Best Player Collection Pickups From the Shriner's Show

As usual, I made the most of last Sunday's Baseball card show and dedicated lots of time and resources towards boosting my many player collections. 

The focal point of my entire Baseball card collection, I usually try to add cards to my player collections at every show that I attend. This never proves to be overly difficult, for the sheer number of players I collect combined with the millions of cards out there guarantees that, as a player collector, I'll never be bored.

Whether it's a search through the dime bins or a visit to my Baseball card show's case breaker, I'm looking for some new player collection cards virtually everywhere I go. They are, and will always be my #1 priority as far as my Baseball card collection is concerned.

Likewise, I was looking for cards for my numerous player collections throughout last Sunday's Shriner's show, no matter what vendor I was buying from. In some instances, I was searching solely for Red Sox PC additions. Other times, I kept my eyes open for whatever I could find to boost my 250 different player collections.

While I can't say that I've ever had an unsuccessful card show, I successfully added a few hundred new cards to my player collections last Sunday, something I don't accomplish all too often. I'm accustomed to purchasing roughly $20 worth of dime cards at every show that I attend, but I went above and beyond at the Shriner's show.

I bought cards for my player collections from every vendor that I did business with last Sunday. Needless to say, I wound up with some pretty stellar PC pickups, so I've decided to showcase those cards on the blog today.

The cards aren't in any particular order, but here are the greatest player collection pickups from last Sunday's trip to the Shriner's show.

First things first, I'm ecstatic to officially declare that the Pedro Martinez player collection has achieved the platinum tier mark following the Shriner's show. I now have 206 cards of the Hall of Fame pitcher, yet only 11 of them are Expos cards.

I don't remember exactly what I paid for this card, but it was far from unreasonable. I never quite realized how rarely I come across cards of Pedro on the Expos, and that made me appreciate this card even more.

The final vendor that I visited on Sunday was one that I do quite a lot of business with at the Woburn show which I frequently attend. He's a case breaker, and thus, he always has base cards, parallels, and inserts from the new releases.

I hadn't seen him since 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen was released, so my eyes were immediately drawn to the hobby box-exclusive chrome cards from this product. Not only did I pick up Scherzer, but I grabbed chrome cards of Jacob DeGrom and Nolan Arenado as well.

The GQ chrome cards are some of the most beautiful cards that I've seen in quite some time. It would've been foolish of me to pass up the opportunity to add a few of these chrome stock cards to my player collections.

I showcased this card yesterday during my PC overview of Reggie Jackson, but I'll gladly feature it on the blog once again today. This High Tek Orange diffractor card from 2018 is numbered out of just 25 copies. Topps, I've noticed, likes to keep it consistent with a majority of their colored parallel numbering. 9 times out of 10, an orange parallel/refractor will be numbered out of 25.

This is the first numbered card of Reggie Jackson in my entire collection, and it's everything that I love about modern cards. It's excessive, undoubtedly, but there's something magical about the combination of the orange background and the iconic gold and green A's uniform.

I've probably purchased enough of these 2001 Topps Combos cards to come close to completing the insert set, but I don't think I've bought one of the chrome versions until last weekend. 

Once again, I'm not sure how much I paid for this card. However, regardless of the price, this card is one of the greatest pickups from the entirety of last Sunday's show. The 2001 Topps Combos inserts, on their own, are appreciated by card collectors. With that being said, the chrome version elevates these fabulous cards to a much higher level.

The "Sweetness" card features arguably the 2 greatest overall hitters in Baseball history; Ted Williams and Tony Gwynn. While I collect both of these guys, the Red Sox usually take priority so this will be going to the Ted Williams PC.

Rest assured, the 2001 Topps Chrome card wouldn't be the last combo card that I picked up at the show. I added 2 additional vintage combo cards to my Al Kaline and Wille Mays player collections. Totaling roughly the price of 1 hanger box of Series 1/Heritage, the cards are from 1958 and 1960 Topps respectively.

