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2017 Topps Gypsy Queen
is back at it again with their latest release of the throwback designs to the early days (1900s era) of baseball cards, but with some big changes.
Lower Price
The first thing that collectors will notice is that the price tag is lower by approximately $20 compared to last year’s release. While that is nice news for fans of the product, to achieve the lower price tag, Topps made moves to simplify and streamline this year’s product.
What’s Different
The most notable change is that relic cards (especially non-auto) have been almost eliminated from the set list. In 2016, each hobby box contained 2 autos and 2 relics. In 2017, a hobby box will contain only the two autos.
The other big change is the mini card parallel is also now gone in the 2017 set list but fans of the mini card format can still look forward to the Fortune Teller insert.
The 2017 release does add an oversized chrome box topper also available in color parallels. This piece should help compensate for reduction in mini cards, and relic cards.
When considering the overall value, because relic and mini cards do not usually net a really high return on the market, losing these cards at the expense of decreasing the price of the hobby box actually makes the product a better value for collectors.
Design
Design wise, the 2017 incarnation of Gypsy Queen looks great as expected. The design of the overall set (base cards, inserts, special inserts) looks like it is being a bit bolder with colors than past releases. It does result in a finished product that feels a bit less like the early 1900s than the 2016 edition, which might be the only knock on the product, but press release photos do look pretty good.
Autos and Special Cards
The 2017 release will include 2 autos in each hobby box. Colored parallels will be available in Purple, Black, White and a 1/1 Black.
There will also be some neat auto relics including a three-panel booklet, which is predicted to be the big catch (especially the 1/1 parallel). Other hits will include auto relics that feature bat pieces, baseball leather and jersey button.
DK