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

One Card Only - Dynagon!

Today's one card only is for Richard (YoRicha) because I know how much he loves Pacific cards.

Card Number 880: Pacific Dynagon Diamond, 1999; #19

This was one of 20 cards in an insert series in Pacific's flagship set in 1999.

It's bright shiny green foil with a whirly swirly background. 

This card gets 19 bonus points for being the 19th card in the set. Pacific were one of the card companies that paid close attention to card numbering. Another reason why the card hobby was poorer when they ceased trading.

The background of this card does make it feel like a baseball is flying straight at your face! Best read it quick!

Total: 880 cards

Tuesday Twins - seen in previous guises

The recent influx of cards into my collection has included quite a few parallel versions of cards that have featured already on the blog. Here are a few more from the various Upper Deck ranges. I've included links to where the other version was blogged.

Card Number 818: Upper Deck Collector's Choice Special Edition Silver Signature, 1995; #160

Base version was #354 on the blog.

Special Edition was Upper Deck's third release in its Collector's Choice Range, after Series 1 and Series 2. Like the rest of the cards in the range, parallel versions with silver foil and gold foil signatures were released. The gold foil signatures were a lot rarer. The 'Special Edition' logo (top right) was recolourised for this silver signature release. Ironically, the silver signature scans black!

The back has a photo that is definitely in the top ten photos of Tony on a cardback. You can almost hear him saying "Heeeyyyyy, you guys!"

If every parallel had a photo that good on it, I would have a lot more appreciation for parallels.

Card Number 819: Upper Deck UD Choice Starquest (Green), 1999; #SQ8

Base version was #129 here

Green shiny card! Lovely. 

UD Choice was Upper Deck's late 90s rebrand for Collector's Choice. It lasted for one year and was replaced the following year by the MVP range.

Every pack of UD Choice cards had one Starquest card in it. The base cards were blue. The green versions were inserted at a rate of 1 in 8 packets. There were also red versions inserted 1 in 23 packets and gold versions sequentially numbered to 100. 

The dull cardback is made up for by the shininess of the front. The sleeve logo of the Swinging Friar is quite prominent in the cropped version of the photo on the cardback. 

Card Number 820: Upper Deck Special F/X, 1998; #9

According to Baseballcardpedia, this set "partially-parallels 150 cards from the 1998 Upper Deck set". I blogged the regular version back in September (#745).

Aside from being shiny holofoil, this card doesn't have the little logo denoting 'Ken Griffey's Hot List' that is on the regular card. The presentation marks the first time the Padres played at Edison field in Anaheim. The Angels player presenting the award is Eddie Murray.

Apart from the set number, the back is exactly the same as the regular release.

Card Number 821: Upper Deck SP (die-cut), 1994; #130

Base version was #316 on the blog.

In addition to all 200 cards in the inaugural SP set being holofoil, there were die-cut parallels inserted at a rate of 1 in every pack. It's not the most imagintaive die-cut, with just a chunk taken out of the top of the card. This is an overhead scan. If you want to see how dark this would look on a flatbed scan, then that's what I used when I blogged the normal version of this card. 

SP went for the minimalist approach on the card back. The photo has been cropped so tightly the base path Tony is running on isn't visible. 

And that's the Tuesday Twins for today! 

Total: 821 cards

Modern Monday - green border zombie

2018 is three years ago now, but nothing screams 'modern baseball card' more loudly than a parallel produced by Panini.

Card Number 774: Donruss, 2018 (Green Border Parallel); #165

Shiny green foil around the outside of this card differentiates it from the regular base cards, or the Optic version (which are all in this 'Triple Tuesday'post from May 2020!) It's also not the first green parallel card from 2018 DonRuss to feature on the blog. Here is a green parallel retro card. These green parallels were exclusive to blaster boxes, but only 110 cards in the set were also issued as green parallels. Tony was on two of them.

There is no indication this is a parallel on the cardback.

I refer to these DonRuss cards as "zombie cards" because Panini keep the brands alive in an unlicensed limbo. This cardback in particular is a masterclass in describing events without using any proprietary franchise names or trademarks of Major League Baseball. 

Total: 774 cards

Leader of the Team

Card Number 743: Fleer Team Leaders, 1992; #7

This was another one of the half dozen cards from Jeff that arrived on Tuesday. It's green. It's got a bit of foil on it. It's really nice. (I find green cards really attractive for some reason.)

These cards were inserted into Fleer's rack packs at a rate of one per pack. Tony is making a catch on the warning track. Somebody's not getting a home run!

On the back, Tony is described as "Primre Padre" - I've not seen Spanish on a Fleer card before! (Although it's a bit weird because it means 'First Father' if translated literally. Maybe they would have been better with "Jefe de Equipo".) 

In the write up, he is described as a "franchise player", which Fleer claim is a term that is "used in baseball lingo". (It feels like they should have added "Honest it is! No, really!")

