Ebay Win: 2008 Topps Sterling Tony Gwynn Cards

2008 Topps Sterling is usually the type of set that I admire from afar.  At well over $200 a pop for boxes (packs really), it is well out of my price range.  However, I when I saw this group of Tony Gwynn Sterling cards on Ebay, I decided to give it a shot. Normally, each box of Topps Stering includes 1 autographed/relic card, 3 base cards, and 1 parallel card of a specific player.  So basically, I was able to purchase a box of Sterling at a deep discount and I got a Gwynn box to boot. Win for me.

Here’s the “hit”.  A card with Gwynn’s autograph and 3 pieces of game used memorabilia.  The window on the card spells out 218.  What’s the significance of 218?  Well in 1987, Gwynn led the NL with 218 hits.  Quite the obscure Gwynn statistic.  I would have preferred a card highlighting his 3141 career hits or even his .394 average in 1994.  Another downer is that for an expensive set, Topps decided to use stickers.  You’d think that for a high end set, Topps would at least make some sort of effort for on card autographs.

I actually liked the base set of Stering better than the hit.  Nice thick card stock, cool glossy picture, and nice bordered panel.  I think it looks great.  Plus each card brings up different Gwynn factoids.  Some are baseball related such as the back of card #268 which refers to Gwynn using video for the first time to break out of a slump in 1983.  Other factoids are more trivial like the back of #276 which refers to Gwynn’s daughter Anisha releasing an R&B album titled “19″.

All in all, not too bad.  The “hit” could have been better, with some effort from Topps.  But the base cards look promising.  I might just pick up some more and try to complete the Gwynn base set.