Upper Decks bits and bobbleheads

Upper Deck's fun range, known as 'Collector's Choice' had a few gimmicky things like bobbleheads and various competition giveaways. Let's start with the second 'bobblehead' to feature on this blog and then go back in time to see some other bits and bobs...

Card Number 1021: Upper Deck Collector's Choice "push out", 1998; #23

I have some of the little bobblehead cards from 1999 (including one that has been pushed out), but I didn't realise that Upper Deck made these inserts in 1998 as well until Glenn sent me this a couple of weeks back. 

Upper Deck made sure Tony had his game face on for this bobblehead. It was only when I realised that Tony's disembodied head was in a batting helmet, that I realised the 1999 version is meant to show Tony fielding!

On the back are the intructions on how to assemble the bobblehead for display. 

These bobbleheads were in Series 2 of the Collector's Choice set and only appeared in 1 in 3 packs.

Upper Deck sometimes included odd things in their regular sets as well. In 1996, collectors had the chance of winning a shiny foil card.

Card number 1022: Upper Deck Predictors Redemption, 1996; #R57

There were 60 cards that could be exchanged for instant win cards found inside Upper Deck packs. 

For some reason I haven't got an overhead scan of this card in my folders, so this dirty desktop scan will have to do. Some of the marks on this card are dust and fluff on the scanner surface.

The back is relatively plain, but neatly laid out. The write up begins with Tony's incredibly low strike out rate. 88 times in 5 years!

This card arrived in a small box of cards from Gawain way back in November 2021. Six months later - thank you, Gawain!

Card Number 1023: Upper Deck Collector's Choice You Crash the Deck game piece, 1994; #unnumbered

You Crash the Deck (later Game) was a scratch off and win redemption thing that ran in Collector's Choice (with some adpatations) for several years.

There were 15 different varieties of this "game piece" each featuring two players. Tony shared the spotlight on this with Andres Galarraga from the Rockies.

This card sized 'game piece' folds out to reveal a large number of scratch off areas. The most important one is the one saying whether it's a winning card. That is the only bit that has been scratched off. 

And on the back are the huge list of terms and conditions in a tiny font.

Why were Canadians set a relatively simple maths question? I presume there is some rule about giveaway competitions that meant there has to be a quiz question. Otherwise that's just weird!

Total: 1023 cards

A classic howler

Classic cards were ostensibly part of a trivia game, which always strikes me as a bit of a ruse to get around licensing agreements. Like all cards they evolved quickly in the early 90s, although they never really lost that flimsy card game feel.

Card Number 812: Classic Baseball, 1992; #61

Design note: It's the 90s. Let's stretch the year across the width of the card! This kind of kerning is a mark of a card being designed on a computer. 

I would argue this photo is quintessential early 1990s Tony Gwynn. Helmet and shades, watching the trajectory of a ball he has just belted up into the sunny sky, wearing the grey Padres road uniform that always looks a bit like pyjamas. The bright orange wrist guards match the orange in the San Diego name on his shirt. 

The back is a change for Classic cards. Gone are the old ropey-looking cheap card backs. Note the extended kerning for Tony's name again. Justified text! Plus, five questions for you to test your knowledge.

Over time, I have grown fonder of one line stats boxes. I also think it's incredibly cool that Tony only struck out 19 times in the season - what with that being his shirt number!

Card Number 813: Classic Baseball, 1993; #T41

This card was one of the 99 that came in the actual Classic game.

The photo in 1993 was not as good as the previous year. Tony's bat is occluding a background person's face in almost comical style. 

The back has one line of stats and five more questions to answer. Plus a major howler - instead of the Padres logo there is the Angels logo!

This error hadn't been previously noted on Trading Card Database. I've reported it now!

Total: 813 cards

Happy Birthday Mr Padre and to this blog

One year ago, I started this blog with the intention of collecting 394 Tony Gwynn cards. A year later, and I am about to show you my 672nd Tony Gwynn card; 278 over my target! I had 179 cards when I started, so I have acquired 493 cards since launching the blog - a whisker away from 500. That's not bad going for a year.

