Collecting 2011 Topps Heritage Phillies Cards

2011 Topps Heritage #77

The 2011 Topps Heritage set has been out for a few weeks now, and the initial euphoria I felt at opening a new Topps product has slowly waned.  However, it did take a while to convince the logical and rational side of my brain that this was not a set I should collect.  It's a shame really.  If Topps didn't throw so many short-prints and gimmicks and inserts into the set, this would be a no-brainer in terms of a set I'd gladly buy two or three (or four) boxes and gleefully sort the cards and cross off numbers on my checklist.

But people continue to buy cases of the stuff to find the latest gimmick card, so why should Topps mess with the formula?  Personally, I'd like to see a true "heritage" set with nothing but non-short-printed base cards in a pack and maybe a lone insert set found only in rack packs.  Just like the good old days.  And bring back the gum.

While I'm not collecting a master set, I'm going to try my hand at collecting a master Phillies set.  I've updated my 2011 Phillies Wantlist, with a list of cards I'd like to add to my collection.  Collecting the stamp cards may be a little ambitious, as each of these cards is numbered to just 62 copies.  I'm also not that enamored with the various "tinted" cards - blue, green and red - that can found for three of the Phillies cards in the set (#111 Lidge, #146 Polanco and #157 Victorino).

There are three high-end Phillies inserts within the set, and I've decided to pursue one of them.  As much as I'd like to own the Clubhouse Collections Dual Relics card featuring Roy Halladay and Bob Gibson, or the Real One Dual Autographs card featuring Chase Utley and Stan Musial, those two cards are slightly outside my price range.  However, I would like to track down one of the '62 Mint cards, which features Jamie Moyer on a card with an actual 1962 penny.  It's a cool concept, and it's possible this could be one of Moyer's last baseball cards as an active player.