Breakfast baseball bonus

Topps has produced a few promotional issues for other companies over the years. This one is unusual because it celebrates the Topps company even though it was a giveaway in breakfast cereal. 

Card Number 1041: Post 50 Years of Topps, 2001; #17

I mean, it's a free card, you don't expect to see the player's face in the photo do you?

Topps's trademark rubbish photography aside, the other quirk is placing the Padres logo on Tony's foot as if he's balancing a soccer ball there. A small soccer ball, like the "mini Mitres" I remember from school. 

(OK, that might need an explanation. When I was in high school in the late 80s to early 90s, the soccer ball company called Mitre brought out smaller versions of their balls that were supposed to be used for training purposes. They were also, probably intentionally, the perfect size for carrying round in a schoolbag which meant my gang of friends could play soccer during the lunchtime break with something resembling a proper soccer ball. I didn't have a mini Mitre myself. The kids who did were the gods of the playground.)

The most interesting thing about this cardback is the ribbon around the baseball and Tony's facsimile signature... which I think I'm right in saying is what he used on his very first contract with Topps when he was a teenager. It also appears on his Bowman cards from 1998 and 1999. 

It feels like the era of free cards in random products is over. This is probably one of the last times baseball cards appeared in boxes of breakfast cereal. (You can see the advert promoting the giveaway on TCDb.) This card is therefore a real throwback and the last hurrah of the late 90s overproduction era.

Total: 1041 cards

One card only - a grandstand great

Card Number 1024: Fleer Platinum Grandstand Greats, 2001: #7GG

These insert cards had rounded corners as befitting an 'old timey' retro set. Fleer Platinum was marking Fleer's 20th year producing baseball cards - the base cards recalled the 1981 template. On this insert the picture of Tony has been laid over a vintage photo of a baseball stadium. I never visited Jack Murphy Stadium, but I know that isn't a picture of it. The same picture appears on all the cards in this insert set.

The cardback write up is remarkably restrained considering it's a Fleer card. 

Fleer Platinum was successful enough to continue in subsequent seasons. I can see its appeal. The cards are neatly understated, printed on retro card stock, with good photos and not too big a set list. Fleer managed to get the retro feel right, and make it timeless.

Total: 1024 cards

Going Elite!

Shiny cards that don't scan as good as they look in hand! Welcome to the world of Elite cards by DonRuss...

Card Number 980: DonRuss Elite, 1996; #72

There were 12 of these inserts in the DonRuss flagship set numbered from 60 to 72. These numbers followed on from previous 12-card sets since the first set of Elite cards in the 1991 set. Elite were reasonably rare, with 1 card in every 75 packs in series 1 and 1 in every 40 packs in series 2 of DonRuss cards. But card #72 only appeared in series 2. 

It's not very visible on the scan, but this card has a shiny border all around the card. Tony is jogging the bases in the photo with an apocalyptic mid-90s sky behind him.

A couple of things of note on the card back. Firstly, the card number is written out in full, 15 years before Topps started doing that sort of nonsense on Allen & Ginter cards. (But even Topps don't write out the card number in full!)

Secondly, these cards were numbered out of 10,000. There's always something a bit special about a numbered card, even when it's a five digit limited run. This particular one is #509 - I can't think of anything particularly special about that number. 

Card Number 981: DonRuss Elite, 1998; #9

by 1998, DonRuss was issuing 'Elite' as a standalone high end set of 150 shiny cards. This card is so shiny it was a real rascal to scan. 

Despite the shininess, and the price tag on packs to match, this is quite a boring card. The back isn't much better. I ding points for partial stats boxes. Ding!

Card Number 982: DonRuss Elite, 2001; #24

Another shiny card that doesn't scan to it's full potential.

The font for Tony's name and the title on the stats box has to be one of the schmanciest serif fonts ever used on a baseball card. It's pure font luxury.

This was from Tony's final season where he was probably an onlooker from the bench more often than he would have liked - so that's a fitting photo on the cardback there. 

