Pack Break Week 4: 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen

Before it becomes "Taco Night" at home, it was just another ordinary day. The kids are still home on break, playing on their computers or whatever they do while I'm at work. My wife is baking cookies (made these really good peanut butter cookies last night and trying something different today). I'm just keeping up with the work before the end-of-the-year.

And I have all of these packs of cards at my desk waiting to be opened. Tempted as I have been, I've held off. Not because it's busy as usual, but I want to see what I get just before I write my post for pack break week.

Today's pack break features the 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen. Now in it's fifth incarnation, this year's design of the Gypsy Queen is truly a Topps original as I can't seem to find anything that remotely comes close to this in similarity. But that's not a bad thing. The concept is still the same. A mix of current and retired players with a unique cardboard stock and pictures filtered to look like paintings than actual photos. The dark borders in this year's set are prone can be prone to chipping, but they hold well based on the thickness of the cardboard. What makes it even more interesting is that the players by their last names first (Rizzo, A., Cubs for example) on the front and there are no statistics on the back, just a quick bio. Now, if you're not familiar with the name of the player based on the lack of info on the front, his full name is on the back.

So, what came out of this pack of 2015 Topps Gypsy Queen?

• #40 Jorge Soler, Cubs
• #200 Mike Napoli, Red sox
• #196 Travis d'Arnaud, Mets
• #82 Evan Gattis, Braves
• #105 Billy Hamilton, Reds

• #165 Michael Brantley, Indians
• #GWO-21 Kolton Wong, Cardinals, Walk-Off Winners
• #BBMR-7 Tag Up, Basics of Baseball Mini Card
• #263 Mark Buehrle, Blue Jays
• #260 Babe Ruth, Yankees

Some positives include a Cubs card (Soler) and my second Evan Gattis card in two days (also got one in my S1 pack yesterday). A rare mini insert card (1:24 packs) now makes me curious as to how much it would cost to get the whole set. Be right back...Okay. So while there are no full sets online, single cards go anywhere from $2.50 to $4.00. I might take a stab at it as it does look interesting. Or I just might throw it on the Bay.

A star name closes out the pack for the third day straight (Ruth). So overall, a good pack.

Tomorrow's pack break features Series 2 of the eponymous set. And a bonus 5-card pack of 2013 Topps Series 2. Should be a good one. Want to know what's in here? Come back tomorrow.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama