Happy Birthday Mr Padre - 2023 edition

It has been a long few months since I last posted, way back in September 2022. But as it's Tony's birthday (and this blog's anniversary), I thought it would be nice to add a new post. 

My collecting has slowed down somewhat. I tend to collect in fits and starts - I get really into things and then my enthusiasm wavers. To be honest, the longevity of this blog project has surprised me. Circumstances have changed quite a lot since I started Point 394 a couple of months into the pandemic lockdown. I have changed jobs and am about to change jobs again. The world has reopened up and I have been going to a lot of soccer matches. Generally, things have just been busy.

I have acquired one "new" card so far in 2023. It's 30 years old this year so it's new to me but not newly printed!

Card Number 1045: Kraft Singles Superstars '93; #23

I'm not sure which one of these counts as the front! Pulling the little tab would make Tony pop out and stand up, but that would ruin the card. In other design notes, I  like the way the card includes a batting and a fielding pose. This also fits into a collection subset of 'green cards'.

This came in a set of the Kraft Singles cards within a much bigger box of 'junk wax' that someone was offering on the UK Facebook Group for postage only. There were several other cards of Tony in the box that have gone in with the other doubles.

I presume these cards were included in packets of cheese. From an historical point of view this was about the era when the companies producing oddball cards started airbrushing out team logos but still used the team names on 'unlicensed' cards.

Even though I have not been buying many cards lately, I have got a little stack to blog so hope to get back into the blogging groove soon. 

(I'd like to say thanks to Richard (YoRicha) who noticed I hadn't been blogging and got in touch to ask if everything was OK a few months back. Thanks Richard, it meant a lot to me.)

Total: 1,045 cards

Some little things for St David's Day

It's St David's Day, celebrating the patron saint of Wales. David was a monk, preacher and reputed miracle-worker who lived in the 6th century. His earliest biography dates from the 11th Century. Much of that is apocryphal, but I really like one of the, perhaps legendary, tales about him. 

Towards the end of his life, David gave some final instructions to his followers and friends and told them to "Do ye the little things in life" as a way of demonstrating they remained faithful to their religious beliefs. It's a phrase I find inspiring because it's often doing the little things that show how much we respect and care for people.

So in honour of St David, here are some "little things", that came in the big parcel of items that Richard (YoRicha) sent me several months back. They are stickers not cards, but they count here as cards! (Although they are about a quarter of the size of a regular baseball card.)

Red Foley stickers were included in the Red Foley Best Baseball Book Ever that was published for several years in the late 80s and early 90s. The books had spaces to stick the stickers in. These stickers don't seem to never got stuck into a book.

Card Number 976: Red Foley, 1992; #44

There's no sticker back to show. Not even a number on the little bit of paper.

There were only 130 stickers included with the book so it's pretty cool that Tony was on two of them.

Card Number 977: Red Foley, 1992; #116

That photo might look really familiar. I am reasonably certain that's a photo from the All Star game in 1991. Mainly because of this Upper Deck card.

The guy in the yellow backwards baseball cap is in the background of both cards. I hope whoever he is he knows he was on a baseball card and a baseball sticker!

Tony got two stickers the next year as well!

Card Number 978: Red Foley, 1993; #38

Tony is adjusting his gloves in the photo that also looks quite familiar, although I can't quite place it. Dug-out pictures are fairly common, after all. 

And just to make it fun and confusing, Tony had the #116 sticker for the second successive year.

Card Number 979: Red Foley, 1993; #116

This is the same uniform and virtually the same pose as sticker #44 the previous year. It's a different background though, and Tony has sleeves on.

As a bonus Richard also included a little cameo picture cut from the cover of one of the Red Foley books.

I could have probably dated that photo by the colour of the batting helmet and the Van Dyck moustache and beard, but instead I used Google image search to locate it in the top right corner of the cover of the 1988 sticker book. Ironically, Tony wasn't on any of the stickers inside the book in 1988!

I really appreciate these little things from Richard - and thanks also for faithfully commenting on the blog along with other regular commenters. Your encouragement keeps me going!

Total: 979 cards (and stickers!)

Some older Gold Label cards

I selected today's cards with Fuji and YoRicha in  mind, because they said they liked the Gold Label cards that I posted at the beginning of the week. All these cards are slightly pearlescent so I used the overhead scanner on them. The results are a bit flakey, but at least the design is visible. 

Card Number 968: Topps Gold label, 1998; #14

Awkward photo juxtaposition ahoy!

Seriously, that photo arrangement makes it look like Tony is kneecapping his larger self.

These 'cards' are printed on quite thick plasticky card - much thicker than usual card stock. The material they are printed on contributes to the sheen on the card. It also warps slightly. 

The candid photo on the back should have a thought bubble saying "Huh!?" next to it. 

Right, okay, back on Tuesday I questioned what Topps was doing by discounting the 1994 season and the .394 batting average that everyone associates with Tony on their modern Gold Label cards. Back in 1998, Topps didn't have an issue with Tony hitting .394 in a season that was shortened by strike action. Here they have it as his career best batting average. They also explain how they calculated the 'average season' using 'at bats' rather than the number of games. That makes more sense and just adds to my suspicion that the company's employees knew what they were doing back in the late 90s compared to the people working there now. 

