The 2016 Topps Heritage set brought collectors a nostalgic trip down memory lane with its retro design paying homage to baseball cards of the past. As has been the tradition since the Heritage brand was launched by Topps in 1990, the 2016 edition features a basic design inspired by baseball cards from the late 1960s. With its classic look and feel reminiscent of the vintage era, Heritage has become a highly anticipated release each year for collectors seeking to relive the cardboard memories of their youth.
The 2016 Topps Heritage set includes 382 total cards and captures the historic style and aesthetics of the 1968 Topps baseball issue. Similar to 1968 Topps designs, the 2016 Heritage cards have a white border enclosing the photo along with basic team name and player information printed at the bottom. Topps wisely chose to utilize high quality on-card photos instead of the illustrated action shots so common on 1960s cards. Fan favorites like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Clayton Kershaw grace the fronts along with many of the game’s other modern stars reproduced in a pleasingly retro format.
One of the things collectors most appreciate about Heritage is how Topps is able to pay homage to the past without resorting to licensed photos and graphics from earlier decades that could potentially run into copyright issues. The designs are styled after specific years while presenting all-new original content suited for modern rosters. Base cards in the 2016 variation have a classic blue team color banner running along the bottom with the player’s last name, position, and team neatly printed in simple white font as was customary during the late ’60s.
For collectors seeking the joys of pursuing complete sets, 2016 Topps Heritage offered several affordable parallel variations at various price points beyond the standard base issues. The popular ’63 Stripe Parallel reprised the design aesthetic of 1963 Topps cards by adding red and blue stripes spanning the photo. Another nostalgia-inducing variation was the ’68 Design Parallel which featured players replicated on the blue backgrounds and graphics styles made famous during that year. Chrome and Refractor parallel inserts provided shiny highlights throughout the modernized vintage theme.
Of particular interest to collectors pursuing star players were the prestigious Topps Heritage Autographs and Memorabilia Parallel inserts. These scarcer cards mixed traditional style with exciting signed bats, jersey swatches, and other game-used relic memorabilia inserts of the game’s biggest names. The autographs and precious swatches incorporated seamlessly with the retro designs transported collectors both young and old. Fanatics of Derek Jeter, Mike Piazza, and Roberto Clemente had opportunities to add treasured pieces of their favorite superstars to their Heritage collections through these inserts.
A fun new nostalgic twist for 2016 were the ’68 Design Minis inserts. Measuring a petite 2.5″ x 3.5″, these mini renditions recreated the look of classic 1960s mini cards featuring today’s finest in an endearingly scaled down format. Released as 15 card box toppers, the pocket-sized pieces offered fun retro photo reprints at a scale echoing earliest baseball memories. Box loaders were another throwback addition found packed inside Heritage boxes evoking the oddball promotions of yesteryear like “Traded” and “Not for Trade” variations.
When the 2016 Topps Heritage set was released in late February of that year, it became an instant hit with enthusiastic collectors. The affordable hobby boxes briskly sold out at retailers coast-to-coast with many breaking cases to satisfy hungry demand for the nostalgia-drenched cardboard. Since its inception a quarter century earlier, Topps Heritage has remained one of the most beloved and anticipated brand revivals in the entire industry. With its accurate reflections of the past merged with new content for present day rosters, the product line connects generations of fans to their baseball card collecting roots each spring. For both dedicated vintage collectors as well as newcomers to the hobby, 2016 Topps Heritage provided a fun trip down memory lane experiencing the retro joy and charm of a bygone baseball card era.
