Show...me...your print variations!

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

I had started a thread about this card, but realized it would fit in nicely here, so I cut and pasted it:

If you look at 1972 Topps #209, Joe Rudi, some of his cards appear with varying lengths of a line (hair? crack in the printing plate?) emanating from the left of his name at bottom. (These are all ebay screen grabs.) In the first, there is just a bit of a line apparent. The second shows a much longer line, and the third features this anomaly crossing through Joe and eventually reaching the top white border. It's a little tough to see in the lo-res pic, but just follow the curving line from the bottom on up and you'll see what I mean. It is also worth noting that the first and third cards also feature what I would call an 'iron burn' on the front of the card. It's a triangular dark area and looks as if someone burnt the card while ironing it. It's most prominent in the third card, where the line intersects it below Rudi's elbow.

Attachment 171523

Nice find Darren....any idea if the card below Rudi on the original full sheet has the continuation of this line along it's top edge, as it looks as though on the 3rd image you posted that the line would continue onto the card below?

[JollyElm]

It's funny. I have no idea whether or not the line goes anywhere else on the Rudi sheet, but I looked through the few pics of 1972 Topps uncut sheets that I've downloaded over the years and found a very interesting tidbit.

Card #607 Frank Duffy is called the 'yellow letter' version (similar to #534 Jim Hickman), but the card really just has less green in it than the 'normal' version. It's not, by any means, devoid of green. It's just much, much lighter (in some cases, verging on being non-existent). Well, on the sheet shown here, the 'normal' version is at top and the 'yellow letter' version is three cards below it. Since all of the colors of the cards seem correct, maybe the balance of green to yellow on that card was due to the actual layout of the cards and wasn't due to a lack of yellow or cyan (blue) during the printing process? But, then again, perhaps something else was at play that caused the dearth of color? Either way, pretty cool.

1972duffy.jpg

[savedfrommyspokes]

Never noticed the Duffy before...nice.


This 63 Topps #32 card has a unique "glowing" green spot near the left edge of the card...it is very green in hand, unlike the scan. Could not find another example though.

[savedfrommyspokes]

While flipping through some of my new arrivals, I found a copy of a 65 #596 card with a pink spot on the neck area. Found two other copies (PSA 7 on ebay) that have the pink spot on the neck.

[Cliff Bowman]

Hmmm...in 1965 Topps had to airbrush out a pink t-shirt that Landrum had on underneath his uniform, in 1966 they had to airbrush out a button in his pants. It's a good thing he didn't have a 1967 Topps card.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Cliff, any ideas on why there is also pink above Don's right ear on his 65 pinkie??

Found two copies of this 69 Wert with a break in the black border of the yellow player name/position circle (right side). Had not seen this one before.