2010 Topps Chrome

At about $0.80/card, Topps Chrome remains about the most expensive baseball card available at the local big box store. Consequently, I don't buy much of it. This year I bought 8 4-card packs. Chrome cards often have a problem with bowing. I don't know if Topps fools around with the paper properties every year or not but this year is particularly bad. The cards are bowed a good quarter inch from flat. That makes them very hard to scan. Here's a short run down of what I got. Of the 36 cards, 29 were base cards.

Prince FielderI love this photo but what are they doing?

Gordan Beckham #36
I'm showing this card to show that Topps reverted to the old All-Star Rookie Cup for the Chrome cards.

Jimmy Rollins #116
I only pulled one Phillie from the pack. Would have loved to have gotten Ryan Howard and Roy Halladay.

Eric Young, Jr. #171
Nice action shot. You call it, does he catch this ball or not?

Tommy Manzella #207
I also pulled only one Astro. Manzella did not have a great season.

Yovani Gallardo #58
This is one of only 2 Refractor cards I pulled. The scan doesn't do the rainbow goodness justice.

Vernon Wells #51
And I pulled one Purple Refractor, numbered 099/599. Wells won the 2010 Branch Rickey Award.

Jay Bruce #122
I don't know the odds, but I pulled 4 X-Fractor cards. I'd expect to pull more of the regular Refractor cards.

I have a number of these cards in the base Topps version. It's always funny to me that Topps does not use the same photos on the Chrome cards in all cases. Some times they use an entirely difference photo and sometimes they use the same photo but crop it differently. I always wonder at the thought process going on with the photo selections.