Thursday, May 19, 2011

Pack Rip - 2011 Gypsy Queen Value Pack

I've seen 2011 Topps Gypsy Queen busted on just about every baseball card blog I read, but until this week there wasn't any available at the local Target. When I was there grabbing the last 2 rack packs of Pinnacle hockey, I picked up a "Value Pack". In case you've been living under a rock, this consists of 3 retail packs and a bonus 3-card pack of green framed cards.

My apologies for subjecting you to Gypsy Queen for the millionth time in recent weeks, but as usual I'm going to show every card in the pack. Let's start with the green framed pack:

#55 - Evan Longoria

#80 - Stephen Strasburg

#39 - Johnny Mize

Alright, well I can see why there's been so much hype around the framed cards. I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said, the cards look great in person. This Johnny Mize is the nicest looking baseball card I've pulled from a pack in some time.

Here are the 3 packs:

Pack 1:

#94 - Buster Posey

#217 - Adrian Beltre

#204 - Neftali Feliz

#229 - Alex Gonzalez

Mini #311 - Hisanori Takahashi

#FS-13 - Future Stars - Stephen Strasburg

Does anyone know if the mini cards numbered 301-350 are short prints as well?

Pack 2:

#273 - Chad Billingsley

#113 - Jose Bautista

#279 - Josh Thole

I have to admit I'd never heard of Josh Thole. I only catch a handful of NL games a year, what can I say...

#SF10 - Sticky Fingers - David Wright

Mini #199 - James Shields

#339 - Omar Infante - SP

I really like the Sticky Fingers inserts, I will be collecting that set for sure.

Pack 3:

#28 - Tony Gwynn

Finally, a base card of a Hall-of-Famer.

#275 - Ruben Tejada

#224 - Drew Stubbs

#GQA-GG - Gio Gonzalez - Autograph

Believe it or not I was actually pretty excited by this one. As someone who doesn't bust any high end wax, I hardly ever pull autos. When I do, they're usually someone I've never heard of with little to no MLB experience.

Gonzalez is a solid pitcher though, another example of Oakland's ability to find and groom quality starters. Last year he went 15-9 with a 3.23 ERA, 171 strikeouts to 92 walks, and a WHIP of 1.311. So far this year he's been even better than that, sitting at 5-2 with a 2.31 ERA, 48 strikeouts to 21 walks, and a WHIP of just 1.164! Plus, the autograph itself is fantastic.

I might be willing to part with this one but it would take a good card for me to consider giving it up.

Mini #323 - Shin-Soo Choo

#HH4 - Home Run Heroes - Mark Teixeira

Well, that was fun. The base cards are solid, but nothing spectacular. Maybe I'd be more excited about them had I pulled more retired players (Gwynn was my only one in 3 packs). I could do without the Future Stars and Home Run Heroes inserts, but I do like the Sticky Fingers cards. These value packs are all about the green framed parallel cards though. Even though I didn't get a single Red Sox card, those framed parallels and the Gio Gonzalez auto made this one a winner.

The value per card may pale in comparison to the Pinnacle pack I posted yesterday, but these are a lot of fun and I can see why there's been a lot of hype around this set. I will likely pick up some more, if I can find them...

13 comments:

  1. I just bought a box at my local card shop and tore into it last night. Highlight for me was David Ortiz "Happy 60th" inscribed auto.

    FANTASTIC look set though...I'm going to have to try and complete the base set (along with some of the insert sets as well).

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  2. FYI - my other auto wasn't as exciting...Will Venable.

    I did get a Cano bat card, and I am totally blanking out now...but got a jersey card as well...I think Ryan Howard. If it wasn't so pricey, I'd pick up another box tonight!

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  3. Wow, that Ortiz card sounds great!

    I've already picked up a blaster and a couple more racks packs and will probably be buying more at some point. If you need someone to swap doubles with look me up!

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  4. shoe,

    if any Braves doubles are annoying you, you can always send them my way if you haven't sent those UD hockey cards yet....

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  5. I'll put up a pic of the Ortiz auto card over at my blog...it's pretty cool, and numbered to 60 (in honor of 60th birthday I'm guessing...aren't I clever?)

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  6. Canuck, no doubles yet but any Braves I end up with are all yours.

    Bob, looking forward to seeing the card!

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  7. are you guys going to build the set? Or try? If so, I'd be game to trade around needed cards...

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  8. I think I'm gonna take a crack at it Bob. I'd definitely be interested in trading as soon as I have some doubles built up here.

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  9. awesome. I need to buy more as well...not sure how many doubles I have. Seemed like I got some, but I may have been seeing the same name on the regular cards and the mini cards....I'm going to print off the checklist and start sorting it out tonight.

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  10. When we finally get around trading again (I'm feeling I will be ready for this in the next month or two!), I'm probably going to need most of your green bonus parallels, if you aren't going to be keeping them. I'm going after that set and only have nine at the moment, and few more possibly pending in another trade I'm embroiled in.

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  11. Posted a pic of that Ortiz card....it's at my Royals blog...go check it out...it's a pretty nice looking card:

    http://kchotcorner.blogspot.com/2011/05/2011-topps-gypsy-queen.html

    That will take you to the post with the card in it.

    Numbered 30/60 with the "Happy 60th" inscription.

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  12. you guys get a chance to check out that Ortiz auto card? Just curious...I guess they spread those birthday inscribed auto's throughout all the Topps products this year....I didn't realize that. Just sort of getting back into buying cards after being out of it for a couple of years...

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  13. Sorry Bob, got married over the weekend and just getting back into the swing of things here. I checked out your card and left a comment, what a nice pull!!!

    Still sorting out my Gypsy Queen here, but am leaving for honeymoon Saturday so it may be a couple weeks at least before I have a list. I definitely do have doubles though!

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