Collect call—2010 Topps Series 2 baseball

Posted Jun 13, 2010 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jun 13, 2010 at 08:24 PM

After a solid showing with 2010 Series 1 baseball, Topps kept the bar high for Series 2.

Nothing flashy, but still some fun cards to collect and some new inserts to chase.

Likes its predecessor, Series 2 hobby boxes contain 36 packs with 10 cards to a pack. Each pack will contain a Topps Attax Toppstown code card, a set that allows younger collectors to redeem the cards on a website for some interactive fun.

The hobby box I sampled contained 247 of the 330 cards in the base set, or just a hair under 75 percent. There are pie-in-the-face variations (see card of Rays pitcher David Price as an example). There also are 21 short-printed variations; every card between 340 and 540 that ends in a zero is a variation card of a Hall of Famer.

And as always, there are gold parallel cards and Red Hot Rookies (10 of them to redeem in Series 2).

Several insert sets make a return appearance. Cards Your Mom Threw Out is a 58-card set that appears once in every three packs. The box I sampled had 12, including the variation of the original card back.

Also returning was another 50-card set of Turkey Red insert, seeded every four packs. And Legendary Lineage adds 30 more cards to the Series 1 collection, coming every four packs. Peak Performance is another 50-card insert set and can be found in every four packs on average.

The other returning promotion is Topps’ Million Card Giveaway is simple: an insert in every six packs of Topps Series 2 has a code on the back. Go to the website (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.

No such luck in the box I sampled — 1976 Larry Lintz, 1980 Vern Ruhle, 1994 Eddie Taubensee, 2001 Danny Patterson, 2002 Ted Lilly and a 2007 Orlando Hudson. Ouch.

However, Topps does have a special Stephen Strasburg card that can only be obtained by unlocking a specific Million Card Giveaway code. The Strasburg card will carry No. 661.

There are some new inserts in Series 2, too. The Vintage Legends Collection features 25 players a legend in a Topps card design he had never appeared in.  For example, Lou Gehrig is featured on a card with a 1958 design, while Christy Mathewson is displayed in a 1972 card design. What’s nice about these cards is the paragraph on the card back, which takes the player’s best statistical season and projects into an earlier season. So, Reggie Jackson’s 1980 stats are mentioned in the card that features him in a 1955 design; Jackson’s 41 homers in 1980 would have led the American League in 1955, for example.

Topps 2020 has a three-dimensional look to it and contains 20 cards. The History of the World Series set commemorates a defining moment during the Fall Classic.

One quirky insert is the You Sketch It card. It’s basically a card that has a border around a white surface. Collectors get to create their own card, and Topps will have contests to find the best ones.

Typically, there is not much sizzle in Topps’ signature product, usually one relic or autograph. This box was no exception, with one relic — a Peak Performance game-used card of Alexei Ramirez.

But overall, another solid effort from Topps. The design of the card is still crisp and sharp, and the backs of the cards contain good information (although sometimes the writer launches into some hyperbole — read the back of Jon Lester’s card, for an example).