Total: 982 cards

FFF Tuesday Twins - cards and cars

Today's "twins" post is courtesy of Richard, as both these cards were in the parcel of things he sent me last year. One of the items is the largest thing I've had to scan so far on my blog!

Card Number 947: Fleer Premium, 2001; #77

This shiny card was difficult to scan. The black surround is part of the card, not poor background cropping. This is a rare double-bordered card, with a picture, a white border and then the black border. It hasn't taken off as a design technique.

The cardback is pretty basic as well. a five year stats box. Okay, it's just a base card, but it really doesn't live up to the word 'Premium'.

Fleer produced another version of this card to ship with... a die-cast car.

Card Number 948: Fleer Premium White Rose Collectibles; #29

The card is sealed inside the bubble along with the boxed car. I scanned the whole thing. 

White Rose Collectibles produced a number of sports-themed cars that were repaints of Matchbox die-cast cars, with franchise logos applied to them. Their relationship with Matchbox apparently ended in 1998, a couple of years after Matchbox was acquired by the Mattel toy corporation. (The history of die-cast car companies is often as convoluted as the history of baseball card companies!)

In 2001, Fleer bought White Rose Collectibles so that would explain why they started selling these little cars with baseball cards packaged alongside them. The car here is a replica of a Chrysler PT Cruiser. But I don't know who produced the car. It was the first time this particular car had featured in a White Rose range, so it may have been a White Rose original casting.

Here is a close up of the card, as scanned through the plastic. It's exactly the same.

Here is the back of the bubble. All those players were chosen to accompany cars with the relevant team logos. They aren't all instantly recognisable names.

The number on the back of the card corresponds with the numbering sequence of the cars in the collection listed on the back. Fleer also added the White Rose Collectibles logo at the bottom of the cardback.

I have left this card in the bubble for now. Maybe one day I will get hold of a loose version of this card, or crack the bubble on another 'mint' copy. I imagine most of the print run of these cards are still sitting safely inside the packaging of the collectibles!

A massive thank you to Richard for sending me both these cards!

Total: 948 cards

FFF - late career random Fleer

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.

And graphs along the bottom! A bonus point per graph, so that's 4 bonus points for this card!

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. 

Tony's expression in the photo makes me think of the word 'peeved'. Like he's just spotted a photographer taking a photo of him and isn't best pleased. 

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

Saying goodbye to Upper Deck week

After lots of Upper Deck cards this week, what better way to sign off than some of the cards produced when Tony signed off his career?

Card Number 832: Upper Deck Tony Gwynn Celebration of 20 Seasons, 2001; #unnumbered

This one-sided 'thank you' note to the fans acts as a 'header card' for the five card set. Trading Card Database lists these cards as an insert series in Upper Deck's 2001 set, but Baseballcardpedia does not. These cards feel like they were given out as freebies somewhere, based on what this card looks like.

The back of the card is totally blank. I have made the rare decision not to show the cardback because there is literally nothing to show.

Card Number 833: Upper Deck Tony Gwynn Celebration of 20 Seasons, 2001; #1

This card has the same design template at the Upper Deck 2001 set. Tony's base card from that set was the 267th card that I blogged about. 

Considering this was a 'tribute' series, the massive stats box on the back feels a bit unnecessary, particularly when it was replicated across all the cards in the set (which it was!)

The factoid kicks off the series with the best known statistic about Tony Gwynn - his .394 batting average in 1994.

Card Number 834: Upper Deck Tony Gwynn Celebration of 20 Seasons, 2001; #2

While I would never want to underplay Tony's achievements, it feels a bit odd to read the claim on the cardback that Tony "flourished" in the post-season. Tony only played in the post-season three times, which amounted to a National League Championship defeat and two World Series defeats. 

The Padres lost both their World Series without taking the series to game 7. In 1998 they lost 0-4 to an absolutely dominant Yankees team. 

Tony's personal post-season records weren't particularly spectacular by his exceptional standards - with the exceptionof the 1998 World Series when he posted .500. He Posted .368 in the national League Championship season in 1984. but only .263 in the World Series - well below his career average. 

