Topps Heritage Braves Team Set Wantlist

Just because I've given up on trying to complete Topps Heritage doesn't mean I've given up on trying to complete the Braves sets. As with all Braves team sets, I'm almost positive I have some of these hiding in Braves boxes but here's what is not actually in the binder.

2001 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
2a Brian Jordan - red back
2b Brian Jordan - black back
9b Kevin Millwood - black back
16a Andres Galarraga - red back
16b Andres Galarraga - black back
21b Quilvio Veras - black back
25b Eddie Perez - black back
30a Rafael Furcal - red back
30b Rafael Furcal - black back
33b Tom Glavine - black back34a Javy Lopez - red back
34b Javy Lopez - black back
36a Wally Joyner - red back
47b Walt Weiss - black back49a Greg Maddux - red back
52b Chipper Jones - black back72a Andruw Jones - red back
72b Andruw Jones - black back

2002 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
17 Tom Glavine
25a Rafael Furcal
37 Chipper Jones SP129 Marcus Giles
147 Greg Maddux
201 Javy Lopez
242 Vinny Castilla
310 Brian Jordan
378 Wilson Betemit SP
429 Jason Marquis SP

2003 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
79 Kevin Millwood
99 Jason Marquis
141 Trey Hodges SP
163 Andruw Jones
285 Russ Ortiz
330 Greg Maddux
422 Adam Wainwright SP

2004 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
57 Robert Fick
123 Zach Miner SP
208 Andruw Jones
214 Greg Maddux
310 Paul Byrd
451 Rafael Furcal SP
461 Mike Hampton SP

2005 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
95 Atlanta Braves
353b Tim Hudson Milwaukee Cap SP
428 James Jurries SP

2006 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
90 Chipper Jones
99 Brian Jordan SP

2007 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
128 Willy Aybar
204 Rafael Soriano SP
482 Edgar Renteria AS SP

2008 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
495 Brian McCann AS SP
592a Mike Hampton
662 Jorge Campillo684 Jo-Jo Reyes

2009 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
170 Brian McCann
374 Tim Hudson445 John Smoltz SP
464 Roger McDowell / Terry Pendleton / Chino Cadahia / Glenn Hubbard CO, SP
486 Chipper Jones AS SP
558 David Ross
562 Diory Hernandez
620 Kenshin Kawakami
625 Kris Medlen
707 Tommy Hanson  SP
2010 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
145 Jair Jurrjens458 Kenshin Kawakami SP

2011 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
486 Martin Prado
SP495 Rookie Parade Pitchers - Andrew Cashner Cubs, Jonny Venters Braves, Kenley Jansen Dodgers, Jenrry Mejia Mets, John Axford Brewers SP

2012 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
429 Jonny Venters SP
SPH612 Tyler Pastornicky
H622 Reed Johnson
H642 Andrelton Simmons

2013 Topps Heritage - BRAVES
481 Martin Prado SP
HS1 Evan Gattis
HS31 Julio Teheran
HS77 Alex Wood

2014  Topps Heritage - BRAVES
423 Alex Wood
435 Andrelton Simmons
480 Craig Kimbrel
484 BJ Upton

2015  Topps Heritage - BRAVES
10 Julio Teheran
32 Andrelton Simmons
38 B.J. Upton
56 Kris Medlen
79 Emilio Bonifacio
91 Nick Markakis
130 Evan Gattis
133 Mike Minor
154 Chris Johnson
200 Freddie Freeman
219 Justin Upton - Giancarlo Stanton - Adrian Gonzalez
236 Ervin Santana
326 Atlanta Braves
334 Alex Wood
387 Shelby Miller
436 Justin Upton
472 Craig Kimbrel

2016  Topps Heritage - BRAVES
33 Jason Grilli
98 Matt Wisler
113 Erick Aybar
180 Trea Turner/Hector Olivera
356 Atlanta Braves
396 Nick Markakis
487 Freddie Freeman

