2010 Topp National Chicle baseball

2010 Topps National Chicle Baseball.

The Task: Base set of 275 cards.

Timeline: May 2 to May 31

What it took: (4) 24-pack/8-card per pack boxes (one from card show, one from Blowout Cards and two from Dave & Adam's).

Average price per box: $73

Sold: Complete set: $27.75; (13) autos/jerseys/box toppers: $154.93

The Closer: #94 Nyjer Morgan

Let's put the blame on Upper Deck for why Topps Chicle popped up on my radar.

Sitting between the completion of a Topps Series 1 baseball set and arrival of Series 2, there was a gap in my baseball appetite. The Son and I had opened a couple packs of 2010 Upper Deck, but it's just lame with and uninviting.

We could have picked up an Upper Deck box for $50, but it didn't seem like a good idea. Next to it, however, was the new Chicle baseball. Now, there's only two tables at the monthly Rolling Meadows Holiday Inn shows who sell wax, so I surveyed both.

One had it for $78, the other for $90. One said it was brand new, the other said collectors were buzzed about it.

It's not typical of me to go for a gimmick set, this one featuring what are essentially mini painting of each player. Then again, Topps T206 had me hooked -- and chasing the set -- for months in late 2009.

Sold.

The first box, as it should, gave me a solid foundation with no dupes and a helluva range of hits. The Son pulled this out of his first pack, stating very simply, "Oh, it's the one on the box."

We also hit on a Tommy Manzella auto, a Prince Fielder game-jersey, Robinson Cano game-jersey and Joe Saunders 1-of-1 Cowhide parallel. The total package impressed me, leading to Box 2.

Again, solid progress toward knocking out the set. One reason why is the short-prints and card back variations don't overwhelm each pack. The hits again were strong: Thurman Munson game pants #/99, Madison Bumgarner auto #/199; Johnny Damon 1-of-1 cyan plate, a Koji Uehara black parallel #/25 and a Jason Bartlett auto.

Seeing the finish line with 32 cards to go, it was time to try to seal the deal. In charge of ordering a Topps Series 2 case, it seemed only natural to tack on a couple more Chicle boxes.

The whole order showed up late Friday of Memorial Day weekend, but we eased into the ripping because of nice weather.

Box 3 proved sluggish, yielding only 13 missing cards and the hits weren't as tremendous or were a dupe ... which is worse? The autographs were Tommy Manzella (again) and Neftali Feliz, and the jersey was Elvis Andrus.

Oh well, the hot streak couldn't last forever.

Box 4 did it's job, giving me the final 19 cards, with #94 Nyjer Morgan being the final one crossed off the list before the hits appeared. It was a good thing, as we picked up another Jason Bartlett auto, a Nate McClouth auto, a Jay Bruce artist's proof auto #10 and, again, a Thurman Munson game-used pants ... this one #/199.

Looking back, the number of doubles didn't seem like the actual stack we're left with. We ended up with 24 rookie and veteran SPs, 13 Bazooka back variations and 25 Chicle back variations (at least one SP in each).

Four boxes and four weeks to complete the set made this a mixed bag. Should it take that many boxes to piece together 275 cards? How unlikely is it to pull duplicate autos from two guys and get a numbered jersey of the same guy twice, not to mention we got the same box-topper Cabinet cards (Tris Speaker) from Box 3 and Box 4.

Now, if it were two Musial autos or two Mickey Mantle jersey, I'd be singing a different tune.

Here's the gallery of hits:

Checklist Chasing is written by Dan Campana, a media consultant, former newspaper reporter and longtime collector living in the Chicago suburbs with a sports-minded 5-year-old and an understanding wife.