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

Scraping the bottom of the box

This is the third card that was in the envelope from Jason. When I saw it in the photos of cards he sent me I knew I didn't have it, but I also had no idea how I hadn't seen it before. When it arrived it suddenly became clear!

Card Number 583: Topps Display Box Bottom, 1988; #F

(That's right, this card is number F!)

Just like I knew straightaway that the mini card I blogged about a couple of days ago was from 1989, I could tell this was a card from 1988 immediately. But I knew it was a different picture and the turquoise border threw me slightly. 

When it arrived and I saw the back, and the slightly squiffy edge, I realised what it was.

Topps, and other companies, used to print additional cards on the display boxes. It's actually something Topps revived a couple of years ago with their Big League range which had an extra card printed on the side of blaster boxes that could be cut out. In 1988 these 'box bottom' cards were printed in panels of 4, and there were 4 different panels to collect, with the cards 'numbered' A-P.

Tony was one of three Padres featured on the box bottoms, the other two being Marvell Wynne and John Kruk. The write up on the cardback explains why those three players featured. In a game against the San Francisco Giants on 13 April 1987, Marvell, Tony and John all hit a home run in consecutive at bats off pitcher Roger Mason - they were the first three at bats in the Padres first inning.

And you thought Slam Diego was a new thing for 2020!

Sadly, despite this feat, the Padres lost the game 13-6. Tony had 3 hits, picking up a couple more singles, and had a walk as well. It was one of the first of many defeats in a losing season for the Padres. They finished with 65 wins and 97 defeats, and in sixth place in the division. Tony's batting title was one of the few bright spots of the year.

Although this card is a little bit damaged, with a slight crease on the front and a mark on the back, I really like it. Of course it won't be pristine. It was cut from a counter-top display box after all the packs had been sold. But that makes it authentic, a genuine artifact from the 1980s baseball card hobby explosion.

Plus, there's a batting doughnut in the photo, so I know Fuji will appreciate this. In fact, if you look at his blogpost with a "dozen doughnuts", you'll see this card is the very first one. (And his card has an even more visible crease on it!)

I'd like to finish with a big thank you to Jason for sending me the cards I've blogged over the last couple of days. 

Total: 583 cards

Sharing the Spotlight - with Fernando in the Gallery

This card came via Andrew T in the UK collectors Facebook group. Andrew offered me first dibs on it and I said yes. 

Card Number 573: Topps Gallery, 2020; #MA7

There were 10 cards in this "Master & Apprentice" insert series in Topps Gallery.

Fernando Tatis Jr has really made the headlines in the last year or so, and his rookie cards have been very popular. In fact, as a Padres collector, the chase for rookie cards featuring "El Nino" made Padres cards more expensive than usual recently, and slightly harder to get. Suddenly people wanted the Padres in box breaks. What is this popularity thing? 

The 'Master & Apprentice' phrase feels a bit Star Wars-ey to me. And that is a slight niggle about this card. As far as I know El Nino never actually met Mr Padre, or was coached by him. (One of Tony's students at San Diego State was Stephen Strasburg, the 2019 World Series MVP!)

Another discrepancy is that the players have been painted with Petco Park in the background. Now, while Tony did go to Petco Park after he retired, he never played at the Stadium. For his entire career the Padres played their home games at the Jack Murphy Stadium (most recently known as the SDCCU Stadium), which is apparently being demolished right now. (Bang goes my plan of a pilgrimage there when the pandemic is over!)

But apart from that anachronism, it's clear why Topps paired Tony and Fernando on this card - they are both exemplary hitters. Fernando is a great batsman and despite the nonsense last season about him having to apologise after hitting a grand slam when Texas were already trailing in a game, he's clearly one of the most exciting players in a currently very exciting Padres team. So, a worthy young player to share a card with Tony.

I didn't know until reading this card that Fernando's batting average in his rookie year was higher than Tony's. Whether it will be a similar "springboard" to batting titles and an eventual place in the Hall of Fame is impossible to know right now. Hopefully he has a long and mega-successful career ahead of him, particularly in Padres colours, but these things are totally unpredictable. Whatever happens, Fernando will always be remembered as a contributor to the "Slam Diego" grand slam streak of 2020 that really lit up the season.

Topps have included the artist's name on this card. On his website John Giancaspro says he was six years old when he first saw a DonRuss Diamond Kings card and realised he wanted to be a sports artist. John uses photos as a base for his art, which is fairly common on these kinds of "illustrated" cards. He started doing portraits when he worked as a bat-boy or the New York Mets in 1991-92 - there's a fun photo album on his website - and he also designed some cards for the Diamond Kings series in 2012.

I like learning about the artists whose drawings of Tony Gwynn feature on baseball cards, so Topps get a bonus point from me for including the artist's name like this. 

Total: 573 cards - this is the 27th card in the collection released in 2020.