One card only - Gypsy gold from 2012

I had been feeling a little bit down recently but my mood was lifted last week when two fellow collectors contacted me separately on the same day to each show me a card and ask if I would like it. One of those people was Laura, the t-shirt designer who created the .394 t-shirt I am wearing in my bio pic to the right there (if you are looking at the web version of this rather than the mobile version!) 

Laura has created a few Padres-themed t-shirts, including a "Slam Diego" design, which I was wearing on Wednesday to watch the first game in the Padres' double-header against the Rockies, when Victor Caratini hit a grand slam! You can check out more of Laura's designs here.

Card Number 675: Topps Gypsy Queen gold frame parallel, 2012; #252

This card is numbered 252, like the base card, but there were actually only 100 cards given the 'gold frame' treatment.

I had wanted this card for a while because I wanted to talk about Topps re-using images on cards. I knew this card set used the image that had appeared on Tony's Topps card from 1988.

The Gypsy Queen version has been sharpened in photoshop, but the equipment in the dug-out and the people in the crowd are the same. 

I'd like to be able to claim that I spotted this all by myself, but actually it's because I saw the card designs next to each other in an image of an auction lot on eBay. I 'borrowed' that image as a reference and have kept it for several months waiting for the opportunity to use it.

That picture shows what the regular base card looks like. This is a 'gold frame' parallel, which means there is literally a gold card frame stuck on the front of the card in a decoupage style. It's hard to see on the scan but that gives the card added depth and makes a real nice effect.

Based on my research, I think the framed versions were included in the 'value packs' which contained 3 packs of Gypsy Queen cards and 3 framed parallels. The gold were the most common framed card. There were also blue-framed cards serially numbered to 599 cards, and black-framed cards that were released in a print run of one card each (known as 1/1s).

There were lots of variations in this set as well, so there are two variants of Tony's base card and two variants of the 'mini' version of his card. There don't seem to be any variants of the framed cards on Trading Card Database, but even so that adds up to a lot of different versions of this card for collectors to tray and track down. It's also a good illustration of the 'bloat' that has happened in terms of total cards released for a given player. 

The back of the card is sllightly dull in comparison. At least it wasn't complete gibberish like the cardback the previous year.

"He paced the NL..." is an odd phrase. Maybe the cardback writer felt "led" was a bit too boring a word to use on a boring cardback.

And now an added bonus. I said I had been feeling a bit despondent recently. When I opened the envelope and took the card out there was a little post-it note on it with a cheerful message. It really made my day!

I hope that however this blog post finds you, you find the time to look for rainbows when it rains.

Total: 675 cards

Foolish mistakes on April 1st

Nobody reads cardbacks. That's my explanation for why Topps can produce baseball cards with nonsense on the back. As today is April Fools Day, it feels relevant to feature some foolish mistakes.

Card Number 627: Topps Gypsy Queen, 2011; #28

This was the from the first Gypsy Queen set. The range is a decade old now. 

It's not a particularly exciting card design. And then turn it over and witness how lacksadaisical Topps can be with regard to fact-checking their cards.

My first reaction was "Eh?" Then I remembered Tony Gwynn Jr was playing for the Padres in 2010. Maybe some stat compiler mistook Tony Jr for his dad. Tony Jr did play 117 games for the Padres in 2010, and it was a winning season for the team (90-72; second in the division with a win percentage of .556). But the team didn't play an additional 73 games without him. Those figures on the card add up to 190 games, and the Padres only played 162 games that season.

For the record, the two seasons the Padres have played the most games were the World Series seasons of 1984 and 1998, where they played in 171 and 176 games respectively. Nowhere near the 190 total listed here. Maybe Topps added in Spring Training games.

So, to sum up, it looks like Topps confused Tony Sr and Jr on this card. The picture is clearly Tony Sr even though his son does look like him in a lot of photos. But physically, Tony Jr was very lean in his seasons with San Diego. Then to compound the error, Topps just chucked some random figures on a page that add up to more games than is physically possible to play. (By my calculation, the most games a team could play if they maxed out the post-season series would be 181.)