This is my 331st blog post, which included a run of posts every day from 9 May 2020 to 9 January 2021, which I calculate at 245 days in a row. I passed the 394 card mark in October and carried on. As of this morning, when I published this post, there had been 684 comments on the blog - and I'd like to thank those of you who have commented, particularly Fuji who has added his thoughts to almost every blog post. I really appreciate that commitment and all the nuggets of wisdom he has posted.

I was hoping to celebrate my blog birthday (blogaversary?) with a Project 70 card featuring Tony, but unfortunately the postal service has not delivered. So as of now, I have maxed out my cards to be blogged folder by presenting this rather shiny offering from DonRuss.

Card Number 672: DonRuss Elite Series, 1998; #20

The Elite Series cards were inserted into packs of DonRuss flagship cards during the first wave of cards (Series 1). 

The cards are serially numbered out of 2,500. That seems quite a high print run compared to the kinds of print run seen today, but back then this meant the cards were considered rare.

The cardback notes that Tony was included in one of the 'Elite' insert series for the first time in 1992. DonRuss must have felt that was quite a honour to bestow on a player. Tony's low strike out rate in 1991 earned him the spot among the Elite. It was impressive - as Tony went almost 30 plate appearances between strike outs. I think most of the current Padres team have more strike outs already this season than Tony usually experienced in a year.

So that's the first year of this blog done and dusted. Thank you everyone who has been part of this! (There is a list here - I think I have mentioned everybody!)

Total: 672 cards

Modern Monday - Opening Day legend

++++++STOP PRESS+++STOP PRESS++++++

I'm the guest on the Tea & Topps podcast tonight at 9pm (GMT) talking about my Tony Gwynn collection. The live broadcast will be on YouTube, Twitch and Facebook. Details here.  

+++++STOP PRESS ENDS++++++

Glenn, who sent me the Topps mini I blogged last week, followed it up with another couple of cards including a freshly pulled card from Topps Opening Day 2021 that was released to coincide with the start of the season. It also provides me with an opportunity for a theme post - the theme being "Legend" cards.

Card Number 641: Topps Opening Day Legends of Baseball, 2021; #LOB-18

I am a little bit disappointed that Tony had card number 18. So close!

This is a nice, fresh-looking card design that isn't reliant on a retro template or a reprint of an old card. It actually feels 'new' and is the first card from 2021 that made me feel that way.

The back has a great statistic comparing Tony's strike out rate with modern players. Fans rarely saw Tony strike out - I've commented before how, on average, you would have to go to five games before you saw him struck out.

I saw a statistic last week that said for the first time ever the number of strike outs had passed the number of hits. I think strike outs have increased because there is a massive emphasis on belting home runs. The "Slam Diego" streak last year is part of that trend. It's very exciting when it comes off, but a batter who is swinging for the fences is more likely to miss, or leave pitches that could be hit into infield play, thereby getting strikes called more often.  

As I said, the theme of this card matches another card I had waiting in my 'to blog' folder.

Card Number 642: Topps Legends of the Game insert, 2009; #LG-TG

This card is a very dark green. That's not a scanning problem. It's how it looks.

The numbering of these cards is odd. There were 50 cards in the set. half were numbered 1-25, and the other half had letters instead of numbers, like this one.

There is also an error on the cardback. Top left it says Tony made his debut in 1981. He was drafted in 1981. He made his Major League debut in 1982. 

The timeline imagery is quite cool and continus across the other cards in the set. That's a pretty neat little detail. Otherwise the big factoid box repeats the story of how Tony was drafted for the Padres and the Clippers on the same day. No matter how many times I read that, I find it incredible. 

Thanks again to Glenn for sending me the Legends of Baseball card that opened this post. It's the 5th card released in 2021 that I have added to the collection.

Total: 642 cards

Modern Monday - Topps Tribute

Last week I signed off on hiatus with my 250th blog post featuring the last of my unblogged cards. I posted to the same effect on Facebook and Paul heeded my subtle cry for help and got in touch offering me some cards I didn't have. So, the hiatus didn't last long!

Card Number 575: Topps Tribute, 2020; #59

This isn't a set I saw that often in the Facebook card groups. The base cards are printed on 2mm cardboard so they are hefty!

