My point was that it has in fact achieved hobby recognition as a variation, just like the 58 Herrer or 57 Bakep, and now the 61 Fairly. The thing of interest to me is why a few print defects get hobby recognition as variations while most do not

Exactly. That lack of continuity is head scratching. It's almost as if there needs to be an organization started, maybe the Card Collecting Coalition (CCC) that has a panel who decides what is approved and recognized in different categories. Maybe the categories would include Standard/Variation/Reoccuring print defect (RPDs). Hobbyists could submit applications requesting card approval. Then that trickles down to the hobby publications which trickles to the grading companies. Master set collectors could decide which level of set they are going to collect. I know, crazy talk...don't rock the boat, Joe. Sit down.

Nice work! The card on the end of the top row can also be found with the print error of green in the ball, Russ Kemmerer. Personally, I'm not a fan at all of considering these 1961 cards with dashes of green in the ball as variations, even the Fairly that fills up three quarters of the ball. They are just interesting print anomalies. ETA: There are a few of the 61 Moryn on COMC.

There are recurring cards with the same exact print flaw as the 1990 Topps partially blackless from 1958 (back), 1961, 1963, 1967 (front and back), 1974, 1980, 1985, 1986, and 1988 Topps with some of them that are just as rare or rarer than the 1990 Topps cards but are not worth anywhere near or have the demand of what the 1990 cards do. The 1967 Ed Spiezio is the only one that I can think of that has gained hobby acceptance. I know it is because one of the 1990 cards is the Frank Thomas rookie card and the epic thread on the Collectors Universe forum that gradually unveiled all of the cards affected.

IMO, the manner in which some print defects have been promoted by select folks in the hobby (dealers, bloggers, etc) has helped these more well known defects to gain recognition over other print defects.

Also IMO, the greater the scarcity is for a recurring print defect, the more demand there seems to come with it. Obvious exceptions include 57 Bakep and 61 Farily.



This Lemke blog is a good example of how print defects can be promoted and gain added recognition(demand)....also, notice in this blog the proposal of how scarce this print defect may indeed be:

http://boblemke.blogspot.com/2010/10...-error-or.html



FWIW, how many here have a copy of the 61 293 Golden?

I do not have that one, but it is low priority for me. It is extremely rare, no doubt. There was one that was clearly stated as such on eBay a few years ago that went for less than $50, if I remember correctly. ETA: It was January 2018 according to WorthPoint. It was just a perfectly placed piece of debris on the printing plate that made the 8 appear to be a 3. I do have a 1967 Spiezio, though :D.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ac587b1b.plist
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...582b6ba8.plist

Recent pickup from a fellow member that traded with me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's usually referred to a "wet sheet transfer" since it was adhered to the back of the card from the sheet below it when they were stacked on each other when the ink was still wet. It would get more oohs and aahs in the pre-war section...

These are to me the weirdest things to be accepted as variations.
Most are overinking, and won't really be consistent.
The Amalfitano is a registration problem.

I couldn’t agree more, in my opinion the 61 Fairly green in ball is the worst vintage postwar variation that PSA recognized, with the 57 Bakep being the next. They recognized the 73 Earl Williams border gaps for a short time but then wisely stopped it. Hopefully they stopped recognizing the 73 Bahnsen and 73 Bell single border gaps as well.

For a time, Lemke was listing border gap defects in the Standard Catalog. He stopped doing that and I think removed some or all when he tightened up his definition of a variation...intentional change in card by manufacturer ( an often hard to apply definition).

The expanded use of scans on ebay and elsewhere made it clear there were minor and even major recurring print defects everywhere, and recognizing them was a lost cause. But the Fairly recognition was surprising. Did it not first get recognized in Beckett ? Maybe it is Rich's fault :)

I have one-Tom Billing

Showoff :D.

1955 #144 Amalfitano
 

Notice the vertical blue line at the left. One of the three does NOT have the blue line and I believe most do NOT. They are out there if that is your cup of tea.

I think some of them were recognized early on by the handful of people that were into variations. The Bakep and herrer were both in Ralph Nozakis book in 1975. And they're uncommon enough that I hadn't seen one until sometime after I joined here (Didn't look all that hard after a while)

When something is that uncommon, and it's listed during a time when there isn't ready access to images, I think most people take it on faith - Like I did, because hey, the guy wrote a book listing loads of variations, he must really be an expert!


