Being in the middle of a huge batch of 1981 Topps I can say that border gaps are often what I'd call variations. When I find corrected ones there are usually about 3x as many with the gap as without. (For 81 topps, others may be different)
But I also agree that they are somewhat trivial ones, and with no extra value aren't necessarily worthy of being included in a general catalog. While I collect them, I'd rather see more sets included than trivial varieties.
In stamps it's handled by ther being a very large general cataog, then another for just the US that goes into more detail. After that there are some very specialized catalogs and books often dealing with one particular set or even one particular stamp. And those are detailed enough that they are updated once avery 20 years or so if at all. One that I use was made in the 1960's. Another was done briefly in a series of articles over the last couple years as a condensed version of a book. The book was only done in a couple copies, and I'd have to travel to the APS in Pennsylvania to read it.
Steve B
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