Why are some cards out of collector number sequence in MTG:Lord of the Rings

Question

If you sort cards by collector number for MTG: Lord of the Rings, you see that almost all the white cards have collector numbers of 1-18:

https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&order=set&q=%28game%3Apaper%29+set%3Altr

But, if you scroll to the end of the list: https://scryfall.com/search?as=grid&order=set&page=5&q=%28game%3Apaper%29+set%3Altr&unique=cards

You will see a number of cards that are "out of order." So, for instance, Frodo, Determined Hero has a collector number of 289, and Saradoc, Master of Buckland has a collector number of 282. Well beyond the other 18 cards that are in "normal" sequence.

Is there a reason for this discontinuity? [Note, Frodo collector number 289 is "normal" art, there's an alternate art, with collector number 388.]

Answer 1

There is a reason! The Lord of the Rings set code has lots of different ranges representing different product releases, and the numbering will restart for each of those ranges.

• The main set, found in boosters, spans collector numbers 1–281: https://scryfall.com/search?q=set%3Altr+cn%E2%89%A4281&unique=cards&as=grid&order=name
• Saradoc thru Elanor Gardner (282–286) are exclusive to Jumpstart packs: https://scryfall.com/search?q=set%3Altr+is%3Ajumpstart&order=set&as=grid&unique=cards (and so are another set of five that also show up in that link)
• Frodo and several others (287–298) are exclusive to the starter decks, which were themed as Aragorn & Arwen versus Sauron: https://scryfall.com/search?order=set&q=set%3Altr+is%3Astarterdeck&unique=prints
• Gandalf, Saruman, and Sauron (299–301) represent a set of promos: https://scryfall.com/search?q=set%3Altr+cn%E2%89%A5299+cn%E2%89%A4301&unique=prints&as=grid&order=set

Then from 302 onwards we reach showcases, extended arts, borderless, the winter release that comes out on November 3rd, etc.

If you visit the Scryfall set page for Lord of the Rings it tries to group most of these cards by the type of release they are, though it's not easy to go from the card page to that grouping.

Answer 2

The Scryfall page for "set:LTR" shows why the collector numbers are ordered that way. The "in boosters" group has the contiguous set of collectors numbers from 1 to 281, plus 332 to 339 for alternate arts of Nazgûl. The "Jumpstart cards" group has numbers 282 through 286, and 824 to 828, and that's where Saradoc, Master of Buckland is. The "starter decks" group has the numbers 287 to 298, and that's where Frodo, Determined Hero is.