Dodger Gypsy Queen Mini's

In the group case break I participated in I only got a handful of mini cards, and unfortunately, none of them were really of note. The mini cards are the same size as 19th century tobacco cards and use the exact same pics as the normal sized base cards from the set- with some exceptions. The first 100 cards to the set have short printed versions available, so I decided to search online for the Dodger short prints. Check them out below as I put them side by side their base versions.

Jackie Robinson

Matt Kemp

Pee Wee Reese

Duke Snider

Sandy Koufax

Clayton Kershaw

The Case Break Big Hits: Gypsy Queen's

Here are the cards that had me so excited. A patch, a bat, a stamp and a printing plate... oh my! The only thing that would make this better would be an autographed card, but why be greedy? Here are the "big hits" I received from the fine ladies at "A Cardboard Problem."

There are only two Dodger mini relic insert cards in the set, and I got them both. Wow!

A Matt Kemp game-used uniform piece.

And the best of them all- a game-used bat piece of Jackie Robinson. WooHoo! This is my very first Jackie relic card- and possibly the only one I'll ever get.

There are scarce stamp relic card, numbered to only 10, available for every player in the base set. I was fortunate to snag a Jackie Robinson. Sweet! Even better is that the stamp is nicely aligned.

Here is a Duke Snider printing plate, 1 of 1, card. This is also my very first printing plate, and I'm glad it's of this great Dodger Hall of Famer.

Dodger Gypsy Queen Inserts

Here are some of the insert cards I recently received from a case group break. I got all of the possible Dodgers available, and a bonus bronze border paper frame parallel card of Duke Snider, below. It uses the exact same photo as the base card, but comes with a fancy bronze frame, numbered out of 999. Click on any of the pics below to enlarge.

Here are the two Dodgers in "The Great Ones" insert set.

Pee Wee Reese

Jackie Robinson

How weird is it that they use a Adrian Beltre photo in a Dodger uniform? I guess since this is a "Home Run Heroes" insert card, and the last time he was a major home run threat was when he wore "Blue" might explain it.

2011 Topps Gypsy Queen: Dodger Base

I just picked up my bounty from a recent Gypsy Queen group case break I participated in last week and I'm as happy as a clam. I'll post the big "hits" I got later on- they are pretty damn good, so stay tuned. In the meantime, here are the Dodger base cards.

I have to add that I really like the look of these cards. The drawings are great, and some of the inserts aren't too bad either. The backs are lacking in substance- I wish they added some stats (or maybe a cartoon) to fill out the reverse. As you can see there is only a short biography. As always, click on any of the pics to enlarge.

#4, Jackie Robinson

#15, Matt Kemp

#35 Pee Wee Reese

#59, Duke Snider

#66, Sandy Koufax

#87, Clayton Kershaw

#123, Ted Lilly

#183 Rafael Furcal

#237 Roy Campanella

#257 James Loney

#273, Chad Billingsley

#292, Andre Ethier

#310, Jon Garland

Gypsy Queen is Live: Check out a Koufax

Topps newest vintage themed Baseball card set is now officially live, and as you can imagine the interwebs are already filling up with photos. The set is called Gypsy Queen (which is fairly un-PC since Roma is the more preferred terminology today) and is fashioned after a 19th century set considered some of the rarest cards known in the hobby. Below is an example of one of these scarce cards.

I've yet to put together some Dodger base cards from the set (don't worry I'll get to that in a couple of days,) I did want to show one of the key finds any collector would love to grab. Above is the Sandy Koufax autograph card from the set. I had joined "A Cardboard Problem's" group case break and picked up the Dodgers, so I'm excited about what I will get in the case. I'm crossing my fingers hoping the fine ladies there pull the card above.