Cubs Breakdown - 2012 Topps Gypsy Queen

2012 Topps Gypsy Queen
Topps second year edition of Gypsy Queen released this past week, and it follows pretty closely in last year's footsteps.  In fact, I was thinking about how blah this set concept in general seems to me, and I decided to go back and see what I wrote about the inaugural issue last year.  Turns out it was one of my shortest set entries of the year, the full text was as follows;

This is yet another throwback themed product from Topps which has a heavy focus on miniature insert cards. Blah, blah, blah. Nothing too exciting to see here. I don't love much about this set, but it isn't terrible either. Just a few more new cards to add to the collection.

I don't have a whole lot more to add this year, so I'll skip to the breakdown fairly quickly.  The two most notables cards in this issue for me are the Travis Wood auto (his first Cubs card, albeit with an artistically rendered Cubs jersey) and the Wrigley Field relic card which is kind of an interesting extra for Cubs collectors.   Enjoy!

Base Set - 11 Versions - Base, Full Size Gold Frame, Full Size Blue Frame (#/599), Full Size Black Frame (1/1), Indian Head Penny Relics (partial parallel, #/10), Minis, Gypsy Queen Back Minis, Straight Cut Back Minis, Black Border Minis, Green Border Minis, Sepia Minis (#/99), plus four colors of full sized printing plates and four colors of mini printing plates
#72 Ryan Dempster
#94 Matt Garza
#123 Geovany Soto
#231 Andre Dawson - Has Penny Relic
#257 Ryne Sandberg - Has Penny Relic
#264 Ernie Banks - Has Penny Relic
#273 Starlin Castro - Has Penny Relic
#347 Ernie Banks - only mini versions exist for this card



Full Size Photo Variations - No Cubs Included
Full Size variations do not have parallels except for the printing plates

Mini Photo Variations
Mini Size Variations only have the base mini version
Some players have both mini and full sized variations.  These typically have the same photo on the variation between the two sizes.
#273 Starlin Castro


Future Stars - Base Version only, with four colors of printing plates
#SC Starlin Castro


Glove Stories - 2 Versions - Base and Mini, plus four colors of printing plates for both full size & mini
No Cubs Included

Hallmark Heroes - Base Version only, with four colors of printing plates
#EB Ernie Banks


Moonshots - 2 Versions - Base and Mini, plus four colors of printing plates for both full size & mini - No Cubs Included

Sliding Stars - 2 Versions - Base and Mini, plus four colors of printing plates for both full size & mini - No Cubs Included
#SC Starlin Castro


Relics - 2 Versions - Full Size & Mini
Not all players are available in both versions
No Cubs Included

Autos - 2 Versions - Full Size & Mini
Not all players are available in both versions (full size only for all of the Cubs)
#MB Marlon Byrd
#RS Ryne Sandberg
#SC Starlin Castro
#TW Travis Wood


Relic Autos (#/25)
#AR Aramis Ramirez
#SC Starlin Castro


Dual Relic Autos (#/15) - No Cubs Included
Triple Relic Autos (#/10) - No Cubs Included

Stadium Seat Mini Relics (#/100)
#WF Wrigley Field


Art Patch Cards (1/1) - No Cubs Included
Gypsy Kings - 3 Versions - Base, Relic, and Auto - No Cubs Included

Cubs Breakdown - 2011 Panini Prime Cuts

2011 Panini Prime Cuts
Yes, apparently the calendars at Panini still have not rolled over to 2012. So we get yet another 2011 dated set even though it's already April. I have to wonder how many more there will be before we close the door on 2011.

Aside from the weird dating on this set, it's really not too bad. The companies that don't have a license to use the MLB logos are starting to get a better hold on how they can make attractive cards without the logos.  One downside in this issue is that Panini stayed true to the Playoff tradition of having tons of variations of each card.  Some people like it, and I actually like several versions.  But some of these cards have 20+, which is too much in my opinion.

As for the player selection, there is a quite a lot to chase here from a Cubs standpoint.  Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, Fergie Jenkins, and Ron Santo all have cards.  Santo even came back to life to sign a few more autos for this issue!  I'm joking, of course, but it appears that Panini has not yet exhausted their supply of Santo stickers.  Plus a few cards of current and future stars in Starlin Castro, Javier Baez, and Dan Vogelbach to round things out.  Overall, Panini gets a thumbs up on the player selection!

The breakdown of the set is below!

