2014 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball Cards

Just like my Mother In-Law’s cooking, I wanted to say “Outstanding!” But, alas, just like my MIL’s best epicurean efforts, “Heritage Minor League Baseball” comes close… but falls jusssst short of being a “great” product.

The Good: With the product focusing upon Minor League clubs, the memorabilia can be quirky and very fun. Box price is always a significant component to any product review, and it’s difficult to argue with a $75 price-tag as purchased through my LHS ($65 at the Garfield, NJ, show). Delivering 2 autos and the by now ubiquitous jersey card, the bang-for-buck quotient is really quite significant by today’s standards.
With regard to the auto/mem’ component, the checklist may not meet the high-water mark set by the ’12 product… but with ‘graphs from top tier talents such as Albert Almora, Austin Meadows and Clint Frazier, coupled with fast-risers such as Michael Taylor, Dalton Pompey, and Alex Reyes? The product delivers.
Lastly, for those who enjoy seeking autos in-person or via mail (myself included!), this set is ideal due to the absence of a slick chromium finish!

The Bad: The product is what it is, and those seeking to speculate on prospect autos are much better served by purchasing Bowman Prospects and/or Bowman Chrome. Bowman is the standard by which all other prospect-heavy products are judged… and the $ ceiling on Bowman auto rooks’ is ridiculous; Kris Bryant’s $700 ’13 Bowman Chrome, Mike Trout’s $1,000 ’09 Chrome and the king of kings, Albert Pujols’ $3,000 ’01 Chrome are just a sampling of the values Bowman auto rooks can reach

The short-prints in the TH Minor League product are fun to chase and identify, but their secondary market values pale in comparison to those hailing from Topps Baseball.

In my opinion, however, the collectors and manufacturers alike have become SO concerned about secondary market re-sale values and the “perceived value” of the unopened box, that we forget what drew us to Baseball cards in the first place; That is, the joy of opening a pack, sifting through its contents and reading the card backs.
Topps Heritage Minor League is a brilliant product to break while watching a ball game or, even better, with a youngster whom your passing your love of collecting on to. At $75? You get 2 autographs, a memorabilia card, a couple of Short Prints and, much like my mother in-law’s pot roast? It’s really quite good!

Love taking a look into the minors and prospects and a great way to do it. Question however, pulled a 1/5 Clint Frazier Gold Auto and wasn’t part of the description for the product and hasn’t been listed anywhere else. What gives?

Always one of my favorite products, this year’s release is solid as usual. 2012 is still the standard bearer, imho, but the design and photos work well for the 2014 set. The autos are mmmhhh, but I don’t buy it for the autos.

One thing I have never seen before (which doesn’t mean much as I am not a big spender–more of a three or four hobby box of any one product): what are the Mystery Base Card of a Top MLB Draft Pick redemptions? OK, beyond the obvious…just not familiar with these. Are they good hits? I have pulled three “mystery” redemptions this year, but have a feeling this might not be a particularly valuable one. Any insights?

A nice selection of future starts and unknows. Autos are not on-card. A few variations, but not the plethora that I expect from the Topps Heritage line that makes this such a fun product. Also, the Space Cadets at Topps haven’t even put the Pro Debut promo page up on their web site yet so I have my scratch off codes and no place to put them.. Hello!!! Topps!!??!?

Let’s hope that they follow up the Chase card with one of Rookie!