Maybe some Green Tints in the 2011 Heritage issue…

When I ran across this image of a couple of 1962 Topps Green Tints, it got me to wondering if Topps would be creating a Green Tint variation for its 2011 Heritage issue, which will be based on the 1962 Topps Baseball original.

Obviously, I could call the gang at Topps and ask, but they are always sworn to secrecy about what’s coming up in these things, and they do a better job of keeping mum than some of our national government agencies do.

Anyway, I think producing a suitable number of Green Tints would be a neat touch, and given all the careful attention to detail that Topps has put into the Heritage Series over the years, I guess I’d be surprised if those ghoulish Green Tints weren’t represented in some fashion when the 2011 Heritage product rolls out next year.

Actually, 1962 presents a lot of cool possibilities for the Topps graphics guys – I don’t mean to be sexist; are there gals? – to get creative, even beyond creating a green second series or whatever.

Since 1962 marked the last year of extensive use of flexichromes – hand-painted black-and-white photos – I think it would be cool to see cards recreated in that fashion as best as they could. The curious flexichromes could be found sporadically after 1962, but by then the reliance was on a better-quality photograph than had been the case in many previous issues, making the occasional use of the hand-painted cards even more jarring than previously.

For 2011 Heritage, a Babe Ruth Special to either precisely reprint or mimic the original would be nice, as would “In Action” versions of some modern players, or in a World Series subset. I don’t know about the feasibility of the Babe Ruth thing; Topps had an exclusive agreement with CMG Worldwide, but it expires in 2011 and in any event Ruth wasn’t included in the roster of immortals that were included in the deal.

And I know I am wailing in the darkness, but I still wish there was a way for Topps to do these Heritage issues without the inclusion of the brutal short prints. I fully understand that this is done every year as a means of aiding the many dealers who handle the product, since it makes it virtually impossible to complete a set without resorting either to the Internet or a dealer to find the missing short-printed numbers.

At least in the case of 1962, wouldn’t it be interesting if Topps could use the green tint angle as a means of checking out what would happen if the overall distribution were handled differently than it has been over the last decade or so.

If the actual 2011 (1962) Heritage issue were produced with equal distribution of all the regular-issue cards, perhaps a full set could be put together by buying three or four boxes, which I don’t believe is possible now. Then each of the second series cards could be short printed with a green tint version, offering something for dealers and collectors who want a more imposing challenge than just the regular set.

I know it’s not likely to happen – even if it were somehow deemed a good idea, it’s probably way too late in the process – but I just thought I’d toss it out there as a topic for discussion.

And I’m sitting on another grand idea for the Topps guys via the Heritage program, which I’ll proffer in a couple of days.

You know me; I always want to be helpful.

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