My Big Fat Gypsy Queen Hit!

Confession - it's not that big.

But the Starlin Castro is probably the best hit in my two boxes of Gypsy Queen.  I *really* am liking these on-card autos.  They look great - the signature really jumps out with the blue pen on the faded portion of the card.

I saw the Castro's fetching around $25 to $40 on ebay - probably the best single card I've pulled in 2012, counting flagship, heritage, and now GQ.

I still plan on purchasing Archives, so we'll see if it gets any better.  And since I'm a card collector more than a card seller, I am quite happy with what I've got.  I may hunt around for the Jon Niese auto card, as it's the only Met - but I don't really "need" it...

These are a few of my "special" minis - not the one's in the little box - these all came from packs.  Two sepias (#/99) is a little better than the odds, I think.  I haven't fished through all the minis enough to know which are SPs, so I'll hold off on showing those.

How about some photo variation SP's?  These are the six I pulled in this box:

Again, I plan on chasing these, but I have a lot to find.  I will probably hit a card show this weekend and see if my "dealer" who hooked me up with a bunch of Heritage SPs will have some for me...

My final scan includes my relics and another framed paper - and I really like those!  (the framed paper - not the relics)

I'll try to get some overall stats up soon, and I'm not going to scan the other insert sets in GQ - the moonshots and glove stories and sliding stars - I'm sure you've all seen them.

All in all, my first GQ experience has been very positive!

2012 Gypsy Queen - I am one pleased customer!

Since I didn't jump right into Gypsy Queen by pre-ordering, I was able to read several posts and even some reviews about the set before I leaped.  Four hits per hobby box seemed intriguing, but I've grown wary of hits considering that my Heritage hits were pretty bland.  So instead of hits, I just like nice cards with some interesting inserts of SP's - and here is the blue framed paper insert (parallel?) and this Rivera is a nice card to look at and a great name to own!  And the Johnny Bench photo variation SP was another notable card in the final eight packs of my Hobby Box that I opened.  But more was on the way...

My three favorite mini's for the eight pack series include this black border, and two great names.

But then I found something I had not ever seen before, and also something that now ONLY I OWN!  (That's right, my first ever 1/1!!!)

I know Stephen Drew is not exactly a great name, but I was simply thrilled to pull this printing plate!  Here is the back, if you haven't seen one:

I really have no idea what I am going to do with this.  I did spend a bunch of money - probably more than I wanted to - on these two hobby boxes, so I may look to get a little back on ebay.  I might have to ask you guys for advice on how to sell cards on ebay - just little tips and general suggestions - since I've never done it before.

But for the short while, I'm going to just enjoy owning a 1/1!



Gypsy Queen heats up!

As a Gypsy Queen rookie, I'm not really sure how big any hit really is, but some cool cards came out of the eight hobby packs I opened tonight.

I decided to open up my Hobby Box eight packs at a time - I usually do 4-6 packs a day, to allow more time to write up some of the better cards, but since Gypsy Queen has been out for awhile, I decided to open a slightly larger amount.

I posted some of my San Francisco Giants hits yesterday, and I will say, that trend DID continue.  But I saw some other nice cards, as well - starting with this framed paper blue Mickey Mantle above.  I'm not sure if it comes out as good as it looks in person, but it's a really nice card, and it's numbered /599...  cool stuff!

I am not sure what this is.  And I'm not sure I like it.  Some other one's are actually autographed, and I think they are really rare.  But I don't really get it.  Is it humor? 

Yup, more Giant love.  So now I have a big Lincecum jersey swatch, and this framed little one.  It's cool and the frame is nice and heavy.  Go Giants!  (I guess)

And then an on-card auto.  My other was Brett Anderson from the A's.  Two rather non-descript players.  On-card is cool, though, so I'm still enjoying the card.

And, of course, what would a Gypsy Queen post be without some mini's?  There is a sepia, a green, a blackm and Yaz and Koufax.  Still have no idea what my plan is with GQ mini's.  I am thinking to try to obtain one mini for each player (1-350) and simply not worry about color or style or short prints...  any thoughts on this plan?

Gypsy Queen 2012 - Are the baseball card gods trying to tell me something?

I am a Mets fan.  Perhaps the Cardboard Gods feel otherwise.  My two hobby boxes of Heritage last month yielded two relics - A Ryan Vogelsong manupatch, and a Pablo Sandoval manupatch.  (Actually, I'm not sure if these are manupatches - are they jersey swatches?  My terminology may be wrong...) 

