Following up on the post a few weeks ago where I began logging my Tony Gwynn collection at the Trading Card Database, I'm more or less wrapped up now. Unfortunately I fell short in my lofty goals of either hitting 1k cards and/or cracking the top 10 in the site's rankings. But I ended up with a pretty cool consolation.
Yep, I'm ranked #19 on the site! I will rep this prestigious "jersey number" position with pride. I know collectors sometimes toggle their collections between public and private, and so there could be a shakeup at any time that either bumps me up or down, but I'll hope to stick around at #19 for a while if I can. (...not that it means anything, just a fun little thing to smile about.)
Currently I'm just narrowly above #20 (another guy, like myself, on the cusp of 900 unique TG cards) and about 40 cards from #18. It puts me in the funny position of not wanting to add a bunch of new Gwynns, thereby possibly forfeiting my special rank. But yeah, I would like to eventually hit a thousand cards. Tony is my "top guy" after all. But my hobby funds/interest gets pulled a lot of ways, with me working on those pricey Topps Retired refractor autos, ATFF refractors, and several vintage setbuilds in addition to having a bunch of "PC guys" of varying priority. I wonder if that YoRicha guy at #1 has time for other hobby interests, or if being a Tony Gwynn supercollector consumes his entire experience in the hobby.
Anyways, let's take a look at some more cool Tony Gwynn cards.
I didn't collect in 1995, so when it was time to sort out to this pair of cards, I was sure one must be a parallel. The card on the left has "Extreme Corps" in rainbow lettering, while the card on the right features the same text all in red. But nope, TCDB considers these the same exact card. Turns out 1995 Stadium Club used multi-colored foil that resulted in variances like this but they aren't considered unique cards. Ha, try telling that to a player collector with 2 different looking cards! If I did a "my count" of my Gwynn collection, it'd likely hit a thousand already, counting things that TCDB doesn't, such as the above foil variant, plus a bunch of customs, mods, and other unofficial variations and whatnot that might not be considered "real cards" but are close enough for me.
Logging my cards also gave me the opportunity to "see what's out there", and discovering this "Complements" insert from 1999 Finest on TCDB lead me to search out one. There are 3 flavors of this card: full refractor, or having the refraction limited to either side. I had never heard of a partial refractor before, and as I've been becoming more of a refractor enthusiast in recent years, was compelled to look around for a good deal on one, and lucked into this "Gwynn refractor / Boggs not" in my latest COMC order that arrived a few days ago. I'm really tempted to peel off the protective coating, especially seeing how it's directly over Tony. If I had gotten this for my Wade Boggs PC, I'd feel better just leaving it. Should I do it? Gah, the collector's conundrum.
But when I've got a dupe of a card with a protective film? Then it's an easy call to peel. I pick to peel the one where the text is most obtrusive. The above pair aren't too bad (top half of body unaffected), but I went with the card on the right since the text covers more of Tony.
That looks a lot better. I should probably be less precious with my protective films and just remove them from any "keeper" of mine. It's my understanding that chrome cards all still get manufactured with a similar protective film, but they remove it before packing it out now rather than leave it to the collectors since we can't be trusted to do it ourselves, lol. (But yeah, I get it, if that's how it comes from the manufacturer, then to peel is technically altering the card from its original, packed-out state... if that means anything to you.)
Speaking of altering cards, I think I've found my niche in the "cardart" landscape: Border art.
I've been going nuts making "mashups" or "full bleed" artsy homemade parallels lately. Tony is typically my guinea pig for stuff like this since I have so many dupes of his junk-era cards. I know these are silly (and no doubt some collectors look down on the cardboard vandalism), but it's fun getting creative turning a dupe into something that's no longer a dupe. And sometimes they turn out pretty cool looking!
Ok ok, let's go ahead and peel that '99 Finest.
Ahh! That looks terrific and so much nicer without the tire tracks over Tony!
To close us out, here's a card that just arrived today (actually it's still out for delivery as I draft this post and it feels like I'm tempting fate by typing that I already have it because you never know, but I'll snap a pic as soon as I get it) and it's a big one, hitting multiple bullseyes for me.
