Examples of samples

It was Fuji who first alerted me to how much promotional work Tony Gwynn did with the Pacific Card Company, and how he was the subject of sample cards distributed to card shops. 

You can read Fuji's entertaining post here, and see his 10 Tony Gwynn sample cards. I didn't think I would ever get to own any myself. But then Gawain sourced me a mammoth stack of cards and there were two sample cards in there. One of them is even one that isn't in Fuji's blog post. Does that mean I have one that he doesn't have?

This is one I know he has:

Card Number 441: Pacific, 2000; #SAMPLE

See if you can spot how to tell it's a sample card.

As is ever the case with Pacific, nothing is simple. This is a sample of one version of Tony's base card. I blogged about the different version of this card on the anniversary of Tony's first hit in the big leagues, although I didn't note at the time that it was a variant version. 

Sadly, I don't have the regular numbered version of this version of this card, so that's one to try and add to the collection at some point.

Card Number 442: Pacific Omega, 1999; #SAMPLE
I didn't see this on Fuji's blog, although there were 4 other sample cards from 1999 in his post.

The silver foil panel has a sort of outline of Tony in as well.

Omega was one of Pacific's posher lines, although the cards look a lot like other Pacific cards. It has a very simple 'totals' stats box, and earns a bonus point for having the year in the set logo. That's always useful.

I also don't have the regular version of this card, so it's another one I will be keeping an eye out for.

Total: 442 cards