Well, Topps has done it again.
There have been minor controversies in the past regarding their extremely popular Topps Heritage line, but this is in a completely new ballpark.
Topps has announced that they will be releasing a second series of 2008 Heritage cards.
This was a common practice back in the 1950's, which is what the Heritage sets are based on, but this is the first time that a Heritage set will have a second series of cards.
Collectors seem to be divided on this and it will be very interested to see how the Heritage collector's market reacts when the new cards are released.
Topps had originally had the new set, known as 2008 Topps Heritage High Number Series, scheduled to be released in October, but that has now been pushed back to November.
One concern some collecting enthusiasts have is whether this will affect the release date of the 2009 Heritage set.
New Heritage baseball sets are usually released in the last week of February or the first week of March.
That is not long after the 2008 High Number release date.
Other concerns include whether collectors will count these new cards as a part of the 2008 Topps Heritage master set, or as a completed separate set.
Most collectors thought they already had their 2008 master set completed.
This one will be interesting to watch.
Enough about the controversy though, let's take a look at the new set.
The 2008 Topps Heritage High Number set will consist of an additional 220 cards numbered from 501-720.
The first set was numbered to 500, so this is a continuation of the original 2008 Heritage set.
These 220 cards are all from players who were not featured in the first 2008 series and they include 45 new rookie cards and 35 new short print cards.
Each pack of 2008 Heritage High Number cards will also include two Topps Updates and Highlights cards.
Each box of the new series will include two serial numbered chrome parallel cards (numbered to 1959) or refractor cards (numbered to 559) or black border refractor cards (numbered to 59).
These chrome and refractor cards extend from the original sets in Heritage (numbers 1-100) and Topps Chrome (numbers 101-200), and these new chrome cards will be numbers 201-300.
Some of the insert sets in 2008 Topps Heritage High Numbers will be familiar, and some will be completely new.
The Then and Now insert set will be the same with 10 cards each featuring two players--a current star and a star from 1959.
The New Age Performers set has been replaced by a 15 cards set called Rookie Performers.
Basically the same as the New Age Performers set, but only featuring cards of 2008 rookies including Jay Bruce, Kosuke Fukudome and Evan Longoria.
There will be a new Flashbacks set of 10 cards as well, but the new set will feature great moments from the 2008 baseball season instead of the 1959 season.
The insert cards will be found at a rate of 6 cards per box.
Every card collector covets autograph and relic cards, and you will find those in the 2008 High Number series.
There will be 40 new Clubhouse Collection cards with a piece of game used bat or game used jersey from both current and former players.
Ten of these Clubhouse Collection relic cards will also have autographed versions that are hand numbered to 25, and there will be five Clubhouse Collection Dual Relic cards which each feature a current player and a player from 1959.
The dual relic cards are hand numbered to 59.
There will be three Flashback Stadium Relic cards that have an authentic piece of a stadium seat from 1959.
The familiar Real One autographed cards will be found at a rate of one per box.
The most common Real One autos have blue ink signatures, and there are 200 of each blue ink version.
Each Real One auto card will also have a red ink version which is hand numbered to 59 and there will also be Real One Dual Autograph cards that are hand numbered to 25.
The most coveted of all Topps Heritage cards are the Cut Signature cards featuring original 1959 autographs.
The cut signature cards are all one of one cards and one of the Cut Signature cards features a Mickey Mantle signature.
Cut Signature cards can only be found in hobby boxes.
Each hobby box will also feature an advertising panel of three cards and one out of two hobby boxes will contain an original 1959 Topps card.
If you love Heritage cards, get ready for round two!
There have been minor controversies in the past regarding their extremely popular Topps Heritage line, but this is in a completely new ballpark.
Topps has announced that they will be releasing a second series of 2008 Heritage cards.
This was a common practice back in the 1950's, which is what the Heritage sets are based on, but this is the first time that a Heritage set will have a second series of cards.
Collectors seem to be divided on this and it will be very interested to see how the Heritage collector's market reacts when the new cards are released.
Topps had originally had the new set, known as 2008 Topps Heritage High Number Series, scheduled to be released in October, but that has now been pushed back to November.
One concern some collecting enthusiasts have is whether this will affect the release date of the 2009 Heritage set.
New Heritage baseball sets are usually released in the last week of February or the first week of March.
That is not long after the 2008 High Number release date.
Other concerns include whether collectors will count these new cards as a part of the 2008 Topps Heritage master set, or as a completed separate set.
Most collectors thought they already had their 2008 master set completed.
This one will be interesting to watch.
Enough about the controversy though, let's take a look at the new set.
The 2008 Topps Heritage High Number set will consist of an additional 220 cards numbered from 501-720.
The first set was numbered to 500, so this is a continuation of the original 2008 Heritage set.
These 220 cards are all from players who were not featured in the first 2008 series and they include 45 new rookie cards and 35 new short print cards.
Each pack of 2008 Heritage High Number cards will also include two Topps Updates and Highlights cards.
Each box of the new series will include two serial numbered chrome parallel cards (numbered to 1959) or refractor cards (numbered to 559) or black border refractor cards (numbered to 59).
These chrome and refractor cards extend from the original sets in Heritage (numbers 1-100) and Topps Chrome (numbers 101-200), and these new chrome cards will be numbers 201-300.
Some of the insert sets in 2008 Topps Heritage High Numbers will be familiar, and some will be completely new.
The Then and Now insert set will be the same with 10 cards each featuring two players--a current star and a star from 1959.
The New Age Performers set has been replaced by a 15 cards set called Rookie Performers.
Basically the same as the New Age Performers set, but only featuring cards of 2008 rookies including Jay Bruce, Kosuke Fukudome and Evan Longoria.
There will be a new Flashbacks set of 10 cards as well, but the new set will feature great moments from the 2008 baseball season instead of the 1959 season.
The insert cards will be found at a rate of 6 cards per box.
Every card collector covets autograph and relic cards, and you will find those in the 2008 High Number series.
There will be 40 new Clubhouse Collection cards with a piece of game used bat or game used jersey from both current and former players.
Ten of these Clubhouse Collection relic cards will also have autographed versions that are hand numbered to 25, and there will be five Clubhouse Collection Dual Relic cards which each feature a current player and a player from 1959.
The dual relic cards are hand numbered to 59.
There will be three Flashback Stadium Relic cards that have an authentic piece of a stadium seat from 1959.
The familiar Real One autographed cards will be found at a rate of one per box.
The most common Real One autos have blue ink signatures, and there are 200 of each blue ink version.
Each Real One auto card will also have a red ink version which is hand numbered to 59 and there will also be Real One Dual Autograph cards that are hand numbered to 25.
The most coveted of all Topps Heritage cards are the Cut Signature cards featuring original 1959 autographs.
The cut signature cards are all one of one cards and one of the Cut Signature cards features a Mickey Mantle signature.
Cut Signature cards can only be found in hobby boxes.
Each hobby box will also feature an advertising panel of three cards and one out of two hobby boxes will contain an original 1959 Topps card.
If you love Heritage cards, get ready for round two!