Combo cards may not be as valuable as a base card of the same player(s) from the same set, but I've always loved the style and names associated with combo cards from the late 50s and 1960s. The Kaline combo card is one of many that I'm familiar with from the 1958 Topps set.

On the other hand, the Mays combo card from 1960 Topps could very well be the oldest card that I own of his. Although I'm not familiar with Rigney, I can only assume he's Mays' manager.

From funky modern parallels to classic vintage combo cards, and everything in between, I ended up with a huge range of different player collection additions from last Sunday's show. 

Truth be told, it's cards like the ones above that symbolize exactly what I love the most about being a player collector.

Green Galore

In an effort to shorten the length of both my 2019 Gypsy Queen and Bowman blog posts from the last 2 days, I saved the retail pack exclusive green parallels for a separate post entirely. Now, it's time for me to showcase the final cards that I pulled thanks to the $25 off Target coupon.

Both products that I opened contained a pack of retail-exclusive green parallels, standard green for Gypsy Queen and a darker green "camo" parallel which was found in Bowman. The GQ blaster box and Bowman value packs featured 5 parallels which the GQ value packs contained only 3.

After I finished opening all the retail packs, I wound up with 36 total green parallels, 20 from Bowman and 16 from Gypsy Queen. While non-numbered parallels aren't necessarily valuable, each product had its own unique parallel which I've grown to like.

The lighter green GQ parallels work perfectly with the retro-style product. Given how uncommon parallels are in present-day Gypsy Queen, it's pretty cool to come across so many of these beautiful cards.

On the other hand, the Bowman camo parallels include only prospects, maximizing the chance of landing a big-name player. While the GQ parallels are reminiscent of a vintage card, the Bowman parallels are far more modern looking.

The fact that I find both parallels appealing, in different ways, highlights how diverse my appreciation for Baseball cards is. While being all over the place has hurt me in the past, I enjoy having a wide range of cards that I like, for it allows me to discover all sorts of new players and products that I'd otherwise be unfamiliar with.

Anyway, let's get back to the green parallels, starting with the dark green camos from 2019 Bowman.

Given Topps' notoriously terrible coalition, I feel fortunate that I didn't end up with a single camo parallel double out of the 20 parallel cards that I pulled. Moreover, I'm fairly pleased that 1/5, or 4, of my camo parallels, are 1st Bowman cards of well-respected prospects, including Julio Rodriguez of the Mariners.

While I'm on the topic of prospects, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that Vladimir Guerrero Jr will be making his much-anticipated MLB debut tomorrow at home against the Oakland Athletics. His MLB debut has been hyped up and anticipated for months now, just like that of Bryce Harper and Shohei Ohtani earlier this decade.

Because I pulled roughly the same number of Bowman paper cards as I did camo parallels, I found a couple of player's whose cards I pulled twice, like Royce Lewis and Casey Mize. The 4 players above are prospects that I was familiar with before this product's release. 

Lewis and Mize are former 1st overall picks while I recognize Nick Senzel from Bowman's Best, and I've heard Yordan Alvarez's name mentioned numerous times before this set was released last Wednesday.

There are even a couple of players who have already made it to the major leagues by the time I pulled their parallels from a pack, like Eloy Jimenez and Cole Tucker. 

In fact, the White Sox outfielder has already signed an MLB extension while Cole Tucker, from what I've heard, is playing respectable Baseball as an infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Out of all the different jersey colors, the camo green looks especially nice with the color black.

I may not have landed a mega 1st Bowman card like that of Wander Franco, but I was quite pleased with how I did with the 20 camo parallels. Next up, the Gypsy Queen green bordered cards that I wound up with.

Featuring a much lighter shade of green that works better with the GQ set design, these green parallels encompass the entire base set of Gypsy Queen, though I'm not certain if short prints are included or not.

