Quick Look: 1993 Classic Gold Best Barry Bonds Wrong Photo Error

A very under-the-radar error card coming from a nearly forgotten junk era product, this card has echoes of Bonds’ infamous 1987 Donruss Opening Day error with, again, another player (presumably Jeff Cook) shown on his card in the earliest part of the print run.

Not once, not twice, but tree times over, Classic used the wrong player on this card. To date just a handful of them have turned up.

Had this been a Topps, Fleer or UD product, this would likely remain one of the more sought after variations from the 1990s.

Quick Looks: 1991 Score Dean Dingman Helmet Variations

1991 Score is not what I would call a loaded set for the variation collector but I do believe that there are a few more surprises to be uncovered still. The problem is that it is an extremely unpopular set from a weak collecting year produced by a defunct brand. This typically results in reduced enthusiasm for research and analyzation. But recently, a major variation was discovered featuring a rookie subset player, Dean Dingman. The early version issued shows Jarrod Bunch in the background wearing a Michigan Wolverines helmet, complete with yellow stripes. This was edited by Score with a crude airbrushing correction to the helmet, turning it solid navy blue. Apparently corrected quickly as I have seen just a few copies of the error compared to nearly a hundred copies of the correction.

It is interesting to note that 1990 and early 1991 (series one) Score cards were not prohibited from showing players in their college uniforms. Something must have happened bewteen the production of the two series and I’m curious to know what it was.

Quick Look: 1991 Upper Deck Donnie Hill Variations

Donnie Hill’s 1991 UD card can be found in a few different versions:

The ‘toughest’ version has his card showing his position printed twice on front. This is not an off-registration issue as the black ink is correctly aligned and printed everywhere else on the card. The second version shows his position, IF, printed high up in the base. And his slightly more common versions, the “correct” versions, shows his position either high up or low down in the base. It is worth noting that aside from a handful of cards in the 1991 set, most players do not have “wandering” positions due to print alignment issues, UD was pretty good that year. Brian Downing’s card is the most well-known to suffer from this issue. Hill is the only known to show his position printed twice on front.

Quick Looks: 1992 Upper Deck Football Checklist #510 Variation

A very recent discovery, likely by the seller who first posted them on ebay, this is one of just a few known (so far) 1992 Upper Deck NFL variations. The error version has a thick black line across the top on back. Corrected copies do not.

Quick Look: 1990 Upper Deck Checklist #800A Black Box On Back & Mike Witt #702

Since they seldom turn up, I’m sure some collectors have yet to see this card and may still find it interesting. Though now it resides in a great, permanent collection, here are images of the only copy that I have personally held in 30 years of searching.

It is worth noting that unlike the 1990 Upper Deck Mike Witt #702, just a few copies of this card have ever been offered for sale. And while it stands to reason that if an 800 count box full of Witt cards can turn up, there may exist one full of these as well, but, to date, they remain among the most elusive junk wax era variations.

Cards You’ve Never Seen: 1993 Pacific Rob Maurer 313A Photo Error (Jose Oliva)

A ‘final frontier’ type of junk wax variation, a copy finally turned up after decades of searching. Even photos were few since its discovery. 1993 Pacific #313A is one of those upper echelon variations that have only been mentioned among enthusiasts, on every E&V wantlist, yet hardly seen. Rob Maurer’s card was originally printed with a full body photo of Rangers prospect Jose Oliva.

In late 2021, I had the pleasure of chatting with Mike Cramer over email regarding some Pacific variations and oddities and when asked about the Maurer, this is what he had to say:

“Rod Maurer variations are shown. The wrong photo was in the first printing,the correct photo card was in the second printing. As were all of the variations listed. I first print run was very small when we discovered the Mauer card and made the changes. First printing and second printing variations were both in was packs (sic)”

Pretty exciting to finally see a sample.

Quick Look: 1991 Stadium Club Jamie Quirk Variations

Here is a glimpse at all three versions of Quirk’s 1991 Stadium Club card. Interestingly, Quirk was featuring on series two packaging and promotional materials, though, I doubt many would argue that Stadium Club could’ve picked a number of better photos that this somewhat dull image.

