Bowman Heritage 2019 Cubs

Topps brought back the Bowman Heritage brand after a twelve year haitus.  The cards were only available through the Topps Online Store. 

The checklist is divided into to sets.  There are 121 cards in the veterans and rookies set while the prospect set has 129 cards.  The Cubs landed three veterans and four prospects.

Topps chose the 1953 Bowman design.  Its the same design used on Bowman Heritage 2006.  I use the word "design" very lightly because the 1953 Bowman design was just a picture with a white background.  There was nothing else, no words, logos, autographs -- just the picture.

 

 

The three veterans were Bryant, Rizzo, and Nick Castellanos.  The glaring omission would have to be Javier Baez.  It's been a while since he's been left out of anything Topps put out.

 

 

Thanks goodness that the backs of the cards have the players names and other info.  Otherwise, I wouldn't know who three of the four are.  Look them over and see if you have any clue.

They are...

....

....

....

top row Aramis Ademan and Miguel Amaya

bottom row Nico Hoerner and Keegan Thompson

With these now in hand, I am officially finished with 2019.  I'll have the decade wrap up tomorrow.

2019 Topps Transcendent Billy Williams

Transcendent is one of those set that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.  The $10,000 per box price is what keeps me far, far away.

And what do you get for $10,000?

This ...
1 Complete Set of Transcendent Icons Base Cards (50 cards)
1 Complete Set of Franchise Favorites Reproductions (100 cards)
50 Transcendent Collection Autographs (#/25 or less)
1 Autographed 1953 SuperFractor (1/1)
1 Derek Jeter Autograph (1/1)
1 Auto Patch or Auto Bat Knob/Nameplate Book (1/1)
1 Oversized Cut Signature or Oversized Letter Autograph (1/1)
1 Transcendent Franchise Favorites Sketch (1/1)
1 Ken Griffey Jr. VIP Experience Invitation

Just 100 boxes are made.  I wonder if it sells out?

Billy Williams was included in the Franchise Favorites set and I picked up his card.

I call it a card, but it come in a metal frame and weighs ten times more than a regular card.  The scan makes the border look black, but it is actually a shiny gold.

It's not a bad card and I paid a very reasonable price.  I wonder how the seller did?  Did he make back his $10,000 investment?

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 17,421 Cubs cards from 207 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1978 SSPC #263 Donnie Moore  Moore was the workhorse of the 1978 Cubs staff, making 71 appearances.  He came out of the bullpen in all but one of his appearances and ended the year with a records of 9-7.

1980s: 1987 Fleer #562 Leon Durham Durham belted a career-high 27 homers in 1987.  He hit just eight more over the next two seasons and was out of baseball after 1989.  It was a quick downfall, hastened by drug and alcohol abuse.

1990s: 1991 Fleer #433 Greg Smith  Smith never played for the 1991 Cubs, as he was traded to the Dodgers over the winter.  

2000s: 2008 Just Minors Darwin Barney Dual Signature Silver  Donnie Veal does a much nice job with this D and V than Barney does with his D and B.

2010s: 2011 Topps Factory Team #CHC15 Matt Garza Garza was acquired by the Cubs before the 2011 season, so the picture on the card is photoshoppped.  Someone needed  to let the Topps "artist" know that there isn't any piping on the Cubs solid blue jersey.

Another Chad-Induced Card Quest

Here's another card that came to me via reader Chad.

It's the 2002 Bowman Heritage card for Fred McGriff.

One of the first sets I completed when I returned to collecting was the Heritage set.  I loved the vintage / modern combo.  So did lots of other collectors.  So did Topps.

When Heritage was first released in 2001, Topps also issued a Bowman Heritage set.  The cards mimicked the Bowman sets from the early 1950s.  Bowman Heritage sets were issued through 2007.

About the same time Chad's card arrived, I saw that Topps was reviving Bowman Heritage with a 2019 set.  I found a listing for the Cubs team set.  The BIN button was clicked (the set should be arriving soon) and I then started looking for checklists for the earlier Bowman Heritage sets. Let the quest begin!

The checklists and the cards were fairly easy to find.  I spent some more Christmas money and should have the 2001 - 2007 Bowman Heritage cards soon, too.

There are 107 Cubs Bowman Heritage cards altogether.  Stay tuned for them!

