Blue DonRuss

Have you ever bought a complete set just to get one card? A couple of months ago, I did.

The 1990 set by DonRuss is one of those incredibly common junk wax sets that I quite like. I think it's the red borders. I have a few cards from it (which I blogged about in the very early days of this blog) but I hadn't seen blue versions of the cards before (even though Fuji had mentioned them in a comment on that post from the early days of this blog!) Some junk wax is harder to find, especially here in Wales.

But then this sealed factory set of the 'Best of the National League' turned up in the UK collectors group on Facebook. Adrian, the seller, had three of them. I had a think about it and then decided to take one off his hands. Mainly because when the player you collect is listed on the back, you kind of have to, right?

Opening up the box, there was an inner tray with three blocks of shrink-wrapped cards.

The 'puzzles' that are mentioned on the outside of the box were underneath the blocks of cards. Does anyone care about puzzles?

Anyway, I had to open all three shrink-wrapped blocks to find Tony's card, but here it is!

Card Number 1039: DonRuss Best of the National League, 1990; #11

It's not the greatest photo of Tony at the plate, but it's a close up cropped shot rather than the photos that were used on the cards in the regular set released by DonRuss that year. The photo clearly shows the Mimsbandz anti-drugs wristguards that Tony wore.

The back is a bit dull, but the yellow means they look very different to cards from the regular release. 

I have taken this card out of the set and put it in my binders. I have no plans for the rest of the cards. I know a few people who collect other players from that era, so I might send a few cards out. In the unlikely event that any regular readers want one (or more) of these cards, please let me know!

Total: 1039 cards

3 from 96 - Fleer

Another trio of cards from 1996 today. 

Card Number 793: Fleer, 1996; #567

For a couple of years Fleer printed their cards as full-bleed photos on unvarnished matt card stock. It's an unusual look for cards released in the 90s, as most card companies issued glossy cards. Tony's name and position are picked ou tin gold foil. 

The cardback includes an almost complete career stats box. They only had room for 12 rows so omitted Tony's statistics from 1982 and 1983. Tony looks a bit startled in the photo.

As a reflection of what I posted yesterday about Tony's second career peak, the factoid is about how in 1995 he became the first player to record a batting average over .350 for three years running since the second world war. Tony's batting average in the last ten years of his career was a good wedge higher than in the first ten years. He hit over .350 in 1996 and in 1997 as well. 

Card Number 794: Fleer Update, 1996; U224

Encore was a subset towards the end of the Update set, featuring the bigger stars of the game.

This card is printed in the same way as the flagship set, but with a bold blue tint in the background. 

The cardback has the same stats box, but a different photo and factoid.

We will have to take Fleer's factoid writer's word for it that Tony was ecstatic about chasing a division title, as he looks focused on hitting the ball in the photo. However, it's on record that Tony was ecstatic about the Padres winning the NL West that season - especially as his brother Chris hit a 2-RBI double in the eleventh inning of the final game of the regular season, which meant the Padres won the Division. It was a winner takes all game against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium as the Padres pipped them to first place. 

Card Number 795: Fleer Road Warriors, 1996; #2

There were 10 cards in this insert set. (Which makes me think of Mad Max 2!)

As I mentioned when I blogged about the Pinnacle cards with Tony's home and road stats on, it didn't seem to make much difference where Tony was playing. He hit the ball in every park. The same wasn't true about stealing bases, though. 

Although the purple font for the title is attractive, I'm dinging a point off this card for having an awkward lay out for the text on the back. 

Total: 795 cards

Upper Deck come back for more

My recent eBay purchase alerted me to the existence of an Upper Deck set that I'd not heard of before - Encore. (Not to be confused with the Fleer subset called Encore from a few years earlier.)

Card Number 654: Upper Deck Encore Upper Realm, 1999; #U4

Upper Realm is a bit of a weird name for an insert series. The UR swirling around Tony's legs makes this look a bit messy. 

This card scans very blue due to the foilboard effect, but looks more purple in real life. The back is more obviously purple.

The cardback points out that Tony's career average was the highest among active major leaguers. It's also higher than any major leaguer since Tony retired.

Card Number 655: Upper Deck Encore Strokes of Genius, 1999; #167

This subset was actually very blue.

The graphics on this give it a very sci-fi look; a theme that continued onto the back.

There are three years worth of stats arranged vertically, which makes a nice change. However the really wide kerning on the word 'In' at the start of the write up shows the perils of using justified text in an odd shape. As an aside, I hate justified text. It makes text harder to read and is especially difficult for people with impaired vision. (I consider it one of my best achievements in a previous job when a directive came out saying all our documents had to be in justified text and I successfully got that rescinded by citing good practice guidance from a charity supporting people with sight loss!)

I now have the fun task of trying to find Tony's regular base card from Upper Deck Encore, now that I know the set exists! Still, what is collecting without little challenges?

Total: 655 cards