Topps delivers another winner with 2020 Bowman Heritage.
When I first heard Topps was releasing a 2020 Bowman Heritage product I was a bit skeptical. I really, really did not like the 2019 version. I was not a fan of the 1953 design at all. However, when I saw the actual mockup of the 1992 Design which was going to be used for the 2020 version, I changed my tune.
Unwrapping the Details
2020 Bowman Heritage was released in January 2021 as an Online Exclusive product, and once again, Topps 582 Montgomery Club members got the first crack at pre-ordering up to three boxes. Each $100 box contained 24 packs of ten cards. Also, one autograph per box was guaranteed.
The checklist was split between a veterans and rookies list and a prospects list. In addition, the prospects would get a chrome version inserted at a rate of two per pack. Prospects also received a Black & White paper parallel and a variety of chrome parallels numbered from 1 of 1s to /199. The veteran/rookie subjects only received a paper, black and white parallel.
It’s never a bad day when you pull a 1/1!
Twenty prospects also had cards with photo variations, and those cards were typically flipped upside down in the packs. If you have a question about which card is the base and which is the variation, you can check the code on the back. The variations end in #635.
I feel like the checklist has a great balance of stars, rookies, and prospects, and the 26 card autograph checklist has plenty of solid names on it. I really only have a couple gripes. First, many of the photos are the exact same shot used in the mainstream Bowman release. I realize that reusing photos is not new, but regardless, I’m not a bit fan of it. Second, for some reason, Topps decided to number the chrome prospects checklist using player initials instead of the numbering pattern used in the paper prospects list. Why? Why do this to me? As someone who sorts sets and or singles to sell, letter based checklists are the worst.
Box Break
With secondary market prices being sky high on most 2020 releases, I really couldn’t justify opening much product. I just sold almost everything I bought in 2020 as a sealed box. But with this product only carrying a $150 price tag on the secondary market, the decision to rip or flip was tougher. After fees, my margins would be much smaller that we’ve been seeing, so I decided to have some fun and rip all three boxes.
Here’s one of them!
I’m pretty pleased with what I ended up with. The autos were decent, getting a 1/1 of a good name is great, and I feel like I beat the odds with the quantity of other numbered parallels and image variations of some of the top prospects like Jasson Dominguez. It was nice to open some wax again for sure!
Checklist
The checklist can be found here on Trading Card Database
Here are a few of my favorite base cards from the set.