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

Legendary oddball

An oddball treat today - a card that doesn't appear on Baseballcardpedia. These cards were apparently issued with a magazine called Legends Sporting Memorabilia, supplied in uncut sheets of 9 cards inserted in the magazine. Stars from several different sports were represented. (Info source)

Card Number 1034: Legends Sporting Memorabilia, 1991; #53

Even in the free-for-all frontierland that was the peak junk wax era in 1991, I'm surprised a magazine would produce cards without any kind of licensing. As a media outlet they could well have owned the rights to the photograph, but the copyright claim on the back is unusual even among oddball cards.

From the write up on the back, it would be reasonable to expect Tony to have won the batting title in 1991. He didn't. He won his fifth batting title in 1993. Although 1991 was a pivotal year as he met Ted Williams and switched to a heavier bat after talking to his personal batting hero. 

Total: 1034 cards

1990 randomness

Today's post features three cards from 1990 that are completely unrelated to each other. Just for fun, like. 

Card Number 1003: Topps Batting Leaders, 1990; #2

These cards were inserted into blister packs of 100 cards from Topps flagship set that were exclusive to K-Mart. 

The cartooney drawn baseball bat makes this look quaint, even considering it's from way back in 1990.

The politest way to describe the cardback is that it doesn't look like the designer made too much of an effort but did just enough to earn their paycheck.

Tony's final career batting average went up from this point. In terms of hitting baseballs, he was an absolute monster in the decade after this card was released.

Card Number 1004: Sport's Collector Digest, 1990; #37

This isn't a baseball card, it's a pocket price guide! (Oh, okay, sure thing, Sport's Collector Digest.)

This is the second 'pocket price guide' to feature on this blog (here's the other one). It's fair to say that if more price guides looked as good as the front of this card, more people would collect price guides!

These guides provide an insight into the expansion of the collecting bubble in the early 1990s. Comparing these prices to the valuations SCD put on cards in 1993, shows how much a collector could have made by investing in rookie cards in 1990.

SCD reckoned that mint Topps rookie cards had doubled in price from $20 in 1990 to $40 in 1993, while the five hundred per cent growth in value for a mint 1984 Fleer card (from $2 to $12) was a huge jump for a second year card.

All this is a casual reminder that card values are always inflated by the companies doing the valuations. The real value of a card is not what a company claims it to be - the real value is the price it actually sells for. This is true regardless of whether the price is listed on a magazine or on a nice baseball-card sized 'pocket price guide'. 

Card Number 1005: Sportflics, 1990; #98

Sportflics are lenticular cards that show player in three different poses. I am not keen on them for a number of reasons. They don't scan well. They are thick plastic and the plastic yellows with age. And they warp because of the plastic coating. 

But apart from that, they're OK.

Sporflics are reasonably important in the history of baseball cards because they were the entry product for the Pinnacle company who then produced Score cards before releasing sets under the Pinnacle brand name. The back of this card shares a lot of design aesthetics with contemporary Score cards, particularly the use of a colour photo, the lettering and presentation.

On top of all the other issues with Sportflics cards, I'm going to ding this a point for having Tony's squad number more obvious than the card set number, and ding it another point for having a set number that looks like a different number. It's not #88, it's #98! However, I will give it a point back for the quirky photo showing Tony with his glove half-on, half-off. 

Total: 1005 cards

80s Wednesday - a couple of 80s oddballs

Here's a trip back almost four decades to when baseball cards started to proliferate in '88...

Card Number 966: Nestle, 1988; #40

I seriously doubt Nestle needs any introduction. They are one of the biggest food conglomerates in the world. The company has also been the target of a decades-long boycott due to the way it markets baby milk formula in the developing world. (I'm relieved to say that my acquisition of this card was not linked to the purchase of any Nestle products - although originally it would have been.)

The card itself is semi-licensed with a strange airbrushing job removing the Padres logo from Tony's cap. Unlike modern cards in the twilight zone of player licensing, this card includes the franchise name.

This card was produced by oddball card producer Michael Schechter Associates (also known as MSA) and printed in Canada. It has a comprehensive write up on the cardback compared to most oddballs. 

Card Number 967: KayBee Superstars of Baseball, 1988; #13

I've done a brief explanation of the KayBee Toys company on the blog before. I still love their little soldier in the logo. 

These cards were produced by Topps. When I came to wite this post I had a moment of deja vu. A quick look through my Topps folder and I realised why.

Topps re-used this photo in 2009 in their Legends of the Game insert series. The print is darker, but that is clearly the same photo.

A couple of years later, Topps used a cropped version of the photo for the Golden Greats insert card in 2012. (In fact, if you click on that link, you can see it was also used on a card from 2010 as well!)

It's unusual for the photo on an oddball card to reappear several years later, but I suppose this was in the Topps photo archive. It hadn't been used in an official Topps set and I doubt anyone at the company thought a random blogger would ever notice this.