2011 Topps Heritage Minors - BRAVES
1 Andrelton Simmons - Lynchburg Hillcats
33 Carlos Perez - Rome Braves
46 Arodys Vizcaino - Lynchburg Hillcats
97 Dimaster Delgado - Lynchburg Hillcats
153 Joe Leonard - Lynchburg Hillcats
155 Matt Lipka - Rome Braves
167 Edward Salcedo - Rome Braves
193 Elmer Reyes - Rome Braves

2012 Topps Heritage Minors - BRAVES
99 Evan Gattis - Mississippi Braves
102 Chris Garcia  - Lynchburg Hillcats
107 J.R. Graham - Lynchburg Hillcats
110 Cody Martin - Lynchburg Hillcats
173 Joe Terdoslavich  - Mississippi Braves
191 Tommy La Stella - Lynchburg Hillcats
201 Christian Bethancourt SP - Mississippi Braves

2013 Topps Heritage Minors - BRAVES
6 J.R. Graham - Mississippi Braves
7 Gus Schlosser - MississippI Braves
115 Edward Salcedo - Mississippi Braves
117 Sean Gilmartin - Gwinnett Braves
122 Luis Merejo - GCL Braves
128 Matt Lipka - Lynchburg Hillcats
162 Mauricio Cabrera - Rome Braves
188 Lucas Sims - Rome Braves
214 Christian Bethancourt - MississippI Braves SP

Topps Heritage Braves Team Checklists

While trying to get my Topps Heritage Braves team binder together I checked a whole lot of online checklists to figure out what I actually needed. I learned a lot from my research - that all online checklists should be taken with a grain of salt. Especially this one. I gave up trying to confirm everything after about 2006 because apparently no one has any clue what team anyone else is on if the card is short printed. I never know Tony Gwynn played for the Orioles... I'm still trying to find all my Braves to fill out my binder so I can do a wantlist but in the meantime here's the unedited lists for your listing needs. I included black backs variations and non-super-short-printed variations but not impossible variations or Target black front variations because I am lazy. Perhaps one day I will be unlazied and add all that crap along with the inserts. Probably not.

2001 Topps Heritage
2a Brian Jordan - red back
2b Brian Jordan - black back
9a Kevin Millwood - red back
9b Kevin Millwood - black back
16a Andres Galarraga - red back
16b Andres Galarraga - black back
21a Quilvio Veras - red back
21b Quilvio Veras - black back
25a Eddie Perez - red back
25b Eddie Perez - black back
30a Rafael Furcal - red back
30b Rafael Furcal - black back
33a Tom Glavine - red back
33b Tom Glavine - black back
34a Javy Lopez - red back
34b Javy Lopez - black back
36a Wally Joyner - red back
36b Wally Joyner - black back
40a Andy Ashby - red back
40b Andy Ashby - black back
47a Walt Weiss - red back
47b Walt Weiss - black back
49a Greg Maddux - red back
49b Greg Maddux - black back
52a Chipper Jones - red back
52b Chipper Jones - black back
72a Andruw Jones - red back
72b Andruw Jones - black back
135 B.J. Surhoff

2002 Topps Heritage
17 Tom Glavine
25a Rafael Furcal
25b Rafael Furcal - Night SP
33 Wes Helms
37 Chipper Jones SP
39 Odalis Perez
98 John Burkett
129 Marcus Giles
134 Kevin Millwood
147 Greg Maddux
201 Javy Lopez
242 Vinny Castilla
293 Ken Caminiti
299 John Smoltz
310 Brian Jordan
378 Wilson Betemit SP
405 Andruw Jones SP
429 Jason Marquis SP

2003 Topps Heritage
67 Vinny Castilla
79 Kevin Millwood
99 Jason Marquis
102 Wilson Betemit
128 Adam LaRoche SP
141 Trey Hodges SP
163 Andruw Jones
170 Andy Marte SP
176 Bobby Cox
277 John Smoltz
285 Russ Ortiz
299 Mike Hampton
305 Javy Lopez
330 Greg Maddux
367 Paul Byrd SP
378 Gary Sheffield SP
382 Chipper Jones SP
407 Marcus Giles SP
417 Rafael Furcal SP
422 Adam Wainwright SP

