It’ll be out a couple of months later than normal but fans of the brand can rest assured 2023 Topps Heritage Baseball is on the way. The release date for the annual issue has been set for Wednesday, May 31.
Heritage has been a fairly consistent release over the years and ’23 will be no different. As usual, the product is inspired by a release from the past and the chronology has taken it to 1974 this year.
A checklist and link to find it are at the bottom of the page.
2023 Topps Heritage Configuration and Base Set
Once again, Hobby boxes will consist of 24 packs with nine cards per back. Boxes will have one autograph or relic card and a box loader card. There will be Value box options at a lower cost but with no auto or relic guarantee.
The 500-card base set contains only current players along with league leaders, all-stars and postseason highlights. The last 100 cards are short printed with one card found in every three packs. The first four cards are a tribute to Aaron Judge’s record-setting home run season of 2022. 1974’s set honored Hank Aaron’s previous Topps cards as he approached Babe Ruth’s all-time record.
Black bordered parallels numbered to 50 and Flip Stock parallels numbered to 5 are being produced but will only be found in Hobby boxes.
Mini base variations (numbered to 100); Throwback, Image Variations (Hobby exclusive), Nickname variations and some other “unannounced surprises,” according to Topps are all in the works. Chrome base variations are back as well with 100 of the 500 cards getting the shiny treatment. Chrome Refractors numbered to 574, Silver parallels numbered to 374, Black numbered to 74, Gold numbered to 5 (Hobby exclusive) and 1/1 SuperFractors take it a step further.
There are Hot Box Refractors in Hobby and Value boxes.
Inserts
Heritage keeps the inserts to a small number with three of them focused on ’74. They’ll include:
New Age Performers – Showcase young stars “who are poised to surpass the legends of the game,” according to Topps.
Then and Now compares 1974’s best players to today’s standouts
Baseball Flashbacks offers the best moments from the 1974 season on cardboard
News Flashbacks is a look back at memorable events from that year.
Autographs
Standard (Real One) Autographs will feature on-card signatures of both current and retired stars. There will be Red Ink versions hand numbered to 74, Real One Dual Autographs numbered to 25 or less and Triple Autos numbered to 5 (the latter two are found only in Hobby boxes).
Autographed Relics
Clubhouse Collection Autograph Relics offer game-used relics along with on-card autographs and are hand numbered to 25 or less. Dual auto relic versions are numbered to 10 or less. Both will have 1/1 Patch parallels.
Flashback Autographed Relics will feature greats from the ’74 season with autographs and game-used pieces. Those, too, will have 1/1 hand numbered Patch parallels.
2023 Topps Heritage will also have 1/1 Cut Signature cards of long ago players and celebrities.
Relics
Clubhouse Collection Relics are the non-autographed versions of the cards above with game-used uniform and bat pieces from MLB stars. They’ll have Gold parallel versions numbered to 99 or less and 1/1 Patch parallels. Dual (# to 74); Triple (# to 25) and Quad (# to 10) versions feature multiple players.
1974 Mint include actual coins minted in 1974 paired with a player. Cards with nickels are numbered to 15; dimes to 10; quarters to 5 and half dollars are 1/1.
There are also 1974 U.S. Postage Stamp Relics with current and former players alongside stamps released in 1974 (when a first class stamp was ten cents). They’re numbered to 50.
MLB® greats from yesterday and today alongside postage stamps released in 1974. Numbered to 50.
Box Loaders
Each Hobby box comes with a box loader, which could be one of five different things:
- Oversized 1974 Topps Baseball – One of 50 different oversized cards (1,000 produced in all)
- Autographed Parallel – select subjects with on-card autographs. Limited to 25 or less
- 1974 Topps Puzzles – Inspired by the puzzles released by Topps in 1974. (500 produced)
- 1974 Deckle Edge Baseball – Current stars in the style of the original ’74 Topps Deckle Edge cards (1:2 boxes)
- 1974 Topps Originals – buyback cards from 1974 Topps Baseball featuring a foil stamp. (1:2 boxes)
You can check box pricing on eBay here.
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