Anyway, back to the card sold in Kay-Bee Toys and here's the back of the card sold in Kay-Bee Toys.

Although it has a photo on it, this doesn't have the impact of the Nestle card. June 1987 was a very hot month for Tony with an incredible average nearer to .500 than .400!

Total 967 cards

Play your cards right

Some oddball cards today. And I mean, literally, some oddball cards today.

Card Number 907: US Playing Card Company Baseball Major League All-Stars, 1990; #NNO (Jack of Diamonds)

Yes, this is from a set of playing cards with colour pictures of baseball players on. This is a very intriguing photo. My guess is that Tony is scrutinising the play while doing some stretches in the on deck area.

The back is a boring card back. It has to be if anyone is going to actually play cards using this set.  I've played a lot of card games in my time - whist, canasta, pinochle. Novelty card sets don't tend to get used for games in my experience. However, judging by the playwear, this card was used in a few hands of some card games.

Card Number 908: US Playing Card Company Major League Baseball Aces, 1992; #NNO (3 of Diamonds)

Tony is still in the diamond suit in this deck, but seems to have been demoted from one of the face cards to a lowly number. 

This photo has been cropped to chop off Tony's feet and the end of his bat. I know that might annoy one of my regular readers!

The back looks more stylish than the cardbacks from the deck released in 1990.

And a bonus "card".

Card Number 909: Cartwright's Aces, 1992-3; #9

This was from a 12-card series issued with the short-lived Cartwright's Journal of Baseball Collectibles, which included trading cards in each issue. The Journal lasted for five issues in 1992 and 1993 and somehow released 9 card series, many with parallels. There is more information in this Wrigley Wax blog post.

The card is rather nicely done.

Despite the playing card imagery in the word 'aces' and the design of the set logo on the back, this isn't actually a playing card.

There is a minimal write up on the back. 

Something that stands out to me is there is no licensing information on this card at all. That's also true of the US Playing Card Company cards as well - but they were licensed and had the relevant logos on the box containing the cards. I suspect Cartwright's didn't have an agreement in place otherwise there would have been some very small print on the card. 

Total: 909 cards

Running through the 1988 Star set part 3

The final cards in the Star set to finish off this run-through.

Card Number 851: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #9

This is the third 'career highlights' card, and the third with a huge amount of text on the back. This one has a brief intro then talks about what Tony did in the 1985 season.

That's a great stat in the final line - 4 errors in 355 fielding actions. No wonder he picked up five gold gloves in his career.

Card Number 852: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #10

Yet again, Star decided to use a landscape-oriented photo and did nothing about the orientation of the logo. To add to the quirkiness, this time they rotated the template the opposite way round to the way they rotated it on the other card with a landscape photo. 

The cardback is more about Tony as a person rather than summarising his career. 

There isn't much in there that is news to me, except for him being named San Diego Professional Athlete of the Year twice. Back when San Diego had NFL and NBA teams, there would be some competition for that.

And so, on to the final card in the set...

Card Number 853: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #11

This card is slightly damaged. Maybe one day I will replace it.

What did the future hold for Tony way back in, wait, hang on, part way through 1987?

I mean, that's what the first sentence implies when it talks about Tony's "current" average. This explains why the stats on his Major League Stats card only went up to 1986. So, this set from 1988, was put together in 1987, only included stats up to 1986, and had a copyright notice saying 1984. Gotta love an oddball set!

However, their comment about Tony having one of the brightest futures in baseball was prescient. While this set was being compiled, Tony was on his way to picking up his second batting title. He would, of course, go on to win many more!

Total: 853 cards

Running through the 1988 Star set part 2

On with the oddball set that I started blogging about yesterday.

Card Number 847: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #5

So far this set has had minor league stats, major league stats, post-season stats... it's time for All-Star stats!

Definite bonus point for including where the All-Star games took place in the stats box on the back. That's extra data often isn't included. 

Card Number 848: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #6

A slightly different approach to stats - basically Tony's best stats in a season and in an individual game up to this point. This is always a more interesting set of stats and rarely done by card companies.

At this point in his career, Tony had yet to record a five-hit game. He had stolen five bases in one game, though, at the end of September 1985 in Houston.

Card Number 849: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #7

And abruptly, the cardbacks shift from stats boxes to mammoth blocks of text. Weirdly, these go back in time, starting with Tony's break out season in 1983 and going backwards to his minor league season in 1981.

There is a huge amount of information to unpack on this cardback. It serves as a very useful reminder of Tony's early career with details that have since been marginalised by all of Tony's achievements. (The story that he went off to Puerto Rico to play winter baseball and broke his wrist at the end of the 1982 season isn't usually talked about.)

Card Number 850: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #8

Although all the photos in this set seem to be from the same game, it doesn't seem to have been well attended judging by the empty seats in the background here. 

On the back we have another chunk of biography. This is all about Tony's achievements in 1984, including becoming the first Padres player to record 200 hits in a season.

Part 3 of this run-through tomorrow!