The Fairly is just weird, because it got recognized at a time when images are readily available and sharable. I haven't yet seen a 61 with green in the ball that I'd think of as being anything but over inking or registration. (I do think they're possible, I've found a couple differences where the color under the back print is actually different. )

I'm more comfortable with the missing black cards, and the border gaps, as in most cases it's at least somewhat clear that the plate was either made differently or had a defect.
If the definition is intentionally changed, that works for me for variations, and maybe use varieties for plate differences that weren't intentional.
That's also a bit fuzzy, as an example, 88 Score has three different die cuts used to separate the sheet. And the changes were intentional as it was done in response to customer complaints. BUT they are also screened differently for one press run than another. Intentional? they probably happened when the errors were fixed, so to some extent intentional. But I don't think the person doing the new halftones was like "It will look better if I put the red at 30 degrees instead of 45" Likely the camera was set up that way that day, and they just didn't consider it to be important.
Lots of sets from that era have similar things going on.

Speaking of recurring border gaps:
https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1959...inal&side=back
1959 Topps - [Base] #260.2 - Early Wynn (white back)
Courtesy of COMC.com

Good analysis Steve. The intentional change definition sounds simple but can be complicated in practice. It Topps adds a option or traded line that is easy, but it is often impossible to tell if a defect was discovered and intentionally changed or not

Another good example are DPs. In the last printed Standard Catalog Lemke listed variations for the 52 Mantle, Thompson and Robinson. PSA does not recognize them. The differences can be found on the front and back. The differences were likely not intended but did result from an intentional decision to DP those 3 cards

George Vrecheck has written articles on DP differences in the 63 and 55 (56?) sets. Green tint non pose differences from 62 are another example. Probably not intended but did result from an intentional change in the printing process. Variations ?

Bet a lot of 52 Master collectors are praying PSA does not adopt the 52 Mantle as a variation ;)

It would be tough to come up with a hobby definition that all would buy into or that would cover all past and future official variations

Variations on eBay
 

Folks,
Things being as they are, with time on my hands, I have been listing on eBay lots of cards from my many boxes piled in my closet. Some are print errors, variations, blank backs, color shifts and other oddities that some of you may have interest in. I have titled all of these "Variation" somewhere in the listing titles, my eBay seller's name is brightair. If you do a search you can find these. Many more will be listed over the coming weeks and months as I get to various boxes and binders. Furthermore, my zeal for compiling lists of variations has waned and I haven't been keeping them up-to-date, as I'm sure some of you have noticed. Others have been taking over this labor of love and will continue it into the future with even more thoroughness and depth than I was able. I am grateful to them for what they are doing and will accomplish, and look forward to their achievements. Meantime, may everyone be safe and well until we meet again in the flesh.
All the best!
Richard Dingman

I love your description of the 1971 Topps Frank Reberger ink blob card, a sky
donut :D.

Greatly appreciate all your work Richard

PSA really should recognize those. If I remember it correctly, Nozaki listed the Mantle, Thompson and Robinson in his book. I've known about the different ones since maybe 78, and would have learned it there.

The dealer I hung out at had a copy they'd let me read on slow days. One time I borrowed it, photocopied the whole thing and thought I brought it back. I went through some old stuff of mine and found it like 30+years later.
Either that, or I bought it on one of their auctions and forgot I did.

I'll add a "me too" on all the work Richard has done. Everyone who has made a major effort to document this stuff should get some hobby recognition of some kind.

For the nearly twenty years since I bought the Rick Reuschel on eBay I have kept an eye out for the other half, a Art Howe underneath it on the sheet. He finally showed up last week. Both cards are cut identically so I thought maybe they were both off of the same exact sheet, but it looks like the blue ink flaw doesn't line up perfectly when they are placed together. Now if I could find the Bill Atkinson that was under the Bob Boone...

Good ones Cliff

Absolutely appreciate Richard's efforts to document all of the different types of variations he has encountered. For years I have used the variations list he has worked tirelessly to compile as a resource. Thank you Richard!

Nice finds Cliff....

In looking through some 67s recently, your former nemesis the 67 Monteagudo print variation appears to be a progressive variation of sorts. As we know from post 1463 (https://net54baseball.com/showpost.p...postcount=1463) the cause of the variation appears to "originate" on the Monteagudo card. In looking through other Monteagudo cards, I noticed what appears to be a smaller anomaly (does not reach the edges). While a challenge to see on screen, this is much more obvious in hand. Besides my copy, here is a copy from COMC....the tell tale is the horizontal red line in Monteagudo's hair on his right side and the difference on his left eye brow. My question is which anomaly was the original one, the anomaly that broke the black border or the smaller one?

That's cool, Cliff! Apart from the dash of green in the baseball, the left edge of the stat box is also wavy instead of straight.

Here's a variation of the 1956 Haddix - red line in the upper right corner.

I've seen a lot of posts about 1956 variations but have not seen this one mentioned.


Attachment 396721

Attachment 396722

Attachment 396723

Thanks for posting it Eric

It APPEARS to me, after researching this card, that this only occurs on gray back versions. I have not seen it on the white ones. I have a gray one and it has the line. I think I did see a gray back on eBay that did not have the line, but I am not sure. Thanks for posting this!

