Cubs Breakdown - 2011 Topps Heritage Minor League

2011 Topps Heritage Minor League
Topps decided to expand their Heritage brand to include a minor league set this year. And while this set could have been (and probably should have been) one of my favorite sets of the year, it really falls a bit flat for me. I really like the typical formula that Topps uses for the regular Topps Heritage issues, and I think it would have worked great for a minor league set. But Topps made some really aggravating tweaks to the formula here and there, and it really hurts the end product.

For one thing, the autograph cards don't maintain the same clean design as the base cards, with a white strip included on the card so that they can put a sticker auto on. I don't hate sticker autos just because they are on a sticker. But they do need to be integrated into the design of the card effectively. And in this case, that white strip really hurts the card design.

There is also the issue of not having Chrome parallels. They did include paper black border parallels, but even these have a slightly different (and worse) design than the paper black border cards out of regular Heritage this year. I'm guessing that Topps made a decision later in the year to do this product and the longer lead time on Chrome cards may have made them impossible to do. But I can't figure out why they would have screwed with a reasonably popular design on the non-chrome black border cards.

And lastly, one of the big allures of regular Heritage are the offbeat, low serial #'d cards that come up every now and then. Like the coin cards from this year, and the framed stamp cards they have been doing. Nothing like that made it into this product, so it is a fairly bland issue in my opinion. A breakdown of the Cubs included is below.

Base Set - 5 Versions - Base, Black Border, Red Tint, Blue Tint, Green Tint, plus 4 colors of printing plates
All three of the tint parallels are partial parallel sets #/620, each color of tint has different cards in the set
#21 Brett Jackson - Has Red Tint Parallel
#73 Michael Burgess - Has Red Tint Parallel
#111 Ryan Flaherty - Has Blue Tint Parallel
#148 Josh Vitters - Has Green Tint Parallel
#215 Brett Jackson All Star SP - No Tint Parallel


Clubhouse Collection Relics - 6 Versions - Base, Blue Tint (#/199), Red Tint (#/99), Green Tint (#/50), Patches (#/5), and Logoman (1/1)
No Cubs Included

Real One Autographs - 5 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Blue Tint (#/99), Red Tint (#/25), Green Tint (#/10), Black Border (1/1), plus 4 colors of printing plates
#EC1 Evan Crawford #/861


Bryce Harper Game Used Base - 5 Versions - Base, Blue Tint (#/299), Red Tint (#/99), Green Tint (#/25), Black Border (1/1) Bryce Harper Jumbo Patch Auto (1/1)

Cubs Breakdown - 2011 Topps Marquee

2011 Topps Marquee
This is a new entry from Topps on the higher end of the market, designed to maintain a price point below Topps Sterling, while providing some of the same meaty high-end cards you find in that product. It's like a Triple Threads without the associated 'Triple' theme. And while the product has been panned among those who like to open packs (apparently, the per pack value doesn't measure up to the price point), the cards themselves look decent to this collector.

It appears the real meat of this issue will be the Museum Collection Autos, which are signed on card on a heavy metalized stock. The set features 120 cards, all serial #'d to only 10 copies. I haven't seen one in person yet, but the reviews (and the prices realized) are certainly favorable. And the Cubs are very well represented within the Museum set, with 8 cards in the 120 card set. Quite a challenge for the Cubs collector who chooses to undertake it!

The Cubs are actually very well represented across this entire issue, with lots of new cards to chase down. Starlin Castro appears in just about every set here. Plus we get a reasonable helping of Sandberg, Fergie, and Ernie among our Hall of Famers. And then we also get a few cards each of Aramis Ramirez, Marlon Byrd, and Andrew Cashner. Aramis is especially well represented and it is good to have a few new high end cards of his on the market.

Like I said before, I generally like the look of these. I won't be doing any of the really high end stuff right away, but I'll grab the base cards like I do in every set, and possibly the Titanic Threads. The breakdown of all the Cubs included is below. As always with a set like this which has so many low print run cards, I will continue to update with new scans as I can find them.

Base Set - 5 Versions - Base, Blue (#/299), Copper (#/199), Gold (#/99), Red (1/1)
#17 Starlin Castro
#59 Ryne Sandberg


Acclaimed Impressions Double Relic Autos - 3 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Gold (#/5), Red (1/1)
#6 Starlin Castro Double Jersey #/70
#24 Marlon Byrd Double Jersey #/462
#40 Andrew Cashner Double Jersey #/400
#59 Fergie Jenkins Double Jersey #/50


Acclaimed Impressions Triple Relic Autos - 3 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Gold (#/5), Red (1/1)
#8 Fergie Jenkins Triple Jersey #/20


Gametime Mementos Quad Memorabilia - 3 Versions - Base (#/199), Red (#/150), Gold (#/25)
#8 Starlin Castro Quad Jersey


Gametime Mementos Quad Memorabilia Autos (#/10) - These are two panel book cards, some of the cards parallel the regular Gametime cards, some have different photos
#4 Ernie Banks Quad Bat
#8 Starlin Castro Quad Jersey


Monumental Markings Autos - 2 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering) and Gold (#/5)
#FJ Fergie Jenkins #/20
#SC Starlin Castro #/75