Reading cardbacks like this from halfway through Tony's career are always slightly overshadowed by knowing what came next. He was already an all-time Padres leader in a number of statistics, but there was so much more to come. Another four batting titles. A string of seasons posting over .350. Eight more All Star Games. The .394 season.

Also in this write up there is a really lovely turn of phrase when whoever wrote this managed to go poetic, rhyming 'nation' and 'rotation'. 

For this post, I've paired this card up with one that arrived in the parcel from France a few weeks back. 

Card Number 744: Fleer Team Leaders, 1994; #27

These inserts could be found at a ratio of one in every six packs. The front is a good example of how computer aided design changed the look of baseball cards in the early to mid-90s, with two photos and the logo arranged artfully on an orange and teal background. So nineties!

On the back, Tony's hitting is described as pillaging. 

My inner number-nerd let out a slight "Squee!" when I saw Tony's strike-out total for the 1993 season. How many players strike out to match their shirt number!

Total: 744 cards

Eat cake by the ocean

Well, that's what the Padres hoped to be doing this year. It feels less and less likely to happen.

But talking of the ocean, here's a couple of Pacific cards from the last year the Padres got to the World Series.

Card Number 732: Pacific Crown Collection, 1998; #427

Somehow this card design manages to look both fancy and still very clean. The logo and player name are in gold foil. 

Pacific's USP was targeting Spanish-speaking collectors. They also included the English translation on the back. That didn't leave much room for any stats. Somehow they managed to fit everything in, including Tony posing with one of his bats. 

The orange background locates this firmly in the late 1990s. As ever, Pacific get a bonus point for putting the detail of the set name in the little circle with the card number. It's a great help to collectors like me over two decades later!

Card Number 733: Pacific Aurora, 1998; #191

Such a green card!

The 1990s was the decade when PhotoShop became a thing and this card design is almost Photoshopped to death. I appreciate the halo around Tony's head in the top right image. 

Also, you may have noticed this just says San Diego on the front. It repeats that on the back. The Aurora range was only licensed by the Player's Association so they didn't include franchise names. I presume Pacific had a license from MLB to print a limited number of sets, or perhaps there was a stipulation in their contract that they could only produce Spanish language sets - and this is just in English. 

There is a trivia question on the back about how many seasons Tony recorded more than 200 hits. To save readers from craning their necks, here's the answer.

Tony didn't record a 200-hit season after 1997 so that answer (5) is still the correct answer. 

The photo on the back is quite similar to the one on the back of the Topps Stars card I blogged about yesterday. Serious cardback photos must have been the fashion in 1998!

Total: 733 cards

All Time Diamond King

Dean sent me this card alongside the Gypsy Queen card I blogged about yesterday. My wife, Cathy, remarked that the combination of green background and Tony's pose made him look more like a golfer.

Card Number 580: Panini All-Time Diamond Kings, 2020; #ATDK-1

Tony was given the first card in this 25-card insert series.

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It's a very green card, but I like green so I'm not complaining. I can't find any reference to an actual artist on this card, or online, so I'm guessing the 'art' has been done by a Panini staffer.

The back is understated. But it's also turquoise, which is a happy colour and reminiscent of the early 90s. I'm going to add the description of Tony as a "sweet-swinging lefty" to my selection of cardback descriptions. There's a bonus phrase as well - "the San Diego standout".

I know Panini cards aren't to everybody's taste, given they don't carry team logos, but this card isn't bad at all. I now have 3 Diamond Kings cards from 2020 in my collection, and the overall total of cards from 2020 is now 32!

Here are the 3 Diamond Kings cards from 2020 together. They are all regular versions of the insert cards. Parallels exist, but I don't have any. (Yet!)

A big thank you to Dean for sending me this and completing my triptych of Diamond Kings cards.

Total: 580 cards

Tuesday Twins - a green parallel retro

My main supplier of Tony Gwynn cards, Gawain, managed to squeeze a parcel to me just before the "Fire Break" lockdown began here in Wales. Along with some other cards I didn't have, Gawain included a parallel which is one of today's Tuesday Twins.

This is the card it's a twin of, which I blogged about back in September. It's the DonRuss retro card released in 2018.

Card Number 440: DonRuss (Green Parallel), 2018; #258

These foil-edged parallel cards were exclusive to blaster boxes with five green parallels per box (on average).

While the green foil edging is nice and shiny, unfortunately that makes the edges curl slightly, which makes the back harder to line up on the scanner. This is my excuse for the shamefully wonky scan of the cardback!

Last time I wrote about this cardback I commented on the term "Professional Batting Totals" and ignored the summary paragraph. One of the good things about parallels is revisiting cards and looking at them afresh. I hadn't clocked the description for my side-project of  'different ways Tony is described on cardbacks'. "As steady as the San Diego climate" is going on that list!

Total cards: 440