Total: 850 cards

Running through the 1988 Star set part 1

In the large parcel of cards that Richard sent me was an 11 card oddball set made by Star. As a card producer, Star normally stuck with minor league sets. In 1988 they issued 28 different sets related to minor leagues or minor league teams - everything from the Carolina League All-Stars to the Tampa Tarpons. If someone wants a Miami Marlins set from before the Miami Marlins became a Major League franchise, then there is a Star set of the minor league outfit from 1988.

Star also produced player-specific sets, with 29 different small sets released in 1988 alongside their minor league cards. Typically these sets had 11 cards in, with some players getting more than one set. Mark McGwire had three sets in 1988. Tony had one solo set and another set that he shared with Wade Boggs, both of them getting five cards each in the latter set.

According to Trading Card Database, this set was limited to a print run of 5000, with a glossy parallel set limited to 1000 of each card. I don't know if the set Richard sent me is the regular set or the glossy parallel. I suspect the regular because it doesn't seem very glossy. There were also 500 autogaphed versions of the first card in the set available - all serial numbered. This might have been one of the first time Tony's autographed cards were made available to collectors in a set.

Anyway, let's kick on and enjoy some shonky oddballness. I'm going to split the cards over the next couple of posts as well. 

Card Number 843: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #1

A couple of things to be aware of as we go through this set. Firstly, I think most of the photos were taken during the same game. Secondly, the production levels aren't high. These were sort of licensed cards but that's a home-drawn San Diego logo on the front. 

Spoilers! This first card in the series is a checklist. Have a read to anticipate what's coming up.

Also, even though this says Star '88 on the front and it's confirmed by TCDb as being released in 1988... nobody at Star bothered to update the copyright notice from whenever they last used this card template. It still says 1984.

Card Number 844: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #2

The series kicks off with a series of stats cards. Tony's minor league stats get profiled first.

I am reasonably certain they could have written 'Pacific Coast' next to Hawaii and Las Vegas. Often Tony's 17 games in Las Vegas in 1983 get forgotten. He was recovering from an injury and spent a few weeks getting back to full game fitness.

Card Number 845: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #3

I can see why Star would print this photo in landscape orientation. The catcher's hand reaching in forlornly just as Tony makes contact with the ball makes this image. However, not switching the template around so the fake logo is sideways is lackadaiscal design.

Even though this set was released in 1988, it only shows Tony's major league stats up to the 1986 season.

Card Number 846: Star Tony Gwynn "Padre Hitman", 1988; #4

Batting donut picture! Time to check Fuji's post of a dozen Tony Gwynn cards with batting donuts... and this one isn't one of Fuji's dozen! 

Tony had one season's worth of post-season stats to go on this card.

And on that statistically spartan note... I will bid you adieu. More of the set tomorrow.

Total: 846 cards

Oddballs in the key of R

Both these oddballs were produced by Topps and sold in little packs of 33 cards through specific retailers in 1988.

Card Number 805: Topps Revco League Leaders, 1988; #1

It's not the most exciting picture on the front. I think the Revco logo is meant to be a little shopping basket. There is a history of Revco in this blog post by Fuji from earlier this year. One thing I learned from that is the regional nature of these sets. If you didn't live near a Revco store then you couldn't buy these cards. 

Tony's stats in 1987 made him worthy of being the first card in the set. 

I am always learning new things from cardbacks. In this case, that Tony led the National League in hits in 1986, but didn't win the batting title. 

Card Number 806: Topps Rite-Aid Team MVPs, 1988; #11

Unlike Revco, I've actually been in a Rite-Aid. On one of my visits to America, I needed a sticking plaster and bought a box of them in a Rite-Aid store. I'm not sure why, but I ended up bringing them home and had Rite-Aid sticking plasters in my first aid box for years.

The photo on the front is very similar to the photo on the front of the Revco card. The dug out in the background looks the same. There is a fan in a blue baseball cap standing up near Tony's right shoulder and the same fan is in the crowd on the Revco card on the edge of the picture, possibly talking to another fan. 

The back of the Rite-Aid card is more boring than the Revco card. Tony was relegated to number 11 in this set. 

Based on those figures for 1987, we can work out that Tony was left on base, forced out or picked off 99 times during the season. 1987 was the career high point of Tony's base-stealing as well, with 56 successful steals. 

Rite-Aid had a major part to play in the baseball card hobby about a decade later, when the founder of Rite-Aid, Alex Grass, bought Fleer and ran it for six years from 1999-2005. Alex had retired from Rite-Aid by then, and ran Fleer with one of his sons, Roger. Unfortunately, Martin Grass, the son who took on running Rite-Aid after Alex retired, got arrested for an accounting scandal that almost destroyed the company and ended up in federal prison. Alex and Roger dclared Fleer bankrupt in 2005 and sold the company's intellectual property to Upper Deck.

Although both these card sets were printed by Topps, I still class them as oddballs because of their limited availability and the way they were supplied in small complete sets. 

Total: 806 cards