Modern Monday - green border zombie

2018 is three years ago now, but nothing screams 'modern baseball card' more loudly than a parallel produced by Panini.

Card Number 774: Donruss, 2018 (Green Border Parallel); #165

Shiny green foil around the outside of this card differentiates it from the regular base cards, or the Optic version (which are all in this 'Triple Tuesday'post from May 2020!) It's also not the first green parallel card from 2018 DonRuss to feature on the blog. Here is a green parallel retro card. These green parallels were exclusive to blaster boxes, but only 110 cards in the set were also issued as green parallels. Tony was on two of them.

There is no indication this is a parallel on the cardback.

I refer to these DonRuss cards as "zombie cards" because Panini keep the brands alive in an unlicensed limbo. This cardback in particular is a masterclass in describing events without using any proprietary franchise names or trademarks of Major League Baseball. 

Total: 774 cards

Tuesday Twins - a green parallel retro

My main supplier of Tony Gwynn cards, Gawain, managed to squeeze a parcel to me just before the "Fire Break" lockdown began here in Wales. Along with some other cards I didn't have, Gawain included a parallel which is one of today's Tuesday Twins.

This is the card it's a twin of, which I blogged about back in September. It's the DonRuss retro card released in 2018.

Card Number 440: DonRuss (Green Parallel), 2018; #258

These foil-edged parallel cards were exclusive to blaster boxes with five green parallels per box (on average).

While the green foil edging is nice and shiny, unfortunately that makes the edges curl slightly, which makes the back harder to line up on the scanner. This is my excuse for the shamefully wonky scan of the cardback!

Last time I wrote about this cardback I commented on the term "Professional Batting Totals" and ignored the summary paragraph. One of the good things about parallels is revisiting cards and looking at them afresh. I hadn't clocked the description for my side-project of  'different ways Tony is described on cardbacks'. "As steady as the San Diego climate" is going on that list!

Total cards: 440

Modern Monday - recent(ish) DonRuss base

I was scrolling through Facebook and noticed a post that Andy M had made in the Baseball Cards UK group about a mystery box he had purchased and was opening. Now I am a fan of mystery packs and repacks and am always interested at what tips up in them. (I regularly read Sportscards from the Dollar Store to get my fix of repacks. I would have no money if I lived in North America.)

Andy seemed a bit disappointed with the contents of the box, which he laid out for everyone to see. It was a mix of packs and one "hit" card. Most of the packs were quite recent. One of them really caught my eye and I left a comment asking if it had survived the opening. 

Can you guess why?

This is the 2015 DonRuss 'hobby' packet. And that's Tony on the front!

Andy might have been a bit surprised anyone was interested in the packet. He  replied that it was still in reasonable condition. He then asked if I had the Tony Gwynn base card from that year, because there had been one in the pack.

Long story short, I didn't have that card, but now I do! (And yes, Andy also sent me the packet.)

Card Number 328: DonRuss, 2015; #193

Panini era DonRuss cards don't have licensing, and it's easy to dismiss them. However, in recent years the only company with a licence has repeatedly put out horrible flagship sets. The design of this card is lovely in comparison.

In 2015 they designed the cardbacks to look like classic 80s DonRuss cards, right down to the use of the player's full name. (Jeff at Wax Pack Wonders will appreciate this! He's done a whole series on the names on DonRuss cards.) One difference from the 80s cards is the addition of Sr. after Tony's name. Tony Jr, who was born in the 80s, has subsequently had a career and cards of his own.

By now you probably know my feelings about stats boxes - everything or one line is OK. This is a great summary stats box. Those are Tony's totals. The little write up notes that Tony wasn't a power hitter but that he earned 97.6% of the vote for the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. 

There's a story in He Left His Heart in San Diego, that Tony felt that he wouldn't be voted in to the hall on the first ballot. A couple of years ago the Padres posted the video of him getting the call to welcome him to the Hall after the votes have been processed. He got very emotional. I felt emotional watching it too.

I've got a few more recent DonRuss cards. These have arrived in various lots.

Card Number 329: DonRuss, 2017; #190

To date, this is the only card from 2017 in my collection of Tony Gwynn cards!

It's noticeable again, that for an unlicensed card where they have had to photoshop out any references to the Padres, this card still manages to get a lot right. It is a lovely bordered card - compare it to the 2017 Topps design which is the absolute nadir of their cards in the last decade, and you can see how nice it is. This looks timeless. Those Topps cards look terribly dated now, just three years later!

The back is nothing special. The write up is a vignette from the All Star Game in 1994 when Tony scored a run in dramatic fashion.

One way that Panini get around not having a Major League Baseball licence is through linking up with the Major League Baseball Players Association and the National Hall of Fame and Museum. The Hall of Fame has some rights to sell images. I think it may be a condition of being inducted into the Hall that they can sign licensing agreements using a player's name and image.

Card Number 330: DonRuss, 2018; #258

This is the third card in a row that takes care to show the back of Tony's shirt with his name and number. That's all they can show!

The lines across the card are a deliberate homage to the design of the DonRuss set from 1984. Just so collectors aren't confused into thinking this is a card from '84, they've included the '18 on the front as well. (Bonus Point for the year on the front!)

The back is black and white again. Note the phrase "Professional Batting Totals". They're not mentioning the words "Major" or "League".

Technically, though, Tony was a "professional" when he was playing in the minor leagues at Walla Walla, Amarillo, and for the Hawaii Islanders. Should they have added his statistics in? He really lit up the minor leagues so all those figures would get a very healthy bump if they were included.

