Mike Nikorak - Bowman Black Collection

Card number 15 in this collection and up to date until something new comes out. Mike Nikorak was the 27th overall pick in the 2015 draft and struggled in his pro debut, going 0-4 with a 11.72 ERA over 8 starts, but as a 18 year old high school kid, you never know what you will get.

2016 Gypsy Queen Box 2

Box 2 is torn apart and sorted and won't be posted in as much detail as box one. Above we have the short prints, all the short prints this year are retired players other than Kenta Maeda, The Killebrew being the highlight of these with a bat barrel photo. Surprisingly, two boxes completed my base 300 card set and left me with 69 doubles. Just out of curiosity I checked previous years two box totals. 2014 gave me 298/300, 2013 gave me 268/300 and 2012 gave me 282/300. I didn't keep track in 2015, but seeing as I still need base it doesn't seem close.

2016 Gypsy Queen Trade/Wantlist

Want-list
Updated June 10, 2017

Base: Complete!

SP: 307, 328, 350

Mini Retail Foil: 302, 303, 305-307, 309-316, 318, 320, 322-328, 330, 333, 334, 336, 338-341, 343, 344, 345, 347, 350

Framed Green: 24, 76 (Jon Gray)

Framed Blue: 24, 76

Framed Purple: 6, 17, 24, 76

Mini: 76

Mini Gold: 24, 76

Mini Purple: 24, 210, 244, 272

Mini Variations: 76

Autographs: DJ LeMahieu

Autographs Orange: DJ LeMahieu, Vinny Castilla

Trade-list

Base:
2, 4, 9, 24, 25, 32, 39, 45, 52, 59, 60, 68, 73, 74, 77, 87, 93, 94, 100, 102, 117, 123, 124, 126, 129, 131, 140, 148, 155, 161, 162, 166, 173, 174, 178, 180, 194, 199, 204, 206, 207, 208, 236, 238, 243, 269, 284, 288, 299

Autographs: Brian Johnson, Rob Refsnyder

Autographs Green #99: Ketel Marte

Photo Variation: Paul Goldschmidt

Full Sized Relic: Matt Carpenter

Mini Relic: Shelby Miller

Mini Relic Gold #50: Javier Baez

Framed Purple: A.J. Pollock

Mini Base: 4, 15, 50, 56, 67, 70, 75, 82, 83, 105, 111, 136, 156, 170, 175, 178, 182, 204, 219, 238, 245, 249, 251, 265, 273, 274, 283, 289, 295

Mini SP: 317, 343

Mini Photo Variations: 1, 5, 15, 18, 34, 44, 57, 61, 71, 88, 90, 105, 125, 138, 155, 158, 163

Mini MVP: Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax, Stan Musial, Buster Posey

Glove Stories: Mike Trout, Juan Perez, Kevin Pillar, Billy Burns, George Springer, Freddy Galvis, Joey Votto

Power Alley: Willie Mays, Jose Canseco, Carlos Delgado, Dave Winfield, Andre Dawson, Stan Musial, Eddie Mathews, Babe Ruth, Eddie Murray, Albert Pujols

Walk-Off Winners: Eric Hosmer, Manny Machado, Andruw Jones, Jackie Robinson, Josh Donaldson, Wilmer Flores, Kris Bryant

Ancient Era Remnants: Player's Cigarettes

2016 Gypsy Queen Box One

Base Cards 183 of 300 - No doubles, 61% of the base set. I wasn't sure about the design at first, but now that I have them in hand, I really like this years design. Simple and the red text really pops against the light background, a huge improvement over 2015. I won't flood you with base, but a few stood out.

The Signs of Spring

Snow melting, leaves coming out, baseball on TV, NHL playoffs and my annual 2 boxes of Gpysy Queen. Full review, breakdown, want and trade lists to follow.

It's a Sickness, is what it is

Don't ask me why, but I now own the above card. I thought having 19 different 2013 Ramon Hernandez cards would be enough. It is not. I had to buy a 2012 Ramon Hernandez printing plate. At least 2013 has a nice photo, this is a photoshop. Don't ask me why, but it's here, on my card desk, looking at me, waiting for more of it's friends.

Opening some Opening Day on Opening Day

I never planned on buying any Opening Day, but a trip to the LCS for supplies always leads to a few packs, this time it lead to a box. Seeing as a box of Opening Day goes for under $40, it really wasn't that much more than my usual few sample packs. I am glad I did buy this box because my Dad was around over the weekend and we opened it while watching the Sunday games. Pretty cool to open a box with the man that got me started collecting.

So here's what we pulled.