Store exclusives part 1 - K-Mart

I have a funny story about K-Mart. On our first road trip to America, Cathy and I filled up a trolley with cool stuff in a K-mart and then had our credit card declined. So we had to go back to the hotel to get our traveller's cheques. When we got back to the store the cashier was very surprised to see us and said they were just about to start putting all the stuff back on the shelves! (We had a few problems with our credit card that holiday - I've learned to always let the credit card comapny know that we are going abroad!)

Anyway, K-Mart have had a longstanding relationship with Topps. These days that means exclusive parallels or special inserts in packs of Topps baseball cards sold in K-Mart. But in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it meant exclusive small sets sold only in K-Mart stores. I've blogged about a K-Mart card from 1990 previously. 

Card Number 693: K-Mart Memorable Moments, 1988; #12

This isn't the most exciting card front. The photo is of Tony toward the end of his swing. It's hard to make out, but it looks like he has got his eyes closed.

Consdering this set was about 'Memorable Moments of the Eighties', the moment related to Tony was a bit obscure - a player of the month award in 1987. Admittedly, those are impressive monthly stats. Was that one of the most memorable moments of the 80s though?

This does underline how Tony was the master of hitting singles. Only a quarter of his 44 successful contacts in June 1987 were extra-base hits.

Card Number 694: K-Mart Dream Team, 1989; #29

I really like the font they used for the set name. It reminds me of bubblegum.

This photo looks a bit odd. It offers a good view of one of Tony's Mims Bandz though.

Tony earned his place on the Dream Team as the National League's 'Rookie of the 80s'. That's surprising to me, given his trio of batting titles up to this point. 

What I like about this card is the complete minor league record on a separate line. That would have been a really good feature on regular Topps cards, but they didn't do it for some reason.

Total: 694 cards (300 above my original target!)