Thursday, June 5, 2014

Why settle for an imitation when I can have the real thing

I'm sure I'll probably step on some toes with my blog title, but I want to be frank and to the point. I've never been a fan of heritage. In my opinion, it's nothing more than a way for Topps to take the easy way out and sell cards of modern players on a design that's been used once before. Where's the ingenuity in that? No, not for me I say. I almost bought into this scheme when Gypsy Queen came out in 2011 and I put together a complete set (including the short prints and all the sub sets), but last year I began to think to myself why would I want to collect a set that borders on the ideal of reprint but steers clear of that term by using current ballplayers? I decided to sell that set and pickup a 1940 World Series ticket as well as a couple of other items and I haven't regretted the decision. When this year's Heritage came out I was tempted to put together the set. I loved the design with the pennants front and center. Then it occurred to me, why not collect the 1965 Topps set? There's a lot of history in that set with teams that are no longer around (sort of) like the Kansas City Athletics, the Houston Colt .45s, and the Washington Senators. There's great photography of players that are no longer with us, stadiums that have succumb to the sands of time, and advertisements of companies that shut their doors permanently years ago. What's not to like about this set? I decided to make the 1965 Topps set one of my collecting goals of 2014 (not collecting the entire set this year, but rather starting on it). I'm proud to say that this past week I was able to pick up my first 15 cards of this great set. It'll take me some time to complete, but I'm glad that I've taken my first steps in completing this beautiful set.

2 comments:

defgav said...

I love 65 Topps and had planned to try completing it, but I think Heritage kinda got me burnt out on it (not that I got much Heritage this year). But maybe one of these years I'll go after it.

Reds Card Collector said...

Definitely worth pursuing. Maybe after you finish up your retired signature set :)