MikeLortz.com/JordiScrubbings.com

Like thousands and thousands of other young baseball fans in the late 80s and early 90s, I was a big baseball card collector. Like other collectors back then, I stopped collecting somewhere in my late teens with boxes and boxes of what is now nearly worthless pieces of cardboard stashed in the closet of my old bedroom.

(Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll clean them out soon.)

When I was into it, collecting baseball cards was fun. It was also my introduction to stats. But that was before the card industry went bonkers with inserts, special sets, and promotions. Granted, I understand the logic and economics behind supply and demand and why inserting one super special Joe Mauer autograph card per 10,000 packs would cause collectors to tear through boxes like they were looking for Golden Tickets to the Wonka Factory.

But for the casual consumer, it is confusing and annoying.

Since I left the card hobby in the 1990s, I’ve bought a pack of Topps each year just to see the latest style. I was always a Topps guy, so from a purchasing standpoint I am not too bothered by their recent monopoly on MLB licensing. They are still out there and still making cards.

This weekend, however, I spent a little more than usual, purchasing an entire box of Topps 2010 Baseball Series 1 packs. “Entire box” is a bit of a misnomer, however, as there were only 10 packs in the box as compared to the 36 that were in boxes when I was collecting. There were also more cards per pack in yesteryear – 15 versus the current 10. That’s 340 more cards per box. And of course, packs were cheaper, at less than a dollar back in the early 90s compared to two dollars a pack now. That means whereas the average card back in the day cost 4.6 cents, today they are 10 cents each.

So with that old anticipation, I tore threw the 10 packs to see who I got. Ironically, the first card in the first pack was a Rays Franchise History card (#234) depicting Akinori Iwamora and Jason Bartlett celebrating after the Rays defeated in the Red Sox in the 2008 playoffs. That was definitely a good start to my 2010 card journey.

After the Rays Franchise card, however, I started to feel like Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land. Each of the first eight packs had only seven cards that fit the set. The other three cards belonged to insert sets and promotions. There were also subsets of the insert sets.  Then, the last two packs contained cards that looked like they belonged in the regular set, but the backs of each card were made of the old-school cardboard instead of the glossy material cards are made of these days.

It was all very confusing. For example, I got two Derek Jeter cards that looked just like the 1993 Topps Jeter rookie card that I’m sure I still have a bunch of. Did I mention both of the “new” 1993 Jeter cards have different backs? One is part of a set that claims to be “The Cards Your Mom Threw Out” and the other has the exact same back as the 1993 version. It is the same card 17 years later.

(By the way, I have to disagree with Topps on including Jeter in the “The Cards Your Mom Threw Out” set. If more Moms threw out some the 10 billion “old” 1993 Jeters Topps produced, maybe mine would be worth something. The other cards I got of that set, one Reggie Jackson and two Mickey Mantles fit much better. By the way, is the set all Yankees, or was that just coincidence?)

Besides the “new” 1993 Jeter, I also got a “new” 1987 Bo Jackson card. This card messed with my head, because as the old 1993 cards were somewhat glossy, the ’87 cards were cardboard and felt like it. This card looked like the ’87 card, read like the ’87 card, but was a glossy impostor. I wonder if the extra shine makes it more valuable than the original ’87 Bo Jacksons I have stashed with the Jeter rookie cards.

Adding to the confusion was two cards I got of Mariners rookie catcher Adam Moore. One belongs the actual 2010 set (I think), and the other is gold framed and has an additional number on the back of 1150/2010. Maybe that’s good, maybe I need to hold on to this card and hope Adam Moore becomes a superstar.

Other cards I got included:

• Ten “ToppsTown.com” cards. Not sure if these are promotional, or part of a set.
• Three “Legendary Lineage” cards: Nolan Ryan/Zack Greinke, Whitey Ford/CC Sabathia, and Cal Ripken/Derek Jeter.
• Three “Peak Performance” cards: Honus Wagner, Bob Gibson, and Tim Lincecum.
• Two “History of the Game” cards: First Hall of Fame Class and First Night Game.
• Two “Tales of the Game” cards: Reggie Jackson and Josh Hamilton.
• Two “Prominent Base Ball Players” cards: CC Sabathia and Stephen Drew.
• One “When They Were Young” card of Daniel McCutchen (This is a cool looking card as it is a pic of McCutchen in Little League. That’s a neat idea.)
• One “2010 Topps Attax” card. Again, not sure if this is a real card or a promotional ad I could throw away.
• One “Topps Million Card Giveaway” card.
• One “Baltimore Orioles Frank Robinson 1970 World Series Commemorative Patch” card.

All these to go with the 40 cards that are actually part of the 2010 Topps set and the nine cardboard-backed cards that look that they should go, but I am sure they don’t. The only thing missing was a cardboard map or almanac to lead me through this mess. Good thing I won’t be buying any more cards until 2011.