Jacob deGrom and Mookie Betts autos just two big reasons why 2014 Topps Heritage High Number sets are scorchers

Not that long ago, one boxed set was easily found -- and it was a hotbed for Rookie Cards with a few autographs that might have some promise down the line.

That set? It's 2014 Topps Heritage High Number -- and it includes an autograph in every box along with a 100-card set that's stacked. Back then you could land them cheaply -- even for cases -- with red-ink autos an extra draw in a simple update to the 1965 Topps re-do from earlier in the year.

Now? Those same Rookie Cards are still in there -- we just look at them differently. Last night, New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom struck out a career-high 14 batters and matched the MLB record of 26 quality starts set by Hall of Famer Bob Gibson to put the focus of The Big Apple on him once again. The biggest driver -- arguably the breakout card -- in this one in recent years has been Mookie Betts after his American League MVP showing last season ... but he's not the only notable here.

Also found in this set? Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, Billy Hamilton, Xander Bogaerts, Nick Castellanos, George Springer, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Abreu and Jose Ramirez. Some of then have very few Rookie Cards from that year -- and there's ink for many of them in these boxes, too.

Let's look at the star of last night. deGrom has just five standard Rookie Cards from 2014 and this set is the home to one of them. (The others are Topps Update, Chrome Update, National Treasures and Bowman Sterling.) More importantly when it comes to ink, he has autos in just seven releases that year and this one is the only MLB release where there's on-card ink and it's not a redemption. (He was a mystery redemption in Topps Finest.) He has a pair of Real One Autos in this one -- a standard auto and a red-ink auto limited to only 10 copies.

His only other Topps autos from that year were found in 2014 Topps Supreme, which is a parallel- and sticker-heavy product. He has more than 50 different autographs in Supreme alone among the 70-plus different autographs made in his rookie year.

The 2014 Topps Heritage High Number set didn't necessarily start out that way, but it's looking a lot like a landmark release right now with more and more focus on Heritage RCs and autos in the last few years.

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