So there I was in the card aisle. I was staring at the blaster of - let's just call it High Series - in my hand. Looking deeply into the pretty blue package cluttered with too many words and logos. Looking at the three sample cards of Jay Bruce, Evan Longoria and, ugh, the Topps card of Kosuke Fukudome. Flipping the box over to look at the odds, and the offer of gum in every pack, and the groups of possible relic cards. Just looking at it. And not putting it in my basket. Looking at the other stuff on the shelf. Old baseball I don't want. Lots of football I don't want. Loose packs of Timelines. Blister packs of Stadium Club. A whole lotta nothin. I looked at the blaster one more time... and put it back on the shelf.
Now why the hell would an admitted junkie pass up a fix of what is usually the really good stuff and go wandering towards the produce aisle instead?Is it the lousy checklist?
Is it the two unwanted Updates & Highlights cards per pack?
Have I been trained to start lusting for 2009 Heritage each December instead?
Is it that horrible, wretched gum?
Is it the fact that it seems like Topps just mailed this one in?
Am I bitter that I want Bowman Heritage and Topps gave me this??
Is it all of the above?
I don't know what it is, but I looked at that box of Heritage High Numbers and didn't feel even remotely interested in opening it. There wasn't even a bonus insert box topper to sweeten the pot. It just felt like Topps just knew we would buy Heritage no matter how shoddy a product it was so they just pooted out an inferior product and sat back to wait for our money to roll in. Will I eventually get desperate enough for a Heritage fix to buy a blaster? Maybe. There was a first series Heritage box there too and I was more tempted to get it instead just for the short prints. You know... be careful what you wish for. I raked '52 rookies over the coals for their laziness in design, but you know what? Another series of that would be better than this. At least '52 Rookies had the guts to give us only 6 cards a pack without trying to insult our intelligence by inserting two Updates & Highlights cards (undercutting their own product by the way) that we didn't really want.
So do I hate Heritage now? No, I love Heritage. If I saw a big pile of commons from High Series in a nickel box I'd snap 'em all up. Buying packs though.. I just don't know. If any one of the problems with the set were fixed - a checklist not comprised of bench players, team cards and rookies - no #$^@% Topps cards in the pack - something, ANYTHING, special to chase other than short prints, the same inserts from the base set and the occasional relic which you rarely find in a blaster anyway - even gum that didn't taste like rotten vegetables - I might be ripping a hobby box right now. As it is though... I don't know. Maybe I'll just wait a few months and see how far the price drops.
