Topps Heritage High Numbers – PaulHadsall.com

The 2014 Topps Heritage High Numbers set is expected to show up next week (though the final checklist remains a company secret, apparently.) But that’s ok… see, I just recently picked up the two Mets cards from last year’s Topps Heritage High Numbers set.

John Buck was already a former Met by the time this card came out last year. Buck got off to a hot start to the season and then was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates along with Marlon Byrd to obtain Vic Black and Dilson Herrera on August 27th, 2013. You couldn’t ask for much more from a player who was essentially a throw-in in the R.A. Dickey trade. Buck played in a handful of games for the Mariners and Angels this year, but also spent time in the minor leagues.

Zack Wheeler‘s rookie card was the more in-demand of the pair of Mets in this set. Wheeler has the stuff to be a frontline starter in the major leagues, but he’s still trying to put it all together. He went 11-11 with a 3.54 ERA in his first full big league season, and he improved on his strikeouts per nine innings, walks per nine innings and home runs per nine innings numbers from his rookie year. Wheeler’s combination of major league success and potential (he’s just going to turn 25 next season) have made him the subject of trade rumors, but I find it hard to believe that the Mets will let him go now.

Topps Heritage fans – do you get the High Number update series, or do you count your set complete with the pack-released cards?

Jacob deGrom (Photo credit: Paul Hadsall) — Jacob deGrom *(Photo credit: Paul Hadsall)*

I’m still working on the Mets team set from the regular release of this year’s Topps Heritage set, but that’s probably not stopping Topps from giving me a few more cards to chase next month.

For the third consecutive year, Topps will release a limited edition 100-card Heritage High Numbers update set in October. For approximately $100, you get the update series plus a random autograph – last year’s checklist of signers included exciting stars like Yasiel Puig and Jose Fernandez, as well as a bunch of players like Brandon Maurer and Darin Ruf.

I don’t have the cash lying around to play the Topps Heritage lottery, but I imagine you can do pretty well if you’re lucky and can turn the cards around quickly. Team collectors will want the base set singles, and rookie cards of players like Jose Abreu and Masahiro Tanaka should attract a larger pool of buyers. Get a decent autograph in the set(s) you buy, and you’re looking at a nice potential profit.

Topps hasn’t released a checklist for this year’s set yet, but I imagine it will be more interesting to me as a Mets fan than the first two releases were.

I still need to track down last year’s Zack Wheeler card (I think I did get John Buck‘s at some point last winter.) I’m pretty sure I got Jon Niese, Andres Torres, Jordany Valdespin and Kirk Nieuwenhuis from 2012.

With the exception of Wheeler, who already had plenty of rookie cards by the time Topps Heritage High Numbers came out last year, none of the featured Mets players have been all that exciting and some weren’t even Mets by the time collectors had the cards in-hand.

This year might be a different story. Aside from a digitally-manipulated prospect card in this year’s Bowman set, Jacob deGrom has not appeared on a nationally-issued baseball card yet. A rookie autograph redemption in this year’s Topps Finest Set is selling well out of my price range and is limited to 100 copies. (Who knows when the actual cards will be delivered.)

Beckett Media mentions that deGrom is among the tentative signers for this year’s Heritage High Numbers set. That may be a redemption card, too, but it probably means he’s part of the base set as well.

And that would be a card I’d remember adding to my collection.

Tag: Topps Heritage High Numbers

2013 Topps Heritage High Numbers Mets baseball cards

DeGrom could make 2014 Heritage High Numbers set more interesting for Mets fans