91 Topps Glow/No Glow backs

[ALR-bishop]

In my view the Topps 1991 sets, including Desert Shield set, have more front and back variants by far than any other Topps set. To my knowledge there is no truely complete master set list. I gave up personally. I did try to assemble all the bold versus faded back emblems, but have not cataloged my glow versus no glow backs as between my regular an DS sets. Nor do I know which of the many cataloged front and back variations can be found with all as opposed to just one or two different backs.

I will be out of town much of October but would be willing to figure how many glow versus no glow backs I have in my sets when I get back if that would aid your task

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

In my view the Topps 1991 sets, including Desert Shield set, have more front and back variants by far than any other Topps set. To my knowledge there is no truely complete master set list. I gave up personally. I did try to assemble all the bold versus faded back emblems, but have not cataloged my glow versus no glow backs as between my regular an DS sets. Nor do I know which of the many cataloged front and back variations can be found with all as opposed to just one or two different backs.

I will be out of town much of October but would be willing to figure how many glow versus no glow backs I have in my sets when I get back if that would aid your task

I am not trying to do a master set. My only thing is if the red on the back glows or not. Then get rid of all my extras and non glow/non variation cards to shrink my collection down a little. I am guessing a master set of 91 Topps would be well over 5000 cards.

Yes Al any help would be greatly appreciated.

[steve B]

I sorted mine from a fairly large batch. Maybe 10-15000 cards. Plus another 3000 or so after that.

The glow is on both the dark logo and normal logo, and I'm pretty sure it will be all of both sets. I'm fairly close.

I haven't tried to check on variations yet, my notes included variations I'd found but that wasn't at all complete.


The ones that glow a very dark red also come with either back, but are not at all common. I have maybe 25 or so from each group.
The slightly reactive cardstock is also not easy to find.

And I haven't done any work on different reactions of the front ink. I do have a couple where the gloss reacts mildly green. I sort of stopped when I found those and realized I'd have to go back through the whole thing.

Steve B

[4reals]

Ben,

I should be able to meet some of your needs when I have time to get back to my storage unit where I had to put my 91 inventory (among other things) when I moved. Below I cut and pasted a previous post I made on another thread to help ease your search as I've found every factory 91 set I've opened have contained all glow back cards. Considering there's probably one in your area on craigslist for $10 you'll probably be able to accomplish your goal tomorrow

From previous thread:

I have put together both a complete glow set and a complete non-glow set without bold back logos. Bold back logos were found only on A & B sheet cards. Putting together a glow set is the easier of the two because I found in my research that every factory set I opened (approx. 10) had only glow back cards. Perhaps others can check their 91 factory sets as well to confirm this. In my opinion this would mean a much smaller number of non-glow sets exist since they would have to be put together by hand. While non glow sets may be in smaller quantities than the glow sets, I have not found that to be the case with singles obtained through packaged products. I have gone through a ton of rack packs, cello packs, wax packs, vending boxes, etc. and found that the glow backs outnumbered the non-glow backs only by about 60-40.

I have also put together a complete non-glow set with bold back logos. I am, however, still missing some glow back/bold back cards leaving that set incomplete. I am 100% confident they exist I just haven't come across a few of them. In the 20,000+ 91s I've obtained I have about twice as many non-glow bold backs as I do glow bold backs. This leads me to believe the glow back bold back cards are the most difficult to obtain.

The glow back / bold back cards that still need to be confirmed are:

#144, 271, 502, 505, 532, 542, 546, 563, 564, 574, 591, 610, 667, 671, 727, 746, 768, 774, 783, 792.

I would be interested in those if anyone has any.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by 4reals

Ben,

I should be able to meet some of your needs when I have time to get back to my storage unit where I had to put my 91 inventory (among other things) when I moved. Below I cut and pasted a previous post I made on another thread to help ease your search as I've found every factory 91 set I've opened have contained all glow back cards. Considering there's probably one in your area on craigslist for $10 you'll probably be able to accomplish your goal tomorrow

From previous thread:

I have put together both a complete glow set and a complete non-glow set without bold back logos. Bold back logos were found only on A & B sheet cards. Putting together a glow set is the easier of the two because I found in my research that every factory set I opened (approx. 10) had only glow back cards. Perhaps others can check their 91 factory sets as well to confirm this. In my opinion this would mean a much smaller number of non-glow sets exist since they would have to be put together by hand. While non glow sets may be in smaller quantities than the glow sets, I have not found that to be the case with singles obtained through packaged products. I have gone through a ton of rack packs, cello packs, wax packs, vending boxes, etc. and found that the glow backs outnumbered the non-glow backs only by about 60-40.

I have also put together a complete non-glow set with bold back logos. I am, however, still missing some glow back/bold back cards leaving that set incomplete. I am 100% confident they exist I just haven't come across a few of them. In the 20,000+ 91s I've obtained I have about twice as many non-glow bold backs as I do glow bold backs. This leads me to believe the glow back bold back cards are the most difficult to obtain.

The glow back / bold back cards that still need to be confirmed are:

#144, 271, 502, 505, 532, 542, 546, 563, 564, 574, 591, 610, 667, 671, 727, 746, 768, 774, 783, 792.

I would be interested in those if anyone has any.

Joe thank you for the info. Now that I know all the factory sets glow it took the fun out of putting together a set.

I looked and do not have any glow back/bold backs on your list. From all the boxes of wax packs I opened I never got a single bold back card. The only one I have now is in my Wade Boggs PC and it glows.

[jacksoncoupage]

I'm not sure if this info will lead to anything re: glowing backs (I bought a black light and couldn't tell the difference), but over the years I have noticed that 1991 Topps printings seem to fall under two categories: cards found in "Bubble Gum Cards" packaging seem to be of different printing origin than cards found in "Picture Cards" packaging. Several variations only appear in certain types of packaging as well.

[4reals]

Originally Posted by jacksoncoupage

I'm not sure if this info will lead to anything re: glowing backs (I bought a black light and couldn't tell the difference), but over the years I have noticed that 1991 Topps printings seem to fall under two categories: cards found in "Bubble Gum Cards" packaging seem to be of different printing origin than cards found in "Picture Cards" packaging. Several variations only appear in certain types of packaging as well.

I've opened wax packs, rack packs, and cellos where they have been mixed with both glow and non-glow in the same packaging. It was always the same though, cards printed with glow ink were on cards from the same sheets throughout the entire box, that is, cards from sheets A-D may have non-glow throughout the same box, but cards from sheets E-F would have glow throughout the box, or vice versa. Factory sets and vending boxes were never mixed.

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by jacksoncoupage

I'm not sure if this info will lead to anything re: glowing backs (I bought a black light and couldn't tell the difference), but over the years I have noticed that 1991 Topps printings seem to fall under two categories: cards found in "Bubble Gum Cards" packaging seem to be of different printing origin than cards found in "Picture Cards" packaging. Several variations only appear in certain types of packaging as well.

Perhaps you aren't using a strong enough black light.....or the room isn't completely dark. The floursecing red ink should be obvious when you are looking at a glow back......

Z

[Zach Wheat]

Originally Posted by 4reals

Ben,

......as I've found every factory 91 set I've opened have contained all glow back cards.

I wonder if factory sets and Desert Shield cards were printed close to the same time in the production run, as this would explain both of these anomalies.

Z