Crazy blaster of Topps Heritage

On the outside, the blaster box of 2009 Topps Heritage that Todd Neuman bought at a Walmart in Mayfield, Ky., probably looked like every other one that rolled off the assembly line and made its way to the shelf.

But on the inside it looked quite, quite different.

As in it had 51 of the set’s super-rare short-printed variations inside.

As in seven copies of Randy Winn.

As in seven Conor Jacksons.

As in seven Adrian Gonzalezes.

As in seven John Smoltzes and Hanley Ramirezes, too.

To top that, there were eight copies of the $200 “Thom” Glavine variation and eight copies of the Fred Lewis card featuring Winn on the front.

All told, that’s a $10,300 blaster box (high book) that cost just $19.99. There were just eight packs inside, but each and every one was loaded — that’s an average of $1,287 a pack.

“I have been collecting for a long time, but hadn’t bought any Topps Heritage this year yet. I bought the third box in the row and pulled 51 short-printed variations,” Neuman said. “I was just wondering if you had heard of anyone else having this luck on these this year?”

The answer on this is easy. That’s got to be the only one.

But don’t take our word for it. Here’s what Topps spokesman Clay Luraschi said: “Unfortunately, this is a major manufacturing error.”

Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at [email protected].

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