Sport: Baseball
Product: 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen blaster
Break Date: April 16, 2015
Hit Breakdown: No guaranteed hits
Summary: Topps Gypsy Queen was the first product that really got my interest when I dove back into sports card collecting after 15 or so years away. I was attracted to the design and the variety of chase cards that the set offered.
Each year, I'm eager to open up the new release, so after the cards hit my local retail big box store, I picked up a few blasters. I've found in recent years that Topps seems to front-load their retail releases with nicer cards, and this year seemed no different.
My first impression is I like this year's release better than the last few, at least design-wise; they still have a matte finish and thicker card stock, but went to a darker border this year. Of course, that will probably make the white corners and edges that GQ tends to have more pronounced, but out of the box they look good.
My first blaster was pretty nice. The best hit out of the break came out of it - a Billy Hamilton Gold Jumbo Relic, numbered to just 25. While I wish it wasn't white jersey, who's going to complain? The odds were somewhere north of 1:2,000 packs.
I also pulled a short-printed Reggie Jackson mini, the silver variation (numbered to /199). Reggie's a short print as it is, so the silver version is a pretty nice card, but minis are the bane of my card-collecting existence. I know there are folk out there who LOVE them, but I really can't stand them.
The second box was decent but not as strong as the first. The best hit out of it was another mini, a red Mookie Betts, numbered to /50. There was also a bronze framed /499 Yovani Gallardo in there, and a nice Trout insert that sold for full asking price on eBay about an hour after I listed it.
I didn't pull any photo variations that I'm aware of – Topps used the same card back serial numbers on all versions of the base, so I bounced my cards off of the list I found online and all seemed to be base versions.
All told, it was a successful break. Another year, another attractive Gypsy Queen set.
Grade for the product: A-
Grade for the break: B+
Blaster #1
Jumbo Relics Gold /25: Billy Hamilton
Mini Silver /199: Reggie Jackson
The Queen's Throwbacks: Nelson Cruz
Walk-Off Winners: Mookie Wilson
Blaster #2
Mini Red /50: Mookie Betts
Bronze Framed /499: Yovani Gallardo
The Queen's Throwbacks: Mike Trout
Glove Stories: Dustin Ackley
Pillars of the Community: David Wright
Walk-Off Winners: Evan Longoria
My first impression is I like this year's release better than the last few, at least design-wise; they still have a matte finish and thicker card stock, but went to a darker border this year. Of course, that will probably make the white corners and edges that GQ tends to have more pronounced, but out of the box they look good.
My first blaster was pretty nice. The best hit out of the break came out of it - a Billy Hamilton Gold Jumbo Relic, numbered to just 25. While I wish it wasn't white jersey, who's going to complain? The odds were somewhere north of 1:2,000 packs.
The second box was decent but not as strong as the first. The best hit out of it was another mini, a red Mookie Betts, numbered to /50. There was also a bronze framed /499 Yovani Gallardo in there, and a nice Trout insert that sold for full asking price on eBay about an hour after I listed it.
I didn't pull any photo variations that I'm aware of – Topps used the same card back serial numbers on all versions of the base, so I bounced my cards off of the list I found online and all seemed to be base versions.
All told, it was a successful break. Another year, another attractive Gypsy Queen set.
Grade for the product: A-
Grade for the break: B+
Blaster #1
Jumbo Relics Gold /25: Billy Hamilton
Mini Silver /199: Reggie Jackson
The Queen's Throwbacks: Nelson Cruz
Walk-Off Winners: Mookie Wilson
Mini Red /50: Mookie Betts
Bronze Framed /499: Yovani Gallardo
The Queen's Throwbacks: Mike Trout
Glove Stories: Dustin Ackley
Pillars of the Community: David Wright
Walk-Off Winners: Evan Longoria
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