2009 Topps Heritage Baseball Box Break (1960 Topps Design)

This is a break of an 8-pack box with each pack containing 8 cards except for those with an autograph or relic card (these packs have 7).  As you can see below, I found a game used memorabilia relic card in the final pack opened. Overall, I was not delighted with this product. While I enjoy the 1960 Topps baseball design and had a fair number of cards from the original set as a kid, this box was made up almost entirely of base cards with 61 of the 63 cards being base cards.  I enjoy lots of inserts, parallels, etc. such as found in the 2011 Topps Update Series baseball Walmart 72-card blaster boxes and other 2011 Topps baseball products.  There were 3 short printed hi numbers in the box as well. The cost was $11.98 at Kmart, marked down from an original price of $21.98. Each pack included a sealed piece of bubble gum - I would have preferred an additional card per pack as the gum is useless to me, though I understand they were trying to recapture the feel of opening a vintage pack to some degree.  The box design and pack design were very nice. There are gaps between packs in the list below:


#194 - Pat Burrell

#176 - Corey Patterson

#96 - Phil Hughes

#92 - Jose Guillen

#356 Emmanuel Burriss

#169 - Joe Nathan

#107 - Jo-Jo Reyes

#17 - Adam Lind

#115 - Knuckler & Fork (Tim Wakefield & Jonathan Papelbon)

#35 - Andy Pettite

#236 - Ryan Feierabend

#407 - Randy Winn

#114 - Alexi Casilla

#494 - Matt Holliday Topps Magazine '08 All-star Selection

#368 - Aaron Miles

#140 - Lou Marson Rookie All-star

#19 - Stephen Drew

#286 - Francisco Rodriguez

#45 - Jeff Keppinger

#2 - Nyjer Morgan

#413 - Kansas City Royals Team Card/Checklist

#323 - Geovany Soto Topps All-star Rookie Catcher

#177 - Joakim Soria

#259 - Kosuke Fukudome

#122 - Dexter Fowler 2009 Rookie Star

#180 - Ryan Church

#65 - Alex Rodriguez

#267 - Hank Blalock

#229 - Kaz Matsui

#325 - Brad Ziegler

#24 - Marco Scutaro

#158 - Gregor Blanco

#291 - Ubaldo Jimenez

#279 - Gary Matthews (Jr.)

#80 - Brian Wilson

#139 - Jensen Lewis

#248 - Henry Blanco

#482 - Lance Berkman Topps All-Star

#170 - Brian McCann

#219 - Bob Geren Manager 

#125 - Jesus Delgado

#18 - Dodgers Team Card/Checklist

#421 - Bengie Molina

#90 - Erick Aybar

#95 - Aramis Ramirez

#310 - Mike Lowell

#290 - Jose Reyes

#334 - Jimmy Rollins

#126 - Alfredo Simon

#160 - Rival All-star (David Wright & Alex Rodriguez)

#220 - Tony La Russa Manager

#397 - Cubs Team Card/Checklist

#C8 - Ryan Ludwick Topps Heritage Chrome (Serial #768/1960)

#296 - Mike Pelfrey

#359 - Willy Taveras

#349 - Steve Pearce

#144 - Matt Antonelli 2009 Rookie Star

#315 - Mariano Rivera

#249 - Jon Lester

CC-CC - Carl Crawford Clubhouse Collection Game Used Memorabilia Card

#474 - Josh Willingham

#360 - Gavin Floyd

#333 - Anibal Sanchez

1986 Donruss - Where Were They Then And Where Aren't They Now?

1986 Donruss packs were impossible to find where I lived.  Apparently, this was a common problem as the many card dealers of the day hoarded as many cases, boxes, and unopened packs of this product as possible due mainly to the presence of the Jose Canseco rookie card.  Canseco had an RC in the Fleer set that also but it was a split card with another player. And Topps didn't have a Canseco card until the update set. So packs of this product didn't show up at drug and convenience stores much and instead cost $5+ right off the bat from dealers.  Of course we all know how Canseco turned out - his 1986 Donruss rookie card is only worth a few dollars today.  The set did have some other nice rookie cards including Andres Galaragga and Fred McGriff, however it doesn't look like either of those guys will make the Hall of Fame.  The same can be said for Paul O'Neill, whose rookie card is in this set.  On the plus side, this set was NOT overproduced like Donruss sets beginning in 1988 and the funky weird design was quite distinctive and sinister, perfect for the Canseco rookie year.  Unopened packs are not uncommon today - because of Ebay and many other sources they are easier to find now than they were in 1986-2002.