Mayfair Novelty / W552 Strip Backwards 'P'

[Cozumeleno]

Purchased these two cards recently. I was looking for a Mayfair Novelty card and settled on this one due to the Wagner resemblance, etc.

I noticed when looking for them that one in my scan had a 'backwards' P. I assumed this was pretty common (since there is a sheet with some with backwards letters) but have not seen it anywhere else from looking quite a bit. For anyone familiar with the issue, there are a few different ways you can find the set as a whole:

1. Standard individual cards (edited to add, the individual cards cut from the 'regular strips'...not the strip mentioned below, which has different cards)
2. A 10-card strip (no letters on uniforms)
3. A 15-card sheet (http://www.sterlingsportsauctions.co...-lot11741.aspx)

Of the three of these shortstop cards, the one on the strip is different (blue uniform) and the sheet is the only one where I've seen the backwards P. And that clearly isn't this card since the sheet was paper thin and didn't have the titles at the bottom nor the frame around the picture. The entire sheet has backward letters and some people have even called them transfers.

Question I have is, has anyone seen this card with a backwards 'P' that is a regular card and not of the sheet variety? I have seen one copy of the fielder card that has a backwards 'P' (his regular card has him with a regular 'C') so I am sure other errors exist. But from what I can tell, they are not very plentiful. I am just wondering if anyone has a copy of the backwards 'P' card.

And for the record, both of these in the scan have the same orange/yellow diamond background instead of the blank backs.

Thanks for any insight anyone else has on this issue.

[Butch7999]

Hi Cozumeleno -- sorry, no real answers for you, but we've long found this issue intriguing and amusing.
It looks like the entire sheet was a major cock-up by the printer. The captioned version, with the insignia "P" (and "C")
printed correctly, has the shortstop and both catchers throwing left, the "fielder" gloveless, the "center fielder"
running bases gloveless, and the "running base" figure apparently running the bases clockwise.
The captionless "proof" version, with the "P" and "C" printed backwards on the uniforms, has the exact same problems
in the player depictions. All the problems with the illustrations and the insignias are rectified if you completely
reverse the sheet left for right.
The card (sorry, not expert with pre-war cards, didn't know these were issued individually -- thought they were produced
only in strip and sheet form), with the correctly facing "P," is still a printing error since the "shortstop" is a lefty...
Somebody screwed up big-time in pre-press...

[Cozumeleno]

Yeah, agree - most of the cards are a wreck, to be honest.

Should clarify - when I say 'individually', I meant the ones cut from the regular strips. The cards in the 10-card strips that are uncut that you see out there are different from the regular cards. The 10-card strips have the 'Picher' error and the striped uniforms.

I saw the Fielder with a backwards P instead of a forward-facing C. That and the Shortstop I pictured are the only non 15-card sheet cards I've seen with the backwards letters but I'm sure a few others must exist. Somewhere. To date, I've not seen them.