Trader's Retreat - Box Break and Review
2015 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball
by Jim Van Nest
May 27, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com


Hello, good people, and welcome back into the Trader's Retreat. We are back with a review of the 2015 edition of Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball. Many thanks to Topps for the Review Box and to BOP and Trader's Retreat for sending the box to me! Let's roll...

2015 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball – One of the most fun breaks of the year is back!!!

Configuration: 24 packs per box, 10 cards per pack + 1 10-card Mini Box – 250 Cards total

Highlights: 2 Autographs and 2 Relics per box!
Minis, Minis, Minis – Insert Minis, Short Print Minis and Parallel Minis!

Set Breakdown
300 Card Base set + 50 Short Print (High Numbers)
Mini Parallels: Base Mini - 1 per pack (1 Mini Short Print per box), Silver Mini #/199, Red Mini #/50, Black Mini #/5, Leather Mini 1/1, Printing Plates Mini 1/1
50 Card Base Variation Set
100 Card Mini Base Variations Set – 1 Mini Box per Hobby Box (10 cards)
195 Card Mini Clear Framed Base Set # 1/1
100 Card Bronze Paper Framed Base Set #/499
56 Card Autograph Set
Parallels: Silver #/50, Gold #/25, Red #/5, Black #1/1
27 Card Mini Autographed Set #/10
20 Card Autographed Relic Set #/50
Parallels: Gold #/25, Black #/10, Red #1/1, Printing Plates #1/1
25 Card Mini Auto Patch Book Set #/25
15 Card Basics of Baseball Insert Set – 1:24 Packs
20 Card Bat Barrels Set #1/1
15 Card Glove Stories Insert Set – 1:6 Packs
14 Card Laces Around the League Set #/5
40 Card Original Art Patches Set # 1/1
10 Card Pillars of the Community Insert Set
52 Card Relic Set
Parallels: Gold #/25, Red Patch #/5, Black Button # 1/1
25 Card Jumbo Relic Set #/50
Parallels: Gold #/25, Red Patch #/5, Black Button # 1/1
54 Mini Relic Set
Parallels: Gold #/25, Red Patch #/5, Black Button # 1/1
25 Card The Queen’s Throwbacks Set – 1:6 Packs
25 Card Walk-Off Winners Insert Set – 1:4 Packs

There are points of the year that are defined by the release of certain products. For example, the baseball season seems to really start when the flagship, Topps Baseball comes out. In the same vein, the season ramps into high gear with the release of today's title, Gypsy Queen. The baseball collecting world loves the Gypsy Queen and this year's set is sure to please.

Base and Short Prints

The base set in 2015 Gypsy Queen is nice and clean. Great shots that are not actual photos, but more renderings are framed with the old school Gypsy Queen border. The back of each card does not feature stat lines, but a quick little note about the player's previous season. The set is 350 cards, but the last 50 cards are short printed. In our box, we pulled 190 of the 300 card base set and five of the short printed high numbers. There are also at least 50 base card variations, of which we pulled none.

Minis


One of the main highlights of the Gypsy Queen release every year is the major assortment of mini-cards. 2015 does not disappoint in this regard. You will receive one mini in every pack as well as a 10-card box of Mini Variations. In our box, we pulled 24 minis as well as the 10 card box. One of the 24 is card # 316 - Phil Rizzuto. As with the base set, the high numbered minis are short-printed and promised at one per box. Also included in our minis are the silver version of Dan Haren and Fernando Rodney. Both of these are #/199. Shown above are examples of the base minis, the two Silver minis and all of the 10 variation minis that came in their own separate box.

Inserts



Also included in Gypsy Queen are several insert sets. In our box, we pulled five different insert examples. We'll start with the more prolific. Promised at 1:4 packs is the Walkoff Winners set. IN our box, we pulled the promised six of them. These horizontal cards feature a white border surrounding a big walkoff moment from either the 2014 season or from previous seasons. As an example, we have Carlton Fisk's famous blast from the 1975 World Series. The next two sets are promised at 1:6 packs and both delivered four cards. The Queen's Throwbacks are black and white cards featuring shots of the players in throwback uniforms. The back of each card details some quality game stories from the day the player wore this throwback uniform. The other set is the Glove Stories set. This set highlights some of the best glove work from the 2014 season. In our box we feature Billy Hamilton, Dustin Ackley, Alex Gordon and Hunter Pence.

The last two insert sets are only inserted 1:24 packs. The first is the Pillars of the Community set. IN our box, we pulled the David Wright card. The back of these cards give examples as to why the player on the front is such an outstanding citizen in his community. The final insert set is a Mini-insert set and is called Basics of Baseball. This set highlights some common terms in baseball and explains them a little for the casual fan. In our box, we pulled the Basics of Baseball card that explains the Infield Shift.

Relics

Promised in every box of 2015 Gypsy Queen are two Relics and two Autos. We received the expected amount of both, but let's focus on the former first. As you can see, we pulled a base relic of Clayton Kershaw. The card is the base card but with a baseball diamond shaped cutout in the lower left hand corner, where a piece of white game-used jersey is placed. Our second relic is a mini-relic of Cardinal outfielder, Matt Holliday. These cards take the mini card and frame them, as you can see. The card is then, essentially, laminated on both sides, leaving only an opening for the square relic piece in the middle. Nothing really new or innovative here, just quality relic cards in the nice Gypsy Queen design.

Autographs

The final two cards in our box of Gypsy Queen are the autographs. The first is a base auto of Giants shortstop, Brandon Crawford. The beauty of the Gypsy Queen autos this year is that they are on-card! No stickers for this set! The bottom of the card is whited out to allow for a great signing space and Crawford's signature is perfectly centered and looking good. The final piece of our break is a Silver Auto of White Sox phenom, Jose Abreu. This is a parallel version, so it looks the same as the base but with a silver border. Again, the auto is on-card and very well centered on the card. The back of the card features gold numbering #25/50.

Final Thoughts on 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball

Priced around $97.95, you'll be hard pressed to have a more fun break (well, until Allen & Ginter, anyway). You get a good jump on the base set and you can't beat the on-card autographs. The relics, while pretty standard, deliver what you want in a relic; especially in baseball where super cool multi-color patches are few and far between. I probably don't have to do anything to help sell this product, but if you're a baseball fan and collector and you're not ripping Gypsy Queen, you're missing out of a decent sized chunk of the season!

If you'd like to see the live break of the box that accompanies this review, well, just click Right Here!

Ratings

Innovation: 4
Fun: 5
Value: 4
Rebuy: 5
Total: 18/20 - I'd rate 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen Baseball a solid A!

NPN Information

NPN 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen BB
PO BOX 764
Pittston, PA 18640

Limit – 1 Request Per Household

Postmarked by: July 15, 2015
Received by: July 22, 2015

For our Canadian collectors, your entry will need to be accompanied by the answer to this skill question: 11 x 2 + 28 - 3 = ?

Once again, thanks so much to our sponsors at Topps for giving us the opportunity to review this great new product. For more information on all of their products, you can check them out at www.Topps.com. You can also follow them on Twitter: @toppscards. For all the great new trading card updates coming to BOP, be sure to give me a follow as well: @vannestjc. 'Til next time, take care