Cheap Wax Wednesday Box Breaks: 2019 Topps Heritage Minors Baseball
2019 Topps Heritage Minors Baseball is a throwback to the 1970 Topps design, just like the major league release. The base set has 225 cards with the last 25 being short printed. Just like the MLB release, it also includes image variations and missing name short prints. Each base card is also available in five parallels: Blue (numbered to 99), Black (/50), Flip Stock, Gold (/15) and Red (1/1).
The major difference between the minor league and major league products is the guarantee of an autograph. While autos are tough pulls in MLB Heritage, they appear in every box of Heritage Minors. Looking at the autograph checklist now, there isn’t a ton of star power on it, unfortunately.
2019 Topps Heritage Minors Baseball Box Break
Cards per pack: 8
Packs per box: 18
Price paid: $57
Shop for 2019 Topps Heritage Minors Baseball boxes on eBay.
Box topper:
Nathaniel Lowe 1970 Topps Super
Pack 1 highlights:
Cal Raleigh & Sixto Sanchez
Remember when they were talking about Sanchez like a young Pedro Martinez? Unfortunately, he has dealt with injuries, and has yet to throw a pitch this season as well.
Pack 2:
Heliot Ramos High Number SP (1:6 packs) & Nate Pearson
Pack 3:
Tyler Freeman, Daulton Varsho, Dustin May & Triston Casas Fresh on the Scene (1 in every 5 packs)
Speaking of injuries, the Red Sox just lost Casas for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Pack 4:
Cristian Javier, Clarke Schmidt & Julio Pablo Martinez Fresh on the Scene (1:5 packs)
Pack 5:
Yordan Alvarez & Make Your Pro Debut entry card
The winner of this contest would receive the following experience: become a member of the Rocket City Trash Pandas for one game, meet the team, have an assigned locker in the locker room along with a full uniform, participate in pregame warmups including taking batting practice, and have a card in a 2020 minor league product.
Pack 6:
Blaze Alexander & Ronaldo Hernandez 1970 Mint Coin Relic /99 (1:197 packs)
Pack 7:
Casey Mize, Ronny Mauricio, Oneil Cruz & Trevor Larnach Fresh on the Scene (1:5 packs)
Mize seems to be coming into his own this season, posting a 2.53 ERA through his first seven starts.
Pack 8:
Tim Tebow, Parker Meadows, Brendan Rodgers & Nick Gordon High Number SP (1:6 packs)
Pack 9:
Austin Riley & Logan Gilbert
Gilbert made his first All-Star appearance last season and finished sixth in AL Cy Young voting.
Pack 10:
Brusdar Graterol, Brent Rooker, Matthew Liberatore, Jazz Chisholm & Andrew Knizner Fantastic Feats (1:6 packs)
Pack 11:
Royce Lewis, Dylan Cease & Luis Robert
Cease has turned himself into one of the more dependable starters in the league. A far cry from his 2019 major league debut, when he posted a 5.79 ERA over 14 starts.
Pack 12:
Sean Murphy, Royce Lewis, Edward Cabrera & Luis Robert Fantastic Feats (1:6 packs)
Pack 13:
Jo Adell, Brujan/Boswell/Bichette, Isaac Paredes & Casey Mize Fresh on the Scene (1:5 packs)
Adell was ranked the #3 overall prospect by Baseball America prior to the 2020 season but has not been able to put it together in the majors.
Pack 14:
Matthew Liberatore, Grayson Rodriguez & Bryan Mata Fantastic Feats (1:6 packs)
Pack 15:
Jo Adell & Alex Kirilloff
Kirilloff retired from professional baseball in October after dealing with multiple injuries in his young career.
Pack 16:
Julio Rodriguez, Jarred Kelenic & Lazaro Armenteros Blue /99 (1:25 packs)
Pack 17:
Buddy Reed High Number SP (1:6 packs)
Michael “Buddy” Reed played eight minor league seasons as an outfielder without much success. He has recently started an attempt to pitch professionally.
Pack 18:
MJ Melendez, Brandon Marsh & Rylan Bannon Autograph (1:26 packs)
Lastly, the Marsh card back. Love these old-school style card backs, especially the minor league ones showing the multiple stops along the way.
This went as expected, with unfortunately a low-name autograph. The highlight of the box, aside from adding minor league cards of some current major league studs, was the 1970 Mint Coin relic. Those are tough pulls.
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Want more installments of Shane Salmonson’s Cheap Wax Wednesday? Check out his other breaks in the archives.
