Gypsy Queen Vs. Heritage- An Unscientific Comparison

I wrote a few weeks ago that I thought I liked 2013 Heritage based on the rack pack I purchased, but wanted to buy more of it to determine if I really wanted to dive in and chase the set.    I tried to visualize my decision making process with what now appears to be a squid with an erection:

 

But I digress. Stage 2 of my process is Gathering- the point where I decide to pick up a little more of a set to understand the context of the product.  At this stage, I still don't buy enough to be even 1/3 of the way close to completing the set, but I pretty much understand what I'm getting into.   Still, I don't yet have enough to feel I've veered into the Accumulation stage, where I'm just picking up cards I don't really want or need.  Trust me, that's a hard habit to get in check for me. 

So, I picked up a blaster of Heritage and was going to go through the contents for you, my pals.  But a funny thing happened on a return trip to Walmart the next day- Gypsy Queen hit the shelves.  I love Gypsy Queen. I have built, or am building, "master" sets from 2011 and 2012 of Gypsy Queen.  So I couldn't resist a blaster of 2013 product when I saw it on the shelf, and came close to freaking out and grabbing several blasters.

But I realized if I did that, I could pretty much kiss off Heritage and I'm not sure I want to do that this year.  'Cause I can't collect both.   So instead of simply choosing in my gut which set I liked better, I lined up my blasters side by side.  I'll let the tale of the tape decide my fate.

Let's start with the base:

This is probably the most important aspect of collecting a set to me.  I have to like the look and feel of the cards, as obvious as that sounds.    The cards stock feels the same to me on both sets.  I like the looks of both cards too.  If I were to be lucky enough to meet Cliff Lee in person, I'd much rather have the Heritage card autographed.  If I were looking at this set in a binder, I'd much rather look at the action shots in Gypsy Queen, rather than head/posed shots in Heritage.  I like the frame better on Heritage.  I like the finish of the photography better on Gypsy Queen.   I'll call it a push on the front.   The back decides:

While I kind of dig the yellow of the GQ back, the Heritage offers yearly stats.  Heritage wins the base round, and I'll give that field 2 points since it's the most important part to me.  I would give it 3, but the fronts are a tie and I don't want to give the back a disproportionate weight.   

Heritage 2, GQ 0

Inserts:  I had 5 different inserts in each box which was convenient.  I compared the Horizontal cards and Vertical cards separately:

Insert 1:

Baseball Flashback vs. Dealing Aces

Sure, getting the Darvish card from this set probably sways my decision, but OMG that is one of the most awesome cards I've ever seen in my entire life.   And yes I'm still giddy from his near Perfecto Tuesday night.
GQ Wins.

 Heritage 2, GQ 1

No-Hitters vs. New Age Performers

Another easy win for GQ here.  I love the look of the No-Hitter set.  The NAP card does nothing for me.

Heritage 2, GQ 2

News Flashback vs. Glove Stories

Honestly, I don't care for the looks of either card that much, but I have no interest in News Flashbacks, so GQ continues to dominate the inserts and takes the lead.

Heritage 2, GQ 3

Horizontal Inserts:

Collisions at Home Plate vs. Then and Now

Another easy win for GQ.  I not only like the frame, theme and image from the Collisions set, I just don't get the point of the Then and Now cards. 

Heritage 2, GQ 4

World Series Highlights vs. Sliding Stars

Admittedly, if the Rangers had taken their rightful place as winners of any of the last 3 World Series, I might like this Heritage insert set better. But World Series memories are still a sore spot for me, so GQ continues to roll.  Besides, that Heyward card is sweet.

Heritage 2, GQ 5

Per Pack Inserts:

 Purple refractors vs. Minis

Ohhhhh, this is tough- but not really.  I love these shiny purple Heritage cards.  Minis are cool too, but shiny beats mini, just like rock beats scissors. 

Heritage 3, GQ 5

I should give Heritage a bonus since I got this in my Heritage blaster:

But I know luck has a lot to do with that, and I could have picked up a hit in the GQ blaster.  I'll give it a point anyway.  +1 for Heritage.

In the final analysis, GQ wins out by a hair over Heritage 5 to 4.  I'm off to collect Gypsy Queen.

Stage 1 of My Set Building Process: Sampling

I'm arriving a little late on the scene with a Heritage post.  Heritage hasn't traditionally been a set I'm all that into, but I think this year's set intrigues me.  I "think" it intrigues me I say.  Sometimes I know immediately if I like a set, and sometimes I need to go through a steps to know for sure, like this: 

I suppose this isn't a Heritage post as much as it's a forum for me to articulate my set collecting process (see above). For a good review of 2013 Heritage,  I direct anyone interested  to these fantastic posts about the set from dayf. 

Basically, when I set I'm maybe interested in comes out, I start like this:

Stage 1:  Sampling

If I'm not certain I'm going to go all in and collect a set, I like to test the waters with a rack pack or a couple of wax packs.  There's little money spent, I get enough cards to get a sense of the set, and I can count on at least pulling 1 or 2 cards that I'd want for my collection anyway.

The sampling phase is:


A first date over lunch
Renting a game at Red Box
The first sip of the first jack and coke
The free 30 second listen of a song on iTunes

My sampling of 2013 Heritage was:

This was the first card out of the pack- a good omen for me I guess.  Moustakas a player I collect, mostly because he was someone I was able to see play several times in person while he was in the area playing for the Royals AA team.  A pretty sharp card I think.

Later in the pack was this Cliff Lee card, another of my favorites.  Former Razorback, former Ranger.   Two big feathers in his cap. 

I'm under the impression that there are mixed reviews on Heritage out there.  I'm not completely sure I'm going to chase the set, but the criticism I don't understand is the complaint about the card stock.  I'm with dayf on this one and like the card stock just fine.  More than fine in fact.

So I got a couple of cards I like and I'm on board with the look and feel of the set.  But I'm not all in yet.  The next phase is gathering, which means I need to open a blaster (or two) and get more context on the set.  I need to see if inserts take up a lot of space, and if so, do I like them?  My instinct is that this is a set where I won't give a rip about building the insert sets, so I hope the blaster I get doesn't have a lot of them.

Once I have gathered some cards (more on that later this week when I have a blaster to open) I can decide if I'm collecting, the final phase of building a set, or if I'm in danger of simply accumulating these cards.  I'll explain the difference between "collecting" and as I see it, it's ugly step sister "accumulating", later as well.