Pretty happy I found this thread - well sort of, now it looks like I have about a weeks worth of digging through boxes ahead of me.

I stumbled upon these blank backs - I imagine they are pretty standard issue but I haven't been able to find any information on them or similar cards. Any help is appreciated.

Keep up the great work - love the content here!

Nice finds Joe....not sure how common these 1960s blanked backed cards are, however, in many years of going through cards I have come across just this one blank backed Sullivan card. Recently I came across this Harris card with the Essegian back upside down.

Here are a few ghosts......
Attachment 397310

Those are great - I just discovered a 1971 Topps card that has a similar issue as your Harris/Essegian except the back is split between two players, will have to dig that one out again.

1955 Logo Variations
 

This is #14 Fenian and #30 Power. Notice the lack of a top line on the logos. You can see on the Fenian that the bat in the Athletics logo touches to the top margin on one version.

Came across these two 68 Al Jackson cards that were both in the same lot that came in the other day....both copies in the lot have the same obscured print on the back. There is a slight obstruction starting on the card's left side ("Maj." on the totals stat line) to obscuring "E.R.A." on the stats header line to the right. 1967 Topps have multiple cases of recurring print obstructions on card backs, this is one of the first recurring cases I have seen with 1968s. The question now is, does the print obstruction carry over onto either the card to the left or right of this card on the sheet?

Our friend lowpopper/rookie-parade introduced a very similar error/variation on the 1955 Topps Dick Groat on eBay that I was going to show here but forgot to.

I don't think this one has been mentioned. At least I never saw it when compiling my Cardinals variation list for my team sets. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. I discovered this one the other day.

This one is reoccurring. The yellow-ish upper right corner of the green team name box is the print variation.


https://i.postimg.cc/653Mb3BY/20200513-094106.jpg

The most unbelievable sale ever...yesterday
 

What the...is going on here...yesterday on ebay
1967 Topps Punch-Outs Chico Salmon PSA 6 - none Higher! Mickey Mantle Test RARE

https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1973...&size=original
1973 Topps - [Base] #220 - Nolan Ryan
Courtesy of COMC.com

Probably already know about this, but saw two of these on COMC. So it's a recurring print defect. Bought them both so if someone needs it for their collection, let me know.

Good one on a major star, John

Looks like a straight color bleed, so it's possible people would think it was water damage if they were looking through a collection and found it. But finding two with the exact same blue smear pattern shows it's a "real" variation a.k.a. recurring print defect. I didn't really browse anywhere else to see if it's already known.
Figured since it was so noticeable and being Nolan Ryan, that it was already cataloged somewhere.

Found this 65 Billy Bryan card with a single white letter "B" (in Bryan) on the card front. Richard D's variation list mentions this card can have "White letters in name on front". There is also a quite small amount of white on the left edge of the "r" to the right of the "B".

My question is that since he seems to infer that there is more than one white letter in the name on front, does anyone have a copy of this card with multiple white letters in the name?

I have three 1965 Topps Bill Bryan cards with white letters, one is like yours with just the B white, one has the Y and the B white, and then a third has many letters white or partially white and the defect also goes into the team pennant. I also have the much sought after 1966 Topps Bill Bryan yellow tint :rolleyes:, and several of the recurring 1968 Topps Bill Bryan star burst print errors. There is also a recurring print error flaw where the 1965 Topps Curt Simmons has white letters in his name but I don't have one of those.

Thank you for sharing those Cliff, quite interesting. The 65s Bryans WLs seem to be fairly rare, especially considering that the Bryan card is one of the most common cards from that set(IMO). Also, the picture used on the 66 card was clearly taken within a very short period of time from when the picture used on the 65 card.

https://img.comc.com/i/Baseball/1959...inal&side=back
1959 Topps - [Base] #434 - Hal Griggs
Courtesy of COMC.com

Red print hickey/fisheye below the capital G in Griggs is recurring.

While each version looks to be nearly equally plentiful, there appears to be 3 different versions on this 72 606 Melendez card. The first (top left) has a full blue circle around the name, on the second copy (top right) the right side of the circle is missing some blue, while the third copy is missing about half the blue. And yes, there is a secondary variation on this card, the blue spot below the left shoulder is recurring.

Found these years ago together and held onto them. No name on back and missing yellow. Joe

https://photos.imageevent.com/joejo2...ize/img564.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/joejo2...ize/img565.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/joejo2...ize/img566.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/joejo2...ize/img567.jpg

Good ones, Joe

1952 variant
 

This scan was sent to me by David Pierson from the Aloha state. He used to post here as cardboard junkie but was banned sometime back. Scarce like the Campos back defect but recurring

https://oi1267.photobucket.com/album...psu7q6dsoj.jpg

https://oi1267.photobucket.com/album...psmimg4yqg.jpg