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

Reach for the Stars

I'm running out of useable headlines about stars...

Card Number 730: Topps Stars, 1998; #75

All the base cards in this set were serially numbered to 9,799. I have previously blogged the silver parallel, which was serially numbered to just 4,399.

I really like this card design because it has actual stars in the background. 

Tony looks solemn, and dare I say it, even a little bit grumpy, in the photo on the cardback.

This is card number 1,168 of 9,799. I can't really think of anything significant linked to 1,168. If you want the answer to the quiz question, that got answered in the comments on the post about the silver parallel!

Card Number 731: Topps Stars, 2000; #170

Tony had two cards in this release - a regular one and this set from a series towards the end of the set. He's in the spotlight, and casting a large golden shadow.

The cardback sets off the BATTING DONUT KLAXON! Fuji has already included this card in his 'dozen doughnuts' post of Tony Gwynn cards. I am gradually collecting all the ones on that list.

The write up on the cardback is a succint summary of Tony's career up to the end of 1999. He barely played in the 2000 season and didn't really improve on any of these numbers in his final couple of seasons.

Total: 731 cards

Serially printed Stars

This card was in an eBay purchase. It was only when it arrived that I discovered it was serially numbered.

Card Number 569: Topps Stars (Silver Parallel), 1998; #75

The difference between this and the regular card is that Tony's name is printed in silver instead of red. The silver parallels were issued sequentially numbered to 4,399. The regular, red-letter versions were also all sequentially numbered to 9,799. There were bronze parallels also numbered to 9,799 and gold parallels that were only numbered to 2,299, and the rarest of all, "Gold Rainbows" numbered at just 99 of each card. So basically, five cards with the names in different colours. 

I really like the use of actual stars in the background of this card. That's an idea for a future blog post - cards that feature stars.

The back has an unflattering picture of Tony. His weight went up considerably at one point in the 90s and he seems to be carrying quite a bit in this photo, unfortunately.  

This card has the sequential number 4,202. Nothing particularly springs to mind as significant about that number. 

The cardback also gives aspects of his game star ratings. Whenever this sort of rating system is applied, I always wonder what they are basing it on. I doubt there are objective standards of comparison for each of these. Clearly he was a five-star hitter. The others are all more subjective. 

Unfortunately, I don't have card #76 to answer the quiz question. So, does anyone know which player hit more than 20 home runs in a season and scored more home runs than times they struck out?

Total: 569 cards