First Buzz: 2020 Topps Heritage baseball cards + SP galleries

What: 2020 Topps Heritage baseball cards
Arrives: Feb. 26
Box basics: One autograph or Relic per 24-pack box (12 boxes per case)
Checklist: Click here
Order: Click here

What's buzz-worthy: It's time to head back to 1971 for the 20th year of Topps Heritage with the same formula that has made it a top target of retro-minded collectors all this time.

Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.

The Basics: The basic set will once again consist of 500 cards with the last 100 cards being short-prints (one in three packs). Parallels this time will include White (announced /50), flip-stock cards (announced /5), Minis (/100) and Chromes for 100 cards with Refractors (/571) -- and White (/71), Gold (/5), 1/1 Superfractors and Hot Box Refractors. There also, of course, will be throwback uniform variations, action image variations and team name color swaps (silver ink there) among the known chase cards.

Real One Autographs return for another year with on-card ink and Red (/71 max) parallels along with duals (/25) and Triples (/5). There will be Senators Final Season autos this year for players who were on the 1971 team and they will be limited to no more than 100 copies. On the auto-Relic front, there will be Clubhouse Collection Auto Relics (/25) with 1/1 patch parallels along with duals (/10 max) with a 1/1 patch and Flashbacks Auto Relics (/25 max) also with a 1/1 patch version just like last year. For standard Relics, there are Clubhouse Collection cards with Gold (/99) and 1/1 patch parallels, while there also will be dual (/71), triple (/25) and quad (/10) cards all also with 1/1 patch versions. Also keeping with Heritage tradition, there will be cut auto sets for celebs and players of note from 1971 along with 1971 Mint Coins -- Nickel (/15), Dime (/10), Quarter (/5) and 1/1 50-cent pieces -- and 1971 U.S. Postage Stamp Relics (/50).

New for this one will be Gigantic Seasons Buybacks for Willie Mays -- original cards that will be foil-stamped for this release. Mays will also have his own insert set noting his 20-year anniversary with the Giants back in 1971 along with the standard insert lineup that should be familiar to long-time Heritage collectors -- New Age Performers, Then & Now, Baseball Flashbacks and News Flashbacks. There will be three types of box-toppers for this release with 1971 Topps Supers, Greatest Moments and stamped buyback cards. The Supers will have autographed versions limited to no more than 25 copies.

2020 Topps Heritage SP variations

The good news is that the variations are noted on the card backs this year. Here’s the rundown of what’s been spotted so far. A gallery and then list for each type of variation is below. Click for closer look. (* -- image to come)

ACTION VARIATIONS GALLERY (complete at 25 players) 

ACTION VARIATIONS CHECKLIST (25) 
52 Bo Bichette
54 Yordan Alvarez
54 Aristides Aquino
121 Nico Hoerner
142 Javier Baez
145 Rafael Devers
174 Christian Yelich
188 Gavin Lux
257 Cody Bellinger
291 Kris Bryant
308 Manny Machado
322 Nolan Arenado
385 Clayton Kershaw
403 Juan Soto
414 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
433 Shohei Ohtani
437 Fernando Tatis Jr.
442 Francisco Lindor
447 Bryce Harper
453 Alex Bregman
457 Pete Alonso
464 Ronald Acuña Jr.
466 Mike Trout
473 Justin Verlander
493 Mookie Betts

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SILVER TEAM NAME VARIATIONS GALLERY (complete at 25)

SILVER TEAM NAME VARIATIONS CHECKLIST (25)
82 Max Scherzer
142 Javier Baez
145 Rafael Devers
174 Christian Yelich
257 Cody Bellinger
264 Jose Altuve
291 Kris Bryant
373 Anthony Rizzo
385 Clayton Kershaw
395 Aaron Judge
403 Juan Soto
414 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
415 DJ Lemahieu
423 J.D. Martinez
433 Shohei Ohtani
437 Fernando Tatis Jr.
442 Francisco Lindor
453 Alex Bregman
457 Pete Alonso
464 Ronald Acuña Jr.
466 Mike Trout
473 Justin Verlander
483 Gleyber Torres
490 Rhys Hoskins
494 Eloy Jimenez

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ERROR VARIATIONS GALLERY (so far ...)

ERROR VARIATIONS CHECKLIST (so far ...)
54 Yordan Alvarez (autograph on top of trophy)
161 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (regular card number is 414 -- get the story on this one here)
403 Juan Soto (missing light tower pole and blue tinted photo -- here's why)

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MISSING-SIGNATURE VARIATIONS GALLERY (12 so far ...)

MISSING-SIGNATURE VARIATIONS CHECKLIST (so far ...)
145 Rafael Devers
174 Christian Yelich
257 Cody Bellinger
395 Aaron Judge
403 Juan Soto
414 Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
437 Fernando Tatis Jr.
453 Alex Bregman
457 Pete Alonso
464 Ronald Acuña Jr.
466 Mike Trout
483 Gleyber Torres

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NICKNAME VARIATIONS GALLERY (complete at 10 players)

NICKNAME VARIATIONS CHECKLIST (10)
174 Christian Yelich (Poster Image used)
257 Cody Bellinger (PI)
395 Aaron Judge
414 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (PI)
447 Bryce Harper
453 Alex Bregman (PI)
457 Pete Alonso
464 Ronald Acuña Jr.
466 Mike Trout (PI)
483 Gleyber Torres (PI)

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THROWBACK UNIFORMS GALLERY (complete at 15 players)

THROWBACK UNIFORMS CHECKLIST (15)
54 Aristides Aquino
72 Max Scherzer (Poster Image used)
160 Domingo Santana (PI)
174 Christian Yelich (PI)
236 Jorge Polanco (PI)
385 Clayton Kershaw (PI)
403 Juan Soto (PI)
413 Keston Hiura (PI)
422 Josh Bell (PI)
433 Shohei Ohtani (PI)
453 Alex Bregman (PI)
464 Ronald Acuña Jr. (PI)
466 Mike Trout (PI)
482 Nick Senzel
497 Victor Robles

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Original First Buzz preview and general early teaser gallery is below.