I can't decide if I'm justified in thinking the criticisms I've seen of 2022 Heritage are a bit harsh, or if I've simply become a hopeless Heritage fanboy.
I don't think I've read a positive review of this set yet. And while I agree with the problems most people have brought up - the tired poses, the generic green-screen backgrounds, etc. - I think people are overlooking the fact that there's actually a lot of good stuff in this year's Heritage, too. It's far from the train wreck I've heard others proclaim it to be, and to me it's the most interesting editions of Heritage we've seen in a while.
I've made it well-known that '73 Topps is one of my all-time favorite sets because of how rogue it is, and unlike what many seem to believe, I actually think 2022 Heritage does a nice job of mimicking its weirdness.
As I've mentioned before, I cherry-picked almost all the Heritage base I needed at the card show a couple weeks ago, which was fun because I got to experience the whole set all at once, rather than in wax-pack fragments.
Perhaps this is one of the reasons 2022 Heritage seems better to me - I've already banished most of the boring poses to the back of my brain in favor of the full-body pitching poses and third-base leads that make this year's set a delight.
I've been a Heritage fan for pretty much my entire collecting life, and I think that's thanks in large part that I never got to see the original iterations of these designs in real time.
My voice is by no means the loudest here because I probably first discovered vintage designs through Heritage and other "modern retro" brands. So if someone who was collecting in 1973 says this year's Heritage lacks the pizzazz of the originals, I suppose I can't really argue against that.
But as a kid who didn't experience the greatness of '73 Topps as a kid until decades later, I'll put my two cents in by saying that 2022 Heritage is, by and large, an excellent tribute to the original.
I suppose there's long been a part of me that's seen Heritage through rose-colored glasses.
I'm guilty of showing the same handful of memorable '73 action shots over and over again, I think I often forget that - much like this year's Heritage - '73 Topps is mostly poses, too. Even the all-time great sets have a certain amount of dullness to them.
But I will also say that I've yet to see a Heritage set that explicitly reminds me of so many of the specific original cards - and I've created a list, in no particular order, of specific tributes that came to mind in shuffling through this year's checklist.
2022 Topps Heritage #40 Dominic Smith
reminds me of...
1973 Topps #370 Willie Stargell
I've seen this one mentioned a few times already, and while I would've loved to seen the crowd behind Dominic Smith in that photo, this is otherwise about as close of a true reproduction as Heritage has ever made.
2022 Topps Heritage #131 Jonathan India
reminds me of...
1973 Topps #181 Jack Brohamer
It's gotta be the Rookie Cup.
2022 Topps Heritage #153 Isiah Kiner-Falefa
reminds me of...
1973 Topps #111 Dave Nelson
I suppose if I ran a proper comb through the '73 checklist, I'd find a card that better resembles the Kiner-Falefa than the memorable Dave Nelson card that immediately sprung to mind - but who has the time for anything but gut reactions?
2022 Topps Heritage #88 Fernando Tatis Jr.
reminds me of...
1973 Topps #133 Dave Roberts
This one seems too obvious to be accidental - two Padres infielders looking skyward at Wrigley Field, albeit on opposite sides of the diamond (perhaps Tatis was in a shift?).
2022 Topps Heritage #285 Didi Gregorius
reminds me of...
1973 Topps #376 Frank Duffy
Hurdling over a careening baserunner is a tactic unbound by time - though Didi might earn a few more bonus points for the flexing ump in the background!
2022 Topps Heritage #13 Buster Posey
reminds me of...
1973 Topps #170 Harmon Killebrew
My brain admittedly made a bit of a jump with this comp - Posey is far from the greatness of that Killebrew - but both cards give me the impression that the guy hit the ball 800 feet seconds after the photo was taken.
2022 Topps Heritage #29 Raimel Tapia
reminds me of...
1973 Topps #11 Chris Chambliss
Always a sucker for a good holding-the-runner shot, and while the Chambliss features a much more intriguing pitcher on the basepaths cameo (I'm about 99 percent sure that's Jim Kaat!), the Tapia presents a good modern look at the situation.
2022 Topps Heritage #331 Blake Snell
reminds me of...
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1973 Topps #430 Vida Blue
Modern Topps could take a page from vintage Topps in giving us more of these wide-cropped pitching shots.
2022 Topps Heritage #223 Ronald Acuna Jr.
reminds me of...
1973 Topps #452 Paul Casanova
Two Braves zooming around the basepaths.
2022 Topps Heritage #50 Roberto Clemente
reminds me of...
1973 Topps #50 Roberto Clemente
I think it's cool that Topps reserved the #50 slot of this year's Heritage for a straight reprint of Clemente's posthumous sunset card - I've gone on record many times as saying it is (and will always be) my favorite baseball card.
If nothing else, I'm hoping that people can judge Heritage as a whole, and see the fun in it, rather than deem it an overall failure due to the handful of cards that admittedly miss their mark. In a perfect world, Heritage would be a flawless reproduction of the originals we know and love. But for now I'm happy with the bits of perfection we're lucky enough to get.
Signed, a hopeless Heritage fan.
11 comments:
Great comparisons!...I definitely saw a lot of good ones in your card show haul..
I got my first 2022 Heritage cards (including my first ever Guardians card) in dimeboxes this weekend. I did nab that Dom Smith which is an instant favorite. There's also a Taijuan Walker which is somewhat similar to the Vida Blue card.
I don't know why they've stopped assigning numbers to match the cards these evoke. It would be PERFECT if that Tatis were number 133 in the set. It really does evoke that Roberts card, which is very cool.
I had forgotten that the 1973 design was also in last year's Archives, so it was a little confusing when one dealer had two separate stacks of recent cards on that design.
I don't like the idea of a Heritage card which is a reprint of a card from the original set, though. I never like reprints and having one be part of the set is just confusing to me. If they had to do it, I wish it would have been more like the Turn Back The Clock cards, maybe with some kind of tribute as a border.
Definitely like the action shots.
I opened a blaster of Heritage today (something I told myself I wouldn't buy) and I stand by my original opinion.
I would hardly call it a "train wreck," but the "tributes" are not as interesting as '73. As Brett mentioned above, Heritage hurt itself by not matching the card numbers with the original number, like the Tatis/Roberts, for example, so we could tell whether it's a tribute or not. Because some of the comparisons you cite are unclear as to whether it's actually a tribute without the numbers the same.
The Blake Snell and Vida Blue similarities are incredible, Nick! I need to get both of them someday.
It's posts like this make me think I should collect Heritage, but I don't need anymore projects.
After opening a blaster I'd say that it's not as bad as I expected, but still has room for improvement. I'm not a fan of the Clemente 'reprint', but that's OK because I generally don't want any of the subsets in Heritage these days, just the player cards. Speaking of subsets, if there's more than Mike Trout in the "Boyhood Photos" subset, I can't find it. A one-card subset is a little odd, but whatever.
You might enjoy this recent post about the 1973 Paul Casanova card from the HOF's "Card Corner".
https://baseballhall.org/discover/card-corner/1973-paul-casanova-topps-card
Topps did a great job (don't say this very often these days) with the Dave Roberts and Fernando Tatis Jr. cards. I'm also really happy they included the Clemente in the base set.
P.S. I absolutely love the 1973 Topps Vida Blue card.
Some great comparisons there! I'm hoping I'm able to find some retail but thus far, I've struck out (pun fully intended).
Also, hi! I'm Mollie and I'm slowly getting back into cards after a long hiatus.
Super cute!!! Thank you for joining us at Love to idea, good luck!!!
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