Quirk was original printed with a 1990 Topps notation for his rookie card on back. This was changed to his correct, 1976 version. However, there exists two variants: one, printed clearly and correctly and another, printed with a 90-degree rotated “ghost” image over his corner of his rookie card image on back. This is not the result of a wet-transfer or errant ink strike, it is beneath the gloss layer and always printed in the exact same way. In fact, this version appears to be slightly more prevalent than his clean, 1976 version.

Quick Look: 1989 Score Paul Gibson #595 – Four Different Variations

For a few years in the early-mid 90s, the 1989 Score Paul Gibson card had P1, P2 and P3 notations in certain catalogs denoting three separate printings and while most are familiar with the ‘obscenity’ in the first printing of the card, few are aware of the 3rd and 4th versions that exist for this card. Similar to the 1989 Fleer Bill Ripken and Randy Johnson, Score made more than one correction attempt to cover the infielder’s arm adjusting his cup.

Here are a few images showing all four types. In the first image, from left to right, you will see the first, uncorrected version followed by the commonly found correction type, then a rarer type of whiteout/correction with a yellow shape where the player’s arm would be and, lastly, the rarest type of correction without the yellow “ghost” of the arm.

Next is an image showing a closer image of the four types:

And last, a close up of just the two rarer correction types, P3 and P4 (or 595c and 595d):

1990 Pro Set Dexter Manley “NEVER released”

I keep a vast archive of old hobby publications, especially those ca. 1989-1993, the junkiest of the junk wax era. Typically I only keep pertinent and “lost” information such as old company news releases, old letters from collectors reporting their unusual findings, old product info/ads and articles outlining error and variation items of this period. Recently, I came across an advertisement by a company called 49er Headquarters, who, by 1993, seemed to be holding a decent amount of rare and/or hard to find Pro Set items: 1989 promos, 10-up sheets of Dickerson 338, Lombardi Holos and…Dexter Manley substance abuse error cards. For $124.99!

While it is just their word, in their ad blurb, I find it interesting (and likely) that they mention that the Manley substance abuse card was never released. Personally, I do not know one collector who can confirm pulling one out of sealed Final Update sets. Same for the No Bio cards. The only confirmed “source” of the Manley errors was a 10-up sheet found in a trash pile, revealed by a commenter here under the 1990 Pro Set rarities post (which, fyi, they had cut up and sold on ebay). I’m interested in hearing from collectors on this card and if anyone has any solid info to counter the ad’s claim. I will say, if true, it is very disappointing to me as I’ve opened hundreds of these sets over the years, even recently at their very-inflated current price point.

Card You’ve Never Seen: 2002 Topps Mark Loretta Corrected Photo

Several players in the 2002 Topps set were affected by odd, almost vintage-Topps style mistakes: Albert Pujols, Craig Counsell and Mark Loretta had other players’ photos appear on their cards; Craig Wilson, John Vander Wal and Timo Perez had bizarre (and unrealistic) individual feats hidden in their stats on back. And while most collectors don’t believe that Albert Pujols’ card famously depicting Placido Polonco on back was ever corrected for the base issue set (read, not-HTA or Limited Edition parallel sets), there exists scattered evidence through the years that corrected copies do exist but in extremely limited quantities. To date, I have personally only heard of two. Allegedly these cards were corrected very late in last run of factory sets.

Up until recently, Loretta’s card, picturing Curtis Leskanic on front, has been understood to be a classic Topps UER (uncorrected error), documented in the annual ‘big books’ as such but clearly that is not the case. As with the Pujols (and to a lesser degree, Craig Counsell), this correction was only a rumor for the last twenty years. Here is a look at the likely very rare and very late correction to Mark Loretta’s card:

And while not quite junk wax by most collector’s standards, it is an otherwise noteworthy addition to Topps master sets as one of the last, true, unintentional variations produced by Topps. It raises another question: how many exist out there and how many are still trapped in sealed factory sets, almost certainly fused with the cards surrounding it?