2011 Topps Heritage

Spring Training is going full force right now, so it must mean that Topps Heritage is hitting the shelves, albeit a tad early in retail stores.

2011 brings a retro set in the style of the 1962 set, or as I like to call it, the original wood grain Topps set. I am a big fan of these sets and I'm STILL trying to complete the 2008 Heritage set. Darn those high numbers!

I wasn't a huge fan of the 1962 set, but it has grown on me over the years. The peeling photo hanging on the paneled basement wall is somewhat inspired and a drastic change from the minimalist design of the 1961 offering. This set design reminds me of a friend's leaky basement. Every time it would rain, water would pour in and create a damp feeling for weeks after. Posters would start to curl up, even if they were tacked down. Three AM wake up calls to come over with a shop-vac. Good times. Good times.

The White Sox have twenty-two cards in the set.

8 - John Danks
53 - Paul Konerko (Bautista, Cabrera, Teixeira)
73 - Gordon Beckham
89 - Jake Peavy
113 - White Sox
116 - Gavin Floyd
117 - Alex Rios
129 - Carlos Quentin
175 - Adam Dunn
178 - A.J. Pierzynski
195 - Paul Konerko
214 - Chris Sale
255 - Edwin Jackson
286 - Ozzie Guillen
325 - Alexei Ramirez
326 - Gregory Infante
385 - Mark Buehrle
410 - Juan Pierre
426 - Brent Morel
469 - Alexei Ramirez
479 - Lucas Harrell
499 - Dayan Viciedo (Donald, Tolleson, Moreland)

I'm not as excited about this set, as I was for previous releases in the Topps Heritage line. It probably stems from the fact that the '62 set is not my favorite. Topps does do a good job in aping the original design. Some of the photos look like they belong on a Topps 206 card rather than one mimicking the 1962 set. Most of the original set had untouched photographs as their base. Too many of the cards look like they've spent time being airbrushed. Other than that, this is a solid set, which should please fans of the Heritage line.

The question remains for the 2012 Heritage release. What will they do with the most celebrated card of the 1963 set? The 1963 Pete Rose rookie. It should be interesting to see how they handle that. There's one question remaining for this set, directly concerning the White Sox team set. How did Adam Dunn fit into Jake Peavy's jersey?