2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Sepia Mini Parallel

Year: 2011

Manufacturer: Topps

Set: Gypsy Queen

Card Number: 61

Card Type: Mini parallel

Parallel set: Sepia

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 81/99

I'm a sucker for gimmicks.  And the gimmick I'm the biggest sucker for are the tobacco mini's.  I don't know why.  Maybe it's the homage to the birth of baseball cards and baseball card collecting.  Pacific may have been the first to put out the first tobacco sized mini insert, but it was Topps' 2002 206 set that really hooked me.  I'll be honest they are one of my favorite inserts and parallels.  And I really love it when I can chase cards with Robin on them.  In 2011, Topps decided to cash in on the retro card market it had helped pioneer by creating a new retro-vintage card set with Gypsy Queen.  Robin was include in the set, and many since, and of course that means mini parallels and parallels of those parallels.  The 2011 set was a direct homage to the original Gypsy Queen sets from the late 1800's and the sepia parallel really kind of captures that.  Sure the black border parallels look cool, but I think the sepia has a great vintage feel.  

2011 Topps 60 Years of Topps insert

Year: 2011

Manufacturer: Topps

Card Number: 60YOT-25

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: 60 Years of Topps

In 2010 Topps hit on a great idea with it's Cards Your Mother Threw Out and in 2011 decided to do something similar with it's 60th Anniversary programs.  Once again you got code cards in packs and entered them online.  If I remember you got virtual rings to collect and you could unlock real cards again and if you jumped though enough hoops you could earn a 60th Anniversary Topps set.  I'm a little bitter about this program.  I was entering cards like a happy clam, jumping though all the hoops and when I won my set and tried to have it delivered I was denied.  Why? Well between 2010 and 2011 Topps decided to void their contests in Alaska, Hawaii, and pretty much anywhere outside of the contiguous 48 states.  

It also seems like every year that Topps has at least one insert that features reprints.  Topps' 60 Years of Topps from 2011 is that insert.  This card featured an original back variation as well.  Robin gets his 1976 card featured in the set.

2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini parallel

Year: 2011

Manufacturer: Topps

Set: Gypsy Queen

Card Number: 61

Card Type: Mini Parallel

Mini Set: Base

I do love the tobacco sized mini cards.  Robin's grace the checklist of Gypsy Queen many times and he's also been lucky enough to included in the variation checklist.  This card is just the base mini parallel to the main set.  Just smaller and skinnier.  You can see his mini variation here.

2011 would be the inaugural year for Gypsy Queen a brand that is still being produced today.  It was pretty popular when it came out back in 2011.  Not one of my personal favorites, I'm more of an Allen and Ginter fan, I just love the oddball stuff Topps puts in it.  This set also had some neat relic cards featuring stamps and coins.

2011 Topps Tribute Base

Year: 2011

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Card Set: Tribute

Card Number: 26

Card Type: Base

I've always really liked the Tribute base cards.  Probably because Tribute is a hit driven product the base cards are relegated as filler.  That's too bad because they are well done cards.  Shiny and printed on think card stock and of course they come in a rainbow of flavors.  I especially like Robin's 2011 card because it uses a photo that wasn't over used in production that year. I won't say Topps didn't reuse it, and right now I'm too lazy to find out, from what I can remember you don't see this image used too often. Plus it's a great mid 70's photos and he looks like he's going to bunt. Heck it could be from his rookie year.  Robin also has a few relics in the set and a really nice triple auto with Paul Molitor and Ryan Braun

2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Bronze Framed Parallel

Year: 2011

Manufacturer: Topps

Set: Gypsy Queen

Card Number: 61

Card Type: Parallel

Parallel Set: Bronze Framed

Card Attributes: Framed, Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 362/999

The color framed parallel is nothing new.  Donruss did it way back in 2004 with Diamond Kings. And Topps brought it back with Gypsy Queen in 2011.  The interesting thing is that only a portion of the set is paralleled with the framed treatment.  Robin's been featured a few years. And of course like any parallel there are levels and exclusives.  

I'm not a huge fan of gimmicks like this, but in this case it works well.  Especially for the 2011 set which mimicked the original 1887 Gypsy Queen set in design which was kind of bland.  The color and the frame add a nice, well... frame to showcase the player and make the background colors standout.

2011 Topps Gypsy Queen Mini Box Variation

Year: 2011

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Card Set: Gypsy Queen

Card Number: 61

Card Type: Mini parallel

Parallel Type: Mini box photo variation

The inaugural year of the Gypsy Queen brand.  And with a new brand came new gimmicks.  For Gypsy Queen that meant paper frame parallels, framed mini relics and full size relics, SPs, and of course a cool mini box within the main hobby box that contained mini variations and mini versions of the insert cards that you couldn't find in the regular packs.  For me the base design is way too bland and yes I know it was meant to mimic the original Gypsy Queen tobacco set.  I've never been a huge fan of Gypsy Queen mainly because I hate the manufactured short print, but everything I love about the retro Allen and Ginter isn't in this set.

That being said I do love new Yount cards and Gypsy Queen over the years has been very good to us Yount collectors in that respect.  Robin gets lots of love being placed in the mini boxes, framed parallel checklists, and usually getting relic and auto cards too.

2011 Topps Tribute Gold Parallel

Card Manufactuer: Topps

Year: 2011

Card Set: Topps Tribute

Card Number: 26

Card Type: Base Parallel

Parallel Set: Gold

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 24/50

This card was feature on the blog many years ago after I picked it up.  And I can remember exactly where I got it, which can't be said for every card in the collection.  I was at one of rare, and now nonexistent, card shows here in Anchorage and I was thumbing though a miscellaneous box of cards and this popped out at me.  It's rare for me to find cards of Robin's at these shows and even rarer to find ones I don't already have and are this hard to find.  I asked the seller how much he wanted for it and he wasn't sure what it was worth, so I threw $5 out there and he quickly accepted.  Made me wonder if I could have gotten it for less, but I was more than happy to put a Honest Abe down for the card.  At the time these were going for about twice that on eBay and being a very low numbered parallel hard to find to begin with.  After figuring in what I would have paid in shipping alone my offer and purchase price was more than fair for me.

It's a great looking card, shiny, gold. I was going to make an outdated Austin Powers: Goldmember joke, but I won't.  I also like the image is a one not over used.  Probably not the best image, but at least it's different.