There was then a 12 year wait for Tony's next post-season appearances, in 1996. The Padres crashed out in the divisional series and Tony posted a .308 batting average. The three post-season series in 1998 saw him build up to that .500 World Series average. In the four games of the divisional series his batting average was a measly .200, and in the Championship series he posted .231.

In total, in 27 games in the post-season, Tony posted an overall batting average of .306, which is well below his career average. It's not really what I would describe as "flourishing". (Although, he still has more World Series appearances as a Padre than anyone else who has ever played for them!)

Card Number 835: Upper Deck Tony Gwynn Celebration of 20 Seasons, 2001; #5

I'm missing number 3 and 4 in this little set!

This is easily the best photo on the cards I've got from this set. Tony always seemed to take really good "candids".

I'm not sure on the timing of this card set release because this refers to Tony's retirement in the past tense.

As I remarked about the first card, having the massive stats boxes on all these cards seems daft. 

Total: 835 cards

Back to Base in Upper Deck week

You might be thinking, surely there aren't any Upper Deck base cards Jon hasn't blogged yet? Well, you'd be surprised...

Card Number 825: Upper Deck Collector's Choice, 1998; #480

This card is from the last year of  'Collector's Choice'. It became UD Choice in 1999 before being lost forever. As a swansong, that is a fantastic card photo.

On the back we have Tony reaching up to sign autographs. He was well-known for signing autographs, often staying behind long after his team-mates had disappeared into the changing rooms. Any regular readers of this blog will know the 'Did you know?' factoid. I comment on it a lot! (It's still remarkable.)

Card Number 826: Upper Deck Encore, 1999; #77

Encore was a parallel set that Upper Deck released, with shiny versions of their base cards from that year. (This could have been a Tuesday Twin card.) As is sometimes the case with these random sets, I've already blogged the two much rarer insert cards from this set. It's nice to add the base card!

The front is practically the same as the card from the regular set but has an additional 'Encore' on it. The back has half an additional 'Encore' on it. (At the top!)

Card Number 827: Upper Deck Ovation, 2001; #51

This completes my run of Tony's base cards in the Ovation sets, as I've already blogged the cards from 1999 and 2000. The central motif of these cards was the baseball 'stitching', which was embossed. The stitiching isn't in red on this card, but the embossing marks are quite clear on the back. 

Tony looks disappointed in the photo. Maybe it's because he knew this would be his last year in the Ovation set. The stats box has his figures from the previous two years. It's as if the years before Ovation sets don't count. 

Total: 827 cards

Legend becomes legendary

Another post of Upper Deck cards in Upper Deck Week. 

Card Number 822: Upper Deck Legends, 2000; #54

In 1999, this range was known as Upper Deck Century Legends. Tony had two cards in that set - #49 and #54.

In 2000, this set was all foil cards.

The back is basic, as befits a base card (even in a high end set like this where a 5 card pack cost $4.99).

The following year, the Legends set dispensed with the foil. Personally I think these look better.

Card Number 823: Upper Deck Legenda, 2001; #79

Tony looks like he is enjoying himself in the photo on the front.

The back is even more basic than the preceding year.

As I have Tony's cards from the 1999 set that was also (sort of ) a Legends set, these two cards complete the run of Tony's Legends base cards. But Upper Deck wasn't done with the 'legend' tag.

Card Number 824: Upper Deck SP Legendary Cuts, 2005; #81

This was yet another spin-off from Upper Deck's SP range.

Considering this is a 'filler' card in a range that was mainly about hunting relic cards, this is exquisite. 

By the time this range came out, Tony had retired. The back has one line of stats with his final career figures. There is a nice touch in Upper Deck giving Tony card #81, as '81 was the year he was drafted.  

The main thing this card provokes in me is regret that Upper Deck no longer do baseball cards. The design on this is striking and very attractive. It's a great combination of photo and card lay-out. The baseball card hobby has been much poorer since Upper Deck got forced out of it. 

Total: 824 cards

Revisiting Tony's Topps rookie card...

To celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2001, Topps picked 50 cards to reprint in a large insert series. Naturally, they included Tony's "iconic" rookie card from 1983.