It appears that all of the Andre Dawson cards in this issue say Montreal and all of the Greg Maddux cards say Atlanta
Base Set - 8 Versions - Base (#/99), Materials (Most #/199), Materials Silver (Most #/49), Materials Gold (Most #/25), Materials Platinum (Most #/10), Autos Silver (Most #/10), Autos Gold (Most #/5), and Autos Platinum (1/1)
#45 Starlin Castro (has all versions in standard numbering except for the autos, he has no auto versions)


Prospect Autos Base Set - 4 Versions - Base (#/299), Silver (#/99), Gold (#/49), Platinum (#/25)
#DV Dan Vogelbach


Draft Picks Autos Base Set (#/249)
#JB Javier Baez


Icons - 20 Versions (Varied Numbering) - Auto, Bat, Bat Auto, Single Jersey Plain Cutout, Single Jersey Number Cutout, Single Jersey Number Cutout Prime, Single Jersey Number Cutout Auto, Single Jersey Number Cutout Prime Auto, Single Jersey Position Cutout, Single Jersey Position Cutout Prime, Single Jersey Position Cutout Auto, Single Jersey Position Cutout Prime Auto, Double Relic, Double Relic Prime, Double Relic Auto, Double Relic Prime Auto, Triple Relic, Triple Relic Prime, Triple Relic Auto, Triple Relic Prime Auto
No Cubs Included

Timeline - 25 Versions (Varied Numbering) - Triple Materials Plain Cutout, Triple Materials Plain Cutout Prime, Triple Materials Plain Cutout Auto, Triple Materials Plain Cutout Prime Auto, Quad Materials, Quad Materials Prime, Quad Materials Auto, Quad Materials Prime Auto, Triple Materials MVP Cutout, Triple Materials MVP Cutout Prime, Triple Materials MVP Cutout Auto, Triple Materials MVP Cutout Prime Auto, Materials City Cutout, Materials City Cutout Prime, Materials City Cutout Auto, Materials City Cutout Prime Auto, Materials First Name Cutout, Materials First Name Cutout Prime, Materials First Name Cutout Auto, Materials First Name Cutout Prime Auto, Materials Last Name Cutout, Materials Last Name Cutout Prime, Materials Last Name Cutout Auto, Materials Last Name Cutout Prime Auto, and Plain Autos
#25 Ernie Banks - Triple Materials Plain Cutout (1/1), Triple Materials Plain Cutout Prime (1/1), Triple Materials Plain Cutout Auto (#/5), Quad Materials (1/1), Quad Materials Auto (#/5), Triple Materials MVP Cutout (1/1), Triple Materials MVP Cutout Auto (#/5), Materials City Cutout (1/1), Materials City Cutout Auto (#/10), Materials First Name Cutout (1/1), Materials First Name Cutout Auto (#/10), Materials Last Name Cutout (1/1), Materials Last Name Cutout Auto (#/10), Plain Auto (#/25)


Timeline Dual - 2 Versions (Varied Numbering) - Base & Prime
No Cubs Included

Timeline Triple - 2 Versions (Varied Numbering) - Base & Prime
#5 Ryne Sandberg, Joe Morgan, and Red Schoendienst - Base (#/10) & Prime (#/25)


Timeline Quad - 2 Versions (Varied Numbering) - Base & Prime
No Cubs Included

Signature Combos (Dual Autos)
No Cubs Included

Signature Trios
No Cubs Included

Signature Quads
#5 Ryne Sandberg, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, and Ernie Banks #/5


Souvenir Cut Autos
These do not picture the players
Billy Herman has a card in this set that says Brooklyn for the team
Mark Koenig has a card in this set that says New York for the team
No Cubs Included

Souvenir Dual Cut Autos
No Cubs Included

Legends Jumbo Relic & Cut Auto Book Cards - 2 Versions - Plain Jumbo Jersey (Varied Numbering) and Nicknames Cutout Jumbo Jersey (Varied Numbering)
No Cubs Included

Biography - 4 Versions (Varied Numbering) - Materials, Materials Prime, Auto Materials, Auto Materials Prime
#10 Ryne Sandberg - Bat #/99, Bat Auto #/10, Prime Material Auto 1/1


Barrel Up (All 1/1)
#14 Ron Santo

Hats Off - 2 Versions (Varied Numbering) - Game Used Hat and Game Used Hat Auto
#6 Ernie Banks - both versions 1/1
#7 Fergie Jenkins - both versions #/2
#22 Ryne Sandberg - both versions #/5


Colossal - 4 Versions (Varied Numbering) - Materials, Materials Prime, Auto Materials, Auto Materials Prime 
No Cubs Included

Notable Nicknames
#10 Ernie Banks #/10 (available via redemption only)
#20 Ryne Sandberg #/25


Notable Nicknames Cut Autos
These do not picture the players
Cool Papa Bell has a card in this set that says St. Louis for the team
Bill Nicholson has a card in this set that says Philadelphia for the team
Gabby Hartnett #/2


