[a761506]

It concerns the 1972 Venezuela Stamps.

There was a BVG 8 Ryan recently sold on eBay. I I thought it and all the others like it which looked similar to the originals but not the same (different font is the most obvious difference) were counterfeits. I eat my words and here’s why…

I read the description in the Ryan listing and here it is translated:

“Series printed in 1972 on paper with dimensions of 60x50 m.m.m, prepared by Mr. Juanito, a very enterprising man based in the town of Guarenas, Edo. Miranda. The series was developed using as base material the series published by TOPPS 1972 in the USA. Some of the decks were made based on photographic material corresponding to the Professional Baseball Championship of the year 1971-1972. The author reaches this conclusion after a thorough review of the available material.

The aforementioned fact is very evident among others in the pieces corresponding to the players Luis Tiant (172), Dagoberto Campanaris (176) and Ed Sprague (185), to whom the colors of the caps were modified, with the intention of matching them with the colors of the Major League teams. However, you can clearly distinguish and identify the uniforms of the teams in which they played for the Venezuelan season.

The series was distributed in envelopes of 4 decks and at a price of 0.25 Bs. Likewise, Mr. Juanito designed and printed an album at a sale price of 0.50 Bs. The Set consists of 242 pieces. There are two prints, one with small letters and one with large letters, as well as with a clearer drawing than the other.

Catalog of decks published in Venezuela - Gilberto Gil”

In 2009, Gilberto Gil was the original seller of the 1972 stamps which many of us have long considered to be counterfeits, and I also know Gilberto created a Venezuelan catalog which the Ryan seller is referencing.

It never occurred to me what happened with this issue until just now. In 1972, “Mr. Juanito” created this presumably-unlicensed set of stamps. He must have sold out of everything he had produced, he probably made some money doing this. What never occurred to me is the same man who made these cards in 1972 enhanced his original work (better print quality, paper and alignment) and re-issued the entire set in 2009. I now believe this is exactly what happened. I have long wondered who would have (or could have) recreated the entire set? And it turns out, it was the most logical person to have done so, the original creator.

So, Third-Party-Graders technically got it partially right, but not because they knew anything about the issue; they did not. The modern stamps are not counterfeits. But, they are not original 1972’s. They are a 2009 issue, and they are easily distinguishable from the original 1972’s. The original 72’s are some of the rarest items in the hobby today and are almost always found with signs of album adhesion and mostly in tattered condition. Very few original 1972's have ever passed through TPG doors.

And while I have very little doubt these sets were not licensed, Topps apparently didn’t mind paying tribute to the issue when they created the 2021 Heritage set and designed insert cards which mimicked the design of the stamps.

This is quite the odd situation. I know of no other set in the hobby with a story even remotely similar.

That said, the 2009 re-issue of these stamps was limited in quantity. He didn’t print a ton of them because they were never going to be put in packs, they were created entirely as a money maker to sell to American buyers, and apparently Gilberto Gil must have known Mr. Juanito because Gilberto was the only guy who sold them and he was how they all entered the U.S. market.