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I know I am late to the party but I finally remembered to bring home the 2010 Topps Blaster I bought at lunch and left in my desk for about two weeks. Better late than never though. Although after seeing the pictures of 2010 Topps floating around the blogosphere I was not totally excited about the new design.

For me the 2010 Topps design features too much foil and the colored shading on the left side serves no purpose for me. I am happy with the backs even with the shading. The full stats are always a plus and some of the cards have copy which can sometimes be pretty good. The new Rookie Card logo is good, not too distracting or taking up too much space. My favorite inserts series from Topps is back as well, the Topps All-Star Rookies.

The 2010 Topps cards I am most excited about are the Topps All-Star Rookies of course but also the Tales of the Game inserts. When I saw the picture of the Jeter Flip I knew I had to have that card and the set. The Topps Million Card Giveaway also sounds like a good marketing promotion and offers a chance at an historic card or two. I’ll probably end up with a few 1988-2000 Topps commons but someone is going to be very happy.

Pack One

Base cards- Joey Votto, Chris Snyder, Chase Utley, Jose Valverde and Robinzon Diaz

Inserts- Cards Your Mom Threw Out Cal Ripken Jr., Turkey Red Nolan Ryan, Topps Town Adrian Gonzalez

That was a pretty good pack getting a Ripken and a Ryan. The Jose Valverde card is a nice action shot although you can’t really see him.

Pack Two

Base cards- Chris Iannetta, Brewers Franchise History, John Lannan, Franchise History Diamondbacks and Ken Griffey Jr.

Inserts- Gold Card Jon Garland 194/2010, Peak Performance Mell Ott, Topps Town David Wright

It sure was strange seeing Griffey Jr. listed as a Designated Hitter. My how time flies, I can remember him flying into walls and dominating both in the field and at the plate.

Pack Three

Base cards- Darin Erstad, Jorge De La Rosa, Buster Posey Rookie, Matt Carson Rookie, Justin Upton and Jayson Nix

Inserts- Topps Million Card Giveway, Topps Town Justin Upton

Alright, I got a Million Card Giveaway redemption. There are a couple of photos I like from this pack. Erstad is about to squeeze the ball into his glove with the mechanical scoreboard in the background and Upton sliding into third with Hale on his hands and knees making sure he slides.

Pack Four

Base cards- Edwin Encarnacion, Jason Kendall, Joe Blanton and Joe Mauer

Inserts- Cards Your Mom Threw Out Jackie Robinson, Cards Your Mom Threw Out Alfonso Soriano, Legendary Lineage Honus Wagner and Hanley Ramirez and Topps Town Josh Hamilton

It is always a good day when you get a Jackie Robinson.

Pack Five

Base cards- Neftali Feliz, Adam LaRoche, Nick Swisher, Cleveland Indians and Cliff Lee

Inserts- History of the Game Roger Maris, Turkey Red Yovani Gallardo and Topps Town Kevin Youkilis

I am really anxious to see Neftali Feliz back on the mound for the Rangers. He has a tremendous arm and a boatload of potential. The Maris History of the game is solid and I will be building that insert set this year.

Pack Six

Base cards- Jonathan Papelbon, Angel Pagan, Yankees Franchise History, Garret Anderson and Jair Jurrjens

Inserts- Tales of the Game Jimmy Piersall, Peak Performance Ryan Howard and Topps Town Ryan Howard

Well it wasn’t the Jeter Flip but it is the first card in the Tales of the Game issue I have.

Pack Seven

Base cards- Jerry Hairston Jr., Omar Vizquel, Albert Pujols, League Leaders Fielder, Howard, Pujols and Lance Berkman

Inserts- Cards Your Mom Threw Out Dwight Gooden, When They Were Young Russell Martin, Topps Town Adam Jones and 2010 Topps Attax Free Code

Pack Eight

Base cards- Fernando Martinez, Brandon Phillips, Bobby Abreu, Josh Johnson, Gerald Laird and League Leaders Hernandez, Sabathia and Verlander

Inserts- Legendary Lineage Bob Gibson and Tim Lincecum, Topps Town Todd Helton

Pack Nine

Base cards- Topps All-Star Rookie Chris Coghlan, Bobby Jenks, Max Scherzer and Nate Schierholtz

Inserts- Denard Span Gold 611/2010, Cards Your Mom Threw Out Nolan Ryan, Peak Performance Jimmie Foxx and Topps Town Miguel Cabrera

This was the first of the Target Retro Grey Backs, you get two per blaster from Target. My first 2010 Topps All-Star Rookie is a parallel, go figure.

Pack Ten

Base cards- Roy Halladay, Adam LaRoche, Jason Kendal, Albert Pujols and Rockies Franchise History

Inserts- Cards Your Mom Threw Out Kevin Youkilis, Turkey Red Ryne Sandberg and Topps Town David Wright

Commerative Patch Card

Roy Halladay

It felt good to open my first blaster of the season and the assortment of players and cards was pretty good. As I mentioned above I don’t like the design of the base cards but I am leaning towards building the base set anyway. The problem is the Parallels. I like the grey backs better but they are the parallel. I may put my set together and not worry about the parallels just get 1-330 no matter what back or logos they have. The Topps All-Star Rookies though will have to be actual base cards, no parallels.

As for the inserts I will collect the Tales of the Game and the History of the Game. There will be other cards that I keep like some of the Cards Your Mother Threw Out as there are several players I collect in that insert series. The When They Were Young inserts have some interest for me but it will strictly be on a player basis. I am also going to be looking for the Million Card Giveaway cards hoping to get a huge surprise when I input the redemption codes.

Well, here we go, another baseball card season but this year we only have one fully licensed issuer. I am glad it was Topps that was left standing but I do miss the other brands. That doesn’t mean I want a return to unlimited issues flooding the market but it would be nice see a few more choices out there.

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