seeking knowledge re: 1955 Topps baseball sheets

[ClementeFanOh]

Ok gang- I have embarked on a very (!) amateur sleuthing quest for the
sheet question on 55 Topps. On ebay, I found a severely miscut Warren
Spahn card #31 (first series). It was easily possible to see the stat line for
the "unknown" player on the back top of Spahn's card. There is no question
it's another Spahn...ebay seller is "sc-tarheelvintage" and ebay item
number is 174709094130. Also, my friend found a miscut 55 Topps Gil
Hodges where you can see the tip of a ballcap at the bottom of the whole
Hodges. The color and physical location of that additional cap are a match
for Gil's cap in the whole card, so it looks like it's another Hodges.

Given this result, it is reasonable to conclude that 55 Topps sheets were
single player sheets? Again, this is NOT my area of expertise by any stretch
of the imagination. In the case of my friend whose 55 Koufax miscut led to
this thread, the color visible for the partial card is the Koufax yellow. It
seems he got a Koufax and and more Koufax, on his purchase of the SGC 1
miscut

I'd enjoy reading more input. Thank you, Trent King

[GasHouseGang]

Here's a picture of a sheet that was auctioned that has Spahn.

[G1911]

Only a first series sheet, above, is known. Absolutely not single player sheets.
Series 2 (probably 90-99, 111-150 or 160) and 3 sheets I do not believe are known to have surfaced.

[ClementeFanOh]

Gashouse Gang- Thank you! Incredible. Interesting that Spahn is the only
player on that Series 1 to be printed in the same place in two rows, so that he
is sequentially in the same spot. So, the ebay Spahn miscut absolutely is
his card Regarding the final series Gil Hodges miscut I mentioned, but
cannot depict, it absolutely is him as well. I guess my friend won't know
re: his Koufax unless or until a corresponding sheet is discovered/revealed.,,

I did find a June 2022 post from Toppcat (Dave Hornish) on 55 Topps uncut
sheets, as well as an article online from 2019 "Topps Archives" that were
detailed for lower numbered cards. These were interesting reads for sure.

Trent King

[Cliff Bowman]

Originally Posted by ClementeFanOh

Regarding the final series Gil Hodges miscut I mentioned, but
cannot depict, it absolutely is him as well.

Trent King

I think this is the 55 Topps Gil Hodges miscut you are referring to, it is #180 Clem Labine under Hodges not another Hodges. If you have a different miscut I apologize.

[ClementeFanOh]

Cliff- thank you, looks like you are correct. I guess this is why I was never
intrigued by sheet placement Looks like my friend may never know the
identity of whose card was intruding on his Sandy! Trent King

[toppcat]

Love of the Game offered what appears to be the other first series slit awhile back.

https://bid.loveofthegameauctions.co...e?itemid=18569

[stevepoland]

Do you happen to know the card numbers for Series 2 and Series 3, respectively?

Per your mention below, is Series 2: 111-150 (or 111-160)
And Series 3: 151-210 (or 161-210)
?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by G1911

Only a first series sheet, above, is known. Absolutely not single player sheets.
Series 2 (probably 90-99, 111-150 or 160) and 3 sheets I do not believe are known to have surfaced.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by stevepoland

Do you happen to know the card numbers for Series 2 and Series 3, respectively?

Per your mention below, is Series 2: 111-150 (or 111-160)
And Series 3: 151-210 (or 161-210)
?

Thanks!

I don't know for certain; most of series 1 is known (beyond the sheets above in this thread) because there are 2 different stock backs, one whiter than the more creamy one. Some cards were held back, like 90-99, which we knew because you only find them with 1 stock only. Kind of a 1953 Topps style situation.

Series 2 presumably has these hold backs, as they don't seem to be more difficult to find like the final series. It seems to me series 2 probably catches us up to 160, as 161+ do seem to me to be a little bit tougher to find. So series 2 I expect will have 50 cards + the holdbacks - possibly a handful of numbers held back again that were pushed into series 3, making for another odd sheet any way we slice it. Series 3 I expect to have the 50 cards 161-210 printed twice each (4 for the DP's that replaced the missing card numbers). It's possible 151-160 were included in series 3, these 10 cards are sometimes bucketed as a different group and something unique may have happened there, possibly mirroring 90-99. I suspect, contrary to the hobby opinion, that it wasn't really contractual issues with 4 players that led to the no prints, but numbers just being held back as they were in earlier series to issue later, like Topps did throughout 1953. I suspect this set may not have been intended originally to end at 210.

I hope a sheet will surface and we might be able to do more than make reasonable deductions. This is a really fun set.

[Kevvyg1026]

Here is a miscut of #15. I believe it is Mossi underneath

1955_15_botcard.jpg

[Kevvyg1026]

1955_91_Bolling.jpg

1955_93_Bilko_brown.jpg

1955_93_Bilko_top.jpg

1955_96_bilko_Bishop.jpg

[Kevvyg1026]

Cliff and I have been examining miscuts for Topps BB cards from 1955, in the hopes that we can re-create the slit patterns for cards 91-99 and 110 to 210. Although the gathering of the evidence is not complete, it appears that the miscuts we've found support a 2nd series printing of cards numbered 91-99 plus 110-160 (60 total distinct cards) with another print pattern consisting of cards 161-210 (with 4 DPs to account for the 4 cards not printed).

In other words, any miscut we've found that we've been able to identify from cards 91-99 and 110 to 210 is adjacent to another card from that number group.

Similarly, all miscuts we've been able to identify from cards numbered 161-210 are adjacent to another card from this same group.