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Back in December of last year, I wrote a post outlining why Topps 2011 Gypsy Queen could be cool. I figured now that we have all had a chance to digest the Gypsy Queen set, it would be worth a look back to see what worked and what didn't.
Let's start with the initial set description:
Release Date: Late April 2011
Box Configuration: 24 packs + 1 ten card mini box
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2 Autographs
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2 Relics
Product Highlights/Details:
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Modeled after the 1887 N174 Gypsy Queen baseball card set.
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Massive 450 card base set featuring 50 short prints and a mix of veterans, rookies, legends and possibly odd balls.
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7 base cards and 3 parallels in every pack.
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All 450 base cards will feature a stamp relic parallel relating to the player's city or country of origin numbered to 10 each.
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In addition there will be framed paper parallels numbered to 999 seeded one per box.
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Gold parallels seeded one per pack.
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1 mini parallel per pack. Mini's come in hobby-only leather versions limited to 10.
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Other mini parallels include: Sepia numbered to 10, back variants and black-bordered back variants.
Release date: Late April became early May.
Box Contents: Most (all?) hobby boxes seemed to come with two relics and one auto rather than the promised two and two. Sure, Topps has promised a UPC redemption program for the missing auto but let's face it, it's probably just another David DeJesus auto that you have to wait six months for. (And wouldn't it be fun to know exactly how many cards DeJesus actually signed for Topps?)
Set size: The promised 450 card set somehow turned into yet another 350 card set.
Pack contents: Seven base cards and three parallels in every pack turned into eight base cards, one insert, and one mini per pack (on average). Some packs, had one fewer base card and one extra insert (usually a hit or Gypsy Queen card).
Framed paper parallels: This is the one area where the actual boxes ended up better than Topps had initially promised. According to the presell sheet, the paper parallels were supposed to be one-per-box. Based on the boxes I opened for the group break, it's safe to say you can expect two-to-four in a box instead.
Gold parallels: The gold parallels were supposed to be seeded one per pack. I believe these were yanked out of the product altogether by Topps. Has anyone seen a gold parallel card?
Based on the above list, it's not hard to see how people who pre-ordered a lot of Gypsy Queen could be legitimately upset. Almost nothing that Topps initially promised actually ended up as they first described.
The Price:
Gypsy Queen hobby boxes began as a pre-sell around the $95-$100 mark. Currently, you are lucky if you can find a box of Gypsy Queen for under $150. Did Topps artificially raise demand by drastically reducing the amount of product available? There have been some reports that I've seen on various blogs and message boards saying the different websites/hobby shops had great difficulty procuring boxes of the set, especially after the release.
Adding fuel to the price/distribution fire, Topps seems to have unloaded a whole bunch of relics and autographs into their retail packs and blasters. Heck, even I managed to land a two-hit blaster of Gypsy Queen a few weeks back. To an uninformed outsider, it sure looks like Topps cut their production of the set wayyyyyy down, unloaded all their extra hits into retail blasters, and called it a day with the set.
Overall:
Despite all the misleading information and high prices, is it all doom and gloom with Gypsy Queen? Do collectors hate the set?
In a word, no.
At least, it appears that collectors like/love the set. Hobby box prices keep rising rather than falling (surprising for any set outside of maybe Bowman rookie crap for that to happen). Gypsy Queen group break fill up quickly (including the one I held). People seem to be actively trading in anticipation of completing the entire set. Heck, some people are even going for the framed paper set (which I'd guess no one would attempt had Topps stuck to the one framed card per box as initially promised).
For myself, I don't get it. Look back at my original Gypsy Queen post from last December and check out the comments. It's safe to say that while the overall opinion was slightly positive based on my blog's comments, there wasn't a huge amount of love for the set. If you check out Stale Gum's initial post on the set (of which my blog was a reply to), you can see a whole lot of acidic hate for the set (and especially Topps) in the comments!
Why then, for a set that was mostly unwanted pre-release (which seems to be fact based on the pre-sells), did Gypsy Queen somehow become a hot ticket item? How is it possible that Topps was able to neuter the set so drastically (cut 100 cards from the base set, remove a full parallel set, etc.) and end up with a set that people seem to like better?!
I can't imagine Topps doing that to a set like Allen & Ginter and having people end up happy. Heck, I can't even imagine them doing that to the base set and having people end up happy, and yet, when they do it to an initially unheralded product, people love it. I don't get that.
Bottom line:
I guess the real question that should be asked is: What can we learn from this whole experience?
In a way, it shows just exactly how fickle consumers (and especially card collectors) are. A product with a great looking pre-sell information sheet (in my opinion) ends up a shell of its former self and yet, somehow sells better post-release.
As always, I'm interested in your thoughts. How do you feel about Gypsy Queen?
I am surprised at how much I ended up liking the Gypsy Queen set, so much so that I decided to chase the base set 1-300 along with certain minis and inserts that fit into my collecting windoes. I broke 2 boxes and one had a case hit Gypsu auto (Kara) whike the other box shorted me 2 hits. Topps did replace them within 2 weeks so I can't complain especialy since one was a Yankees jersey card. I am not a fan of SP's in these sets so I* bailed on trying to get 301 - 350 but the ones I got make good trade bait so I guess again I shouldn't complain. Over all I gotta give it 2 thumbs up and I really didn't want to like the set when it came out so a job well done in this case by Topps for me.
ReplyDeleteI think the initial response was "oh no, another retro set" - and given the cool reception to National Chicle it seemed a trend was forming. I believe Topps simply reduced supply to meet anticipated demand, and by doing so ended up with better ratios (in retail, at least) of hits and inserts because there were less packs for the hits to be spread around. Also due to the initial lack of interest, they probably figured that since they had committed they would use lesser autographs, although that seems to be an overall trend these days anyway. But that also can mean more autographs total, as players like DeJesus cost much less per autograph to begin with.
ReplyDeleteAs with all baseball products this year, once a set hits there will be interest in it because it's the only thing out there. Add to the fact that the set itself is enjoyable and you have $185 boxes long after release. In fact, the high prices are a great indication of how good this set is.
The changes made to the set may also have been just right. Collectors love minis, and most collectors are sick of one-per-pack gold parallels, or any gold parallels for that matter. The framed parallel set looks nice and are a challenge to finish without being impossible.
What can we learn? As you say, Topps can't just hack up an established set. Some chances can be made, but there are expectations with each set. With a new set, a few things can be tried and maybe they'll work. I remember hearing negative comments about Ginter because of the non-sport and non-baseball additions, but those are now some of the most important parts of the release. Goodwin Champions received the same discussion.
We shouldn't be so quick to judge a set based on the sell sheet. (I bet if National Chicle hadn't used the Babe Ruth/Chipper Jones image so heavily the product would have done better.) Topps should now realize that with a monopoly, people will buy almost everything they can afford. And the hobby is really looking for some new set concepts. There is a big following for Topps, Heritage, Bowman, and Allen & Ginter, but bring some interest and innovation (other than video cards) to the shelves.