Collect call: 2010 Topps Series 1 baseball

Posted Feb 16, 2010 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Feb 16, 2010 at 05:39 PM

It’s a one-in-a-million shot, but still worth a try.

At least that’s what Topps is touting in its signature product, the venerable Series 1 baseball set (to be followed by Series 2 in a few months).

The company’s ambitious Million Card Giveaway is simple: an insert in every six packs of Topps Series 1 has a code on the back. Go to a Web site (http://www.toppsmillion.com), register and enter your code. At that point, the possibilities are endless. Every Topps card produced since 1952 is fair game, including a Mickey Mantle rookie card.

Of course, you also might wind up with a 2008 Topps Johnny Cueto (like I did when I sampled a hobby box recently), but there are plenty of chances to score other big cards.

Topps is now the official baseball card of Major League Baseball since the company announced a multiyear licensing deal. Its first 2010 product has a bold, dynamic look, and of course the official team logos are prominent on the cards. At $1.99 a pack, it’s still one of the best deals for collectors, particularly young ones.

A hobby box contains 36 packs, with 10 cards to a pack. Every pack contains a Toppstown card — another promotion aimed at youth, with an interactive site to boot. There are also gold variations of the Toppstown card, so look carefully. The card number on the back is the best way to differentiate them.

The box I sampled had 252 of the 330 base cards (76 percent). And here’s the best part — not one duplicate card. Love it.

As usual the set has gold parallel cards, this year numbered to 2010.

There are plenty of insert sets to chase in Series 1. History of the Game commemorates some of baseball’s milestones and greatest moments. Tales of the Game glorify some of the sports great stories. Legendary Lineage combines a team’s star from the past with a current performer. When They Were Young shows current players as they looked as youths — a nice nod to the 1972 set, which had Boyhood Photos of the Stars. The design is different this time, but the sentiment is the same.

Peak Performance inserts highlight players’ spectacular achievements, and the Turkey Red inserts return the 1910s feel of the original set.

The Cards Your Mom Threw Out shows card fronts of baseball legends and current stars in the Topps card they appeared in at the time. A collector can stack a 1968 Mantle or a 1960 Carl Yastrzemski rookie next to a 1993 Derek Jeter rookie, for example, without shelling out the cash for the real cards.

I love the insert name, since after all, my mom also threw out my cards when we moved to Florida in 1968. I managed to obtain them again through trades and sales as an adult, but it sure was a chore. I’m sure others out there have had the same experience.

The big hit to the hobby box I saw was a game-used autograph, Peak Performance insert card of Hanley Ramirez, numbered 50/50.

Oh yes — the other Million Card Giveaways I found? Dave Winfield (1987), Rick Reed (1998); Lee Maye (1966); Steve Kline (1974) and Mel Stottlemyre (1974).

The site was overloaded for a while on Monday, the first day of the promotion, but it was much easier to log in to it today. The site acts like a vault, in which a collector can view the cards he won. You can send away for them if you want, but the collector will have to pay shipping. So I’d keep the Rick Reed in the vault, unless you absolutely have to have it in your hand.