Resource For Post War Variations Collectors

[ALR-bishop]

This site is being developed by a group of variant collectors updating the work of Ralph Nozaki and Dick Gilkeson. It is in progress and Mike Cady who is pointing it has been very helpful with questions and is interested in input from other variant collectors on additions to the effort.

They have a working definition of a variation they will list, but for most issues they mention in notes to the lists many well known variants that are more in the nature of recurring print defects.

The site will eventually include basketball and football as well

http://baseballcardvariationsguidebookvol2.wordpress.com/

[bnorth]

This site is being developed by a group of variant collectors updating the work of Ralph Nozaki and Dick Gilkeson. It is in progress and Mike Cady who is pointing it has been very helpful with questions and is interested in input from other variant collectors on additions to the effort.

They have a working definition of a variation they will list, but for most issues they mention in notes to the lists many well known variants that are more in the nature of recurring print defects.

The site will eventually include basketball and football as well

http://baseballcardvariationsguidebookvol2.wordpress.com/

Thanks for the link Al. Did a quick look and liked it a lot.

[mikemb]

I checked it out and it looks good. The photos are a great help for some of the variations.

Mike

[Zach Wheat]

Nice Al. Duly noted and book marked.

[tschock]

Great stuff, Al! I was poking around and have a couple of comments that I think may help others.

A ) Would you be able to list the differences in the captions? Some are obvious (1956 team cards) and others are not (many of the 1956 cards, some of the 1971 checklists) unless you already know what you are looking for (1956 Williams yellow line).
B ) I didn't see any of the 1973 manager/coaches variations. If there are known variations that you don't have examples of, you could have a blank space with a request for examples.
C ) Consider putting in an 'urban legends' section as well (where needed). For example, under the 1970 section you might have a blurb about the Fregosi "no pickup" card (unless it truly DOES exist).

Regardless of the above, this is a massive undertaking and awesome work putting this together. Thanks!

[ALR-bishop]

Taylor--I think Mike and his cohorts are very receptive to comments and suggestions. The basic format started with an update to Gilkeson's publication which was in that format

They do have the 73 coaches. For some reason the site has occasionally dropped certain lists for certain years, but they have a list for 73, so check back later.

They are definitely interested in listing any missing variations and debunking any urban legends.

This is not a full time job for these guys so feedback may take time to show up in the lists

They do have a notes section under many lists that deals with well known print defects and urban legends that do not make the main list for lack of verification or not being in compliance with their definition of a variation.

I will point out your comments to Mike, although you can make them on the site

[Rich Klein]

I glanced through the site and there are some of the recent updates which are obvious (1990 Upper Deck Weston for example) and need no more help and some which really need explanation (the 1996-97 SP Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr.). I think if you are going to show a picture and the difference is not totally obvious you must explain the difference.

Rich

[ALR-bishop]

Agree with you Rich that if you are unfamiliar with a listed variant, the descriptions can sometimes be unclear or confusing. I have asked Mike for clarification on some descriptions and he has readily helped with further info. I think he is very receptive to that type of input for the site

[Rufmeister]

I glanced through the site and there are some of the recent updates which are obvious (1990 Upper Deck Weston for example) and need no more help and some which really need explanation (the 1996-97 SP Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr.). I think if you are going to show a picture and the difference is not totally obvious you must explain the difference.

Rich

Thanks for checking out the website and thanks again Al for this posting here.

Each blog contains a checklist and sometimes photos for the year(s) listed in title. When the underlined file is clicked on/downloaded, there will be a listing with description of each of the variations as seen in the photos. I have just finished adding notes to the photos mentioned above. I will try to improve as we go along and your comments will help make this site a special one.
Most appreciated,
Mike

[Rufmeister]

Great stuff, Al! I was poking around and have a couple of comments that I think may help others.

A ) Would you be able to list the differences in the captions? Some are obvious (1956 team cards) and others are not (many of the 1956 cards, some of the 1971 checklists) unless you already know what you are looking for (1956 Williams yellow line).
B ) I didn't see any of the 1973 manager/coaches variations. If there are known variations that you don't have examples of, you could have a blank space with a request for examples.
C ) Consider putting in an 'urban legends' section as well (where needed). For example, under the 1970 section you might have a blurb about the Fregosi "no pickup" card (unless it truly DOES exist).

Regardless of the above, this is a massive undertaking and awesome work putting this together. Thanks!

Hi, thanks for the comments. I am not sure what happened but I have just finished adding photos of the 1973 Topps manager/coaches as requested.

Also, I have noted in the downloaded file in certain blogs of cards rumored to exist along with a note saying something like unconfirmed or waiting on confirmation. I am not familiar with the Fregosi variation mentioned and will need to do some research. Any and all help is appreciated.

Most appreciated in spotting this problem,
Sincerely,
Mike

[ALR-bishop]

Welcome to the Board Mike. Tom was participating quite a bit in the long variations thread but have not seen him post in awhile

Taylor-- what is the Fregosi no pick up card ?

[JollyElm]

Don't want to get my panties in a bunch, but tell the authors of the site to give proper credit. I checked out the 1973 page after reading this thread, and BOOM! there's my discovery of the third 1973 #280 Al Kaline 'missing link' variation from this thread (http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=216736) shown and they have a footnote giving credit for the graphic I CREATED to someone else. Huh??? It shouldn't annoy me, but it does. I've had quite a few 'revelatory' discoveries that I've shared on this site over the years (1964 Topps Giants cropping differences, 1971 Coin Checklist, 1967 and 1969 Topps cropping differences, to name a few) and would hate to think someone could just grab the pics I created/posted and take credit for them. That's really weak. Rant over.