So three Giants relics, as this Lincecum card was in the first hobby pack of Gypsy Queen that I opened.  I think any Mets fan might be looking for a new team to follow - especially if they don't find a way to sign David Wright after this season... I think THAT would be the ultimate slap in the face to those of us who have stuck with the team, watching game after game in some tough years.

More packs await!  (Anyone feeling a Nate Schierholtz auto waiting for me down the road???)

How the Gypsies Got My Money

It was simple, really.  Strawberry.  Carter, as a Met.  And a David Wright in the blaster I bought - that pretty much did it.

I know I am late to the Gypsy Queen party.  About a year late, from what I see people have written about 2011 GQ.  And I know some bloggers have panned the design, especially the grey color.  I really think it works, though.  It allows the colors in the picture to really jump out of the "frame" - an effect that I think works in these three cards I've shown.

I saw that Target had Gypsy Queen blaster boxes about 2 weeks ago.  I resisted buying.  I have been looking forward to Archives, so I didn't want to get involved in another chase.  If you follow my blog, you'll know that 2012 Heritage was the first non-flagship purchase I have ever made.  And thanks to a vendor I keep stalking at local card shows, I have parlayed the two hobby boxes I bought into a just-about-complete master set of Heritage.  (I haven't finished New Age Performers yet, nor the stickers - still deciding on whether to chase either.  But I have all the high-numbered SPs - yay, me!)

So that brings us to what happened here.  Innocently enough, I bought a blaster box and a hanger pack (not sure if my terminology is correct, but whatever - I spent $30!) and really liked the look of the framed paper cards.  And then I made the big mistake - I started reading blogs.

And I think I am so jealous of the dedication and approach of Lifetime Topps Project, that after a week went by, I bought another blaster box.  And after stalking prices at Blowout Cards, I decided that maybe I would grab some GQ when the price went down.  (I had noticed a price drop for Heritage, and thought GQ might follow suit.)

And finally, I simply got tired of waiting, and ordered two hobby boxes.

So while I limped in to this product, I look forward to opening some packs tomorrow night.  If time permits (it hasn't lately!), I'll try to get some posts up for those who want to follow along.  And feel free to comment on what I should look for, and HOW the heck to collect GQ - the sheer variety of the mini's is baffling to me...

I'm back... with some Queens!

I have to be honest. I know nothing about Gypsy Queen.  If you've followed this blog, you may remember that until 2012 Heritage, I had been pretty much a Topps flagship collector only.  Not for any reason other than keeping track of all the other sets was just mind-blowing.  I didn't get it.

But now, I'm starting to.  I LOVED Heritage, and I still have 22 more high-numbered short prints to track down.  And now, I went to target and dropped thirty bucks on Gypsy Queen.  I was going to hold out and just wait till Archives (is that the name of it?) in late May, but perhaps I was swayed by the fact that the Mets collapse hasn't begun yet, so I still look at baseball with a hopeful eye.

This first post will just feature the three cards on top, which are some kind of "framed card" - these were in a target pack that cost either 9.99 or 9.49 - I can't remember.  The pack contained three regular packs, and then these three "framed cards" - and I'm not sure if they are some insert or sub-set or target exclusive thing...  but I do know this - they look and feel VERY nice in my hands.

My apologies for the blog absence, but I am now "in-season" with coaching, so my free time becomes quite limited.  I will continue to read everyone out there - and will pay special attention to Gypsy Queen!

2012 Heritage - Scoring some SPs

Sadly, my free time is not what it used to be.  I guess that's good, from a work point of view - but unfortunately my blogging had to take a back seat this past week.  But there is good news - a card show on Sunday yielded a Heritage score!

First, I was able to pick the 71 Heritage cards (and one checklist) that I needed to complete my regular set (1-425).  I was then able to look over the high-numbered SP's that the table had, and I was able to grab 24 different ones for $40.  I'm not sure what you think about that price, but I was definitely happy. 

I currently need 34 more to complete the set, cards 426-500.

I am psyched!

I am going to try to hit a card show in the next week or two, and see if I can close these out.  If you have any high-numbered SP's that you are willing to part with, PLEASE post below!  I'll let you know if I need them, and then I'll try to work something out.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to get back to blogging more regularly by mid-week!

Oh, and by the way, the picture above is a collage of 9 of the "best" high-numbered SP's that I now own!