Roberto Clemente’s final glory and the Swingin’ A’s will be among the features inside 2021 Topps Heritage High Number Baseball, set to make its return just after the end of the season. Topps has unveiled some of what collectors can expect November 3 as the second half of the annual trip down memory lane arrives with its ongoing focus on the year 1972.
2021 Topps Heritage High Number Configuration and Base Set
Look for 24-pack hobby boxes with nine cards per pack. Each box will have one autograph or relic card. Each case will hold 12 boxes. There will be packaging created for the retail market as well.
The base set expands on the regular 2021 Heritage product with cards numbered 501-725 in the High Number set. They will feature 200 veterans and rookies with a focus on players who’ve made their MLB debut in the first part of the season and thus weren’t part of the main set as well as players who changed teams prior to the start of the season (hello, Francisco Lindor as a Met) or before the product’s production deadline. As usual, cards #701-725 will be short printed.
There will be plenty of parallels and image variations to look for including
Base Card Parallels
Black Bordered – Limited to 50 (hobby only).
Flip Stock – Limited to 5 (hobby only)
Base Card Chrome Parallels – 100 select subjects
Refractor – #’d to 572
Red Bordered – #’d to 372
Black Bordered – #’d to 72
Gold Bordered – #’d to 5 (hobby only)
SuperFractor – #’d to 1
Hot Box Refractor – Hobby and Retail Value Box Exclusives
Base Card Variations will include cards with missing stars on the design, throwback uniforms, action images (hobby only), team name color swaps (hobby only) plus “additional surprises,” according to Topps.
There will also be 50 mini base card variations serial numbered to 100 with a 50-card checklist.
Inserts
Two insert sets making their Heritage debut are 1972 Topps World Series Highlights, with cards recapping the seven-game battle between the Oakland A’s and Cincinnati Reds, and Clemente 3000, which focuses on the Hall of Famer’s push to join the 3,000 hit club. He got that hit at the end of the regular season, then sadly perished in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve.
Other insert sets include:
Rookie Performers – 15 of the top debuting MLB players
Now and Then – Comparing highlights from 2020 and 1972
Combo Cards – 10 cards featuring multiple baseball stars
Award Winners – Cards featuring players who were honored with the top awards for 2020
Autographs
The 2021 Heritage High Number autograph checklist starts with the standard Real One Autographs. They’ll be signed on-card in blue ink. There are also Red Ink versions that will be hand-numbered to 72.
New in the High Number product are 1972 World Series Champion Autographs, with members of the ’72 A’s signing on-card. Each will be numbered to 99 or less.
Relics and Autographed Relics
Clubhouse Collection Autographed Relics – On-card autographs and game-used memorabilia are
featured here. Cards are hand numbered to 25 or less. Dual autograph versions will be numbered to 10 or less and be found only in hobby boxes. 1/1 Patch parallels will be possible for both single and dual versions.
Clubhouse Collection Relics – The unsigned versions will featuring game-used uniform and bat pieces. Gold parallels will be numbered to 99 with 1/1 Patch parallels also possible.
Dual versions of the Clubhouse Collection Relics will be numbered to 72, Triple versions to 25 and Quad versions to 10. Each will have 1/1 Patch parallels.
1972 Baseball Cut Signatures – Showcasing top names from the 1971 MLB season. Numbered 1 of 1
1972 Celebrity Cut Signatures – Highlighting newsworthy names from 1971 outside of the Baseball world. Numbered 1 of 1.
Box Loaders
Three different Box Loaders will be found inside 2021 Topps Heritage High Number including:
1972 Topps Oversized – Oversized versions of the 2021 Base cards
1972 Baseball Posters – Mimicking the 1972 design featuring current and era-specific stars
1972 Topps Originals – Authentic 1972 Topps cards repurchased by Topps and given a foil stamp.
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