Tony Gwynn 2012 Topps Archives – 1982 ‘In Action’ Design
All card collectors know 1983 as Tony Gwynn’s rookie season. He had three rookie cards issued by the top card companies in 1983 – Fleer, Donruss, and the ever-popular 1983 Topps.
But, Gwynn played in 1982. He actually appeared in a decent amount of games for the Padres that year – 54 to be exact.
And as a 22-year old rookie, he did fairly well. He hit .289 in those 54 contests and he collected the first 55 hits of his baseball career in that part-time season.
This card is from the 2012 Topps Archives set, and it features the 1982 Topps ‘In Action’ design.
Have a look:
I love the ‘In Action’ series from the 1982 Topps set. And this one does not fail at all. I just with that the photo was of a younger Tony Gwynn so it reminded me of the beginning of his playing days in the majors…
LOVE THAT CARD! Since I grew up in the mid 90s, those were the Padres uniforms that I liked the most, although now I must say that I love the brown and yellow. My biggest qualm with this card is that in the mid 90s, “action” wouldn’t necessarily be a word that I would use to describe Tony’s running abilities. Maybe in the early 90s, and definitely in the 80s, but not so much at the time of this shot. If you’re going to do an “action” shot of an 8-time batting champ, you should do it with a bat in his hand (though I guess he also won 5 Gold Gloves, so maybe a shot in the field wouldn’t be a bad idea either).
The oldest Gwynn card I have is his 1984 Topps, but someday I’ll own the ’83 version. And hopefully this one too, it’s the only one left on my ’12 Archives wantlist.
Great post! Always nice to see Friars getting some love on blogs besides mine.
Marcus- Take it off your wantlist, you can have mine! Email Sent.
Actually gwyn had a few more cards in 83 other than the big three. There was the 1983 O-Pee-Chee. and The 1983 Padres Teram Issued Card. 1982 Only has one card. The 1982 Hawaiian Islanders TCMA Card, I thought I had the start of a great collection. (my goal is 1 of every card he ever made) till i did research over 4000 individual cards, I myself have 1600 different cards and over 10,000 doubles