My Gypsy Queen & Bowman Retail Splurge Part 1

It wasn't until last Saturday that I first learned about a coupon that Topps had available in their recent circular. They run these types of promotions every so often, and, thankfully, Baseball cards fall under the umbrella of "toys." 

Thus, collectors are able to take advantage of these incredible discounts, but they aren't made available all that often. From my knowledge, these coupons are produced once every few months. When I found out about Topps' most recent coupon, it was already the last day of the promotion. 

If I didn't take advantage of this sensational deal right away, I'd have to wait much longer before another coupon was produced. Although it was extremely short notice, my Dad and I decided to make use of this discount and take a trip to Target last Saturday as we hoped to land some blasters of 2019 Bowman.

Unsurprisingly, every last blaster of 2019 Bowman had already been purchased from my nearby Target. However, there were a couple of other options for the product, including value packs. Thus, I made the best of what was available by turning this coupon into a retail splurge of 2019 Gypsy Queen and Bowman.

Since I wrote a post on 2019 Bowman a few days ago, I'm going to hold off on the 4 Bowman value packs that I ripped until tomorrow. Therefore, today's post will be dedicated to the 2 blaster boxes and the 2 value packs of 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen that I opened. 

Although I already opened up a hobby box of this product back in March, I only ended up with about 50% of the base cards (#1-300). Because I was missing a reasonable number of cards, the retail packs that I opened delivered a ton of new cards that I hadn't already pulled. 

It's crazy, even with all the stellar cards from the hobby box I opened, that I missed out on some of the greatest cards in the set. This list includes the 4 cards above and, most definitely, the Rhys Hoskins hat tip card towards the top of this post.

It's also worth pointing out that I pulled what is likely the last original card of Bryce Harper on the Nationals that we'll ever see. Granted, there could be All-Star/milestone cards that honor his accomplishments in D.C. However, as far as originals go, this is probably it.

I haven't gone through the 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen binder to put the new cards away, but I'm certain that I was able to put a major dent in what I need from this base set. 

Although the base cards are beautiful, the standout cards from this Gypsy Queen purchase were the SPs, inserts, and variations that I pulled from these packs.

The retired player SPs can be found in hobby packs at 1:24 packs, or 1 per hobby box. However, one only needs to open 14 retail packs before they're bound to come across a card numbered #301-320. Out of all the packs that I opened, I ended up with one SP; Roberto Alomar.

Along with Don Mattingly, Alomar is the only SP that I have from the entire 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen set. Additionally, Alomar's card is simply much better than Mattingly's, for it features an image that works way better with the GQ set design.

Although inserts aren't the highlight of the Gypsy Queen set, Topps has developed 2 creative concepts for this set's insert cards. Fortune Teller tallboys have been featured for the last 3 seasons, and the design and sheer style has improved after each and every year.

After pulling Judge and Nola's Fortune Teller cards as well as Blake Snell's, I believe I have around 8 of these insert cards. Given how beautiful these cards are, especially with the purple, I wouldn't be surprised if I attempted to complete this insert set. 

The Tarot of the Diamond insert cards, introduced in 2018, fit the bill perfectly as far as Topps Gypsy Queen is concerned. Personally, I don't think Gypsy Queen should alter either of these genius topics for years to come so long as colorful designs are continuously utilized.

In addition to Corey Kluber, AKA "The Magician," I pulled a Ronald Acuña Jr insert card that I landed in my hobby box. Dubbed "The Joker," that card is available for trade if anybody is interested.

When Topps revamped the entire Gypsy Queen product back in 2017, variations became an essential part of this creative set. Because the product lacked somewhat of an identity for a few years, I understand why these various variation cards were implemented. 

It's taken a few years, but Topps seems to have finally nailed the difficult to pull of Gypsy Queen product. Although the change is very subtle, the GQ logo swap variants help the cards feel even more reminiscent of the pre-war tobacco cards. 

Although I didn't luck out with a big-name player, it was exciting to pull my first-ever Bazooka back variation from a pack of Topps Gypsy Queen. Like the Tarot insert cards, I believe that these were introduced back in 2018. Thankfully, it's incredibly easy to tell Bazooka back variations from other cards in this product.

I may or may not hold onto this card; it depends. I'm a huge fan of the retro design on the back of the card, but Corey Spangenberg isn't high on my list of players to collect. I don't know a whole lot about him, so perhaps I'll do a little bit of research before deciding to trade or sell this somewhat rare variation.

I'm not certain of the exact odds, but I recall that the missing nameplate variations are 1:28 or 1:38 retail packs, a bit tougher than the hobby box odds. I opened just 20 standard Gypsy Queen packs in my break, so it was a little surprising that I ended up with 2 of these variants.

Moreover, I'm usually unlucky when it comes to variations or parallels in both retail and hobby breaks, so it was equally shocking that I lucked out when it came to players, twice. Stanton and Kershaw are both players that I collect, so it's safe to say that I did very well as far as these variations are concerned.

With that being said, it wasn't just Stanton and Kershaw's missing nameplate cards that I landed. There was 1 more card, easily the best card of this break, that was also a missing nameplate variation. This one, however, wasn't only a base card variation.

Falling at an astounding 1:750 packs, this outstanding card of Roberto Clemente above combines 2 SPs/variations into 1 standout card. Not only is it a missing nameplate variation, but the card is also a high number SP in the checklist, making for an incredibly rare pull and a card much better than anything that I pulled from my Gypsy Queen hobby box.

Honestly, I'd take this card over half of the autographs in the checklist. That's how eye-catching and incredible the photo is. It would've been nice to pull his base SP as well just to have a card with Clemente's name on it, but I'll take a rare variation any day, especially featuring one of my favorite players in Baseball history.

At this point, I hadn't even gotten to the 4 value packs of Bowman, yet I was already incredibly pleased with how this retail splurge had gone thus far.