For Topps, 1 = 2

It's time for my annual plea to Topps to hire me to proofread your Cubs cards.  Because once again, they blundered.  Apparently, in the Topps world 1 = 2.

 

These are the backs of the Heritage cards from Javier Baez and Miguel Montero.  Allow me to blow up the paragraphs for you.  See if you can find the same mistake on both cards.

Did you find the errors?

On both cards, the players' accomplishment in Game 2 of the NLDS or NLCS is mentioned. But, Baez didn't homer for the only run in Game 2.  It was in Game 1.  Same with Montero.  The homer he hit wasn't in Game 2 of the NLCS, it was in Game 1.  I was there.  I remember!

So how do they make the same mistake twice?  How can they make a mistake at all?  It's not like these are trivia questions from 50 years ago.  Chances are the cards were written just a month or two after the playoffs were finished.

Ridiculous.

Are These Cubs Cards? Part II

Today let's look at my second "Are These Cubs Cards?" conundrum.

This one is a bit more tongue in cheek.

Are these eight cards Cubs cards?

On the surface the answer is a pretty obvious, no.  None of these eight are on the Cubs or have ever played for the Cubs.

But, on the flip side.

And I really mean, on the flip side, are they Cubs cards?

Because the back of the eight, along with the Rizzo and Bryant All Topps cards, gives us the NL's reigning MVP.

I'm not putting Clayton Kershaw or Bryce Harper into my Cubs binder.

But those backs are pretty sweet looking.

Are These Cubs Cards? Part I

Twice with this year's Heritage set I was left with the question "Are These Cubs Cards?"

Today I've got my first conundrum.

The Heritage set mimicked the 1968 set by having World Series cards.  There are eight cards, one for each of the seven games of the series and one recap card.  In putting team sets together, Brentandbecca included just five of the eight.

These are the cards from the four games won by the Cubs and the recap card.

But what about these; are they Cubs cards, too?

They come from games 1, 3, and 4, all won by the Indians.

Since I've got the cards, you can guess my thoughts on the matter.  I consider them to be Cubs cards, too.  In my mind, the Cubs were in the World Series and any World Series card is a Cubs card.

Add in these eight and the Cubs Heritage tally is now up to 54 cards.

Five Random Cubs Cards

I've got 14,745 Cubs cards from 120 different brands listed on a spreadsheet. A random number generator picked five cards, one each from the past several decades.

1900s - 1970s: 1974 Topps #484 Carmen Fanzone  Topps used a picture from 1972 for this card.  

 

I'm guessing that the '73 and '74 cards have pictures from the same photo shoot at Shea.

1980s: 1989 Sportflics #216 Damon Berryhill I wish I could figure out a way to scan these so you get a clear look at each of the pictures.  The two-in-one look is not a good one.

1990s: 1993 Topps Black Gold #4 Andre Dawson Topps went to all the trouble of making a Black Gold card for Dawson, but he didn't play for the '93 Cubs.  Instead, he spent the year in Boston as their DH.

2000s: 2004 Bazooka #257 Ryan Harvey The Cubs took Harvey in the first round (6th overall) of the 2003 draft.  He was a major bust, never getting above AA.

2010s: 2013 Allen & Ginter #307 Darwin Barney The 2013 season was the beginning of the end of Barney's time with the Cubs.  He was coming off of a Gold Glove winning season, but his bat had turned to mush.  He hit just .208 and the brass realized they needed more that a glove at second base.

2017 Heritage Cubs - Clubhouse Collection

I still go after the relics with Heritage.  I've got all the Cubs Clubhouse Collection cards going back to the first set in 2001.  I like that Topps has kept the same name with the insert set.  That makes it easier for me to continue to chase them.

This year's set included five Cubs, and they are all pretty big names.  I was able to get all five from Brentandbecca when I got my base cards. That made it very easy for me.

 

 

The addition of these five gives me a nice round 40 Clubhouse Collection Cubs.  Here they are:

2017 Heritage Cubs - The Inserts

Moving on to the Heritage Cubs inserts, and there are a bunch!

 

 

It's the 1968 game and four Cubs are in the set.  Only Ron Santo was in the original.  Even better, three of the four Cubs reach base, and Bryant hits a dinger!  It also made me smile that Rizzo is hit by a pitch, something that happens frequently to him because he crowds the plate so much.

 

Three New Age Performers, wich is a Cubs first,  They had two in 2004, 2006, and 2016.

Then and Now went Fergie crazy!  The top card with two Cubs is obviously my favorite.

More discs this year, and Rizzo is the only Cub.

  

Did I say that Heritage went Fergie crazy?  Here's one more, though the picture is not from 1968.

It was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1971.

And the best for last...Baseball Flashbacks with Billy Williams!

That makes 13 insert  cards in all.

2017 Heritage Cubs - Extra Base Cards

In addition to the 19 Cubs player cards in Heritage 2017, there are a bunch of others...

Two All Topps team players, which is the same number of All Topps Cubs in the original 1968 set.

Cubs are represented on four league leader cards, but they have six of the twelve slots.  In 1968, there were Cubs in three slots on three cards.

Two of the aces from the 2016 season, but the picture is from 2015.  In the 1968 set the Cubs did not have a combo card.

A combo card of two kids from Vegas....the  bad boy and the nice guy.

Add these eight cards to the 19 from yesterday and 27 of the 500 have Cubs.

And I haven't gotten to the World Series cards yet!