One Card Only: Limited Edition

Every Sunday I try to pick one card that will carry a blog post on it's own. Today's card is one I think could carry a week's worth of posts.

Card Number 361: Fleer Limited Edition, 1986; #22

Everything about this card is lovely. It's a great posed photo of Tony, looking dead at the camera, defying you to throw a baseball at him. Go on, just try! And it's got a colourful frame that enhances the colours in the card. 

From a fan's perspective this photo also shows how small Tony's preferred bat was - he spent the 80s swinging the smallest bat in Major League Baseball; a bat that prompted legendary hitter Ted Williams to comment "We used to pick our teeth with these!" But Tony was on the verge of claiming three batting titles in a row with that bat.

This card came in a 44-card set, sold as a complete pack by Fleer. There were a lot of similar sets released in the 1980s, and I think they are overlooked by many collectors. However, the photography in them is often as good as, or better, than the regular flagship products that came in wax packs. Although it says Limited Edition, I think the sets had large print runs.

Admittedly the back is a bit plain, and in this case a bit faded with age, but the card stock is nicer than the stock used in flagship products of the time. 

It's also fun seeing cards that date from a time when there was plenty of space to include Tony's minor league figures in the stats box, even if they didn't have space to write Walla Walla in full.

Total: 361/394