2004 Topps Heritage
26 Horacio Ramirez
40a Chipper Jones Pointing
40b Chipper Jones Fielding SP
57 Robert Fick
66 Kyle Davies
68 Marcus Giles
98 Bobby Cox
123 Zach Miner SP
161 Anthony Lerew
178 Shane Reynolds
208 Andruw Jones
214 Greg Maddux
216 John Thomson
295 Russ Ortiz
303 Sung Jung
310 Paul Byrd
401 Brayan Pena SP
404 Javy Lopez SP
437 John Smoltz SP
451 Rafael Furcal SP
461 Mike Hampton SP

2005 Topps Heritage
10 John Smoltz
34 Nick Green
53 Juan Cruz
93 Eli Marrero
95 Atlanta Braves
130 Andruw Jones SP
172 Steve Doetsch
233 John Thomson
270 Mike Hampton
273a Chipper Jones Sliding
273b Chipper Jones Fielding SP
304 Rafael Furcal
353a Tim Hudson Atlanta Cap
353b Tim Hudson Milwaukee Cap SP
364 Marcus Giles
383 Johnny Estrada
386 Adam LaRoche
428 James Jurries SP

2006 Topps Heritage
20a A.Jones w/o Seats
20b A.Jones w/Seats SP
32 Marcus Giles
80a T.Hudson Red/White Letter
80b T.Hudson Blue Letter SP
90 Chipper Jones
99 Brian Jordan SP
114 Atlanta Braves
118 Chris Reitsma
138 Chuck James
205 Jeff Francoeur
225 Brayan Pena
283 John Smoltz SP
373 Horacio Ramirez
396 Ryan Langerhans
459 John Thomson
462 Kelly Johnson
463 Kyle Davies
480 Mike Hampton

2007 Topps Heritage
9 Craig Wilson
10 John Smoltz
64 Tim Hudson
110 Edgar Renteria
128 Willy Aybar
147 Chuck James
204 Rafael Soriano SP
241 Mike Gonzalez
314 Braves Boss and Power - Chipper Jones / Bobby Cox
355 Matt Diaz
377 Atlanta Braves
390 Brian McCann
440 Chipper Jones
482 Edgar Renteria AS SP

2008 Topps Heritage
4 Mark Teixeira
40a Tim Hudson
40b Tim Hudson black back
95 Buddy Carlyle
131 Brandon Jones
165 Jeff Francoeur
212 Fence Buster - Andruw Jones & Chipper Jones
218 Rafael Soriano
307 Kelly Johnson
312 Tom Glavine
347a Chuck James
347b Chuck James black back
356 Yunel Escobar
362 Clint Sammons
419 Atlanta Braves
425 Brian McCann
440 John Smoltz
450 Chipper Jones SP
451 Josh Anderson SP
495 Brian McCann AS SP
511 Jair Jurrjens
592a Mike Hampton
592b Mike Hampton black back
618 Matt Diaz
641 Omar Infante
651a Martin Prado
651b Martin Prado black back
662 Jorge Campillo
675 Mike Gonzalez
684 Jo-Jo Reyes

2009 Topps Heritage
3 Casey Kotchman
37 Jeff Francoeur
70 Tom Glavine
100 Jair Jurrjens
107 Jo-Jo Reyes
129 James Parr
158 Gregor Blanco
170 Brian McCann
189 Mike Gonzalez
205 Yunel Escobar
215 Bobby Cox
246 Brandon Jones
335 Kelly Johnson
350 Javier Vazquez
374 Tim Hudson
381 Atlanta Braves
417 Martin Prado
420 Chipper Jones
445 John Smoltz SP
464 Roger McDowell / Terry Pendleton / Chino Cadahia / Glenn Hubbard CO, SP
486 Chipper Jones AS SP
558 David Ross
561 Derek Lowe
562 Diory Hernandez
577 Adam LaRoche
610 Jordan Schafer
620 Kenshin Kawakami
625 Kris Medlen
635 Matt Diaz
659 Rafael Soriano
674 Ryan Church
697 Garret Anderson SP
707 Tommy Hanson  SP
712 Nate McLouth  SP

