Topps in Y2K x 4

The sheer volume of cards being produced at the turn of the Millennium means there are loads of cards in my collection from the year 2000. Here are some from Topps.

Card Number 876: Topps Opening Day, 2000; #2

I know I could have waited and put this in a 'Tuesday Twins' post, but hey, it's in this post instead. 

The Opening Day set had a silver border around it and the foil stamp saying opening day. I wish Topps would go back to foil stamps instead of photoshopping in Opening Day logos. 

This card has the same number as the regular flagship set, which doesn't always happen with Opening Day sets.

The back is uninspiring.

From a cheapie parallel set to something a bit odder.

Card Number 877: Topps Finest Moments refractor, 2000; #FM3

There were only 4 "moments" commemorated in the Topps Finest set in 2000. Chipper Jones winning the 1999 National league MVP, Ivan Rodriguez winning the American League MVP, Wade Boggs recording his 3000th hit, and Tony recording his 3000th hit. In a freaky alignment of events, Tony hit his 3000th hit the day before Wade hit his. Two 3000th hits on consecutive days! 

The back talks about Tony's 3000th hit and notes that it was just one of four hits for him in that game. 

Also, a bonus point for Topps actually putting the word 'refractor' on the back under the set number. That's the handy information that often gets left off cards. 

Card Number 878: Topps Gallery, 2000; #118

Tony had another card in the Gallery in 2000, as well as this card in the "Masters of the Game" subset. (The other card is blogged here.)

Topps used a similar photo on their Magic Moments cards in the flagship set from 2000.

The back has a confusing array of fonts and, frankly, looks a bit of a mess.

Reading the question on the back, it was kind of easy to guess the answer. Of course it would be A. Any kind of question where one of the options is a ridiculously low number of strike outs in a season, the number of strike outs is always lower than the other thing it's being compared with. Always.

Card Number 879: Topps Stars, 2000; #60

I have worked with a number of graphic designers in my career and I feel I am able to interpret the intentions of designers fairly well, even when they don't work out. I think the idea here is that the player is illuminated by searchlights, like a film star would be, and that is casting the player's shadow. It doesn't quite work because Tony is running a base path and there is a person in the background in the photo, but Topps have never let the results interfere with their vision. If the card ends up looking like there is some kind of interdimensional rip in space-time going on, then, well, print it anyway.

Having said all that, I quite like Topps Stars. On the back we get a batting donut picture, again. That's been a recurring theme this week! Weirdly Fuji lists the other Tony Gwynn card from this set in his list of cards featuring batting donuts. So, again, that's two cards from the same set with a picture that includes a batting donut - as was the case a few days back!

I blogged the other card that Tony had in Topps Stars in 2000 back in September.

And that's it for Topps cards from 2000... for now!

Total: 879 cards

A trio of Topps parallels

Today I'm going to be blogging cards that have been on this blog before in a different guise. These three parallels came in the recent parcel from France. 

Card Number 716: Topps Gold (Winner), 1992; #270

Tony's name and the word 'Winner' are in embossed gold foil on the front, which differentiates this from the normal Topps Gold card. 

The 'Winner cards' were sent out in return for "runs" collected on 'Match the Stats' game cards inserted in packs. Unfortunately it was apparently easy to cheat and use a torch to reveal the answers on the game cards, so Topps were inundated with redemptions. Topps printed 'Winner' on the cards they sent out because they wanted to preserve the rarity value of the Topps Gold cards that were randomly inserted in packs. According to Baseballcardpedia, these 'Winner' cards are a lot more common than the pack-pulled cards.

There's a nice variation on the cardback with the Topps Gold logo watermarked behind the stats box. This was the last year Topps did a plain stats box on the back.

Tony's son mentioned on the back, was, of course, Tony Gwynn Jr, who went on to have a Major League Baseball career himself. 

Card Number 717: Topps Gold, 1994; #620

There is a little Topps Gold logo top left and Tony's name is printed in gold foil. These cards were parallels inserted into lucky packets. 

There is no difference in the cardback from the regular base card. The factoid is about Tony joining various baseball legends in achieving four five-hit games in a season. He is the only one of those players to have played in anything approaching the modern era.

Card Number 718: Topps Opening Day, 1998; #1

Topps went silver for their Opening Day set in 1998.

Tony was #1 in the flagship set, so it's not a surprise that he was also #1 in the Opening Day set as well. It's still cool that he was on the first card in the set, though. There's also a silver foil stamp celebrating Opening Day.

The back is exactly the same as the base card, even down to it's hard-to-locate set number!

I feel there is enough variation in all three cards to keep these parallels interesting. I now need to add them into my Topps binder, which may result in me moving a few cards around accomodate them. But that's a nice problem to have!

Total: 718 cards

Modern Monday - Opening Day legend

++++++STOP PRESS+++STOP PRESS++++++

I'm the guest on the Tea & Topps podcast tonight at 9pm (GMT) talking about my Tony Gwynn collection. The live broadcast will be on YouTube, Twitch and Facebook. Details here.  

+++++STOP PRESS ENDS++++++

Glenn, who sent me the Topps mini I blogged last week, followed it up with another couple of cards including a freshly pulled card from Topps Opening Day 2021 that was released to coincide with the start of the season. It also provides me with an opportunity for a theme post - the theme being "Legend" cards.

Card Number 641: Topps Opening Day Legends of Baseball, 2021; #LOB-18

I am a little bit disappointed that Tony had card number 18. So close!

This is a nice, fresh-looking card design that isn't reliant on a retro template or a reprint of an old card. It actually feels 'new' and is the first card from 2021 that made me feel that way.

