Access with an X

Every so often a set appears that needs a bit of research. Dugout Axcess (sic) is one such range. According to this article on Beckett's it was a one-year wonder aimed at younger collectors. It was also released by Skybox when Marvel operated the brand and Beckett mentions some cards that paired baseball players with superheroes. I had to look those up on Trading Card Database and it's true, but sadly Tony didn't feature in that 10-card insert set.

However, Tony did feature on more than one card in the set.

Card Number 397: Skybox Dugout Axcess, 1998; #43

The X in Axcess is formed from two crossed bats, which I thought was just a design motif, but actually it's the proper name of the set!

This card is similar to a Skybox card featuring Tony at Spring Training, with him carting his equipment bag around. He's carrying at least three bats poking out of the top. This set definitely went for quirky photos - Roger Clemens' card has a picture of him bunting!

The back carries a photo and quote from Orel Hershiser, which made me wonder if there is another card from the set with a little inset photo of Tony saying something about another player. I decided if I was really committed I would go through all the images on TCDb and find out.

The answer is 'yes'. Tony provided a little quote on the back of team-mate Ken Caminiti's card.

Tony has another card in the base set as part of a 'sketch' series. I don't have that card, but I do have a card from the 'Double Header' insert set.

Card Number 398: Skybox Dugout Axcess Double Header, 1998; #18DH

This insert series was printed on foilboard and doesn't scan well. 

I'm going to be petty and ding this a point for the missed opportunity to give Tony the number 19 card in a 20 card set, instead of 18.

Double Header was a dice-based card game (dice not included) that looks absurdly tedious and I predict has been played by no one, ever. On the front of the card it lists the outcome of a dice roll if someone was playing using this card. On the back it explains what the abbreviations are. 

I have a dorky interest in games and I know that on a two dice roll the most common numbers to roll are 6,7 and 8. To have those numbers allocated to the outcomes "double play", "ground out" and "hit by pitch" are just terrible game design decisions. They also don't take into account Tony's actual ability to make a base hit and seriously overplay the likelihood of him being hit by a pitch. In his 20-season career, Tony was only hit by a pitch 24 times. But the likelihood of rolling an 8 with two dice is 13.89% - which would be a huge number if that probability reflected reality considering he made over 10,000 plate appearances. 

This wasn't the first time a card set tried to introduce an interactive game element, and it probably won't be the last. They all seem like they would be extremely boring, but at least it gave me an extra Tony Gwynn card for the collection.

Total: 398 cards