The 2020 Topps Heritage Baseball set was highly anticipated by card collectors. It’s a retro-style set that pays homage to Topps baseball card designs of the late 1960s. With a total of 396 cards along with parallels and short prints, there were plenty of noteworthy cards to be found in packs and boxes. Let’s take a closer look at some of the best hits from the 2020 Topps Heritage Baseball release.
Perhaps the most iconic card in the set is the Hank Aaron autograph card. Hank Aaron finished his legendary career with 755 home runs, making him baseball’s all-time home run king at the time of his retirement in 1976. Topps was able to secure an authentic Hank Aaron autograph for the 2020 Heritage set, which immediately made this one of the most desirable cards. With Aaron’s autographs becoming increasingly rare in recent years after his passing in 2021, this card captured the nostalgia of 1960s Topps combined with a true piece of sports history in the form of Aaron’s signature. Needless to say, this card demanded a premium price on the secondary market.
Another highly sought after card from the set’s short prints was the 1968 style Mickey Mantle card. Mantle was already well into his Hall of Fame career by 1968 with the Yankees but still blasting home runs at a prolific rate. Mantle remained one of the most popular players of his era even in his later years. The retro 1968 style design combined with Mantle’s iconic image and stats made this a must-have card for collectors chasing the vintage looks and legends of the era. The 1968 Mantle design is especially nostalgic for collectors who remember seeing these cards as kids in the late 1960s.
For National League fans, one of the coolest cards to pull was the Willie Mays autograph. Like Aaron, Mays was entering the twilight of his career in 1968 but was still considered one of the game’s all-time greats with over 600 home runs to his name at that point. Topps wisely chose to include Mays’ autograph alongside Aaron’s, pairing two of the premier sluggers and five-tool talents from the 1950s and 1960s in card form. Both the Mays and Aaron autos allowed collectors a chance at owning rare signed pieces of history from two icons who left an indelible mark on the sport.
In addition to star-studded autographs, collectors loved chasing after the various parallels and variations available throughout the 2020 Heritage Baseball set. One popular parallel was the ’67 Topps Design parallel cards. These followed the retro 1967 Topps card design aesthetics instead of 1968 for key players. Parallels like the ’67 design helped fuel the nostalgia further by offering even more retro looks to track down for favorite teams and players. The ’67 parallels added an extra layer of challenge to the base set while still maintaining the same overall fun, vintage vibe.
Another sought after parallel was the Heritage Blu foil parallel cards. Available as short prints, these had the same front design as the base Heritage cards but featured an eye-catching blue foil treatment on the borders and player names on the back. The bluish hue perfectly complemented the aged white borders in giving the cards a genuinely nostalgic feel. Collectors enjoyed hunting through boxes and packs for the Blu parallels of star players like Aaron, Clemente, Koufax and more. The bluish foil accentuated the vintage styling while providing an elusive bonus for those finding these parallel pops in the Heritage product.
The flagship rookie cards in the 2020 Topps Heritage set also carried collecting interest due to the opportunity to potentially grab future Hall of Famers before their careers took off. Two of the most notable rookies found in the Heritage release were Fernando Tatis Jr. and Pete Alonso. Both players were coming off incredible rookie campaigns in 2019 that saw Tatis finish third in NL Rookie of the Year voting and Alonso claim the award. Their Heritage rookie cards allowed collectors to accrue their first Topps cards featuring the new young stars cheaply before their stardom continued to rise in 2020 and beyond. Years down the road, these Tatis and Alonso rookies contained in the Heritage set could end up paying off nicely for those who locked them away early.
The 2020 Topps Heritage Baseball release was lauded within the hobby for its authentic vintage stylings that paid tribute to 1960s Topps designs. Collectors enjoyed the thrill of the hunt for authentic stars from the era mixed with brand new rookies. Key autos, short prints, and parallels from the 2020 Heritage release have done well to maintain collector demand due to their representation of nostalgia blended with the allure of history. For those who purchased wax from this set, several truly memorable hits could be pulled that will surely stand the test of time for dedicated collectors. The 2020 Topps Heritage release will likely be viewed as one of the premier retro issues in recent years.
