1973 Topps Gaps in Border - PSA recognizes 3. How many more?

[tribefan]

Buddy Bell

[Cliff Bowman]

Other than the Stan Bahnsen and the Buddy Bell which are side by side on a first series sheet, all of the other ones are on the two fourth series sheets. Each of the two sheets from the fourth series has eleven consecutive cards in a horizontal row with gaps in the border for a total of twenty two cards. One row is Auerbach, Kennedy, McAndrew, R. Morales, Pattin, McAnally, Giants team, Howarth, Spinks, Ozark, Reuschel. The other eleven cards are on a different fourth series sheet, Simpson, E. Williams, G. Brown, Tovar, Granger, Thompson, Fregosi, G. Perry, Marichal, Freehan, McDowell.

[Cliff Bowman]

Here are the eleven from the other fourth series sheet. ETA, found a scan that shows the eleven cards in a row along with the LaRoche, O. Brown, and Tatum also in a horizontal row consecutively.

[Cliff Bowman]

There are other related print flaws from those two 1973 fourth series sheets, Walter Johnson and Norm Cash are side by side on a sheet and are missing some of the black border, Ollie Brown is missing much of the black border in the lower left corner, Dan Frisella is missing some black border in the lower left corner, Ken Tatum and Dave LaRoche are missing some of their pitcher position player, and Gene Tenace is missing a small slice of the black border in the lower left corner. I believe PSA no longer recognizes any of these including the Bahnsen, Bell, and Williams, and I remember Bob Lemke said years ago that the SCD would no longer list them. I agree with that, these are in no way variations and are only print flaws. ETA, I didn't see Al's post before I posted this in which he already posted some of the same information.

[ALR-bishop]

I think PSA should not note them since they are too numerous and occur in many different sets. I thought the same when they recognized the 61 Fairly with a smudge of green in the baseball on the back, a defect that occurs in other 61 cards. But, having said that I do collect them

I admire the way Cliff runs down the relationships among recurring print defects by analyzing their positions on the sheets they came from. He has been extremely helpful to me in running down variants that I was unaware of due to my ad hoc approach to collecting them, that is I know one when when I see one

[chalupacollects]

Is there any premium in value for the variants?

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by chalupacollects

Is there any premium in value for the variants?

There is on the ones that PSA recognized on the slabs . Sellers used to have them on eBay for $5 or so and they would eventually sell, but I don’t see them much on eBay anymore.

[johnlenhardt]

Awesome post............very informative and helps a lot as I attempt to put a master set together.

[ALR-bishop]

John---welcome, and good luck on the master set. But what would you consider a complete master set for 1973 ?

[johnlenhardt]

Hi Al, From my perspective a master set includes all known variations. For example on the 73 set #449 Spahn's ear pointed and Spahn's ear round. I would also include the boarder break cards. Now I know there are varying opinions on what would be considered a variation verses a printing flaw. For me miss cut or cards that have various printing blotches are not included. John

[ALR-bishop]

New compilation that disregards recurring print defects

https://baseballcardvariationsguideb...973-toppsw.pdf

https://baseballcardvariationsguideb...25/1973-topps/

[ALR-bishop]

Like many variant collectors I had a lot of interaction with Bob Lemke about listings in the Standard Catalog. At one point he told me he thought listing the gap defects as variations was a mistake since they were showing up in so many sets, even the 52 set, and he came to view them as just recurring print defects. He was leaning toward removing some listings that did not meet the definition of a change intentionally made by the manufacturer. But the 3 you mention are still in the 2014 edition, which is the newest one I have. And for my part I collect any recurring differences

On Bahnsen the gap can be small or noticeably larger, and Bahnsen's uniform can be white or blueish

I have the following with gaps or border irregularities

Bahnsen 20
Bell 31
Schueler 169
Jenkins 180
Spinks 417, with as you note several versions
Walter Johnson 418
Phillies Coaches 486
Williams 504
Brown 526
Johnson 590

I do not currently have scans of these but can make them if needed

Never mind, just saw Cliff's posts :-)

[johnlenhardt]

Hi Al, is the Schueler 169 the standard gap or something else? I could not find example.