First Buzz: 2017 Topps Heritage baseball cards

What: 2017 Topps Heritage baseball cards
Arrives: March
Box basics: One autograph or Relic per 24-pack box (12 boxes per case)
Final checklist: Click here to view

What’s buzz-worthy: The burlap is back as Topps revisits 1968 for the newest edition of Heritage with much of the same formula that has made it a hobby staple for the last 16 years.

Keep reading for more as well as a full gallery of images.

The Basics: The basic set will consist of 500 cards with 100 high-number short-prints — a set that will include League Leaders, World Series Highlights, Topps News All-Stars, Rookie Stars, Team Cards and Combo cards in the mix. … There also will be variations. Parallels this time around will include Gray Backs (/10), Bright Yellow Backs (/25), Blue-bordered parallels (/50, hobby-only) and Flip-stock parallels (/5, hobby-only). … Chrome cards will be found for 100 players with a Refractor (/568), Blue Chrome (/68), Gold Chrome (/5), Superfractor (/1) and Hot Box Refractors. … Also in the mix will be Clubhouse Collection Auto Relics with a 1/1 patch parallels as well as duals that also will have the patch version. Flashbacks Auto Relics will be rarer with a focus on the stars of 1968 with 1/1 parallels as well.

Real One autos return with the blue-ink and Special Edition red-ink version limited to 68 as is common with the brand, while dual- and triple-auto cards will be found — all with on-card ink. A 1968 poster box-loader auto will also be in play in some boxes. For Relics there will be 1/1 patch parallels for all versions and those will include standard Clubhouse Collection Relics that will have a Gold parallel limited to 99. Also found will be dual (/68), triple (/25) and quad (/10) Relics.

The other hits in play here will be cut autos for baseball stars as well as celebs from 1968 along with Mint Relics that place coins from 1968 into cards — nickels (/15), dimes (/10), quarters (/5) and 1/1 JFK 50-cent pieces. Like in past years there also will be postage stamp Relics limited to 50. Also back will be ad panels and stamped Topps Originals along with a new 1968 Topps 3D set and poster box-loaders (/50).

Standard inserts get a bit of a visual shakeup here, though they are similar to past years with New Age Performers, Then & Now, Baseball Flashbacks, News Flashbacks all back. The only newcomer is a 1968 Topps Game set found twice per box. All of these inserts are found no more than twice per hobby box.

Update: Over on the retail side, there will be Chrome Refractor Hot Boxes for blasters and a retail-only 1968 Bazooka mini set. … Hanger boxes will include 35 cards with eight boxes per tray, while loose nine-card packs will come in 16-count and 24-count boxes. Jumbo packs will contain 20 cards and include 108 packs in a box for those.

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