Buzz Break: 2018 Topps Heritage baseball cards (hobby box)

From time to time, Buzz will break a box of something and post the results here. Like this and want to see more? Or maybe there's a box you'd want to see busted? Send Buzz an email at BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com.

The box: 2018 Topps Heritage baseball cards (hobby box)
Where to buy: BlowoutCards.com

Packs per box: 24 (plus one box-topper)
Cards per pack: 9
Cards in this box: 217
Base set completion: 
197 of 400 (49 percent)
Duplicates: 0

Notables on base cards – Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Ichiro Suzuki, Dansby Swanson, Manny Machado, Byron Buxton, Jose Abreu, Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Carlos Beltran, Yasiel Puig, Francisco Lindor, Stephen Strasburg, Yoan Moncada, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Jose Altuve, Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Clayton Kershaw, Giancarlo Stanton, Buster Posey

>>> For a checklist and variation galleries, click here

Rookie Cards (17 cards, 38 rookies) – J.P. Crawford, Victor Arano, Yacksel Rios, Dominic Smith, Amed Rosario, Nick Williams, Rhys Hoskins, Kyle Farmer, Tim Locastro, O'Koyea Dickson, Jen-Ho Tseng, Dillon Maples, Taylor Davis, Anthony Banda, Jimmie Sherfy, Ryan McMahon, Mike Tachman, Alex Verdugo, Walker Buehler, Harrison Bader, Jack Flaherty, Tyler Mahle, Jackson Stephens, Tyler Wade, Garrett Cooper, Zack Granite, Felix Jorge, Raudy Read, Erick Fedde, Richard Urena, Chris Rowley, Carlos Ramirez, Max Fried, Luiz Gohara, Francisco Mejia, Greg Allen, Nicky Delmonico, Aaron Bummer

Insert/short-print cards: 19 (gallery of these and more below)
Short-prints (Nos. 401-500) (8) –  Xander Bogaerts, Adrian Gonzalez, Carlos Gonzalez, Michael Wacha, Nick Pivetta, Ivan Nova, Kyle Hendricks, Ryon Healy
Chrome (1) – Kendrys Morales (/999)
Action photo variation (1) – Andrew Benintendi
New-age Performers (2) – Giancarlo Stanton, Francisco Lindor
1968 Topps Deckle Edge (2) – Anthony Rizzo, Francisco Lindor
Baseball Flashbacks (1) – Johnny Bench
News Flashbacks (2) – Apollo 11, Richard Nixon
Then & Now (1) – Roberto Clemente & Charlie Blackmon
Stamped buyback (box-topper) (1) – 1968 World Series Game 6 (Jim Northrup)

>>> For a checklist and variation galleries, click here

Autographs/Memorabilia: 1
Real One Autographs (1) – Harrison Bader

What's Buzz-worthy: Some of the highlights with Topps Heritage this year include a number of rookies on the autograph checklist, a number of variations and a clean crisp re-do on the 1969 Topps set that includes today's stars in a burlap-free style with the appropriate salmon-colored backs. You can find more stars among the standard portion of the set, which has its pluses (better pack-by-pack rips) and its minuses (less big-money to be made for short-print sellers). That's fine by me as a collector, but those tearing into these for flipping at its present price would have wanted some big SPs. The price now is being fueled by the MLB card debut of Angels star Shohei Ohtani, who has an action SP appearance (thankfully that's the easiest type of SP to pull, every other box) and a certified autograph here. Adding international interest to the always-popular Heritage line could spark interest like not seen before for key singles and wax -- especially if he lives up to his hype. The overall lineup and design is a strong one among Heritage releases (though heavy on rookie autos) and it might be the last of the truly classic Heritage sets as the 1970s just can't compare with the 1950s and 1960s in my mind.  Autographs start at one in 154 packs so there will be a number of Relic boxes out there, but there are a lot of inclusions here that will out-pace the Relics in terms of interest as long as you're lucky enough to pull one. This was a fun rip and it's one you'll see more of here in the coming days and weeks as I'll be ripping as much as I can.

Product Grade: A
Box Grade: A
Fun Grade: A-

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