Modern Monday - recent(ish) DonRuss base

I was scrolling through Facebook and noticed a post that Andy M had made in the Baseball Cards UK group about a mystery box he had purchased and was opening. Now I am a fan of mystery packs and repacks and am always interested at what tips up in them. (I regularly read Sportscards from the Dollar Store to get my fix of repacks. I would have no money if I lived in North America.)

Andy seemed a bit disappointed with the contents of the box, which he laid out for everyone to see. It was a mix of packs and one "hit" card. Most of the packs were quite recent. One of them really caught my eye and I left a comment asking if it had survived the opening. 

Can you guess why?

This is the 2015 DonRuss 'hobby' packet. And that's Tony on the front!

Andy might have been a bit surprised anyone was interested in the packet. He  replied that it was still in reasonable condition. He then asked if I had the Tony Gwynn base card from that year, because there had been one in the pack.

Long story short, I didn't have that card, but now I do! (And yes, Andy also sent me the packet.)

Card Number 328: DonRuss, 2015; #193

Panini era DonRuss cards don't have licensing, and it's easy to dismiss them. However, in recent years the only company with a licence has repeatedly put out horrible flagship sets. The design of this card is lovely in comparison.

In 2015 they designed the cardbacks to look like classic 80s DonRuss cards, right down to the use of the player's full name. (Jeff at Wax Pack Wonders will appreciate this! He's done a whole series on the names on DonRuss cards.) One difference from the 80s cards is the addition of Sr. after Tony's name. Tony Jr, who was born in the 80s, has subsequently had a career and cards of his own.

By now you probably know my feelings about stats boxes - everything or one line is OK. This is a great summary stats box. Those are Tony's totals. The little write up notes that Tony wasn't a power hitter but that he earned 97.6% of the vote for the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. 

There's a story in He Left His Heart in San Diego, that Tony felt that he wouldn't be voted in to the hall on the first ballot. A couple of years ago the Padres posted the video of him getting the call to welcome him to the Hall after the votes have been processed. He got very emotional. I felt emotional watching it too.

I've got a few more recent DonRuss cards. These have arrived in various lots.

Card Number 329: DonRuss, 2017; #190

To date, this is the only card from 2017 in my collection of Tony Gwynn cards!

It's noticeable again, that for an unlicensed card where they have had to photoshop out any references to the Padres, this card still manages to get a lot right. It is a lovely bordered card - compare it to the 2017 Topps design which is the absolute nadir of their cards in the last decade, and you can see how nice it is. This looks timeless. Those Topps cards look terribly dated now, just three years later!

The back is nothing special. The write up is a vignette from the All Star Game in 1994 when Tony scored a run in dramatic fashion.

One way that Panini get around not having a Major League Baseball licence is through linking up with the Major League Baseball Players Association and the National Hall of Fame and Museum. The Hall of Fame has some rights to sell images. I think it may be a condition of being inducted into the Hall that they can sign licensing agreements using a player's name and image.

Card Number 330: DonRuss, 2018; #258

This is the third card in a row that takes care to show the back of Tony's shirt with his name and number. That's all they can show!

The lines across the card are a deliberate homage to the design of the DonRuss set from 1984. Just so collectors aren't confused into thinking this is a card from '84, they've included the '18 on the front as well. (Bonus Point for the year on the front!)

The back is black and white again. Note the phrase "Professional Batting Totals". They're not mentioning the words "Major" or "League".

Technically, though, Tony was a "professional" when he was playing in the minor leagues at Walla Walla, Amarillo, and for the Hawaii Islanders. Should they have added his statistics in? He really lit up the minor leagues so all those figures would get a very healthy bump if they were included.

I have posted some other modern DonRuss cards on the blog previously. Here are some more cards from 2018, and some from 2020! There also was a special Tribute series in the 2015 set and one of them was the 100th card featured on this blog.

Total: 330/394