Slightly OT - 1982 Topps Blackless

[ALR-bishop]

I collect Topps variations and printing errors with all my sets, 51 to present. I, like Bob, have a blackless "set" of 396. I do not have the 4 "variations" of the basic print defects that make up the "base" set. I have seen them on scans. The only one I specifically remember is the Ken Forsch card which has a stray red dot on his cap.

The only person I know who has the 4 variations is the same person who authored the description in the prior post. He used to sell on ebay under the name zenithium. He may still sell blackless and other variations, but most recently had been selling stuff through another seller. You may be able to contact him under the name zenitium through ebay. If so, I have found Fred to be very generous with his knowledge of blackless specifically and variations in general. He tended to collect uncatalogged variations in the hopes they would be recognized later. On Blackless and the 80 Topps yellows he did pretty well. Also the 84 Encased cards. In a recent contact with Fred it is my understanding his blackless set is not complete, but he does still have what he believes are the 4 variations

Bob and I bought most of our blackless from 5 guys, 2 in NY ( As and Bs) and 2 from Michigan ( Cs). Can not remember where the 5th guy was located. The cards did appear in packs, and there was apparently an unopened cello with a blackless card on top on ebay recently

It is hard to complete the set in complete blackless, partly because some cards are hard to locate ( Stanley and Morris come to mind), and in some cases the cards actually have grey or light grey signatures where the black ink had not completely run out....more variations !

After completeing my Topps sets I gravitated to variations, catalogged and uncatalogged,. Be happy to compare notes with anyone who has a similar interest...blackless or otherwise