Monumental Markings Dual Autos (#/15)
#CA Starlin Castro & Elvis Andrus - available via redemption only


Museum Collection Autos (#/10)
Andre Dawson has a card in this set that pictures him as an Expo
#AC Andrew Cashner
#AR Aramis Ramirez
#EB Ernie Banks
#FJ Fergie Jenkins
#MG Matt Garza
#RS Ryne Sandberg
#SC Starlin Castro


Titanic Threads Jumbo Memorabilia - 3 Versions - Base (#/99), Red (#/75), and Gold (#/10)
#21 Fergie Jenkins
#55 Starlin Castro
#56 Aramis Ramirez
#114 Carlos Marmol


Titanic Threads Jumbo Memorabilia Patch (#/5) - Some of the cards in this set parallel the regular Titanic Threads cards, some have different photos
Andre Dawson has a card in this set which is an Expos card
#30 Ryne Sandberg


Titanic Threads Jumbo Memorabilia Autos (Varied Numbering) - Some of the cards in this set parallel the regular Titanic Threads cards, some have different photos
#49 Fergie Jenkins #/20
#60 Starlin Castro #/10
#65 Aramis Ramirez #/10
#95 Marlon Byrd #/20
#100 Andrew Cashner #/10

2010 National Sports Collector's Convention Sportkings Ernie Banks Jersey Promo

Here's one I hadn't seen until just recently. This is a 2010 Sportkings National Sports Collector's Convention Ernie Banks Jersey Promo. I believe there are two versions of this card, a silver version with a stated print run of 9, and a gold version which is a 1/1. Sportkings typically issues a promo set of game used cards at the National Sports Collector's Convention each year. The last couple of years, these cards have been very limited, so it is a little hard to know exactly what is out there. There is also an Andre Dawson from this same 2010 set that I have known about since right after the cards were issued. But this one is new to my master checklist, and it's always fun to run across something new!

Cubs Breakdown - 2011 Topps Chrome

2011 Topps Chrome
Chrome Season has begun! I like to refer to the September through December period as Chrome Season, as Topps typically rolls out several major Chrome issues (Topps Chrome, Bowman Chrome, Bowman Draft w/Chrome, Bowman Sterling) during this time. They squeezed Bowman Platinum into this period last year as well, but decided to spread the Chrome stuff out a little more this year and put that product out in July. We will have Leaf Metal Draft to replace it this year though. So lots of Chrome stuff to enjoy in the next few months.

I do usually enjoy Chrome cards and this issue is no exception. It appears that Topps fixed most of the production issues that plagued last year's Topps Chrome set (curling cards, terrible centering, blemishes in the chrome itself, etc.). This is a strong effort, and it features a nice selection of Cubs cards to collect.

As always, we get the base set and a number of refractors and other parallels. Amazingly enough, there are quite a few new things to see just in this area alone. The best of the new in my opinion are the Atomic refractors. These feature kind of a random looking mosaic in the background and the new design really works for me. We also have Sepia refractors, which are re-colored pictures in a refractor format. I don't love these and I don't hate them either. Then there are the black refractors, which have been inserted in some Bowman products the last few years, but haven't been in Topps Chrome in a while. These look good as well.

As for inserts, as usual with this product there really aren't too many. The Topps Heritage Chrome high numbers are back again in this product, and they are what they are. I added these to the Topps Heritage Cubs breakdown post. Topps also included a Throwback set that features modern players on the 1996 Topps Chrome design (the first Topps Chrome set). I didn't love this design in 1986, and I still don't love it now. But it is a unique new set and I will definitely want the Castro from it.

The breakdown of Cubs in this issue is below!

Base Set - 12 Versions- Base, Refractors, Xfractors, Orange Refractors, Purple Refractors (#/499), Atomic Refractors (#/225), Blue Refractors (#/99), Sepia Refractors (#/99), Gold Refractors (#/50), Red Refractors (#/25), Gold Canary Diamond Refractors (1/1), Superfractors (1/1), and four colors of printing plates
#17 Starlin Castro
#91 Alfonso Soriano
#104 Matt Garza
#111 Marlon Byrd
#112 Carlos Pena
#131 Tyler Colvin
#179 Marcos Mateo
#191 Andrew Cashner
#193 Darwin Barney


Base Set Rookie Auto Parallels - 9 Versions - Base, Refractors (#/499), Blue Refractors (#/199), Black Refractors (#/100), Sepia Refractors (#/99), Gold Refractors (#/50), Red Refractors (#/25), Atomic Refractors (#/10), Superfractors (1/1), and four colors of printing plates
#191 Andrew Cashner
#193 Darwin Barney


1996 Vintage Chrome
#18 Starlin Castro


Topps Heritage Chrome High Numbers - 3 Versions - Base Chrome (#/1962), Refractors (#/562), and Black Refractors (#/62)
#137 Carlos Pena
#144 Kosuke Fukudome
#161 Alfonso Soriano


USA Baseball - 7 Versions - Refractors (Base), Blue Refractors, Autos, Autos Refractors, Autos Blue Refractors, Autos Gold Refractors, Autos Atomic Refractors
No Cubs Included