2001 Topps Heritage Baseball cards

The 2001 Topps Heritage was created in the style of the original 1952 Topps set. 1952 Topps is widely considered the first "modern baseball card set." It was designed by Sy Berger. Many collectors agree that the original 1952 Topps set is the greatest set of all time. It was the first "mainstream" baseball card issue.

The 2001 Heritage set is similar to the 1952 Topps set in many ways other than just looks. Both sets featured 407 base cards. The first 80 cards came in two variations, either a "red back" or a "black back" depending on the color of ink used on the back of the card.

2001 Topps Heritage also featured what seems to be the perfect selection of bonus insert cards and autographs.

Short Prints

SP's or "short prints" are base cards that were printed in less quantity than the other base cards, causing them to be more difficult to find. Cards #1-80 are all SP's, and also cards #311-407 are all SP's.

Chrome

A "Chrome" set parallels 110 of the regular issue cards. The print run for each Chrome card is only 552, causing them to maintain incredible popularity.

#CP1 Cal Ripken
#CP2 Jim Thome
#CP3 Derek Jeter
#CP4 Andres Galarraga
#CP5 Carlos Delgado
#CP6 Roberto Alomar
#CP7 Tom Glavine
#CP8 Gary Sheffield
#CP9 Mo Vaughn
#CP10 Preston Wilson
#CP11 Mike Mussina
#CP12 Greg Maddux
#CP13 Ivan Rodriguez
#CP14 Al Leiter
#CP15 Seth Etherton
#CP16 Edgardo Alfonzo
#CP17 Richie Sexson
#CP18 Andruw Jones
#CP19 Bartolo Colon
#CP20 Darin Erstad
#CP21 Kevin Brown
#CP22 Mike Sweeney
#CP23 Mike Piazza
#CP24 Rafael Palmeiro
#CP25 Terrence Long
#CP26 Kazuhiro Sasaki
#CP27 John Olerud
#CP28 Mark McGwire
#CP29 Fred McGriff
#CP30 Todd Helton
#CP31 Curt Schilling
#CP32 Alex Rodriguez
#CP33 Jeff Kent
#CP34 Pat Burrell
#CP35 Jim Edmonds
#CP36 Mark Mulder
#CP37 Troy Glaus
#CP38 Jay Payton
#CP39 Jermaine Dye
#CP40 Larry Walker
#CP41 Ken Griffey Jr.
#CP42 Jeff Bagwell
#CP43 Rick Ankiel
#CP44 Mark Redman
#CP45 Edgar Martinez
#CP46 Mike Hampton
#CP47 Manny Ramirez
#CP48 Ray Durham
#CP49 Rafael Furcal
#CP50 Sean Casey
#CP51 Jose Canseco
#CP52 Barry Bonds
#CP53 Tim Hudson
#CP54 Barry Zito
#CP55 Chuck Finley
#CP56 Magglio Ordonez
#CP57 David Wells
#CP58 Jason Giambi
#CP59 Tony Gwynn
#CP60 Vladimir Guerrero
#CP61 Randy Johnson
#CP62 Bernie Williams
#CP63 Craig Biggio
#CP64 Jason Kendall
#CP65 Pedro Martinez
#CP66 Mark Quinn
#CP67 Frank Thomas
#CP68 Nomar Garciaparra
#CP69 Brian Giles
#CP70 Shawn Green
#CP71 Roger Clemens
#CP72 Sammy Sosa
#CP73 Juan Gonzalez
#CP74 Orlando Hernandez
#CP75 Chipper Jones
#CP76 Josh Hamilton
#CP77 Adam Johnson
#CP78 Shaun Boyd
#CP79 Alfonso Soriano
#CP80 Derek Thompson
#CP81 Adrian Gonzalez
#CP82 Ryan Anderson
#CP83 Corey Patterson
#CP84 J.R. House
#CP85 Sean Burroughs
#CP86 Bryan Wolff
#CP87 John Lackey
#CP88 Ben Sheets
#CP89 Timo Perez
#CP90 Robert Keppel
#CP91 Luis Montanez
#CP92 Sean Burnett
#CP93 Justin Wayne
#CP94 Eric Munson
#CP95 Steve Smyth
#CP96 Matt Galante
#CP97 Carmen Cali
#CP98 Brian Sellier
#CP99 David Parrish
#CP100 Danny Borrell
#CP101 Chad Petty
#CP102 Dominic Rich
#CP103 Josh Axelson
#CP104 Alex Serrano
#CP105 Juan Uribe
#CP106 Travis Baptist
#CP107 Alan Mahaffey
#CP108 Kyle Lohse
#CP109 Victor Hall
#CP110 Scott Pratt

Autographs

Boasting an autograph list of 52 cards, Topps included 26 players from 1952 and 26 of 2001's baseball stars. Many collectors claim this inaugural Topps Heritage issue has one of the best selections of autograph cards in recent memory. This set would be known in later Heritage issues as "Real One" Autographs.