Boom! I've been picking up 2005 Topps Pristine Legends refractors at an accelerated clip over the past few months, now nearly a third of my way through completing a refractor parallel setbuild of the 140-card set of past greats. This card was a need towards that project.. plus San Diego State cards of Gwynn are kinda like the closest thing I have to a "focus" in that PC. I showed off my SDSU Gwynns recently, coinciding with this year's Aztecs making an incredible run to the Final Four. As seen in that post, I already had the base version of the card (graced with a faded in-person auto, to boot) and I'm happy to be able to pair that with the refractor now, a whale I had been after. Helps make for a satisfying conclusion to getting my Gwynns logged. #19, Baby! I'll take it.
Keywords: Julio Franco Donruss buyback, Frank Thomas 2001 Topps Archives Reserve Rookie Reprints 1990, Carlos Dunlap manufactured letter patch football, Tribute Minnie Minoso auto autograph, handwritten post
Here's my latest project getting creative with cards: Glow-in-the-dark sketch autograph cards. This is sort of a little "update" set to the art cards I've made earlier this year (featured here).
What I do is pick up boring, inexpensive signed index cards of interesting guys. Then I "repurpose" the autographed note cards into standard baseball card sized sketch cards. At first I thought about making them "cut auto" style, but then I was like, screw it, just draw right on the index card. This method keeps the autograph "on card" but the downside is if you screw up the sketch, you kinda ruined the autograph. But these index cards just set me back an average of a couple bucks each, so it wasn't a huge risk or anything. These guys are/were very prolific signers (well, maybe Jay Bell less so, but definitely the other three), which is a big reason the auto index cards were so cheap. So no one should feel bad about me "ruining" a perfectly good signed index card with my amateur doodling.
Instead of filling the back with my sloppy handwriting, I've typed up and printed out backs with a short write-up on the guy, as well as an explanation of the card's origin and something of a COA statement. I subtly snuck in the source image I used for each sketch in the background. They're printed on stickers that I then slap on the back of the sketch. I need to be better at placing them straight and centered, as well as giving the ink plenty of time to dry (smudges easily for a few hours).
Of course I've also got to kick up my art cards by making them glow in the dark and sparkle in the light.
The glowing silhouettes look better in person.
The Feller was the first one I made, and I'll probably hang onto that one. The other 3 have been sent out as holiday gifts to lucky friends of the blog. Hopefully the recipients have received them by today.
I've got a few more signed index cards waiting to be transformed into auto sketch cards in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
Mike Fiore's major league career wasn't all that impressive. He secured his place in baseball lore, albeit it a footnote, when he hit the first home run ever in Kansas City Royals history. But where his skill really shone was hit ability to make a scoop pose for his baseball card photos. It's only fitting that Fiore is the initial subject of Pose Masters, a new reoccurring(?) feature here at BCB celebrating athletes whose skills on the diamond extended to when they were standing in front of a photographer getting a shot for a forthcoming baseball card.
Fiore, a first-baseman, has 3 solo cards: Topps 1970-1972. His best year (his only decent year, in fact) was his rookie campaign of 1969 with the expansion Royals, when he batted .274 with 12 tatters, one of which was that fateful 1st Royal jack, leading off the 2nd inning of the 5th game of the season, against the A's on April 13th.
Unfortunately for Fiore, the dreams he must've entertained of becoming Mr. Royal, beloved by all of Kansas, not just their eponymous city, would go unfulfilled, paving the way for George Brett to claim the title years later. He bounced around with a few more teams, first as an underperforming bench player, then toiling for several more years in AAA.
But he leaves us with a legacy of scooping baseball card photos that is unmatched! He really knew what he was doing, and the camera ate it up! You gotta wonder if the photographer suggested the pose each time or what. I'd like to believe Fiore came up with it himself.
Topps photographer: "OK, Mike: say cheese."
Mike Fiore: "I got this! Check out this bad-ass pose of me scooping out a low throw from short! Boo-yah!"
Topps photographer: "... ok. [click] We're good here."
Mike Fiore: ":)"
It's not like he was known for his excellent defense. In his only year with 100+ games, 1969, he committed 10 errors at first-base in just 91 games at the position, 3rd most in the league. (He also added another error in 13 games playing the outfield.)
Coach: "Fiore, here comes the throw.. get your glove up!"
Mike Fiore: "Screw that, coach! Mike Fiore is all about the scoop. THE SCOOOOP! [ball flies just over his shoulder] oops."
Today, Mike Fiore might be relegated to the answer of a KC Royals trivia question, but for fans of vintage baseball cards, he will forever be fondly remembered as a true pose master.
(Artist re-creation of the full-photo used on Mike Fiore's rookie card. There's little doubt in my mind that this is the pose he struck. A true professional from day one.)
