Here's something you never noticed before...

[JollyElm]

The booger on The Babe's nose aside (not my card), it just dawned on me that Topps completely missed out on putting a space (or a dash) between the words "ALL" and "TIME" on one the most noteworthy and famous cards from the 1970s, 1973 Topps #1 All Time Home Run Leaders...

1973alltimehrleaders.jpg

A typographer would tell you that what appears to be a slight space between the 'L' and 'T' there is nothing more than the normal kerning ('spacing') for that particular pair of (spelled like a Brit ) capitalised letters. The art department really missed the boat on this one and it clearly reads "ALLTIME" as a single word. Simply look at the width of the spaces between the words "HOME" and "RUN" and "LEADERS" to see what I'm talking about.


To head off the contrarians out there, here I copied and pasted the 'N' from "RUN" directly over the 'L' to again illustrate what I'm pointing out here. There is no space present...

1973alntimehrleaders.jpg

Hiding in plain sight for almost half a century (shouldn't it be half of a century?). Cool stuff.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

…To head off the contrarians out there...

Contrarians on the Internet? Say it ain’t so.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Contrarians on the Internet? Say it ain’t so.

Shh...don't feed the trolls.

[mrmopar]

Now you could send people or a cruel scavenger hunt by showing this card in a new thread, saying this is a newer before seen typo error you recently discovered.

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by mrmopar

Now you could send people or a cruel scavenger hunt by showing this card in a new thread, saying this is a newer before seen typo error you recently discovered.

Like this booger-less variation?

[jchcollins]

Doubtful this was considered a mistake at the time. Topps didn't always get an A in grammar and punctuation, especially if you look at the back of some 1950's and 60's cards.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Doubtful this was considered a mistake at the time. Topps didn't always get an A in grammar and punctuation, especially if you look at the back of some 1950's and 60's cards.

That is the absolute truth! Take a gander at Topps football cards in the 70s. License? We don't need no stinkin' license! We'll just airbrush off all the logos. What ensued was a decade of laziness and horrible looking cards brought on by monopoly. Quality control stuff like the Babe is no surprise at all.

[ALR-bishop]

Someone at Topps did not like this card

[jchcollins]

Another example I just found of spacing not being Topps' forte. Shouldn't the "Bob" be down another line closer to his last name? It's also not even on the left in comparison to the last name, where other '63 cards seem to be.

[Harliduck]

I'll never now look at that card the same! Those type things hurt my OCD...same now the 63 Clemente...

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Harliduck

I'll never now look at that card the same! Those type things hurt my OCD...same now the 63 Clemente...

If you happen to have a '63 Clemente you no longer want because of that, I'd happily take it off your hands... Also check out the '67 Topps Frank Robinson. Same kind of spacing problem / oddity going on with his name.