New 1967 Variation!!!

[JollyElm]

Our resident Brooks Robinson psychopath , Mark, contacted me about the errors and variations I have for trade. It dawned on me that I am unaware of any 'legitimate' variations involving Brooksie. If one of his regular cards had a variation, there's no doubt it would've been discovered by now, so how do I scratch this insatiable itch?? Why, start investigating checklists that he appeared on. And boom!!! I found one. (This will turn out to be very embarrassing if someone has already stumbled across it, but I'm assuming no one has.) I started with 1967, because that year has so many checklist variations that it was a natural place to begin.

1967 Topps checklist #531 comes with two distinctly different croppings of his photo. The first one, which I've decided to call Mr. Chin, features his chin shadow coming in contact with the top of the black bounding box. This version includes a larger amount of dark shadowing beneath his chin and up the side of his face. The second version, Mr. Cheeky, portrays him with more of a svelte appearance as the people at Topps cropped out a good amount of his face, making him appear much thinner. It's most obvious in the section of his cheek below his left ear.

This gif makes it easy to see both versions...



Neither version seems to be much rarer than the other.

Cool stuff!!

[4reals]

Awesome! Aside from the black below his chin I think the biggest difference can be seen on his cheek next to his right ear.


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[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by 4reals

Awesome! Aside from the black below his chin I think the biggest difference can be seen on his cheek next to his right ear.

You mean HIS left ear, as I clearly stated, right?

[4reals]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

You mean HIS left ear, as I clearly stated, right?

Yes


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[rats60]

It really shouldn't be a suprise. The 7th series checklist would have been printed with the 6th series and the 7th series. Checklist variations are common in 60s sets because of this.

[ALR-bishop]

I think I have found variations for most if not all checklists from all the 1960s sets. The majority are just cropping difference but since they result in intentional changes/set ups in the printing process they tend to fit my personal definition of a variation. I think similar differences exist on many/most checklist from the early 70s sets as well

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by rats60

It really shouldn't be a suprise. The 7th series checklist would have been printed with the 6th series and the 7th series. Checklist variations are common in 60s sets because of this.

+1, and as Al mentioned into the 70s this is exceedingly common with the checklists.

[Mark70Z]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

Our resident Brooks Robinson psychopath , Mark, contacted me about the errors and variations I have for trade. It dawned on me that I am unaware of any 'legitimate' variations involving Brooksie. If one of his regular cards had a variation, there's no doubt it would've been discovered by now, so how do I scratch this insatiable itch?? Why, start investigating checklists that he appeared on. And boom!!! I found one.

1967 Topps checklist #531 comes with two distinctly different croppings of his photo. The first one, which I've decided to call Mr. Chin, features his chin shadow coming in contact with the top of the black bounding box. This version includes a larger amount of dark shadowing beneath his chin and up the side of his face. The second version, Mr. Cheeky, portrays him with more of a svelte appearance as the people at Topps cropped out a good amount of his face, making him appear much thinner. It's most obvious in the section of his cheek below his left ear.

Neither version seems to be much rarer than the other. Cool stuff!!

I resemble that remark, in regard to Brookise, and am "almost" insulted

So...what took you so long to find one?!? I wrote you "hours" ago!

All kidding aside thanks so much for taking your time to look for an error/variation of Brooks. I, for one, have never noticed the difference in the 1967 Checklist #531. Now I need to locate and see which of the two checklist variation that I have and which one I need to pick up. You just gave me something to add the search.

I agree with you cool stuff!

[JollyElm]

And here's another one…

1967 Topps Checklist #361



The most obvious difference between the two versions is the dark connection between his left ear and his hat/helmet combo (emphasized via the blue arrow). It appears or disappears depending on which card you have. The other telltale signs are a more rounded/smooth helmet compared to a more jagged look and the appearance of a very noticeable, small, dark spot on top of the black box directly beneath his chin. Also, there is a marked difference between the two versions of the shadowing of his entire chin region. Lastly, the dark shadow on the far edge of his left ear comes and goes.

[JollyElm]

Let's keep the train a-rollin'…

1967 Topps Checklist #278



Version one is Ole Pointy Hat as the top right part of Kaat's hat forms a squared corner. His left earlobe appears to be of the rounded, 'free' persuasion. The shadowing/hat slopes down and smoothly connects with his right ear.

Version two is Doctor Roundness as the top right portion of his hat curves naturally. His left earlobe looks to be the 'attached' variety and the shadowing/hat is cropped differently above his right ear.

[Rich Klein]

Remember they were usually issued in both the previous series packd and then in the packs of that specific series.

So there are probably subtle (or not so subtle differences) in almost every checklist from about 1961-73

Rich

[ALR-bishop]

I agree Rich and think I now have two of every checklist for those years. There are back differences as well

[JollyElm]

Here's one from 1971 that I discovered a number of years ago. It's the Coins Checklist, #161.

Although you rarely see it listed as such anywhere, many people knew this card came in two versions because the card number on back was either positioned 'high' or 'low' (two noticeably different placements) and the fronts were slightly dissimilar (explained below). But when I studied these cards, it soon became very apparent that there were, in fact, three total variations:

1. Beneath the coins graphic, a solid black line is present. It 'completes' the white box.

2. In that same area, the black line is not present and the blue from the coins forms a straight edge across the gap.

3. The black line is not present and the blue from the coins is cropped differently, forming three distinct curved edges.



For those of you keeping score, the straight blue edge version has the card number in the 'high' position. The other two both have it 'low.' None of these cards seem to be any rarer than their counterparts.

And to Mark, Brooks Robinson appears listed on the back of this card, so it may fit into your ultimate Brooksie checklist.