The blaster boxes deliver 5 green parallels while value packs promise just 3. As I mentioned earlier, I ended up with 16 of these gorgeous cards, featuring rookies and veterans.

It's always a plus when I pull parallels, or any cards, of players that I collect. I'm especially happy to finally land a card of Jake Arrieta given how few cards I've been able to track down of the 2015 NL Cy Young award winner over the last few seasons.

Bellinger's card, along with Arrieta's, is a true standout, highlighting how creative and special these 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen cards are. After becoming familiar with the product through the hobby box that I opened, I'm glad to refamiliarize myself with the fabulous images included across this product.

Plus, as if the green borders weren't enough, the Oakland Athletics' green parallels take a simple color to a whole nother level. The borders, year, logo, and player's position on these 2 cards are all green, not to mention Laureano and Manaea's jerseys as well as parts of the background.

In his rookie season, Laureano has already established himself as one of the greatest defensive players in the game. Poised to take home a gold glove within the next few seasons, his highlights are worth checking out.

His teammate, Sean Manaea, pitched 1 of the 3 no-hitters of 2018. He brought the 17-2 Boston Red Sox back down to earth by no-hitting them around this time last year. The subsequent no-nos were pitched by James Paxton of the Mariners and a combined effort by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Not to mention, I also landed a green parallel of my favorite card from the entire 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen set. Seriously, this card is absolutely breathtaking, especially as a colored parallel.

Yeah, I'm definitely thankful for Target's fabulous coupon. I've never done anything like this with retail cards before, and I had an absolute blast.

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.

The Best From 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen

As I explained during my hobby box recap post earlier this week, I was pleasantly surprised with how fabulous the 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen set has been. After disappointing me, big time, last year, Topps took major steps to improve virtually every aspect of this brand.

Along with the 2012 and 2013 set designs, this year's base cards rank as the greatest in brand history. The fronts feature a ton of minor details, but the focal point is definitely the photography included in this product.

In some instances, the pictures become somewhat repetitive, but even in those instances, the cards themselves still look fabulous. Additionally, there's a reasonable collection of fabulous cards that truly blow me away, featuring carefully-chosen pictures to go with the base set.

These standout cards were extremely common throughout the box that I opened, so it proved incredibly difficult to narrow all these choices down to a top 10 list. There were certain cards that I showed on Wednesday's post (Bogaerts) that just narrowly missed out on the top 10.

I can't ignore the creative insert sets nor the gorgeous chrome cards from 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen either. However, the base cards make up roughly 90% of what a hobby box yields. Therefore, it's essential to have a deep appreciation for the beautiful base cards in this much-improved set.

As I mentioned earlier, narrowing this list down to just 10 cards was an extremely difficult task. I was forced to leave out a couple of my favorites, but I'm very pleased with the list that I ended up with.

#10 Blake Treinen

This celebration is likely from 1 of the 38 saves that he recorded for the Oakland Athletics throughout a sensational 2018 season. His 0.78 ERA across 80 innings pitched for the A's last season helped cement Treinen as one of the greatest closers in the game.

Out of all the little details on this card, my favorite is how well the Athletics' logo blends in with the rest of this stellar card. I've always been a huge fan of the A's, and I've become very fond of Treinen as a player. With 2019 being his last season under contract, it'd be nice to see him re-up with Oakland.

#9 Tim Anderson

There was no shortage of infielder in-action cards to choose from for this list. However, Tim Anderson's card is simply classic, from the White Sox's home uniform to the bright green grass in the background. The traditional photo just seems perfect for the old-school set design, more so than a lot of the cards in the 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen set.

#8 Billy Hamilton

Unless I missed something while opening packs of 2019 Topps Heritage, this is our first look of speedster Billy Hamilton in a Kansas City Royals jersey, and it's everything that I had hoped it would be. The bright blue uniform and the high socks are impeccably photoshopped, and the timing of this photo is absolutely sensational. 

