Box Break - 2015 Topps Heritage '51

A couple months back I picked up a box of 2015 Topps Heritage '51.

This is basically a box set of all 104 cards along with 21 mini parallels and an auto.  There is no real mystery on the base cards but the mini cards have different colored backs with some more rare than others and of course the auto could be a wide variety of players.  I figured I could take you through the break in the order I inspected the cards once I cracked the cellophane wrapper.

I did a quick tour of the box before opening; the first picture is of the box top and this is a view of two of the sides.  You can see that everything that is included in the box is clearly labeled in what appears to me as some classic Topps colors.

This is what I saw when I cracked the lid.  This should give a nice sense of the size of the box, about the size of one of the old Topps Traded box sets from the 80s and early 90s.  The majority of the box contains the 104 base cards.  As I dug in I found out that the cards were not in numerical order.  I have since put them into order to ensure I have the complete set and to satisfy the OCD in me.  The cards in the front are the mini parallels.  They were in an order from most common to least common based on the back color.  I will show a few down below.

My LCS owner had seen a couple boxes opened and told me the autograph was the last card in the back.  In typical fashion, I went straight to the back to pull out the auto. and here is what greeted me:

My reaction was mixed, Soler is a solid rookie but I knew there were much better autos in the product.  I knew it was a crap-shoot and I really got the box for the base set.  I didn't know it at the time but the autos numbered /250 are the most common in the product.  As you will see below the design of the autograph matches the base card pretty well with a nice spot at the bottom for an on card autograph - a great touch.

Next I decided to dive into the minis.  I thought I would share two of my better pulls in Buxton and Pederson along with 2 card backs to see how the colors vary.  Also, I included the Kris Bryant rookie card as a size comparison.

Here is a full list of the minis I pulled, I like them but they could probably be pried away in a trade:

Red Backs (10 of 21)
Giancarlo Stanton
Jacob deGrom
Justin Upton
Anthony Rendon
Jake Lamb
Felix Hernandez
Michael Wacha
Aaron Sanchez
Jacoby Ellsbury
Joc Pederson

Blue Backs (5 of 21)
Jacob deGrom
David Price
Josh Donaldson
David Wright
Brandon Finnegan

Green (3 of 21)
Christian Yelich
Ian Kinsler
Albert Pujols

Black Back (2 of 21)
Byron Buxton
Matt Harvey

Gold Back (1 of 21)
Jon Lester

I will admit, I was bummed not to get any Giants minis.  I decided to comb through the base cards and look for the player selection including the Giants.  I hadn't gotten a chance to look at the checklist yet so I wasn't sure how many Giants were in the set:

I ended up finding 3 Giants.  I was odd as they were 3 of probably the final 20 cards in the box.  If the Giants, coming off a World Series got not love, I was going to be upset.  In the end their 3 biggest stars so no complaints from me.

Speak of the final cards, in the end and no complaints, I was shocked when I got to the final card in the box and this face was smiling at me:

Wow!  I got a second autograph in my box and it is none other than Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw and it is the parallel numbered out of 25.  The LCS owner is a bid Dodger and Kershaw fan and was almost as excited as me. For now I am planning on keeping the card.  These are great looking cards.  Plus I collect autos of Hall of Fame players and if all the Dodgers bloggers are to be believed, Kershaw has virtually punched his ticket to Cooperstown already.