

196-210

211-225

226-240

241-255

256-270

271-285

286-300

301-315

316-330

331-345

346-350 w/ 10 honorable mentions

Joy of a Completed Page - A&G FrankenSet

@Project1962 also knocked out two more pages on my Ginter mini set with Brett Myers and Andy Pettitte. I have a small but legitimate concern that the moment this set is finished I will abandon Allen & Ginter forever.

Down to needing 18 for the set after discovering the local LCS has a stach of minis hidden away...

I come to praise Heritage, not to bury it

Well, the past post was kind of a downer but it had to be done. One does not simply have a shelf full of Heritage binders and quit 'em all in a day. And yes, I have quit Heritage, but unlike some of the commenters I'm not dumping them all into the ocean to live with their '52 Topps High Series brethren. I had a plan and I stuck to it. Quite successfully actually. I had freed myself from the Heritage monkey on my back. I was done with it. 

Then the very next day, 2013 Heritage popped up in Wally World. 

Come on, I had to get a look at it.

So I looked at it. A few times. And went back for a second look. Maybe a third. 

Goddamnit, I finally had gotten over my Heritage fixation and I went and liked this stupid set. 

I should probably start to explain my future Heritage collecting plans going forward before I get into the meat of this post which is basically defending 2013 Heritage like a deranged fanboi. So up until recently, I was seriously trying to complete ALL the Heritage sets. Not actively, mind you, but I had all the wantlists posted somewhere up through about 2010 or so. Here's the thing: other than 2002 and 2008 I didn't have any set even close to complete. I think I had all the non-short prints from 2002. Other than that, disaster. So I finally came to the decision that I just needed to pick some sets and focus on them and screw the rest. My three favorite designs from Heritage are 1953, 1956 and 1960. Maybe I should focus on those? Well, no, because I needed 200+ cards from the '05 and '09 sets. I had a healthy chunk of the '07 and '08 sets but neither really did it for me. I finally settled on focusing on the 2002 set with the 1953 design, partly because I kind of want to steal a Ben Henry idea for the hundredth time. The other sets I would harvest for Braves team sets and also embark on a special project. 

So there I was, happy that I had finally focused my Heritage collection into one set, a bunch of team sets and a you-know-what that was actually completed Monday evening. Then I saw the 2013 Heritage set and fell in love with the damnable thing. I have an odd relationship with 1964 Topps. I didn't pay attention to it much when I was a kid but I've still managed to accumulate quite a bit of it. And it is a great set, the design is simple but effective. There are tons of extreme close up portraits in the set and a large amount of them are extremely goofy. The orangey pink backs are a little eye-bleeding but every beautiful thing always has a flaw. And damned if this Heritage set didn't just nail those '64s. Nailed it in a a way that Heritage hasn't nailed anything in a long time. 

Now I know there are a lot of people out there who aren't happy with this set at all and that's cool, I can respect that. This is not a normal Heritage set. The 2013 version of the set doesn't resemble the one that came out in 2001 at all to be honest. That doesn't mean it's not any good though, and here are some reasons why I like this thing. 

The photos are ludicrous but awesome

One thing that has turned me off of Topps flagship sets in recent years is a complete lack of portrait cards. Flagship has had an awful lot of pics of the pitcher in the windup and the batter at the plate since 2008. Topps hasn't completely ignored them though, you see a lot of portraits in Heritage and other retro sets. The '13 Heritage set has a TON of em, and many are extreeeeeeeeme closeups in awkward poses like Ol' Busted Elbow here. As you can see from an Actual Colt .45 card this kids of crazy eyed closeup is common in the '64 set and I like it. A lot. 

The card stock is absolutely perfect

There has been much discussion on the interwebs about the 'flimsy' white card stock that the cards are printed on. I don't want to be rude but... well, Applejack says it much better than I can.

This set is not printed on flimsy card stock. It is printed on the exact same stuff Allen & Ginter is printed on. Allen & Ginter is not flimsy and I will fight anyone who says differently. It is absolutely printed on different card stock than all other Heritage sets (except maybe '12 Minors and High Series, I haven't actually seen those yet) in that it is white card stock unlike the traditional gray card stock Heritage is usually printed on. Even the Heritage sets that have white/light backs like the 2006 and 2010 sets with the 1956 and 1960 designs had gray stock clad with white on the back. This is pure white stock and it makes the set look really clean and brilliant. It is different from the other sets? Yes. Can I see how this could be a big shock to a hard core Heritage collector? Yes, I can. Do I think the white card stock is going away? NO. Every Topps set from 1963-1970 used white card stock. I have a feeling you'll be seeing this stock in Heritage for a few years to come.

Like Applejack says, this card stock is not flimsy

In the center is one hundred 2013 Topps Heritage cards with the white stock. on the right is one hundred 2011 Topps Heritage cards with the gray stock. The white stock is flatter and a tiny bit thinner than the gray stock. About two or three card thickness' difference in a stack of 100. That's not flimsy. Whatever junk they printed Archives on last year, that's flimsy. The stack on the left is one hundred original 1964 cards. I wouldn't call those flimsy either.