I'm not somebody who pays much attention to the Royals whatsoever, but I'm ecstatic to see what Hamilton can do alongside Whit Merrifield throughout this season.

#7 Johan Camargo

I stared at this card for a solid minute immediately after I pulled it from one of my packs, for I don't think I've ever seen a Baseball card quite like this one in my life. The angle gives this image a very unique perspective and the background features an encapsulating blue sky as well as one of Camargo's own teammates.

For those of you who remember Jose De Leon's 2017 Gypsy Queen card, I'm drawing a lot of parallels from that rookie card to Camargo's 2019 card. Same set, same style, and 2 beautiful cards.

#6 Jeremy Jeffress

I appreciate sets like Gypsy Queen and Stadium Club for not thinking solely of variations when creating the base set. It's always exciting to see throwback uniforms make it onto Baseball cards, especially when they're not unreasonably rare like they are in a set like Topps Heritage.

Topps has the ability and the potential to use old-school uniforms far more than they actually do. I don't know about any of you guys, but I'm dying to see more cards like this across all Topps products.

#5 Manny Machado

Let me be very clear; I still have reservations about including Manny Machado's card on this top 10 list. Even though he's no longer in the American League, his "no hussle" comments still get under my skin.

With that being said, this card is a true beauty in many different ways, from the dirt stains to the pose. Seeing him in a Dodgers uniform also reminds me of the 2018 World Series. I guess that explains why I placed this card at #5.

#4 Odubel Herrera

Like Camargo's card, Odubel Herrera's 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen near-masterpiece features an untraditional angle as far as pictures on Baseball cards are concerned. Like the rest of the cards on this list, however, all the details are meticulously-executed.

I've had the pleasure of watching the Phillies play for a little bit this year, and I've become a pretty big fan of their team. While I wouldn't list them as one of my favorite teams in Baseball, they have a stacked roster featuring some of my favorite players in the game, like Andrew McCutchen and Rhys Hoskins.

#3 Maikel Franco

Both Herrera and Maikel Franco have weathered through some pretty mediocre seasons in Philadelphia in which the team was in a complete rebuild mode. Now, in 2019, both of these young players are entering their prime, and the Phillies are becoming a legitimate threat.

The Franco throwback uniform card is even better than the Jeffress, though both of them make me long for more old-school jerseys on Baseball cards. There's something about powder blue uniforms that I'll simply never get tired of.

#2 Jackie Bradley Jr

As soon as I saw this card pulled in a box break on YouTube, I knew that I wanted to pull this card for myself in my 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen box break. I don't think a base card has ever made me as happy as when I pulled this JBJ card from one of the final packs of my GQ hobby box.

Topps doesn't feature Bradley in the outfield even close to as much as they should, especially since he captured his first ever Gold Glove award in 2018. He's one of the best defensive players I've ever seen, and this card perfectly captures his willingness to make these sensational plays.

#1 Nicholas Castellanos

Everything about this Nicholas Castellanos card is next to, if not completely perfect. At first glance, I thought it was some kind of SP variation due to how different it is from all the other cards in this set. 

The background features an incredible ballpark show of a field that I'm embarrassed not to be able to recognize. Nevertheless, the pose is perfect for a card like this, and the set design complements the picture even more.

It's cards like Castellanos, along with all the others on this list and more, that have attracted me to this incredibly Gypsy Queen set. Needless to say, Topps 100% redeemed themselves.

Finding a True Identity

Well, we meet again, Topps Gypsy Queen. My former favorite Baseball card product has been steadily going downhill since 2017 and arguably beforehand. Even with all the changes that have been made to the set within the last few years, I've tried to maintain an open mind regarding this set. 

From 2011-2016, Gypsy Queen was my go-to product for a variety of reasons. The set designs have always been gorgeous, albeit slightly repetitive. The framed parallels, minis, and relic cards were just some of my favorite parts of this set. Hobby boxes, although expensive, delivered 4 hits, 1 mini per pack, and a wide selection of unique base cards.

