Any idea what this mark is?
 

This card has a small round mark to the right of "TOPPS BASEBALL" at the bottom of the card and I can't figure out what it is. When I saw the scan I thought maybe it was a wax or gum spot, but when I got the card in hand I realized it's not solid a solid spot, but just a circular outline. It seems like the red star and the text was printed over top of it as if it was already on the cardboard before the card was printed. Any input would be appreciated!

http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/s...1/52TMaysB.jpg

It looks like a small water drop spot to me.

That's also the first thing I thought. Then again, I haven't had an original thought in years.

That was my guess when I saw the card in person, but I'm fairly certain that the print is on top of the mark as if it was already on the blank sheet. I guess Topps didn't check their cardboard for water spots before printing the cards. You would think they would have some kind of quality control. I hear a penny for a baseball card and a piece of gum was big money back in those days! :D

Is the mark black or under the black? If it's under the black or brownish it's probably a defect in the cardboard before printing, most likely caused by water.

If it's black - Then it's could be caused by a drop of water getting on the printing plate after it was wiped. The press wets the plate, wipes off excess water, then inks it, The ink won't stick to the wet places. If a drop of water gets on the plate between wiping and inking it can make a mark similar to that one. (Or worse, one of the many cards I need to scan is a card where there was a lot of excess water on the plate)

It could have happened on the red plate, in which case the mark would be red. But since its under the red ...

Steve B

I probably need to rescan the card, because the current scan makes that mark look 10 times worse than it is in real life (it's very tough to see unless you are looking at it on purpose). The mark isn't black, it's more of a different shade of brown. The mark is very faint, but it does seem that the black ink is printed over top of it because like with the red star, the print seems completely solid and the mark only seems to show up in the blank areas.

This has nothing to do with anything but it looks like a football teed up on the red star!

I think the cardboard stock Topps used for your card likely had a imperpefction at the time of printing.

Since it was apparently printed that way maybe it's a rare variation like the Campos "black star" card. Instead it's the rare 1/1 Willie Mays "brown football" variation! I'll start the bidding at $100k... :D

stain
 

Could be a drop of swet from the worker that was loading the heavey cardboard stock into the feeder of the press.

In that case, wouldn't it be a 1/1 DNA card?

I had thought of that too. Who wants a game used jersey card when you can have a Topps employee drop of sweat card? :D