2010 Topps Heritage
28 Melky Cabrera
45 N.L. ERA Leaders - Chris Carpenter Cardinals, Tim Lincecum Giants, Jair Jurrjens Braves & Adam Wainwright Cardinals
49 N.L. Strikeout Leaders - Tim Lincecum Giants, Javier Vazquez Braves, Dan Haren Diamondbacks & Adam Wainwright Cardinals
73 Nate McLouth
84 Garret Anderson
89 Martin Prado
105 Tim Hudson
120 Chipper Jones
137 Bobby Cox
145 Jair Jurrjens
164 Yunel Escobar
239 Derek Lowe
322 Michael Dunn
395 Tommy Hanson
400 Brian McCann
458 Kenshin Kawakami SP

2011 Topps Heritage
30 Chipper Jones
52 NL Batting Leaders - Carlos Gonzalez Rockies, Joey Votto Reds, Omar Infante Braves Troy Tulowitzki Rockies
63 Tommy Hanson
76 Freddie Freeman
141 Babe Ruth
158 Atlanta Braves
239 Brandon Beachy
278 Derek Lowe
307 Jair Jurrjens
320 Jason Heyward
367 Dan Uggla
380 Tim Hudson
391 Martin Prado AS
397 Brian McCann AS
443 Brian McCann SP
486 Martin Prado SP
494 Rookie Parade Pitchers - Barry Enright Diamondbacks, Mike Minor Braves, Travis Wood Reds, Alex Sanabia Marlins, Drew Storen Nationals SP
495 Rookie Parade Pitchers - Andrew Cashner Cubs, Jonny Venters Braves, Kenley Jansen Dodgers, Jenrry Mejia Mets, John Axford Brewers SP
497 Rookie Parade Infielders - Argenis Diaz Pirates, Brett Wallace Astros, Brandon Hicks Braves, Lance Zawadzki Padres SP

2012 Topps Heritage
46 Michael Bourn
53 Freddie Freeman
62 Eric O'Flaherty
73 Fredi Gonzalez
138 Pride of NL - Dan Uggla & Chipper Jones
229 Brandon Beachy
238 Jose Constanza
275 Dan Uggla
298 Martin Prado
308 Brian McCann
347 Chipper Jones
350 Tommy Hanson
390 Jason Heyward
394 Tim Hudson
398 Craig Kimbrel
399 Mike Minor
409 Jair Jurrjens
429 Jonny Venters SP
454 Julio Teheran SP
612 Tyler Pastornicky
622 Reed Johnson
642 Andrelton Simmons

2013 Topps Heritage 
22 Andrelton Simmons
35 Michael Bourn
53 Tyler Pastornicky
70 Brian McCann
95 B.J. Upton
115 Dan Uggla
126 Craig Kimbrel
152 Tim Hudson
162 Chipper Jones & Lord Voldemort
189 Freddie Freeman
218 Brandon Beachy
300 Jason Heyward
333 Mike Minor
335 Jonny Venters
400 Kris Medlen
416 Paul Maholm
417 Juan Francisco
481 Martin Prado SP

2011 Topps Heritage Minors
1 Andrelton Simmons - Lynchburg Hillcats
33 Carlos Perez - Rome Braves
46 Arodys Vizcaino - Lynchburg Hillcats
97 Dimaster Delgado - Lynchburg Hillcats
153 Joe Leonard - Lynchburg Hillcats
155 Matt Lipka - Rome Braves
167 Edward Salcedo - Rome Braves
193 Elmer Reyes - Rome Braves

2012 Topps Heritage Minors
99 Evan Gattis - Mississippi Braves
102 Chris Garcia  - Lynchburg Hillcats
107 J.R. Graham - Lynchburg Hillcats
110 Cody Martin - Lynchburg Hillcats
173 Joe Terdoslavich  - Mississippi Braves
191 Tommy La Stella - Lynchburg Hillcats
201 Christian Bethancourt SP - Mississippi Braves

I come to bury Heritage, not to praise it

2013 Heritage came out last Wednesday or last Monday if there's a Wal-Mart near you. I'm not as active in the blogosphere as I once was but I'm pretty sure there's been a flurry of Heritage posts all over the place. A lot of people like it, a lot hate it. Some of the people who hate Heritage love it, some of the people who have master sets going back to 2001 loathe it. It's one of those sets.