The back has a great statistic comparing Tony's strike out rate with modern players. Fans rarely saw Tony strike out - I've commented before how, on average, you would have to go to five games before you saw him struck out.

I saw a statistic last week that said for the first time ever the number of strike outs had passed the number of hits. I think strike outs have increased because there is a massive emphasis on belting home runs. The "Slam Diego" streak last year is part of that trend. It's very exciting when it comes off, but a batter who is swinging for the fences is more likely to miss, or leave pitches that could be hit into infield play, thereby getting strikes called more often.  

As I said, the theme of this card matches another card I had waiting in my 'to blog' folder.

Card Number 642: Topps Legends of the Game insert, 2009; #LG-TG

This card is a very dark green. That's not a scanning problem. It's how it looks.

The numbering of these cards is odd. There were 50 cards in the set. half were numbered 1-25, and the other half had letters instead of numbers, like this one.

There is also an error on the cardback. Top left it says Tony made his debut in 1981. He was drafted in 1981. He made his Major League debut in 1982. 

The timeline imagery is quite cool and continus across the other cards in the set. That's a pretty neat little detail. Otherwise the big factoid box repeats the story of how Tony was drafted for the Padres and the Clippers on the same day. No matter how many times I read that, I find it incredible. 

Thanks again to Glenn for sending me the Legends of Baseball card that opened this post. It's the 5th card released in 2021 that I have added to the collection.

Total: 642 cards

80s week: Dynamite DonRuss designs

I feel a bit embarrassed to admit this, but for a long time I judged DonRuss on the quality of their ubiquitous late 80s cards, particularly the 1988 cards that are the cards most people would think of first when they hear the term "junk wax". But in the build up towards the saturation of the market, DonRuss had some very nice card designs that aren't as easy to track down (at least not here in the UK).

Of the two Tony Gwynn rookie cards I own, the DonRuss 1983 card is by far my favourite. It's even incorporated into the header of this blog. The 1984 card is still on my wants list. So, this post starts with Tony's DonRuss card from 1985.

Card Number 485: DonRuss, 1985; #63

It's a bunt card!

This is a photo taken in the 1984 season as the Padres switched to pinstripes in 1985. However the new arched lettering logo is on the card. I think the person sat in the dugout, perfectly framed between Tony's legs, is the Padres manager, Dick Williams.

DonRuss had the most consistent cardbacks of the 80s. It worked so they never really changed anything.

As I said yesterday when writing about the Fleer cards from this era, the factoids capture elements of Tony's career that are often forgotten. Most players who batted .263 in a World Series would have that as a 'permafact' on the back of their cards in perpetuity. However, compared to Tony's normal batting standards, that was disappointing.

Sometimes factoids trigger new questions as well. I wonder how Tony broke his wrist in 1983 - and was that the reason he had a stint in AAA in Las Vegas?

Card Number 486: DonRuss 1986; #112

This card design was re-used this year by Panini, who now own the DonRuss brands.

My guess here is that Tony is watching the pitcher. That was his top tip to batters - spend as much time as possible watching the pitcher before you go out to bat. He recommended watching their warm-up throws as well, to try and work out their release points.

The cardback mentions an ongoing wrist injury in 1985, but it's not clear if that's a holdover from the broken wrist in 1983.

Tony's DonRuss base card from 1987 has already featured on the blog, however, a couple of new cards that arrived in the recent package were from the same year.

Card Number 487: DonRuss Opening Day. 1987; #146

This was a 272-card factory set, which used the "tyre tread" design of the regular base cards with a grape colour instead of black. From my research, this Opening Day set predates Topps Opening Day sets by eight years.

Tony's longer hair is a very middle-of-the-80s look.

The cardback describes Tony as the "Padres' best hitter". Already his ability to consistently bat above .300 every season was being noted. That opening day game sounds like an epic battle.

One thing that stands out to me in the career performance box is Tony's very low number of strike outs. At this point in his career he was striking out once every 4.75 games. So if you wanted to see him strike out you would need to go and watch the Padres at least five times to give you the best statistical chance of seeing it.

Card Number 488: DonRuss Highlights, 1987; #12

The 'Highlights' series was a 56-card boxed set. The 'tyre tread' is over a royal blue background.

This is probably the wordiest DonRuss cardback from the 80s.

There's a mistake there - it says he collected over 20 hits, when it should probably say over 200 hits. Although to be fair, to collect over 200 hits, he would need to collect over 20 hits on the way. June was definitely a hot month for him. Those were some figures!

Total: 488 cards

The case of the missing base card

I have some gaps in the base card section of my collection. These are spaces that it would be very easy to fill if I lived somewhere with card shops and card fairs, like the ones I read about on other collector's blogs. I have to settle for being patient, knowing those cards will turn up some day.

Meanwhile I stumble across parallels and alternative versions of those missing base cards which accentuate the gap in my collection by sitting 'either side' of an empty pocket in my folder. Oh, well.

Card Number 347: Topps Opening Day, 2001; #70

This card is from Tony's final season before he retired.

True to form, Topps have managed to find a photo where you can barely see his face, or the number or name on his uniform. It's from the era when Topps released their Opening Day cards with a different border and put a big foil stamp on it too. 

The back is a huge stats box over a watermark of some of the photo on the front.

The regular flagship cards that year had a green border. This was only four years after they released the 1997 set with its green borders. I don't have the regular base card - that's the whole point of this post - but I do have the Chrome card.

Card Number 348: Topps Chrome, 2001; #168

The Chrome effect makes Tony look a bit 3D. In this version he is flinging that bat away!

The back is the same lay-out as the Opening Day card, and presumably the regular card as well.

When I do fill the gap, it will be satisfying, even if it won't be hugely exciting because I already know what the card will look like!

Total: 348/394