The scratch off trivia on the back ACTUALLY WORKS

Yes, yes, this is an idiotic reason for liking a trading card set in this day and age of SUPER SERIOUSNESS. My post yesterday almost started a blood war between the hardcore set collectors and the super Mojo chasers. SERIOUS BIZNISS. Fuck that shit, this is at heart an ephemeral bubblegum card set that's supposed to be fun and educational for the kiddos. There was a scratch off trivia question on the original set and Topps managed to reproduce the same thing on a modern card. How freaking cool is that?? Nickels actually work too. Try it! Ruin your cards! Ensure that your Drew Storen common card will never be graded Gem Mint by PSA and find out who the 2nd man with a 50-HR season was! DOOOOO IT! When I build the set I will probably scratch off at least one of every unique trivia questions (there are a bunch of duplicated questions in the set) just for the dang fun of it. Remember fun?

I got this card in my first pack so I won't be chasing it for years

This is a legitimate reason to love a set for a person who has still not found a 2002 Alex Rodriguez low numbered short print for a reasonable price. Chasing high dollar cards for a set sucks, especially in a modern set where cards are either near mint or in the garbage instead of the bargain box.

Topps put these silly things in there

This is an original, the 2013 parallel is down below. Most everybody probably knows that the cards with the black and red backs are the Venezuelan parallels. I will say this much about the set: There are too many frickin' parallels in the set and they're all too hard to find. Besides the many layers of Chrome with even shorter print runs, there's Red, there's Blue, there's mini numbered to 100 and probably a few more that are off my radar. And half are skip numbered so you need a database to know what to look for. These I like though, because they're not too impossible and I actually have a couple of originals. They are very nice but very weird looking in person. A weird parallel for a weird set. How can a weird collector not like this?

Although, sometimes bizarre stuff like this happens

All three of these came out of packs from the same Wal-Mart in Georgia. How in the hell? There's probably a mini and a gold still at the store waiting for me to come get them. (they'll be waiting a long time, I'm broke) I have no idea how this happened but I do know that Night Owl and gcrl probably want to kill me right now. If anyone covets these Kershaws, just know that I am absolutely desperate for a Kris Medlen Mini. Start searching, Dodger fans.

Mojo? FUCK Mojo.

After the card stock complaining the number one issue most collectors have with this set is the sheer number of ridiculously rare chase cards that are in this set. Heritage has always had difficult pulls with dual autographs and relics and such, but this year they've taken it to a different level. There's minis and coins and gold refractors numbered to 5 and stamps and coins and tattoos and Beatles and book cards and Senators variations and action variations and error cards and... and... and I don't even know all the crap that Topps has stuffed in this set to get the case breakers to buy more product and help keep the box prices from plummeting six weeks from now. It has gotten a tad ridiculous, and the set is suffering from the insert bloat that has been making Allen and Ginter less fun to collect recently. Even the traditional Flashbacks, New Age Performer and Then & Now insert sets have more subjects than ever before and Topps seemingly tried to hide that fact by replacing the numbers with initials so it wasn't immediately obvious how many cards were in the set without consulting a checklist. All this stuff crammed into what was once a simple set collector's dream set, and most of it the average collector will never ever see in a pack.

And you know what?

I don't give a shit. At all. Not just about the chase cards themselves, or the gimmicks or the whatever. I just don't care. They don't mean anything to me. If I happen to stumble across one in one of the limited number of packs I buy this year, great. If not, so be it. I don't like this set for all the inserts and bells and whistles and gimmicks and nonsense. That's not the set. I like the set for THE SET. All those base cards and short prints that are numbered 1-500. That set. That set that was very well done with some close attention to detail. Something that Topps has neglected in their fixation on gimmicks in the past few years. But not this year. This year Topps got it right with the base set at least.

So I'm probably collecting this set along with the 2002 Heritage set. I'm not going to worry about the variations be they error, action or Senator. (although I wouldn't turn down a Jonny Venters with the wrong birthdate) I know that in the past, variation cards were about as scarce as regular short prints in Heritage sets and I had fun collecting them, but they aren't anymore. That's just a fact. Topps has short printed them to the bejeezus belt to appeal to the gamblers. That's fine, they are neat cards but I like the set and I will collect the set. Because in the end, no matter what Topps does with their products, we are ultimately in charge. We buy the packs, we collect the cards. And no one can tell us what to collect. Not Topps, not Beckett, not eBay, not a certain editor we all know and love, not Bud Selig, not the Pope, not your parole officer*. Your wife may have a say in what you collect. I'd listen to her, but none of those other people.

You collect what you wanna collect be it cheap or expensive, new or old, mainstream or oddball. Here's what I wanna collect as far as Heritage is concerned going forward.

The 2002 set with the 1953 design.
The 2013 set with the 1964 design.
All Braves team sets from 2001-2013.
And a completed FrankenSet of Heritage cards from 2001-2009.

sample page - actual contents of the FrankenSet subject to change

This particular set is complete, scanned and in a binder. Starting tomorrow (actually today since this post took longer to write than I hoped) I will be showing it off one page at a time. This is a direct rip off of Ben Henry's Best of the '80s set that I attempted to show off card images for in the early days of this blog and failed. The FrankenSet idea itself is a ripoff of that idea to be honest. All the pages are scanned and ready to post so maybe, just maybe I'll actually finish something I've started for once. Expect the first page Wednesday evening and yell at me if it doesn't get posted in time.

Here's to collecting the way you want to collect.

*maybe your parole officer. I don't know the circumstances of your incarceration.