Desert Shield

[Zach Wheat]

Hi All,

I am relatively new to this side of the board, but usually post on the Pre-War side. I have looked through the various Desert Shield threads here & on other forums but have not been able to determine if there are "many" or in fact any variations on cards within this set.

Key Man Collectibles (on his website) listed 20 or so variations of the regular Topps issue. I have not been able to verify any variations noted with the cards I own - excluding the checklists which don't have the foil shield so you don't really know which set they come from.

In addition, I have not been able to find any of the bold/faded A*B* variations between the A* & B* print sheets. In fact I have not found any legitimate Desert Shield cards with a A*B* print sheet designation on the reverse near the Topps copyright designation. It is almost as if Topps corrected the variations when they printed Desert Shield cards.

Thoughts on this guys....can anyone find any of the known variations? Does anyone have the A*B* Bold/Faded variations?

Thanks guys.

Z Wheat

[novakjr]

My guess is that they were all printed in one factory, in one shot. So you probably wouldn't have any variations.. And more than likely they weren't printed with the initial release, thus the corrections.

[ALR-bishop]

I tend to agree with David. I have that set, and the regular 1991 set. I have been collecting oddities, variations and errors for a long time in all my Topps sets, and think that no set has more of them, front an back, than the regular 1991 set, which was the 40th anniversary issue. It is a mess from a printing standpoint.

But I think it likely the Desert Shield run was one time with no changes in cards or the printing process. Also, I have had for a long time an ongoing ebay search for "Topps 1991 variation(s)" and never pulled up a listing for a Desert Shield card. It's a great question though and maybe someone else has looked more closely

[cardinalcollector]

I agree with David and Al. It wouldn't be logical at all for any variations to exist in the Desert Shield set. I have all the Cardinals, there are no A*B* variations, and all cards seem to be of the "corrected" variety.

[mcadams]

Interesting topic. I don't collect all of the DS set, but am heavily involved in completing several of the team sets, including the Atlanta Braves. I had a series of email exchanges with PSA several years ago discussing one of the more well known '91 Topps Variations, the Lonnie Smith 136G error.

If you recall, on the back of the original card, Lonnie Smith's 1990 stat line reads that he played 136 games in 1990. The card was later corrected to read that he played in 135 games in 1990. Both versions of the card are easily found from the base 1991 set. However, after searching for over a decade, I could not find the 135 version in the Desert Shield set. I have over 50 copies of the Lonnie Smith DS card, and they are all the 136G version. I also contacted several of the PSA registry players in the set and none of them had ever seen a 135 version either. Because of this information, PSA removed the 135 version from the Desert Shield composite several years ago.

Because the 135 was the corrected version, I've always believe the Desert Shield set was actually made early in Topps printing process, prior to the Lonnie Smith 135G (The "Corrected" version) being printed. I'd love to hear other thoughts.

[Zach Wheat]

Mcadams,

Wouldn't the corrected version...if it exists in the Desert Shield set mean that the set was printed later in the print run or after the 1991 Topps set? I will show the variations at appear to exist in the 1991 set but aren't found in the Desert Shield set when I can tomorrow.

Z Wheat

[UOFLfan7]

Originally Posted by Zach Wheat

Hi All,

I am relatively new to this side of the board, but usually post on the Pre-War side. I have looked through the various Desert Shield threads here & on other forums but have not been able to determine if there are "many" or in fact any variations on cards within this set.

Key Man Collectibles (on his website) listed 20 or so variations of the regular Topps issue. I have not been able to verify any variations noted with the cards I own - excluding the checklists which don't have the foil shield so you don't really know which set they come from.

In addition, I have not been able to find any of the bold/faded A*B* variations between the A* & B* print sheets. In fact I have not found any legitimate Desert Shield cards with a A*B* print sheet designation on the reverse near the Topps copyright designation. It is almost as if Topps corrected the variations when they printed Desert Shield cards.

Thoughts on this guys....can anyone find any of the known variations? Does anyone have the A*B* Bold/Faded variations?

Thanks guys.

Z Wheat

I am in the process of trying to finish up my Desert Shield set, missing a few commons and the Chipper Jones RC, and as far as I know there is only one set of desert shield cards, and no variations at all. I'm not an expert, but I would refrain from buying any Desert Shield card that is a supposed "variation" or any card that just doesn't look right. They are some of the most commonly fakes cards out there and you have to be careful buying them.

[Zach Wheat]

I have corresponded with PSA several times about correcting their checklist in the registry since to date we have not found any variations. I guess it is because there are so many Desert Shield cards that have been previously listed as variations that they won't change.

Therefore the variations on the PSA registry are really their own label variations and not actual card variations. Am I banging my head against a wall? Has anyone been successful at getting anything on the registry changed? How many examples do we need to view before they realize they are wrong? Or maybe they just don't care.

It is just annoying to have an "official" checklist with so many errors in it.

Z Wheat

[ALR-bishop]

I have never had a card graded so I have no input or contacts at PSA. There was a CU thread awhile back by some guys trying to get PSA to recognize some variations they had , in football and basketball I think. They say PSA told them to try to first get the recognized by SCD. The last I saw they thought they had Tom Bartsch's agreement to include them in any future SCD checklists, but not sure if that means a future book update or some online update.

But, the 61 Fairly with the errant green smudge on the back shows PSA can and does on ocassion recognize new variants without any other hobby recognition

[HasselhoffsCheeseburger]

Just as an interesting side note, BBCE sold three boxes of 1991 Topps Desert Shield packs at the National today for $5k each.

[ALR-bishop]

Interesting Arthur. I keep one pack with my set .

Should be good news for Zach who has some uncut sheets.

Have a great time at the show and be sure you and the boys behave yourselves

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by HasselhoffsCheeseburger

Just as an interesting side note, BBCE sold three boxes of 1991 Topps Desert Shield packs at the National today for $5k each.

Yes I know BBCE took most of their supply of unopened DS boxes to the National. I suspect BBCE will sell out. I think we will also see more PSA 9 & 10's for the registry folks shortly.

I have not followed prices closely but it appears they are firming up again for PSA 9 & 10 graded cards. I don't think this trend has continued to the raw & PSA 8's yet, but not sure.

Z Wheat