Then, 2017 came along and so did a wide variety of different changes. Some of my favorite parts of the set (framed parallels, relics, minis, etc) were removed from the product entirely. The brand then entered an "identity crisis" of sorts in which the product was pretty confused. 

New features were introduced, but the former product that I had become familiar with were no longer present. It didn't feel like the Topps Gypsy Queen product that I had known and loved for so many years. In its place was a totally unfamiliar and confused release.

Even though I purchased packs of Gypsy Queen in 2017 and 2018, I had mixed emotions about the revamped product, to put it kindly. I still bought cards that I spotted in the dime bins, but that was about it. 

I've even purchased Gypsy Queen base sets at the card show in the past so that I can add these beautiful cards to my collection. However, my strong feelings in favor of this product changed once 2017 came along, and I was certain that this would carry over into 2019.

As you can see from the card at the top of this post, I clearly changed my mind. This all started when I first saw the mockups for this year's set design. Even if the border color has been used on 3 other occasions, I'm willing to look past this in favor of my favorite Gypsy Queen base design of all-time.

The base set from 2019 is totally night and day from the "meh" designs from the past few years. The borders are a perfect blank canvas for this colorful and interesting set design. In many ways, the style is reminiscent of 1972 Topps; the only information included on the front is the player's name, and the picture takes up roughly the same amount of space.

Upon seeing the fabulous set design for this year, I caved in. When I visited the Baseball card show on Sunday, I'll admit it, I splurged. My Dad and I came to a mutual consensus and bought a hobby box of 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen. I couldn't give up on this brand so quickly, especially since Gypsy Queen was my favorite Topps release for a number of years.

One thing that was evident, from the very first pack that I opened, was the excessive variety of carefully-chosen photos. Throwback uniforms, action shots, and close-ups all make appearances in 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen. 

Given how many base cards there are in just 1 hobby box, it's reassuring, if nothing else, that this year's design is fabulous. Along with a fantastic selection of photos, this year's set is already a step up from the last few releases.

Topps was extremely successful with the card fronts, but the backs were definitely a missed opportunity. Although the card backs have never been Gypsy Queen's strong suit, I expected something a little better to go alongside the gorgeous set design.

Instead, there's a ton of dead space on these cards, especially towards the bottom. Given how much excess and unused space there is, the card number should not be that small. It's difficult to simply see the number without squinting or moving the card closer to your eye.

Based solely on the set design, 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen is already a successful set. Admittedly, the backs leave something to be desired, but the creative fronts certainly steal the show.

However, no excellent (modern) card product is complete without insert sets that are both interesting and reminiscent of the actual set. After sampling and reviewing the base set to myself, I moved onto the insert cards.

Back for the 2nd straight year, the Tarot of the Diamond cards are back and better than before. These cards were one of the few highlights from the 2018 GQ set, so it seemed like a no-brainer that they'd be back once again.

However, I'm thoroughly impressed with how colorful these inserts are. On J.D. Martinez's card alone; pink, gold, blue and 2 shades of green are all visible. 

Even if I had the choice, I don't think I would've chosen 3 players to pull beside Martinez, Mookie Betts, and Ronald Acuna Jr. In addition to Topps' creativity when it comes to colors and patterns, referring to Betts as "The Emperor" and Acuna as "The Joker" captures everything that the Gypsy Queen brand is about. It's an untraditional product, similar to Allen & Ginter, but focuses primarily on Baseball.

Another reoccurring insert set, the Fortune Teller cards have played a huge role in the reimagining of the Gypsy Queen brand. A staple of the set since 2017, these cards are Tallboys, a cross between a standard card and a mini. 

In 2018, Topps brilliantly chose the color purple for their Fortune Teller cards, and I developed a newfound appreciation for this set. Once again, in 2019, these creative inserts are purple, the perfect color for a set like Gypsy Queen.