There is a pearlescent sheen to the border on this, which means it scans very nicely. The photo is classic Tony-at-bat, presumably not his first at bat in the game given the muddy leg from a knee slide. The pinstripes and blue helmet combination means this is from the early-mid 90s. 

The back is impressive. There are four factoids and three of them are ones I didn't know before reading the back of the card. That's three bonus points for this card right there!

I think it's testament to Tony's prowess with the bat and his demeanour approaching the game that he didn't let a strike faze him. Even if he did give up a strike he would still make a hit over three times in every 10 at bats. 

However, there's a reason I didn't know that second factoid. It didn't actually happen like that. The only game when Tony struck out three times was on the 14th April 1986 against the Dodgers. (The pitcher was Bob Welch.) In the tenth inning, Tony reached second base on an error and then ran in the tying run off a John Kruk single, but it was Bruce Bochy who hit the home run that won the game for the Padres in the eleventh inning. Here's an article all about the game.

So, only the two bonus points. I have a feeling I should go and check the other statistics but I don't really want to be that guy.

Many thanks again to Paul, who also sent me a card to be featured tomorrow!

Total: 575 cards

80s week: Dynamite DonRuss designs

I feel a bit embarrassed to admit this, but for a long time I judged DonRuss on the quality of their ubiquitous late 80s cards, particularly the 1988 cards that are the cards most people would think of first when they hear the term "junk wax". But in the build up towards the saturation of the market, DonRuss had some very nice card designs that aren't as easy to track down (at least not here in the UK).

Of the two Tony Gwynn rookie cards I own, the DonRuss 1983 card is by far my favourite. It's even incorporated into the header of this blog. The 1984 card is still on my wants list. So, this post starts with Tony's DonRuss card from 1985.

Card Number 485: DonRuss, 1985; #63

It's a bunt card!

This is a photo taken in the 1984 season as the Padres switched to pinstripes in 1985. However the new arched lettering logo is on the card. I think the person sat in the dugout, perfectly framed between Tony's legs, is the Padres manager, Dick Williams.

DonRuss had the most consistent cardbacks of the 80s. It worked so they never really changed anything.

As I said yesterday when writing about the Fleer cards from this era, the factoids capture elements of Tony's career that are often forgotten. Most players who batted .263 in a World Series would have that as a 'permafact' on the back of their cards in perpetuity. However, compared to Tony's normal batting standards, that was disappointing.

Sometimes factoids trigger new questions as well. I wonder how Tony broke his wrist in 1983 - and was that the reason he had a stint in AAA in Las Vegas?

Card Number 486: DonRuss 1986; #112

This card design was re-used this year by Panini, who now own the DonRuss brands.

My guess here is that Tony is watching the pitcher. That was his top tip to batters - spend as much time as possible watching the pitcher before you go out to bat. He recommended watching their warm-up throws as well, to try and work out their release points.

The cardback mentions an ongoing wrist injury in 1985, but it's not clear if that's a holdover from the broken wrist in 1983.

Tony's DonRuss base card from 1987 has already featured on the blog, however, a couple of new cards that arrived in the recent package were from the same year.

Card Number 487: DonRuss Opening Day. 1987; #146

This was a 272-card factory set, which used the "tyre tread" design of the regular base cards with a grape colour instead of black. From my research, this Opening Day set predates Topps Opening Day sets by eight years.

Tony's longer hair is a very middle-of-the-80s look.

The cardback describes Tony as the "Padres' best hitter". Already his ability to consistently bat above .300 every season was being noted. That opening day game sounds like an epic battle.

One thing that stands out to me in the career performance box is Tony's very low number of strike outs. At this point in his career he was striking out once every 4.75 games. So if you wanted to see him strike out you would need to go and watch the Padres at least five times to give you the best statistical chance of seeing it.

Card Number 488: DonRuss Highlights, 1987; #12

The 'Highlights' series was a 56-card boxed set. The 'tyre tread' is over a royal blue background.

This is probably the wordiest DonRuss cardback from the 80s.

There's a mistake there - it says he collected over 20 hits, when it should probably say over 200 hits. Although to be fair, to collect over 200 hits, he would need to collect over 20 hits on the way. June was definitely a hot month for him. Those were some figures!

Total: 488 cards