2001 was Tony's final season as a player. It was also a year when Fleer were releasing sets that are now long-forgotten. One of the glorious aspects of collecting a player who was active during so many card hobby bubbles is finding cards from sets that nobody ever talks about!
Card Number 935: Fleer Platinum, 2001; #140
These retro cards deserve more recognition in my opinion. The set recreates the Fleer 1981 design and yet somehow this card looks like they could have been pulled from a pack today - even though we are 20 years on from the 20 year anniversary these cards were celebrating!
The back is glorously retro too, with the proper Fleer 80s look.
Card Number 936: Fleer Authority, 2001; #79
This set name makes me think of Cartman insisting "You will respect my authority!"
I think this is the only card I have with a picture of Tony wearing a camo uniform. It was around about this time that the Padres started wearing their uniforms in tribute to men and women serving in the military.
The foil stamp says 'Baseball Authority', but the set was just called Fleer Authority. Like most cusp-of-the-century Fleer ranges, this set mainly served as a vehicle for memorabilia cards. There was a hit rate of 1 relic per 36 packs, and the list of what was cut up and stuck into cards includes the usual shirts and bats, but also includes gloves, pants, shoes, hats, wristbands and even actual bases from the diamond.
The way Tony's face is framed on the back is a little odd, and somehow accentuates his heavy stature in his final year in the game. It doesn't help that he has relaxed in his seat so isn't sitting upright. Fleer weren't afraid to guesstimate Tony's weight at 225 pounds as well - that is one of the highest weights printed for him on a baseball card.
The stats box would win the 'extreme minimalist stats box award, if such an award existed. It's a bit quirky. I kind of like it.
Card Number 937: Fleer Showcase, 2001; #1
A shiny card to finish off the post - and it's the first card in the set! On the front Tony is pictured in the middle of a full bodied throw from the outfield.
The back of the Fleer Authority card above was an exercise in stats box minimalism, but this cardback manages to look full of stats and yet strangely it only goes back to 1988.
This isn't all the Fleer cards from 2001 that are waiting to be blogged, but I am saving some for a special post in the second week of Fabulous Fleer Fortnight!
Total: 937 cards
It'd be cool to flip through my binders and find the two cards that feature Gwynn's lightest and heaviest printed weights. Kudos to Fleer for digging deeper into stats during the late 80's and on that 2001 card. Wish they had done that a few years earlier when I was younger and had more time to stare at the backs of cards.
ReplyDeleteI have thought about doing a cardback weight tracker but it feels a bit insensitive.
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