Topps even bought back 25 original 1952 Willie Mays cards and had him sign them. I believe these were randomly inserted as bonus items in 2001 Topps Heritage boxes and are known as "AutoProofs".

Topps included redemption cards for Eddie Mathews autographs and bat cards, but unfortunately Eddie died right after Heritage was released and none of his cards were ever signed. Topps offered a red ink Willie Mays autograph (non #'d) in place of the Eddie Mathews autograph or bat card.

The cards can be found autographed in either Blue or Red ink. Each player signed a total of 200 cards in "blue ink" and only 52 cards in "red ink" (with the exeption of Willie Mays red ink cards -- the unnumbered ones were redemptions for the Eddie Mathews autograph).

Also, Larry Doby didnt sign any of his 2001 Topps Heritage cards, but I think he still appears on the checklist.

THA-RH RICHARD HIDALGO
THA-TL TERRENCE LONG
THA-CD CARLOS DELGADO
THA-CJ CHIPPER JONES
THA-TG TOM GLAVINE
THA-GJ GEOFF JENKINS
THA-JM JOE MAYS
THA-FV FERNANDO VINA
THA-CP COREY PATTERSON
THA-JV JOSE VIDRO
THA-BB BARRY BONDS
THA-AR ALEX RODRIGUEZ
THA-AH AUBREY HUFF
THA-SPB SEAN BURROUGHS
THA-RW RANDY WOLF
THA-KB KRIS BENSON
THA-ML MIKE LAMB
THA-TH TODD HELTON
THA-MQ MARK QUINN
THA-MS MIKE SWEENEY
THA-ML MATT LAWTON
THA-MO MAGGLIO ORDONEZ
THA-MB MARK BUERHLE
THA-MR MARK REDMAN
THA-CF CLIFF FLOYD
THA-NG NOMAR GARCIAPARRA
THA-MV MICKEY VERNON
THA-HB HANK BAUER
THA-DD DOM DiMAGGIO
THA-LD LARRY DOBY
THA-JG JOE GARAGIOLA
THA-DG DICK GROAT
THA-MI MONTY IRVIN
THA-VL VERNON LAW
THA-EM ED MATHEWS
THA-WM WILLIE MAYS
THA-GM GIL McDOUGALD
THA-MM ORESTES MINOSO
THA-AP ANDY PAFKO
THA-PFR PHIL RIZZUTO
THA-PR "PREACHER" ROE
THA-JS JOHNNY SAIN
THA-HS HANK SAUER
THA-RS AL SCHOENDIENST
THA-BS BOBBY SHANTZ
THA-CS CURT SIMMONS
THA-ES ENOS SLAUGHTER
THA-DS DUKE SNIDER
THA-WS WARREN SPAHN
THA-BT BOBBY THOMSON
THA-HW HOYT WILHELM
THA-RR ROBIN ROBERTS

"Classic Renditions" Autographs

The autographed "Classic Renditions" are very tough to find. The set contains 3 players:

#CRA-BB Barry Bonds
#CRA-CJ Chipper Jones
#CRA-NG Nomar Garciaparra

"Classic Renditions" insert set (non-autographed)

#CR1 Mark McGwire
#CR2 Nomar Garciaparra
#CR3 Barry Bonds
#CR4 Sammy Sosa
#CR5 Chipper Jones
#CR6 Pat Burrell
#CR7 Frank Thomas
#CR8 Manny Ramirez
#CR9 Derek Jeter
#CR10 Ken Griffer Jr.

"New Age Performers" insert set

#NAP1 MIKE PIAZZA
#NAP2 SAMMY SOSA
#NAP3 ALEX RODRIGUEZ
#NAP4 BARRY BONDS
#NAP5 KEN GRIFFEY JR.
#NAP6 CHIPPER JONES
#NAP7 RANDY JOHNSON
#NAP8 DEREK JETER
#NAP9 NOMAR GARCIAPARRA
#NAP10 MARK McGWIRE
#NAP11 JEFF BAGWELL
#NAP12 PEDRO MARTINEZ
#NAP13 TODD HELTON
#NAP14 VLADIMIR GUERRERO
#NAP15 GREG MADDUX

"Then and Now" insert baseball card set

#TH1 YOGI BERRA MIKE PIAZZA
#TH2 DUKE SNIDER SAMMY SOSA
#TH3 WILLIE MAYS KEN GRIFFEY JR.
#TH4 PHIL RIZZUTO DEREK JETER
#TH5 PEE WEE REESE NOMAR GARCIAPARRA
#TH6 JACKIE ROBINSON ALEX RODRIGUEZ
#TH7 JOHNNY MIZE MARK McGWIRE
#TH8 BOB FELLER PEDRO MARTINEZ
#TH9 ROBIN ROBERTS GREG MADDUX
#TH10 WARREN SPAHN RANDY JOHNSON

"Clubhouse Collection" Autographs

Each card contains a piece of "Game Used" equipment and is also autographed. A limited edition of only 25 of each card was produced, and each card is hand numbered to only 25.