I'd like to blame Heritage for getting me back into baseball cards but it's not really true. For one, I never really stopped collecting baseball cards, I just let my interests wander to football cards and Star Wars cards and Magic cards and comic books and actual books for a while in the late '90s. For another, 2001 Topps is what really got me back into baseball cards hard core or more specifically the 50 card reprint set that was inserted that year. Oh man, did I go crazy for those reprints. By the time Heritage showed up later in the year I already had a pile of green bordered cards big enough to choke a goat so I can't blame it on Heritage. I can blame it for the whole retro craze which sucked me (and a whole lot of other people) in back in the early aughts.

The first time I found 2001 Topps Heritage is a good analogy for my entire Heritage collecting experience. I was at a Target for some reason or another and checked the card aisle as I was wont to do. I found at least ten full boxes of 2001 Heritage sitting there. Just sitting there! I snagged maybe 15 packs or so in an attempt to not go completely broke figuring I could come back and get some later. I ripped 'em, loved 'em, came back the next day. There was not a single pack to be seen. Not even a box! Whoever cleaned out the store hoovered up the boxes even! I never again saw a single pack of 2001 Heritage in any retail establishment ever again. And in hobby shops? HAH! I could buy a real '52 high number card for what they wanted for unopened '01 wax. So that's my Heritage experience in a nutshell: I love it to death, but I will never ever be able to complete a set as long as I live.

Not to say I didn't try. I bought up every single pack of '02 Heritage I could find and came reasonably close to getting close to finishing it. I bought up a bunch of '01 and '03 commons at one point. I got a hobby box every year for a while I had most of the 2008 set too including black backs. Well, other than short prints. That's the thing about Heritage... bloody short prints. dozens and dozens of short prints all over the dang place. Also variations. Black backs, night cards, old logos, colored letters, different poses... and that's before they stopped being just plain 'ol short prints and became SSSSSSP mojo. At some point Heritage stopped being fun and started being a pain in the ass. Here's a timeline of disillusionment for me:

2001: Wow! This set is awesome! Aaaaaaaaaaand it's gone.
2002: A junkie's first hit of cardboard heroin. Nothing better than this.
2003: Don't like this design as much but the set is still a lot of fun.
2004: Bought a hobby box, loved the Double Header box toppers, not much else.
2005: Love this design as much as the '53 set, still bought a fraction of what I did in '02.
2006: This design sucked and it still sucks. Hey, what's that Ginter stuff...
2007: WHY THE HELL ARE THE SHORT PRINTS SKIP NUMBERED
2008: A new appreciation for the '59 design, go just as overboard as in '02. Complain bitterly about SSPs and then High Series but keep buying.
2009: THE TURNING POINT

If you haven't figured it out yet the whole point of this post is a formal declaration that I am forsaking my quest to complete all the Heritage sets in favor of focusing on Vintage Topps, Ginter and  a few other sets. This is not a spur of the moment ragequit decision but has been snowballing for a while now. Competition from Ginter and the super short printing of variations were tough blows for my love of Heritage but the real beginning of the end was in 2009.

You see, I love the 1960 Topps design. It's just so colorful and weird and whacked out. I've always been fond of it ever since I got a small brick of about 30 old '60 Topps cards back in the '80s with all these obscure players with goofy portraits. Faye Throneberry, Bobby Malkmus, Gene Green, Ray Sadecki... I loved them all. Then the 2009 Heritage set finally came out with my beloved design. I had a Franklin stashed away to buy my Hobby box. I went into my card shop and... they were sold out. Actually there were four unopened boxes on the counter but those were being saved to sell as individual packs. The rest of the cases he had ordered had already been sold. Well crap. I bought 4 packs just to get a taste and resigned myself to come in the following week to pick up my box.

The following Monday I was laid off.

In March of 2009.

Remember that year?

You didn't want to get laid off that year. A lotta people did though.

So basically I finally got to a Heritage set with a design I really loved and surprise! I can't have it. Add to this the print run was drastically lower than previous years because everyone was scared to death about the economy so now I can't even get a hobby box for that Franklin I was going to use that day. It didn't help that by the time I had money again and Heritage packs were plentiful, the designs were ass.