I have one of the books mentioned in the factoid - Tony Gwynn's Total Baseball Player. One day I hope to get hold of The Art of Hitting as well. 

Card Number 969: Topps Gold Label Class 1, 1999; #6

Topps introduced the class system to the range in 1999 and the shine on the cards was even more iridescent.

That fielding photo looks really familiar, but I don't think it was on a Topps card.

On the back there is another cameo portrait of Tony with a quizzical expression. 

The factoid about Tony's loyalty doesn't mention that apparently other top players were annoyed with him for staying with the Padres because it was dragging down the market value of all the other players. (Did that really happen? Now it's all part of the mythos.)

For those taking notes, the career best batting average on this card is .394. Also, a bonus point for this card having the class number on the back (by the team logo) - which makes it a lot easier for people like me trying to work out which cardback is which!

Card Number 970: Topps Gold Label Class 2, 1999; #6

One of the photos has been changed on the front, along with the team logo behind Tony.

The cardback is virtually identical apart from the class number.

Card Number 971: Topps Gold Label Class 2, 2000; #11

In this year's set the class is printed on the front of the card, etched into the foil.

That photo on the back is from the photoshoot that Topps used on some of their tribute cards in the 2000 flagship set, except this time, Tony isn't looking straight down the camera lens.

So a couple of things about this cardback. Firstly, the important career batting average high point stat is correct! Secondly, a factoid about walks! This is a really rare topic for factoids, because although Tony drew a fair few walks (as is obvious by the factoid!), generally he made contact at the plate. Except when opponents opted not to pitch at all! 

I always love learning something new from a card - so kudos to Topps for this!

Total: 971 cards

Running through the 1988 Star set part 1

In the large parcel of cards that Richard sent me was an 11 card oddball set made by Star. As a card producer, Star normally stuck with minor league sets. In 1988 they issued 28 different sets related to minor leagues or minor league teams - everything from the Carolina League All-Stars to the Tampa Tarpons. If someone wants a Miami Marlins set from before the Miami Marlins became a Major League franchise, then there is a Star set of the minor league outfit from 1988.

Star also produced player-specific sets, with 29 different small sets released in 1988 alongside their minor league cards. Typically these sets had 11 cards in, with some players getting more than one set. Mark McGwire had three sets in 1988. Tony had one solo set and another set that he shared with Wade Boggs, both of them getting five cards each in the latter set.

According to Trading Card Database, this set was limited to a print run of 5000, with a glossy parallel set limited to 1000 of each card. I don't know if the set Richard sent me is the regular set or the glossy parallel. I suspect the regular because it doesn't seem very glossy. There were also 500 autogaphed versions of the first card in the set available - all serial numbered. This might have been one of the first time Tony's autographed cards were made available to collectors in a set.

Anyway, let's kick on and enjoy some shonky oddballness. I'm going to split the cards over the next couple of posts as well. 

Card Number 843: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #1

A couple of things to be aware of as we go through this set. Firstly, I think most of the photos were taken during the same game. Secondly, the production levels aren't high. These were sort of licensed cards but that's a home-drawn San Diego logo on the front. 

Spoilers! This first card in the series is a checklist. Have a read to anticipate what's coming up.

Also, even though this says Star '88 on the front and it's confirmed by TCDb as being released in 1988... nobody at Star bothered to update the copyright notice from whenever they last used this card template. It still says 1984.

Card Number 844: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #2

The series kicks off with a series of stats cards. Tony's minor league stats get profiled first.

I am reasonably certain they could have written 'Pacific Coast' next to Hawaii and Las Vegas. Often Tony's 17 games in Las Vegas in 1983 get forgotten. He was recovering from an injury and spent a few weeks getting back to full game fitness.

Card Number 845: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #3

I can see why Star would print this photo in landscape orientation. The catcher's hand reaching in forlornly just as Tony makes contact with the ball makes this image. However, not switching the template around so the fake logo is sideways is lackadaiscal design.

Even though this set was released in 1988, it only shows Tony's major league stats up to the 1986 season.

Card Number 846: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #4

Batting donut picture! Time to check Fuji's post of a dozen Tony Gwynn cards with batting donuts... and this one isn't one of Fuji's dozen! 

Tony had one season's worth of post-season stats to go on this card.

And on that statistically spartan note... I will bid you adieu. More of the set tomorrow.

Total: 846 cards

One Card Only - Silver Spx

Today's card kicks off an entire week of Upper Deck cards with a die-cut shiny card from one of Upper Deck's spin-off ranges. SPx was a follow-on from Upper Deck's SP range. When I opened the big box of cards that Richard sent me, I saw this card and mentally filed it as a dupe. But then I realised, it looked a bit different to the one I had already.

Card Number 814: Upper Deck SPx Silver, 1997; #SPX42

These cards are a nightmare to scan, even with the overhead scanner.

I had a few goes at different exposures!

What marks this as a silver parallel is the use of silver foil on the X. The card I blogged previously was blue.

The back is also a shiny scanning nightmare. The back is all silver, even the photo has been colourised to match.