I have posted some other modern DonRuss cards on the blog previously. Here are some more cards from 2018, and some from 2020! There also was a special Tribute series in the 2015 set and one of them was the 100th card featured on this blog.

Total: 330/394

Triple Tuesday - three cards that look the same from DonRuss

These are cards from 2018. DonRuss is now part of the Panini stable of brands. This means more recent DonRuss cards feature players but aren't allowed to mention the teams for whom they play.

I'm not sure about the logic of including retired players in their base sets, but it seems to be a more common practice now. I'm not complaining. It's more cards for the collection.

Card Number 48: DonRuss, 2018; #165 

Nothing hugely exciting about the front.

Bit of an odd blurb on the back, talking about Tony tasting World Series glory late on in his career.

But DonRuss weren't done with Tony in 2018.

Card Number 49: DonRuss, 2018; #165 (Short Print)

The difference on the front is that it just says 'Gwynn' instead of 'Tony Gwynn'.

The back has a black baseball top left, instead of white. Actually, I like the way they have done this to denote a short print. Makes it a lot easier to spot them if you pull them from a pack.

But DonRuss still weren't done.

Card Number 50: DonRuss Optic, 2018; #131

I'm not sure how well that has come out. Optic is the DonRuss equivalent of Topps Chrome. This is a very shiny version of the same card as the DonRuss flagship base cards.

The information on the back reads exactly the same as the flagship base cards as well. The card has a different number, Tony moving about 60 spots up the set order, and the Optic logo is in the middle.

That's your triple Tuesday!

Total: 50/394
We've hit the half century!

The Hall of Fame - and the Panini Card Company's loophole

I've decided to mix it up as my first run of posts have all been about Topps cards. Today I'm going to show some much more recent cards that have been released by Panini, in conjunction with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

An ulterior motive for doing this is so that I can include this photo from outside the Hall of Fame when I visited Cooperstown in 2016.

I've blogged about visiting the Hall on my personal blog, but there are a couple of appropriate photos to include here.

I remember feeling quite emotional when I saw Tony's plaque in the Hall.

Tony was elected to the Hall of Fame the first year he was eligible, five years after he retired. He shared his induction with one other player, Cal Ripken Jr, with a record-breaking crowd of fans turning up to witness it.  The Padres posted a video last year of Tony getting the call from the head of the Museum in 2007 to welcome him to the Hall of Fame, and he is overcome with emotion. According to Tony's university team-mate, and longtime friend, Steve Sayles, Tony didn't think he would be a "first ballot selection"*.

Anyway, some baseball cards. Understanding the cards in this post means understanding a bit about licensing properties in modern card manufacture. Basically, Topps has an exclusive licence with Major League Baseball (MLB), so they are the only card manufacturer who can use the team logos and names. Panini's modern cards (which includes long-established brands like DonRuss, Score, Leaf and Pinnacle) are licensed from the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) so they show the player and usually give the city name, which isn't copyrighted. This works for San Diego or Boston, but isn't ideal for New York or Chicago where there are two baseball clubs.

Panini also airbrush the team names and logos off the players' shirts, helmets, caps and so on so they aren't infringing any copyright held by MLB. Some collectors don't value "no logo" / "logoless" cards as much, but sometimes the cards can be a bit creative.

Before Panini secured an agreement with the MLBPA they wanted to produce baseball cards. They found a licensing loophole and signed a contract with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum and so could produce cards related to inductees in the Hall of Fame, which is where these cards come from. I don't know if the photos are from the Hall of Fame's massive images collection. If they were, this makes Panini's move even smarter.

Card Number 13: Panini Cooperstown Collection 2012, #110

I actually really like this card. I think the front design is aesthetically pleasing, while the back has a nice write up. I appreciate the description of Tony as a "baseball scientist". Although I query the use of the word "torrid" to describe his career batting average, and I'm not sure why they profiled his 1997 figures. But overall this is a solid card for a "no logo" print run.

Card Number 14: Panini Diamond Kings 2018, #P8

This is a much more recent card, from the 'Portraits' insert series in their 'Diamond Kings' product. 'Inserts' are special cards included in packs, usually at the rate of 1 or 2 per pack. There were only 15 'Portraits' produced in the series, all of players with similarly legendary status.

The card itself looks like a reproduction of an actual painting. The only slightly odd thing is the repetition of the portrait in the design on the back. By 2018, Panini had a contract with thd MLBPA, but this card carries the Hall of Fame logo on the back.

Card Number 15: Panini Diamond Kings 2018, #GS15

Another insert series in the same product - Panini Diamond Kings. This time it's the 'Gallery of Stars' and another attractive card where the image is repeated on the back. There were 18 cards in this insert series.

And finally in this post, the first in a small series I call "When is a Tony Gwynn card not really a Tony Gwynn card?"

Card Number 16: Panini Cooperstown Collection 2013, #7

That's right, when it's a card featuring his footwear and nothing else. The reverse of the card has a blurred photo of the Museum and Hall of Fame, which you may recognise from my photo at the top of the post.

In the grand tradition of odd factoids on the back of baseball cards, this one tells you all about Tony's basketball stats when he was playing for the Aztecs, the San Diego State University team, before a throwaway comment about swapping to baseball. There's also a nice bit about the Museum itself, including that it houses nearly 40,000 "three-dimensional items" by which I think it means things like game-used running spikes.

So, that was Panini's loophole for publishing cards when they didn't have a license. It provides a bit of variety in the collection at least.

Total: 16/394

*reference: He Left His Heart in San Diego, p.80