Any Topps Venezuelan experts out there?

[hcv123]

Josh is definitely the guy you want to offer his opinion here. I haven't met anyone who knows more about Venezuelans than him.

[a761506]

The Spahn card in the '59 Venezuelan set always has the Venezuelan trademark. While some of the cards do have the US trademark, they are consistent throughout, for instance, every Venezuelan copy of Spahn will have the Venezuelan trademark line, while every Ford Frick will have the US trademark. Additionally on Spahn, to address another issue posed, the Venezuelan versions do not have any variations with his year of birth. It is always 21.

Even if you were not aware of the trademark issues, the cards are still easily identifiable just by sight. The majority of 1st series Venezuelan cards (1-110) you might come across will be found with gray backs. You will never find a US Topps card 1-110 with a gray back. Rarely, you can find a '59 Venezuelan card with a cream colored back, but it looks nothing remotely close to the bright cream color of the US issue. It's a much more dull appearance and darker cream color. All cards in the Venezuelan set were issued on both gray and cream colored stock.

There are multiple pictures of these cards available for identification purposes at the Yahoo Group: Topps Venezuela

[paul]

Thank you Josh and everyone. Not what I wanted to hear. I guess I'll be contacting the seller.

Paul

[a761506]

Here's a pic of a Venezuelan Spahn in case you need something additional to convince the seller to refund your purchase.

[Cobra Kai]

Love that Spahn Josh!!

[hcv123]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-Topps-V...E:B:SS:US:3160

Will people never learn?

[ALR-bishop]

The DOB is different on this one from the one Paul posted

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by hcv123

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1959-Topps-V...E:B:SS:US:3160

Will people never learn?

I don't think the Venezuelan/Topps confusion is necessary intentional on a lot of these, particularly when the seller is asking $13 for the card. I collect Venezuelans and have contacted a seller or two about an improper listing. Some sellers just do not know what they have. When they go to list the card for sale and start typing in identifying information into the listing, eBay occasionally identifies it as a Venezuelan rather than Topps.

[1963Topps Set]

I also love the 1959 Topps Venezuela issue and only buy the Spanish copyright cards to be sure.