You may have noticed a slight ripple across the bottom of the hologram on the front of the card. This is actually a minor blip on the card. However, when I looked it up on Trading Card Database, I noticed the picture on there also has a ripple in the same place. The person who sent me this card - Richard - also submitted the scan to TCDb! So I think this could be the very same card, or this weird effect happened on more than one card. 

Richard's scans are better than mine. I need to get some scanning tips off him!

Total: 814 cards

Tuesday Twins - Pinnacle's sneaky variations

In a follow-up email, Richard also gave me some notes on the cards he sent me. He pointed out that two of the cards he had included were variations that perhaps weren't obvious. He was right, because I had totally missed them when I looked through the cards!

The cards in question were the #1 card in the Pinnacle set from 1998. They look like this.

I already had this card in the Pinnacle folder, so put it to one side in the little pile of cards that I knew were duplicates. (There was some crossover between Richard selecting cards to send me and the parcel with over 100 cards in arriving from France, so there was a small overlap in contents.) 

If I had thought about it, though, I would have realised that I blogged this card along with Tony's other Pinnacle base cards back in July last year. Richard had checked my list on Trading Card Database, so he would have known I had this card already. I should have realised he would have sent me these for a reason. (Lesson - never doubt a supercollector!)

The differences are in the cardbacks!

Card Number 749: Pinnacle, 1998 (Home Stats parallel); #1

Card Number 750: Pinnacle, 1998 (Away Stats parallel); #1

One card has Tony's stats in the games  played in San Diego and the other has his stats when on the road with the Padres. Pinnacle produced these parallel variations for all the players in the set.

Overall it didn't make much difference to Tony whether he was batting at home in the Jack Murphy Stadium or in ballparks all over the country. His career batting average differential at the end of the 1997 season was .002, from about the same number of games. He travelled well and hit well anywhere he faced a pitcher.

Thanks Richard for pointing this out and reminding me to always check the back of the card!

Total:750 cards

Modern Monday - colourful "DonRuss"

I've put DonRuss in scare quotes in the title, because this is Panini zombie brand DonRuss not actual DonRuss from back in the day. 

These cards were in the box from YoRicha that arrived at the end of last week.

Card Number 747: DonRuss 2020 Holo Orange Parallel; #218

Panini are unmatched in their commitment to parallels, and this is one of the colour variations available for the retro-looking insert series in last years DonRuss set that revived the classic design from 1986. (Blogged in June 2020!)

It's shiny. I like the design. You can barely tell it's unlicensed. 

The back is the same as the regular release and also looks quite retro. 

Card Number 748: DonRuss 2020 Holo Pink Parallel Name Variation; #218

And Panini unleashed a new level of parallel hell, by also making colour parallels of their name variation parallels. So, this is a parallel of a parallel. In shiny pink.

He is Anthony, not Tony on this one.

The back is marked as a parallel by the black baseball with the number in. Personally, I prefer that look for a card number. Also, it helps to distinguish it as a parallel. 

I realised halfway through this post that I should have used card number 747 for a "jumbo" card. But that wouldn't have fitted in with the Modern Monday theme. There's only so much co-ordination I can do with the numbering!

Total: 748 cards

One Vid Only - Opening a box from Richard (YoRicha)

I have been very fortunate while doing this blog that other collectors have got in touch and sent me cards all the way from America. Tim from Pennsylvania, Jeff from North Dakota, and now Richard from Georgia. 

If you read the comments on here, Richard often comments on posts as YoRicha. A little while back he said he had some things to send me and late on Friday I picked up an unexpectedly large box from the post office after the postman stuck a note through my door telling me to go and collect it.

I decided to do an 'unboxing' video on my phone, just for fun. However, when I uploaded it to YouTube it would only load as a portrait video for some reason. YouTube has removed the functionality to rotate videos, which is irritating. I have wasted too much time trying to fix the problem, which I think is probably down to an old phone and incompatible tech. Oh, well. 

My suggested fix for you is to watch this video on a phone or tablet and physically change the orientation of the device if you want to see me the right way up!

There was a huge box of cards in the box. Here's a better look.

Richard also included a note:

That is such a nice thing to say. There are a few people who comment on the blog regularly and I appreciate them taking the time to leave a note (or do my research for me!). I'm really glad people enjoy it and with Richard's help I am going to be blogging throughout the winter at this rate!

Back when I started this blog I had almost 200 cards scanned waiting for me to write about them. I'd barely dented that when I acquired over 200 more cards, which I scanned and gradually worked my way through. Since the turn of the year I have been blogging on a more ad hoc basis, as cards arrive. However, with the parcel from France, the envelope of cards from Jeff this week, and now this massive box of cards from Richard, I'm going to be back on that daily publishing schedule. 

As long as I can carve out the time to write the posts, of course.

I did promise in that video that I would let you know what my grand total of Tony Gwynn cards is now. Well, I don't want to deal in spoilers, but the cards from Richard took me into four figures! So I have a lot of catching up to do with my blogging!

(Also, I was wrong about the coin - it wasn't a Topps coin. All will be revealed in good time!)

Thank you again, YoRicha!