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

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.

Modern Monday - modern art in the Gallery

A few days ago I blogged about Topps Gallery cards from the 90s. Topps brought the range back in 2017. Today's card is the third card that Jeff, who writes Wax Pack Wonders, sent me in his blog giveaway, and it's from a more recent Topps Gallery release.

Card Number 362: Topps Gallery, 2019; #MP-21

This is from the 30-card Masterpiece insert series (one of 33 insert series in the range!)

Kevin Graham is the artist who painted these cards. (His website is currently undergoing maintenance, but he is also on Instagram.) He has also painted cards for Disney, Star Wars and Star Trek from the look of his Insta.

The card back has a short summary of Tony's career.

That summary has an unusual stat in it - about being one of only 19 players to have four 200-hit seasons before turning 30. Maybe Topps were looking for a way to shoehorn the number 19 into the card back. But if they were doing that, why didn't they allocate him the 19th card in the set? It feels like a missed opportunity.

Many, many thanks again to Jeff for sending me this. Check out his blog here.

Total: 362/394

From the Gallery

Topps released their Gallery sets for five years starting in 1996. They brought it back in 2017 in much the same vein. (Thick card stock. High quality pictures and matt print to give an art effect. Small set numbers. The big players for each team.)

Card Number 349: Topps Gallery. 1996; #147

Tony was included in a section of the set called The Masters.

On the back were the reasons why Tony was considered one of The Masters - there's his records and his honours.

Card Number 350: Topps Gallery, 1999; #78

A much more pensive, less celebratory photo on the front this time.

On the back it has the unusual element of explaining the photo on the front. They've also added a tagline on the back - 'the art of collecting'. See what they did there? 

The stats box is a month-by-month breakdown of the preceding season. The "snapshots" relate to his college career 20 years prior.

I am at a loss to explain the obsession with those college years by cardback factoid compilers. Are baseball fans really that interested in what a player has achieved before signing a contract with a Major League club? Are the details of his draft more interesting than, oh I don't know, the player in question winning four of the last five batting titles in the years before this card was published?

Card Number 351: Topps Gallery, 2000; #42

I notice card set numbers. 42 is a noteworthy number to baseball fans and to sci-fi geeks for different reasons.

In the photo, Tony is about to sign something with his face on the back. There have been a few cards over the years where Tony is signing autographs. It is intriguing seeing what people are handing to him.

Topps get a bonus point for putting the year the set was released on the front. There's an explanation for the photo on the front, again as well, along with some 'Gallery Notes'.

I actually learned something from the Gallery Notes. Not the college basketball thing, or that the San Diego State Baseball stadium is named after Tony. (There's a mistake there, Topps - the actual field is named after Charlie Smith the long-time university head coach.) But I didn't know that Tony went to Mexico to run a youth programme. It's nice to learn something new off the back of a card!

Total: 341/394