Group Break - The Daily Dimwit - Gypsy Queen Case Break

I was able to jump into The Daily Dimwit Gypsy Queen case break and grab the Giants, this is only the second case break I have ever been in on, I believe the other one was a flagship Jumbo box case break last year.  I didn't end up with any hits but did score a bunch of nice cards.

First up are the base cards, I got an entire team set minus Will Clark.  I am thinking Sam overlooked Will the Thrill in my stack as he is not an SP.  I didn't go back and watch the videos but in the end I didn't care too much as I happened to pull his card in one of the 6 packs I have purchased since the release.

This is a great selection of Giants both new and old.  I have to say this is my least favorite Gypsy Queen design of the 3.  I built last years set plus the inserts but didn't go after 2011 as the price was just too high for boxes.  I will share my decision on if I will build the 2013 Gypsy Queen set at the end of the post.

The Lincecum and Mays are SPs and I ended up with 2 extra Mays cards if anyone is interested in a trade.  The only card I need to chase is a Buster Posey alternative photo card which appears to be going for big bucks right now.

On to the minis:

I scored quite a few minis, especially out of the alternative photo mini boxes.  The Zito black border is /199.  I am definitely going after the regular minis and if I can pick up a few of the black and green parallels on the cheap quickly, I will probably chase those two parallels as well.

To me the highlight of this year's release are the inserts and fortunately the Giants were well represented and I was able to score 1 of every Giants insert in the case break:

I am a fan of all these designs, with the exception of the blue border parallel - just a little too over the top for me.  The Collisions at the Plate inserts are outstanding, probably the best insert set in the last few years.  The Dealing Aces is pretty nice and I was happy to see 2 Giants in the set (and one wasn't Tim Lincecum thank goodness).  The Glove Stories is pretty nice celebrating Gregor Blanco's perfect game saving catch, I really like the stitching around the photo to give it a glove look.  Finally the No-Hitters inserts, while somewhat like the Dealing Aces at a quick glace, which I like as well celebrating the no hitter that Blanco saved.  An A+ to Topps for these inserts.

I also decided to donate my extra Giants back to the group in exchange for some random cards from others.  I got a nice stack of about 25 cards that include a couple inserts, an extra McCovey for my player set and this card:

A great looking card for my Vida Blue player collection.  I am not sure if it was intentional or not but thanks to Sam for throwing the right card in my stack.

Overall a pretty nice break, a little disappointed that I didn't score a hit but that is the gamble with group breaks.

So for my decision on Gypsy Queen this year.  I have decided to NOT collect the base set.  Part of this break was Sam randoming off 3 sets that came from the case and I decided since I didn't win the set, I am not a huge fan of the design and I am a little annoyed that the SPs are mixed in and not at the end I am not going to collect the set.

You may not realize this but it is a pretty big step for me.  Last year I collected almost every set that came out.  I have already decided not to collect Gypsy Queen, Topps Stickers and Panini Triple Play that have come out this year, mainly just trying to cut back.  I will buy a few packs to test them out and look for some Giants but I am not going to dole out the cash to buy them.

Thanks for the great break Sam. Let do an Allen and Ginter one as well!!!