91 Topps Variations

[Laxcat]

Does anyone know what type of packaging the errors/vars were in? Cellos, vending, wax, jumbo, rack, factory sets. Can they found in all of them?

[4reals]

Originally Posted by Laxcat

Does anyone know what type of packaging the errors/vars were in? Cellos, vending, wax, jumbo, rack, factory sets. Can they found in all of them?

I've opened plenty of all and have errors/var. throughout everything. The stat back variations for me were found specifically in jumbo cellos.

[benlee66]

How rare are the players with managers backs and vice versa? There's been on on ebay for a while. For any hardcore 1991 Topps collectors, how may have you ever seen?

I'm curious if there are All-Star cards and checklists with switched backs as well.

[judsonhamlin]

fWIW, I just opened a rack box and grabbed two white frame Hoiles, some F* code variations and a couple of corrected Chamberlins. Also, a mix of missing and included stats. No Drabek, Whiten or Boyd of any kind. Typical Topps distribution.

[ALR-bishop]

Ben--It is not unusual to find wrong back or blank back cards. I am not aware of anyone check listing particular wrong backs as to type or number. Not sure if there are folks here who systematically collect and catalog them. I have seen people who are player specific collectors pick up wrong backs of such a player, but my impression is that there is not a large market for wrong backs in terms of value. Others may think differently

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Ben--It is not unusual to find wrong back or blank back cards. I am not aware of anyone check listing particular wrong backs as to type or number. Not sure if there are folks here who systematically collect and catalog them. I have seen people who are player specific collectors pick up wrong backs of such a player, but my impression is that there is not a large market for wrong backs in terms of value. Others may think differently

As a long time collector of junk era wrong backs I agree with Al there are no checklists because of the several different backs that can have the same player on the front. It depends on how the wrong back was made. The printer could have loaded the right sheets backwards or loaded the wrong sheets or a combination of both. There are up to 11 different wrong back cards possible in the 91 Topps set for each card.

[benlee66]

Last night I was tying to find the Oil Can Boyd I got as part of a group of sets, including a hand collated 91 Topps. I saw that black tip Boyd go for over $200 on ebay and seeing the clear pic was a big help.

Looking over the set with the card backs up, for at least the fifth time, since I found an Oscar Azocar manager back in it, I found something interesting. It's a Bobby Cox with a non-manager back!

That's two from the same HC set. I got another Azocar manager back a few weeks ago on COMC. The seller had it listed for less than a dollar. I tried to offer him $150.00 for it, but COMC's interface doesn't allow that. I plan to track him down and give him the money some day. Sometimes you can only pay it forward by paying it back.

[jasondeanmartin]

Please explain the Oscar Azocar manager back more. Is it rare? I don't believe I've seen any info on this one before.

[jacksoncoupage]

Originally Posted by jasondeanmartin

Please explain the Oscar Azocar manager back more. Is it rare? I don't believe I've seen any info on this one before.

The card is part of a run of production errors where the red border pattern/inking process was swapped between two sheets. It is a print flaw that affects a handful of the cards (however many manager cards on each sheet, to be specific) as it won't make any difference on the majority of the non manager cards.

They are very rare but are also 100% print flaw errors which some collect and consider legitimate additions while others seem to angrily reject as part of a set's canon. As far as pricing goes, there is no concrete value for them and there likely never will be. The first Azocar that sells will sell for "X" amount and the next may not sell at even 10% of that if there isn't a collector out there with enough interest in it.

True Topps variations like the Whiten, Boyd, etc where Topps made production changes are another story and general have much interest, especially the error-laden 1991 issue.

[PolarBear]

I always thought the Desert Shield set was one of the best modern sets out there.

[ALR-bishop]

Given all the counterfeits/ fakes it is now tougher to build a good set from scratch. Wonder how many versions of it there are if the counterfeits are included

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Given all the counterfeits/ fakes it is now tougher to build a good set from scratch. Wonder how many versions of it there are if the counterfeits are included

Even on real DS cards I have seen 3 different foils used to make the stamp. I have also noticed the stamp does vary slightly from card to card on real DS cards. The thing I notice the most between real and fake stamps are the detail, especially in the stars on the flag.

[jacksoncoupage]

Originally Posted by PolarBear

I always thought the Desert Shield set was one of the best modern sets out there.

I like this parallel as well, however, I think it's worth mentioning that there are far fewer "master" 1991 Topps sets out there and that's likely not going to change any time soon.

For reasons unknown, Topps made changes to the cards throughout production and went all out in correcting many of the most insignificant mistakes. This set has some of the toughest and seemingly shortest print-run variations of any Topps issue.