But a variation doesn't have to be a different printing. The missing top line variations from 81 Topps are just from different places on the sheet. I'd bet the 52 Mantle is also a double print with differences.
I collect a couple really obscure variations.
1988 Score second print run where the tufts of pulled cardboard from the diecutting were moved from the corners to about 1/4 of an inch in.
really not that easy of a subset to find. I haven't had access to a huge lot of 88 score so I'm not sure just how tough they are, but they're not as easy as you might think.
And 1991 Topps which has 3 different types of ink on the back. One that glows under UV light, one that doesn't, and one that turns a very dark red under UV. The last is actually fairly tough, only about 20 in roughly 10,000 cards. (Yeah, for 91 Topps that's a pretty small sampling and someone else probably has a couple monster boxes of just those.)
Plus a few other odd variation things, different holograms on UD cards, 93 Ud with 3 differnt gloss patterns on the reverse....stuff like that.
Somewhere I still have the Ralph Nozaki variation catalog. Interesting stuff, but not as extensive a listing as we have today.
Steve B
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