Emblems of the Hall - 5 Versions (Varied Numbering) - Materials, Materials Prime, Auto, Auto Materials, Auto Materials Prime
#1 Ron Santo - Auto #/5
#13 Ryne Sandberg - Bat #/99, Auto #/5, Bat Auto #/10, Prime Material Auto 1/1


Significant Signatures
#13 Ernie Banks #/10 (available via redemption only)
#17 Ryne Sandberg #/25

Cubs Breakdown - 2012 Topps Museum Collection

2012 Topps Museum Collection
Topps first new brand offering of 2012 hit stores within the past week with Topps Museum Collection, and it has been very well received by the hobby so far. Museum Collection autos were inserted in Topps Marquee packs last year, and they helped drive what was otherwise a pretty crappy product. A similar looking set of autos is inserted in this issue, and while they will help drive sales, this offering has a lot more going for it than just the framed autos.

The base set is the typical 100 card mix of superstars from today and Hall of Famers from the past. The design on the base set is decent if not spectacular. Then we get a plethora of game used and auto insert sets, most of which make the grade from a design standpoint. As mentioned before, the framed autos from Marquee are back in this issue, this time offering three different colored frames (gold #/15, silver #/10, and black #/5). These cards maybe look a little less attractive than last years but they are still very nice. There is also a set of sketch cards of the players, with a low printed chase version of each which is hand drawn and numbered to 10. These are not my favorite (sketch cards aren't my thing), but they have proven to be pretty popular in the marketplace so far.

As for Cubs in this issue, we continue to settle in to what figures to be a pretty lean time for Cubs cards. We get a Ryne Sandberg in the base set only, plus some limited appearances by Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena in the inserts. These are obviously a little bit 'meh' since they no longer play for the Cubs. Other than that, we get a whole lot of Starlin Castro. He's certainly the best Cub currently, but I will be more excited about sets that include a little bit wider selection of Cubs.

The breakdown is below!

Base Set - 5 Versions - Base Set, Copper (#/299), Green (#/199), Blue (#/99), and Red (1/1)
#19 Ryne Sandberg
#86 Starlin Castro


Canvas Collection - No Cubs Included
Canvas Collection Originals (#/10) - All 10 of each player are unique sketches - No Cubs Included

Primary Pieces Quad Relics - 4 Versions - Base (#/99), Red Frame (#/75), Blue Frame (#/25), and Two Panel Book Quad Relic Auto (#/10)
Not all player have the book auto version
#SC Starlin Castro - has a book auto version


Primary Pieces Quad Relics Legends - 2 Versions - Base (#/25) and Gold Frame (#/5)
No Cubs Included

Primary Pieces Four Player Quad Relics - 3 Versions - Base (#/99), Red Frame (#/75), Gold Frame (#/25)
#RRTC Starlin Castro, Troy Tulowitzki, Hanley Ramirez, and Jimmy Rollins
#RMKF Aramis Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Prince Fielder, and Brian McCann


Archival Autos - 2 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), and Gold (#/5)
#SC Starlin Castro (#/100)


Archival Dual Autos (#/15)
#SK Ryne Sandberg & Ian Kinsler (available via redemption only)
#CA Starlin Castro & Elvis Andrus (available via redemption only)

Signature Swatches Dual Relic Autos - 3 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Gold (#/25), and Double Patch Auto (#/5)
#AR Aramis Ramirez (#/70)
#SC Starlin Castro (#/70)


Signature Swatches Triple Relic Autos - 3 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Gold (#/25), and Triple Patch Auto (#/5)
#SC Starlin Castro (#/59)


Momentous Material Jumbo Jerseys - 6 Versions - Base (#/50), Gold Frame (#/35), Silver Frame (#/10), Holofoil Frame (1/1), Patch (#/5), Patch Auto (#/10)
Not all players have all versions
#AR Aramis Ramirez - No Patch version
#AS Alfonso Soriano - No Patch or Patch Auto versions
#BS Bruce Sutter - No Patch Auto version
#SC Starlin Castro - has all versions


Momentous Material Dual Jumbo Jersey Book Cards (#/5)
#NS Bruce Sutter & Phil Niekro


Jumbo Lumber Relics - 4 Versions - Base (#/30), Gold Frame (#/20), Red Frame (#/5), Holofoil Frame (1/1)
#CP Carlos Pena
#SC Starlin Castro


Jumbo Lumber Dual Book Cards (#/5)
#TC Starlin Castro & Troy Tulowitzki
#CR Starlin Castro & Aramis Ramirez


Framed Autos - 3 Versions - Gold Frame (#/15), Silver Frame (#/10), and Black Frame (#/5)
#RS Ryne Sandberg
#SCA Starlin Castro


Logomen (1/1)
#SC Starlin Castro

Cut Autos (1/1) - some of these picture the player and some do not
#BH Billy Herman
#HS Hank Sauer