Card Number 752: Topps Through the Years, 2001; #36

Topps added a gold foil 50th Anniversary stamp to the front. Although it's instantly noticeable that this is printed on much better card stock than Tony's actual rookie cards ever were.

Ignore the number '482' on the back - that was the number of Tony's card in the 1983 set. There is a little line below the 1982 highlights that says it's card number 36 of 50.

I wish Topps still did a highlight for players on cardbacks. 

A few years later Topps dusted off the 1983 template again.

Card Number 753: Topps Archives, 2015; #201

This card is in danger of setting off the Anachronism Klaxon for having photos of Tony late on in his career in the design template from the beginning of his career. If the cameo photo looks familiar, it's because it had been used by Topps before, for example, on Tony's Allen & Ginter card in 2013.

The retro styling extended to the back with the little outline of the batter next to the number. However, by this point there was no room for factoids next to the giant stats box!

The card stock, however, was in keeping with the 1983 design.

I have a small but growing collection of reprints and reimaginings of this card (and the O-Pee-Chee version from 1983 as well). I won't be surprised if Topps print even more in future. 

Total: 753 cards

Topps base completion, thanks to Richard

For a long time I have been aware of significant gaps in my collection. One of them was filled at the start of the month when Tony's Topps base card from 1996 arrived in the quantity of cards from Greg in France. And just a few weeks later, Richard's parcel contained the other missing piece - Tony's card from 2001.

Card Number 751: Topps, 2001; #220

This isn't the first time this card design has appeared on this blog. I have previously posted about the Opening Day and Chrome versions. But this is the first time I have posted this basic version.

It ticks all the usual boxes for a Topps base card, though. Tony is looking away from the camera. His name and number are barely legible. If it wasn't for the logo printed next to his name, this could be an unlicensed card.

On the back, Tony is sitting in a training top and the Padres logo on his hat is hidden behind his sunglasses. Again, this could be a logoless card. Tony is also sporting his salt-and-pepper stubble that he often has in photos taken around the turn of the millennium. 

Considering this was Topps 50th anniversary year, the cardback was quite dull. The red numbers in the stats box denoting times he led the league is effective though.

So now, thanks to Richard, I can happily proclaim this mission is complete. If I so desired I could create a 'carpet of cards' that looks like this...

Looking at that, I reckon about 10 - half of them! - don't show Tony's face clearly. However, I like the way Topps alternate the direction Tony is facing on their cards from 1995 onwards, with the exception of 1997 and 1998 when he facing to the right side of the card.

Completing the run of Tony's base cards has been a little 'side mission' for me, and I'm really glad to have finally ticked it off!

Total: 751 cards

Sweetness (and a sour taste)

This was the card that tipped my hand into buying a recent joblot of cards from 2001, but I was very disappointed with it when I had it 'in hand'.

Card Number 711: Topps Combos insert, 2001; TC-15

The Combos were a 20-card insert series featuring stars of the past and current big names. Tony was paired with Ted Williams, one of his heroes.

The photo composition is a little bit odd, but that's not what was disappointing about this card. There is some surface damage with a large area of speckling across Tony's face. I have a feeling this card is from some recently opened packs where the cards have stuck together over time. I have seen this a lot in pack-ripping videos where older packs are opened and cards get damaged as they are pulled apart. 

The damage wasn't noticeable in the picture on eBay. I use my phone to look at eBay and that might be why I didn't see it. The damage wasn't mentioned in the listing description either, so it was very disappointing to only discover it when I opened the box of cards. 

I messaged the seller, and received a small refund for this and the handful of other cards affected. But as this was the one card I really wanted from the lot, it's not really about the money.

Despite the damage (which is also visible on the back of the card, below), this is a nice concept for a card. The "Sweetness" refers to Tony and Ted's sweet swings as they batted their way to greatness.

The state of this Sweetness card has left a sour taste in my mouth, and puts me off buying from that seller again. At the moment this is just a place-holder in my collection and hopefully I will find a nicer copy one day.

Total: 711 cards