[Rufmeister]

Don't want to get my panties in a bunch, but tell the authors of the site to give proper credit. I checked out the 1973 page after reading this thread, and BOOM! there's my discovery of the third 1973 #280 Al Kaline 'missing link' variation from this thread (http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=216736) shown and they have a footnote giving credit for the graphic I CREATED to someone else. Huh??? It shouldn't annoy me, but it does. I've had quite a few 'revelatory' discoveries that I've shared on this site over the years (1964 Topps Giants cropping differences, 1971 Coin Checklist, 1967 and 1969 Topps cropping differences, to name a few) and would hate to think someone could just grab the pics I created/posted and take credit for them. That's really weak. Rant over.

Good evening, I sincerely apologize for posting the incorrect credit for the Kaline photos. I was sent this photo several years ago along with many others from another collector and have been trying to find the variations ever since. I assumed it was theirs when posting, sorry. Please send me your name so I can give the proper credit. Also, I would be very interested in your help in creating a complete listing of all the existing variations, as well as, debunking others that are on most collector’s want lists, but have yet to find or confirm existence. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Sincerely,
Mike

[JollyElm]

Good evening, I sincerely apologize for posting the incorrect credit for the Kaline photos. I was sent this photo several years ago along with many others from another collector and have been trying to find the variations ever since. I assumed it was theirs when posting, sorry. Please send me your name so I can give the proper credit. Also, I would be very interested in your help in creating a complete listing of all the existing variations, as well as, debunking others that are on most collector’s want lists, but have yet to find or confirm existence. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Sincerely,
Mike

Hey Mike. If you just put "JollyElm from net54," that'll be fine by me.

[tschock]

Welcome to the Board Mike. Tom was participating quite a bit in the long variations thread but have not seen him post in awhile

Taylor-- what is the Fregosi no pick up card ?

Al,

The 1970 Topps #570 Fregosi has a picture of him in a ground ball fielding position. In the back ground seen between his legs is a white pickup truck. Supposedly there is a version where the white pickup truck doesn't exist (airbrushed out?). I have never seen one or know of anyone who has seen one, yet it will popup on some variation/want lists. I don't believe this card actually exists.

[ALR-bishop]

Thanks, Taylor

[insidethewrapper]

How can I contact Mike Cady and/or George Vrechek ? Any email addreses ? Are they on here ?

I looked at the site. It is great ! Will the 1933-1947 Years be listed also ?

I'd be willing to work on variations pre-1948 .

[ALR-bishop]

A link to Mike's email is on the site. That is how I have been communicating with him. But it looks like you can pm him here if you click on his profile which you can access from his posts in this thread.

George's contact email appears in most of his SCD articles, which are on line. He is very good about responding. If you google “Vrechek Topps 1963 new variations” you will pull up article that gives his contact info

Gillkeson's original work was post war baseball, football, basketball and hockey. Not sure if this effort will expand to pre war.

[Rufmeister]

How can I contact Mike Cady and/or George Vrechek ? Any email addreses ? Are they on here ?

I looked at the site. It is great ! Will the 1933-1947 Years be listed also ?

I'd be willing to work on variations pre-1948 .

Hi, glad you like the site, thank you!

I am not sure if I can list my email address on this site but if you go to the website, you will find it there along with answers to your other questions about earlier cards. We are looking for someone to create an earlier volume than this one.
Mike

[G1911]

Hi, glad you like the site, thank you!

I am not sure if I can list my email address on this site but if you go to the website, you will find it there along with answers to your other questions about earlier cards. We are looking for someone to create an earlier volume than this one.
Mike

Very cool site, nice gathering of variations. Found some more here to go chase I didn't have on my own lists! Thank you to all of those who share the ones they know

Here's some more to add, or to note for N54'ers, starting with 1955 Topps:

1) Like Jackie Robinson, #80 Bob Grim can be found with the same logo cropping difference. True variation, but not sure I've ever seen this one mentioned anywhere before. The "correct" logo, not cut off at the top/left side is the easier.

2) #56 Ray Jablonski, stray blue splotch. Recurring print defect, but pretty much the same as the Wally Moon stray dot, who is listed. This has been mentioned by other collectors, I know

3) #20 Andy Carey - the black circle outlining the Yankees team logo on front can be found with or without a gap at top. There seem to be multiple intermediate variations with a very thin black line connecting the rest of the thicker circle that gets progressively more complete. Pretty sure this one has not been posted about anywhere before.

4) #174 Rudy Minarcin can be found missing the bottom right corner (with the card horizontal), of the black name and team box at bottom. This one has been posted about before online.

5) Cards 1-110 appear to have two backs, a bright white and a darker cream. due to toning, it can be hard to tell on some cards, but is often blatantly obvious with 2 cards in hand, if not with scans that adjust color a bit. I never see this noted, but it seems to me this is a major clue in ID'ing the series #'s as well as a variation. I have not confirmed all cards 1-110 exist in both ways, but it sure appears to be the case. EDIT: Cards 111-210 are cream backs only. White backs are the scarcer of the two, 1-110. The cream backs vary in tone somewhat, but don't appear to be a distinctly different stock, they just tone easily. The white backs are, just like the 56 white/gray backs, often discernible simply by feeling the back of the card, it's a smoother and less rough texture. This and the vibrant difference in hand have me convinced it's a significantly different stock.

6?) Curt Roberts is one of the recurring 'misaligned green ink on back' cards, in addition to the Carey and Robertson noted on your site. I would think this affects all cards on a sheet, but it sure seems a handful of cards are the recurring ones, and not the whole set, from what I have seen.

I can post pics of any/all of the above, but none are too rare I think and compressing for the low quality this site requires is kind of a pain :)