I know I am sometimes overly-critical of Topps, but these are just weird mistakes that the market leading company really shouldn't be making. 

There was a second Gypsy Queen card in my recent eBay purchase and it highlights something that is becoming more prevelant with Topps - the reuse of images. 

Card Number 628: Topps Gypsy Queen, 2014; #53

(Hey, #53 - that was Tony's first ever number with the Padres.)

Recognise that photo? Well, last week I blogged about a card from 2020 that used it.

It also appeared in sets in 2019. This is the Chrome version.

They've photoshopped it a bit on the Gypsy Queen release, but it's clearly the same photo. I have seen other collectors complain that Topps are using the same images for players again and again. I'm willing to give Topps a bit of leeway on this for players like Tony who played before the era of digital photography. I don't think there can be any excuse for continually reusing photos of any players who are active now. But there is a more limited bank of photos available for stars from the last century.

However, Topps might need to think carefully about how often they reuse images. 2014 to 2019 is an acceptable gap in use. But using this image in two insert series in consecutive years makes it much more obvious.

The cardback is fairly dull, but at least the factoid is about the right Tony Gwynn and the numbers are right. 

I was a bit surprised recently when I made an off-hand comment on Facebook about Gypsy Queen that there are a number of collectors who still really like it. Personally, I think it's feeling a bit tired, but it's still popular with the people who like to rip packs and build sets and as long as it sells I have a feeling Topps will keep producing it.

Total: 628 cards

Gypsy Queen Short Print

After I had blogged yesterday about collection drift I had an envelope containing a couple of cards arrive in the post. The mail was from Dean in the UK Facebook group. He had responded after I asked if anyone had a copy of this card they would like to rehome.

Card Number 579: Topps Gypsy Queen, 2020; #305

Cards numbered 301-320 in this set were short prints of retired players, legends of the game and Hall of Famers.

The illustrated front captures Tony in the act of watching the batter at the plate ahead of him. This was one of the prime pieces of advice he gave to aspiring hitters - watch the pitcher as much as possible. I think tje picture works well in the old timey frame.

The back is old timey as well. I don't think this is based off an actual Gypsy Queen cigarette card design. The write-up is one of those oddball statistics that Topps like to put on baseball cards because it's highly unlikely anyone will ever check them. I don't take anything on trust any more with Topps but I'm not going to look it up.

I don't know how short the print run of the 'short print' cards were, but they weren't easy pulls based on how many I've seen so I'm quite pleased to add this to my collection.

Total: 579 cards

An anachronistic trip to 2013

This week is turning into a bit of a series of posts featuring Topps cards, so why not continue on that theme?

In 2013, Tony Gwynn had already had cancer treatment and surgery for the mouth cancer that would lead to his death in 2014 at the young age of 54. He was still coaching the San Diego State baseball team, but was finding it difficult to maintain his duties while so poorly. The account of his treatments in He Left His Heart in San Diego is a difficult read.

Trading Card Database lists 307 Tony Gwynn baseball cards released in 2013, which is a surprisingly high number considering it was 12 years after he retired, six years after his induction in the Hall of Fame, and was the year before he died.

Of course, most of the cards in the 307 listed on TCDb are short print memorabilia cards. He appeared in a few Panini sets as they started to experiment with baseball cards and used their licensing agreements with the Hall of Fame to issue some sets, including one card with a picture of Tony's running spikes on. 

Topps also released quite a few cards featuring Tony across their various sets, including these two.

Card Number 502: Topps Archives 2013; #83-TG

Topps reused the template from the All Star cards in their 1983 set for certain players.

It's a very nice looking card. It triggers my anachronism radar, though. Tony wasn't an All Star in 1983. He was an All Star in so many seasons, they could have given this card to a player who was actually an All Star that year. (I mean, I'm not complaining that this Tony Gwynn card exists, but, well, you know what I mean...)