On the back of each of these insert cards, the "Fortune Teller" makes bold predictions about what each player will accomplish in 2019. Sometimes the backs project overall performances, sometimes specific milestones. I've never taken the time to look and see if past predictions came to fruition, but the sheer concept behind these cards is incredibly compelling. 

In this instance, the Fortune Teller card is predicting that Altuve will remain healthy and reclaim the batting title in 2019. Only time will tell if Altuve accomplishes this feat, but it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for this to happen.

One of the major themes behind Gypsy Queen's recent transformation is variation cards which have become extremely prevalent across the past few years. Although Topps has produced some pretty lame variations over the last few seasons (missing black plate, missing logo), they seem to have finally changed for the better in 2019.

Unlike the tarot insert cards, Eddie Rosario and Alex Gordon aren't necessarily my first choices for variations. Nevertheless, the beautiful set design allows me to appreciate these cards more than I have in the past. 

I still believe Topps is capable of better inserts besides a missing nameplate and a logo swap, but I'm willing to look past all of that in favor of an eye-catching set with masterful pictures. 

Similar to the variations, I wound up with 2 serial numbered parallels in my hobby box break, but neither of them are ideal names. The Josh Reddick is an indigo parallel, numbered out of 250, while the LeClerc is an awesome black and white parallel, numbered to just 50 copies. 

If there's anyone out there who wants to trade for these 2 players, especially for other numbered 2019 Gypsy Queen cards, I'm definitely down to trade. I'm dying to see what these parallels look like when a player like Anthony Rizzo or Chris Sale is featured.

One of the major changes from 2018 to 2019 is the removal of the Glassworks box toppers, my favorite part of the Gypsy Queen set for years. In its place, each hobby box features 3 exclusive chrome cards instead, including the possability of pulling numbered refractors or autographs.

In person and on the computer, these Gypsy Queen chrome cards are absolutely stunning. Both the backs and the fronts feel a lot like Topps Heritage chrome cards. However, with all the different colors on the GQ cards, these are arguably more beautiful than the Heritage chromes.

If these cards were, say, blaster box exclusives instead of hobby box, I might attempt, with great difficulty, to complete the chrome set. However, given that they're hobby box exclusives, not to mention the fact that you get just 3 per box, it would be near impossible to complete this set.

I was incredibly stoked to pull a blue refractor from my 3-card pack, especially of a player that I collect, Miguel Cabrera. The card itself doesn't look very blue or like a chrome card when scanned, but in-hand, the card features a bright blue border. 

Numbered 065/150, this will be an excellent addition to my Miguel Cabrera player collection, a PC that recently reached 100 total cards.

With any hobby box purchase, the main draw for collectors is the guaranteed hits which, for 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen, is 2 on-card autographs. I've had some pretty impressive luck with GQ autos in the past, but this year's checklist makes it fairly difficult to land a good name.

While 2017 and 2018 focused primarily on rookies, 2010 features mainly decent veterans in the autograph checklist, decreasing the possibility of pulling a big-name player.

Behold the 2 autographs from my hobby box. The first is a Phillies outfielder not named Andrew McCutchen, Odubel Herrera, or Bryce Harper. 

The second is Max Muncy, a home run derby participant from 2018 who fell off the map a bit following the All-Star break. This is the risk with buying hobby boxes, and a lot of times, that risk doesn't pay off.

Still, there's no denying that these cards are absolutely stunning to look at, and both Cozens and Muncy's signatures are good-looking on-card autographs. They design somewhat resembles the base set, yet there's still room for the cards to stand out on their own.

If either Dylan Cozens or Max Muncy make it big, I'll be the happiest collector in the world. However, even if these autographs never accumulate a high value, there's more to Gypsy Queen than just the 2 hits.

I understand that the product may not be for everyone; I really do. I'm just happy that, after years of wandering in confusion, Topps Gypsy Queen has finally found a true identity for itself.