I just recently hit level 30 and have started to do Monster Island and VB.

What's the deal with all the components dropping from mobs here? This seems like a departure from the first 30 levels and I find it annoying.

Up to lvl 30, I'd guess that I'd average 1 loot drop per 6 enemies or so. In MB and VB almost every mob drops something and 75% or more its a crafting component. I don't want to miss out on blues or greens so I find myself having to "Take Items" from every mob and picking up a lot more junk.

So, a question: What good are any of these component drops? Are they used to craft anything useful later on? I assume they are practically worthless on the AH as every character has to have tons of them...

Is it just me?

It's just you.j/k
Quite a few of those drops are worth about 5 gold each on the AH.
It's best to never sell anything different til You are sure of the price.
Spend a couple minutes in the AH and see what you can get.
GL

5 G each! ....Ok so I'll be more than happy to pick these up from now on:D

On a secondary thought, the AH must be extremely overinflated as I can easily round up stacks of 50 in about an hour.

The ones you are getting 50 of an hour are the easier to find ones that sell for a lot less.

As for their use, they are for the crafted travel powers mainly.