The back is similarly anachronistic as it talks about the All Star game in San Diego in 1978, which was the year Tony started college in San Diego, six years before his first All Star Game appearance. 

The losing pitcher was Yankees player, Rich "Goose" Gossage, who would later play several seasons alongside Tony as a Padre. 

I have a pennant for that All-Star Game pinned to the wall in my upstairs home office. It's in the room I have been working in since March, when my work team all started working from home due to the pandemic, so I get to see it every day.

I found this pennant quite randomly in an Oxfam charity shop several years ago, along with a whole load of other Major League Baseball pennants of a similar vintage. I wish now I had bought all of them, but I only bought this one and the Padres team one that they had. (And yes, I know, I probably shouldn't have pinned it to the wall, but hindsight is 20:20.)

Card Number 503: Topps Gypsy Queen, 2013; #287

As I've been blogging about Tony Gwynn cards I've been thinking quite a lot about the use of old-time tobacco brand names. This one is another jarring one, considering Tony was undergoing treatment for cancer caused by chewing tobacco the year it was released.

The baroque borders make this card look nice, but I have to admit I find the Gypsy Queen sets all tend to blur into one.

The back has a unique write up, though. I wonder if Greg Maddux knows he was singled out for scrutiny in this way.

Total: 503 cards

Diamond Kings and Gypsy Queens

This is a post with a 'royal' theme.

Card Number 80: DonRuss Diamond Kings, 1989; #6

Diamond Kings were an insert series in DonRuss cards from the mid-80s onwards. They all feature drawn portraits of top stars in the game at the time. The illustrator of this card was Dick Perez, who drew the Diamond King portraits from 1982 - 1996. There is a gallery on his website.

I'm not a massive fan of these cards, but I can see how they were a bit different in the 1980s compared to what else was out there.

Tony appeared in several of the Diamond Kings sets. This is the only one of his I have from the classic run of DonRuss, so far. I have a few copies as it seems to always feature in joblots  - probably because 1989 was  one of the peak production years for DonRuss during the junk wax explosion.

On the back the write up predicts Tony's plaque will hang in Cooperstown one day. They were right about that, of course. I've seen it myself. This seems like a good place for a gratuitous photo of me with Tony's plaque in the Hall of Fame.

The cardback is also optimistic about an imminent rosy future for the Padres. In fact, it would be almost a decade before the club achieved any success.

Card Number 81: Topps Gypsy Queen, 2015; #164
Gawain from the Baseball Cards UK Facebook group sent me this card. Gypsy Queen is another Topps retro-looking product. I have got a few Padres cards in my collection but as a set it holds zero interest for me. This is from the 2015 series, which is the season after Tony passed away.

There is no mention of Tony's passing on the back of the card. It's a very plain cardback.

Card Number 82: DonRuss Diamond Kings, 2005; #434
This card was sent to me by Rodney. It's from the 'Legends' part of the set.

I really like this card. The illustrator is Dave Kramer. My only quibble was that he could have worked from a picture of Tony at any stage in his career and maybe captured him as a younger man.

The cardback includes a bio of the artist and also shows the number of Diamond Kings appearance for Tony Gwynn up to this point (9).

Card Number 83: Topps Gypsy Queen (mini), 2015; #164
In addition to their regular size cards, Topps reproduce all their cards in a 'mini' size. I say reproduce, they actually have more of Tony visible on this mini card than on the actual card because it includes his foot. I received this very recently from Matt J.

I feel that wall behind him ought to be recognisable as well. However, I'm not googling"ball park walls" to see if I can work out where it is.

The cardback has the same factoid. Topps sometimes play around with their Gypsy Queen cardbacks to produce unnecessary variations. But this is the regular cardback.

I hope you enjoyed these Diamond Kings and Gypsy Queens. If you want to see a more up-to-date Diamond Kings card (from 2018), then have a read of this post from last month.

Total: 83/394