2010: Terrible design and too many home run cards, The dice game was the only saving grace
2011: Dark and murky wood borders, now we have 14 different parallels/color variations
2012: The crash.

I was really looking forward to 2012 Heritage as 1963 Topps is my second favorite design from the '60s. It was the first really vintage set I actually tried to work on. In 1987 or so I scrounged through the '63 box of a local card shop snagging all the first series common cards because those were twenty five cents each. I really wanted to complete that set, but... I would start with the commons from Series 1. The problem was in fall of 2011 I got completely sick and goddamn tired of new baseball cards. you can check the archives if you want to see why but I was positively allergic to new cards. A really good Heritage set might have snapped me out of it though. It was released, I still snubbed new cards but I did get a look at some of the '12 Heritage cards and they were... ass. Complete ass. The photos were dark and had that ridiculous fuzz filter that worked for the '57 set but not here. The colors seemed off to me for some reason. The typical Heritage card stock didn't feel right. It was clunky and the gray stock clad with white backs looked awful. And the Variations. Those stupid Variations! Swapping the black and white inset photo with the color photo?? What were they thinking??? I hated it. I eventually bought one pack and it sucked. Complete total utter disappointment and that was the before the whole High Series Money Grab. I was pretty much done with the brand at this point. I had decided how I was going to move forward in my Heritage collection and went through with it.

Then 2013 Topps Heritage happened. What exactly happened? That's the story of tomorrow's post.

The Heritage of Topps Heritage

Wax Heaven has the scoop on 2008 Topps Heritage, you can download the sell sheet and checklist for yourself here (numbers 22, 23 and 24 under baseball). The Heritage line continues with the 1959 design in 2008 with a 500 card set. The usual insert sets are there with the addition of a new set that features top news stories from 1959. Vintage 1959 cards will also be included as a box topper in some Hobby boxes. Heritage is the set I most look forward to each year and I'll write up a review soon. In the meantime, for those of you who have been out of the hobby for a while and haven't gotten into the whole Heritage Experience, here's a gallery of examples from each of the Heritage sets From 2001-2007 and a sample of the '08 version from the sell sheet. Enjoy!

2001 Topps Heritage - 1952 Topps design


2002 Topps Heritage - 1953 Topps design


2003 Topps Heritage - 1954 Topps design


2004 Topps Heritage - 1955 Topps design


2005 Topps Heritage - 1956 Topps design


2006 Topps Heritage - 1957 Topps design


2007 Topps Heritage - 1958 Topps design


2008 Topps Heritage - 1959 Topps design

Scott Boras nonsense

Here's a gem from Scott Boras whining that he doesn't understand why the Yankees all of a sudden won't play nice and offer to overpay for his client so he can get the bidding frenzy nice and hot:

"Why is it that Alex is the only Yankee who can't become a free agent?" Boras said Wednesday. "That question was not answered, and we think it's a question that's going to be asked for years to come."

Ooo! Ooo! Mr Kotter! Ooo! OOO! I want to field this one. Because by opting out of the contract instead of negotiating with the Yankees to extend said contract, you cost them THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS YOU DIPSHIT. You cost them THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS so you could 'test the market' and thus extort even more money out of them by claiming a bunch of phantom teams are bidding on his services like you do with every single one of your other clients. And when you cost an entity THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS, whether that entity is an individual or a massive multinational corporation, the entity that just lost THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS tends to get a little pissy about losing THIRTY FREAKING MILLION DOLLARS, you dumbass. Get the Rangers to overpay for Rodriguez, you just saved them that THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS that they would have had to pay the Yankees. Good luck with that, seeing how brilliantly signing Alex worked for them the first time.

Fuck breaking Bonds' record, here's where I'd like to see A-Rod play for the next few years via my dream 2008 Topps Heritage Card:


Update: Toledo would work too.

And this is what I'd like to see Scott Boras have to go through for the next 11 months or so while his client remains unsigned.



If I seem just a wee bit snarkier than usual today don't worry, I'm grouchy because Atlanta doesn't have a date booked on Cake's new tour.