Darwin Barney Manager

I wrote this post on my iPad.  Blogger has never worked well at all on it, but they must have made some changes because now it seems like it works the same as on my PC. 

My player collection of Darwin Barney has 195 cards. The Cubs traded him to the Dodgers in 2014 and the collection was done, unless some low numbered parallels pop up.

Barney spent some time with the Dodgers and Blue Jays, and then tried to catch on with the Rangers in 2018.  He was cut and his playing career came to end end.

I didn’t hear much about him until yesterday when he was named manager of the Ranger's AAA team  in Nashville.  It seems pretty impressive to me to see a guy named AAA manager without any previous managing or coaching experience.  Barney always struck me as a smart baseball guy.  Seems like the Rangers had the same thought.

His pitching coach will be former Cub Greg Hubbard, so there’s another Cub connection.

Good Luck, manager Darwin Barney.

My Collection Goals for 2020

I've settled into a collection that I am very content with.  The goals are mostly the same (just one new one) and meeting them is not too difficult.

GOAL #1: Add my usual Cubs team sets as they are released: Topps flagship, Heritage, Opening Day, Factory Team set, Bowman, Allen and Ginter, Chrome, Gypsy Queen, Archives, Update and whatever else comes along.

GOAL #2: Add the complete sets of the flagship, update, and Allen and Ginter. I've got a flagship run starting with 1969 and the complete run of Traded / Update and Allen and Ginter. I see no reason to stop.

GOAL #3: Add any autograph and relic cards for Cubs players that haven't previously had one. I'm done with players from previous seasons, so now its just a matter of adding new guys as cards are issued.

GOAL #4: Continue adding to the player collections of Darwin Barney, Ernie Banks, Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg, and Billy Williams.

GOAL #5: Add odd-ball sets and sets of smaller brands that I missed earlier.  I've been having fun with this one and hope to add several more of the smaller sets.

GOAL #6: Write something about the collection every day, though if I take a day or two off, that is OK.

GOAL #7:  Thin the collection a bit.  I'm starting to run out of shelf space and I really don't want to add more.  I won't be thinning my Cubs collection (that would be unthinkable!) but I do plan on getting rid of some non-Topps complete sets.  I have several that I'm not all that interested in any longer and can clear some space by moving them out.

GOAL #8: Enjoy working on goals 1-8. I'm in trouble when I can't meet this goal.

Grading My 2019 Collection Goals

On January 1 for the past several years I've gone back and graded myself on my collection goals from the previous year.  So how did I do in 2019?

GOAL #1: Add my usual Cubs team sets as they are released: Topps flagship, Heritage, Opening Day, Factory Team set, Bowman, Allen and Ginter, Chrome, Gypsy Queen, Archives, Update and whatever else comes along.
Grade - A:  this was easy, especially with super breaker Brentandbecca taking care of me.

GOAL #2: Add the complete sets of the flagship, update, and Allen and Ginter. I've got a flagship run starting with 1969 and the complete run of Traded / Update and Allen and Ginter. I see no reason to stop.
Grade - A:  another one made easier by Brentandbecca

GOAL #3: Add any autograph and relic cards for Cubs players that haven't previously had one. I'm done with players from previous seasons, so now its just a matter of adding new guys as cards are issued.
Grade - A:  If a player has a card that follows my rule, I add him.  There were fiveautographs (Alzolay, Hoerner, Darvish, Norwood, and Underwood) and two relics (Alzolay and Bote) added in 2019.

GOAL #4: Continue adding to the player collections of Darwin Barney, Ernie Banks, Andre Dawson, Ryne Sandberg, and Billy Williams.
Grade - B:  I added 21 Billy Williams cards including a few that were on the PSA master list.  Things were a bit slow with the other players.

GOAL #5: Add odd-ball sets and sets of smaller brands that I missed earlier.  I've been having fun with this one and hope to add several more of the smaller sets.
Grade - A+  I went crazy with this one and added at least twenty new brands.  Most had less that ten cards each, but the brands were completed.

GOAL #6: Write something about the collection every day, though if I take a day or two off, that is OK.
Grade - A  I had 358 posts in 2019, meaning seven days off, which I took during our summer bike trip.

GOAL #7: Enjoy working on goals 1-7. I'm in trouble when I can't meet this goal.
Grade - A:  If I wasn't enjoying it, there wouldn't be 358 posts!