1961 Topps…….new set and new question lol
 

Ok….so I didn’t take a break at all after finishing off 1965 Topps. I started 61 Topps for the fun of it (i know, I have issues ;)) I noticed the green and yellow backs. Is one harder to find than the other? I know about 463 having two cards the same number (but braves 426) and missing two high numbers , anything else?

Not considered a "real" variation; just different amounts of color mixed into the ink.

I have a bunch of 1961 Topps, not a full set by any means, but several hundred. Would say about 1/2 yellow, 1/2 green. I have asked this same question, and it was answered as swarmee says. Frankly, I see this in basically every post-war set I collect, Topps and Bowman. A bit unsettling at first, but I have learned to live with it.

There are significant variations on the checklists with different crossings of the pictures, different formatting of numbers, etc. that are on most checklists.

There are tons of minor recurring print defects - this is one of the worst/best sets, depending on perspective, for minor print dots etc. Pretty much every card comes with some splotch or dot in a recurring manner. One of the bigger ones is the Koufax coming with/without the "A" in "Sandy" filled in with ink, and a rare one where 298 Jim Golden looks like it is 293 due to a print dot.

206 Gene Green comes with 2 slightly different crossings of the photo for a true variation.

There are some SP's in the semi-highs. The highs are fairly tough by Topps standards, not as bad as 66/67, but worse than the rest of the decade.

I enjoy the keep it simple design and there's not much in the way of huge rookies (Marichal, Billy Williams, etc.) so it's an affordable build without much annoyance. Only downside is that the larger than normal quantity of bad capless headshots (no offense, Cal McLish.)