My first 2010 Topps pack has a southern accent

For real this time. No funny business.

I actually did receive my first pack of 2010 Topps cards on Monday. But it didn't come from Target. And it didn't come from Wal-Mart.

It came from Georgia.

Yep. The southerners with the beautiful weather and the beautiful women and all the best card shops are taking pity on me again. Or at least one guy is. And I'll gladly accept his pity this time, and also display it here for all to see.

Dayf sent me an unopened pack of baseball cards! Well, damn, let's see what I tore open in the school parking lot as the wind tried to topple my vehicle!

First the note. My scanner doesn't like hand-writing. So, if you can't read it, it sayeth: "Hi Owlie. You never get these up in the frozen north until they've been everywhere else for two weeks. I thought you'd like a pack early for a change. Enjoy! Dave."

Aww. I really, really like pity. We actually don't have any snow on the ground at this very moment, so I feel a bit guilty about this. But we're supposed to get hit again real soon, and I'll turn on the water works any day now. I promise.

All right, I know, I know, on with the cards. Don't worry. I'm showing them all. Every single item. So get ready.

First card of the year:

It's Luke Scott, acknowledging someone for the privilege of being the first guy I pulled from a pack of 2010 cards.

Nice going, Luke. Your 2008 Topps Heritage card still remains insanely elusive, but good work here. This marks the second straight year that I have pulled an Oriole as my first card of the collecting season.

A couple minor observations:

1. We have a splendid view of a businessman's gut. He is wearing an orange tie, so it makes me wonder if it is an Oriole official.

2. Collectors get upset over photos showing the backs of players. It's not ideal. But I see what Topps is doing the last couple of years. It is trying to make each individual photo special, unique in its own way. I think that's what this does.

There is the back. Look at that massive curly-cue french fry "O." And the card numbers are nice and readable this year.

Card 2: Alexei Ramirez, White Sox. Ramirez is tracking a pop fly on Mother's Day. He's going with the three-wristband look.

Card 3: Brett Anderson, Athletics. Ooh, boy, an A. I have so little to say about the A's. Mostly I praise the team's choice of colors, since there aren't a load of teams wearing green, and then move on.

Card 4: Henry Rodriguez, Athletics. Another A. I know nothing about him. He's a rookie, and there's the new Rookie Card designation. I have no opinion on that.

Card 5: Albert Pujols, Cardinals. Hey, this makes up for last year when I spent several months trying to get the Pujols card. Yay!

There's the back. Pujols cracking his knuckles. I haven't seen anyone do that since grade school.

Card 6: Houston Astros team card. I like these quite a bit. The Astros appear to be celebrating a win before a sparsely attended crowd (Rockies? Judging by the purple).

That is the back of the team cards. I'm guessing the manager image on the back means there won't be manager cards this year.

Card 7: Colorado Rockies, Franchise History. A new subset this year.

That is the back, with franchise leaders in respective categories. A Rockies fan needs to educate me on the statue in front of the stadium. I was going to crack wise about it being Dante Bichette, and then I thought, I don't dump on the Padres enough. Time for me to get off the Rockies and return to my roots. 2010 is the year of Piling on the Padres! Woo-hoo!

Card 8: Robin Yount, 1975, Cards Your Mother Threw Out insert set. A nice little idea, although Topps has pretty much stripped the reprint trick naked. For the record, my mother didn't throw out this card. I traded it away. Oops.

But I got a new one. Here it is. You'll note that the reprint features bigger letters for the team name and a slightly different font, along with the Topps logo.

Card 9: Josh Hamilton, Tales of the Game insert. This covers Hamilton's Home Run Derby performance. Great moment. It would have been even better if I could picture it without Chris Berman bellowing in the background. Unfortunately, I can't.

Card 10: Albert Pujols Toppstown item. The back says Pujols idol growing up was Julio Franco. That's cool.

Topps Attax ad. It's baaack! I still need Dodgers from last year's set.

Card 11: John Lannan, Nationals. I think it's a law that I'm required to get a National in my first pack each year.

Card 12: Arizona Diamondbacks Franchise History. Gee, I hope that's the T-shirt that Schilling is wearing and his gut really isn't that big.

So, that's my first pack of the year, courtesy of dayf. No short-prints. No Dodgers. A couple of key cards. Basically, a so-so pack.

I still plan on grabbing a whole bunch of packs when my stories finally stock them so I can decide if I'm collecting this set or not. There is stuff I like and stuff I don't, but I'll save that for when I find cards all by myself.

Now, I bet you think dayf's a nice guy for thinking of me and buying me a pack of cards.

Yes. He can be nice. He can also be evil. He can be both. Right there in the same package.

You didn't see the rest of the package. But you will. Someday.

A hint:

Woof.

That is all.