Product Details

Black borders are back for 2020 Topps Heritage Baseball. The annual MLB card time machine turns the dial to 1971. Moving on from the 1970 Topps design in 2019 Topps Heritage, 2020 borrows the look of 1971 Topps Baseball. Hobby boxes promise one hit that either be an autograph or relic. In addition to the standard Hobby and Retail formats, there is again a Retail Mega Box with exclusive Chrome parallels.

2020 Topps Heritage Baseball Base / Variations

Known for the delicate borders, the 1971 flagship design takes a bow in 2020 Topps Heritage Baseball. Collectors can count on the Rookie Stars style that pairs two players on the same card. The 500-card base set closes with 100 short prints (#401-500) that average 1:3 packs. Parallels are generally the same as always except for the normal Black Border edition. Obviously, this does not work for 1971, so the solution is White Border cards instead.

2020 Topps Heritage Baseball Base Parallel Breakdown

Base Parallels

White Border – 50 copies (Hobby)
Flip Stock – 5 copies (Hobby)

Chrome Parallels

Hot Box Refractor (Hobby/Blaster)
Refractor – #/571
White Border – #/71
Gold Border – #/5 (Hobby)
SuperFractor (1/1) versions.

Exclusive to Hobby, Silver Team Name cards are new. And the Base Mini cards, numbered to 100 copies, return for another year. Variations remain a standard offering in 2020 Topps Heritage Baseball, as well. Topps teased the rare Throwback Uniform Variations and Hobby-only Action Image Variations, “plus other surprises.”

2020 Topps Heritage Baseball Inserts

2020 Topps Heritage Baseball also features a familiar assortment for the inserts. Staples include Baseball Flashbacks for notable league moment and News Flashbacks for the general headlines of 1971. Then and Now pits player stats from 2020 against 1971 and New Age Performers is back with 25 stars. Honoring “The Say Hey Kid” himself, Willie Mays is the sole subject in the all-new 20 Giants Seasons insert that covers his MLB career. Retail boxes have exclusive 1971 Topps Baseball Tattoos sheets that reflect current players. These are limited to 200.

2020 Topps Heritage Baseball Autographs / Auto Relics

For the signed cards in the 2020 Topps Heritage Baseball checklist, the Real One Autograph lineup provides the bulk of the content. These hard-signed cards showcase past and present stars, including some players who last appeared in the 1971 set. While the base autographs are signed in blue ink, Real One Special Edition cards, hand-numbered to 71 or less, are more limited and utilize red ink. In addition, Hobby-exclusive Real One Dual Autographs (#/25 or less) and Real One Triple Autographs (#/5 or less) cards are each hand-numbered. Tapping into baseball history, the new Senators Final Season Autographs set pays tribute to the 1971 Washington Senators with hard-signed cards limited to 100 or less.

Auto-relic fans also have the standard game-used selection via the Clubhouse Collection line. This includes Clubhouse Collection Autograph Relics (#/25 or less), Clubhouse Collection Dual Autograph Relics (#/10 or less) and Flashbacks Autographed Relics (#/25 or less). The one-of-one Patch versions are only in Hobby packs. Beyond that, Cut Signatures (1/1) cards put the focus on baseball players and celebrities from 1971.

2020 Topps Heritage Baseball Relics

Naturally, the Clubhouse Collection Relic cards come as Single, Dual (#/71), Triple (#/25) and Quad (#/10) game-used relic versions, as well. Each edition has a one-of-one Patch parallel that is exclusive to Hobby. The single-relic set also adds a Gold parallel with 99 copies. Using coins produced in ’71, the 1971 Mint cards feature Nickel (#/15), Dime (#/10), Quarter (#/5), or Half-Dollar (1/1) options. Similarly, the 1971 U.S. Postage Stamp Relics (#/50) set displays original stamps.

2020 Topps Heritage Baseball Box Toppers

Falling one per box and only in the Hobby format, 2020 Topps Heritage Baseball closes with box loaders. This includes oversized 1971 Topps Super Baseball and 1971 Topps Original Moments. 1971 Topps Super Baseball also has an on-card Autograph version that is numbered to 25 or less. Another topper possibility is the 1971 Topps Originals cards, which are foil-stamped buybacks from the 1971 set.