About

Hello, and welcome to Junk Wax Gems. The main purpose of this blog is show some of the cool, little-known and sometimes valuable cards that exist among the heaps of overproduced stuff of the mid 80′s to late 90′s. Everything from unlisted error cards to promos to “story-behind-the-photo” type stuff from that era will be covered, as well as a whole lot of “I remember when this card was sooo hot…” nostalgia-type blogs in between. I’ll try to get a blog or two a day but with work and school, it may not always work that way so please be patient. So yeah, enjoy, and feel free to post comments, email me with questions, etc. I look forward to them and sharing information.

39 Responses to “About”

  1. Stephen A Padwe January 13, 2010 at 4:56 pm #

    If you are still interested in the 1991 Topps A*B* sheet letter variation please let me know I have many of them and assume that the entire sheet was printed with the variation. I do not have a scanner but could fax you several of the sheets in my albums. Please let me know.

    • junkwaxgems January 13, 2010 at 6:54 pm #

      Hi Stephen,

      I would love to see a scan of those if you have one handy. Also, do you have any idea how they were issued? Packs, proofs? Specific type of wax? I’ve hunted for these for years now and have yet to see a single copy (other than the Boston card).

    • Mike June 8, 2010 at 11:42 am #

      Hi, I just found your message and I am interested in these A & AB for a long time now. Do you have extras available? I have on my want list at least :1991 Topps: 155, 178, 272, 297, 452, 481, 644, 677, 716, 781 with printers mark on back A*B*, not A
      thanks,
      Mike

    • steve whitzman April 3, 2011 at 3:11 am #

      do you have any information on Montreal Expos with these different letter designations? Or info on other Expos errors or variations?

      thanks Steve

    • Steve Whitzman January 30, 2012 at 2:57 am #

      Do you have any of the expos for trade or sale

    • Steve Whitzman February 10, 2012 at 10:37 am #

      Looking for the two Expos with these variations : think Galarraga and Fitzgerald.

  2. Wally January 31, 2010 at 7:10 pm #

    I have a 1980 Topps Jack Clark No Position Variation that I can send a scan of if your interested. I sent a copy to beckett and at first I thought is was just a case of overinking because of a the smearing of blue ink but now I believe that is not the case because I think that if it was just overinking you would see some trace of black ink. Let me know and I can email you a scan.

    Thanks

    • junkwaxgems January 31, 2010 at 10:30 pm #

      Hello,

      Thanks for posting! I’ve seen your card a few times now and the Beckett letter as well. The card is most definitely a printing flaw due to an excess amount of blue ink. 1980 Topps is notorious for this, be it yellow, cyan, magenta or a lack of any ink. There have been some recent ebay sales for similar items, such as the Craig Nettles “error” that popped a few weeks ago, which is very similar. Overall, it’s a cool-looking card, probably limited to the 10 (maybe more) copies that you own, but a freak printing issue nonetheless. This doesn’t make it less of an “error”, as it wasn’t intended by Topps to appear that way, but it is not a Topps variation that I expect to ever be recognized as a legit “stop-the-presses” mistake, in any catalog.

  3. Trent P. March 31, 2010 at 12:13 pm #

    Hey what’s up man? It’s me, sundryvagaries, from eBay. Still trying to purchase some of those rare Pro Set Errors and Variations. Please contact me back if you are still interested and I’ll give you an updated list of what I’m looking for. Also, I have a card you might be interested in. It’s a 1994 Upper Deck Football Brian Mitchell Error Card. Looking forward to hearing back from you.

  4. J.R. June 21, 2010 at 9:37 am #

    hey junkwaxgems, I saw a post of yours on another website, and I would love to ask you about your collection of Matt Luke cards. Please email me back at your earliest convenience. Thanks!

  5. Shaun July 2, 2010 at 8:22 pm #

    Would love to talk with you about variations on the 86 Topps set. Please drop me an email!

    • steve whitzman April 3, 2011 at 3:13 am #

      Shaun any information on Montreal Expos players with
      variations or errors from this set.

      Thanks
      Steve

  6. Trent P. July 4, 2010 at 11:53 am #

    Hey, me again. Letting you know I started my own blog strictly dedicated to Pro Set Football. Give it look as I found TONS of new errors/variations and have compounded and collated a 30+ page list of these newly found cards. I’ve appended the blog site. Take care and give me a shout.

  7. Trent P. July 19, 2010 at 12:23 pm #

    Hey, what’s up? I’ve been trying to liquidate some of these old 90′s and late 80′s sets from my childhood with little to no luck due to their period of production. But I did come across that may or may not be of rarity. It was in my 1990 Topps Traded Baseball box that I was going through, or sorting numerically, and I noticed on the Bobby Cox card that the card number looked “clipped”.. that is, not like the 1990 Pro Set variations, but it looks like half of the number is up above the other half as if someone sliced it and moved it up a little. Let me know if you need a picture or a scan, take care.

    • junkwaxgems July 19, 2010 at 12:58 pm #

      Hey Trent,

      Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. You are always welcome to email me directly (jacksoncoupage@yahoo.com) if you want. School and work has kept me very busy. I did check out your blog, it’s great and I’ll point people to it. It’s great to see people focus on a set they love and shine a light on all it’s blemishes! 1990 Pro Set is a great choice. I dug out some of my 1990 Pro Set boxes and found a stat line variation on Boomer Esiason’s card. Also, Jerry Ball’s Pro Bowl card has a scratch on the negative that Pro Set tried to airbrush with a few different color combos. Eddie Murray’s Pro Bowl card has a blue line through his arm sometimes. And Alfred Anderson can be found with a noticeably bold name (like the Chiefs cards). I’ll dig through my 1990 Topps Tradeds and see what I can find on Bobby Cox. I also have two wax boxes of that stuff on the way.

  8. Rotten Ralph August 1, 2010 at 12:20 pm #

    Hello..I have been very lucky to come across a 1990 Pro Set Steve Young Pro Set Prospect card #666.
    Are you familiar with the card? When I read the back of this card ….I couldn’t believe my eyes! It makes Dexter Manleys’s look like a church sermon….Here is a QUOTE,

    Recent career achievements include….most consecutive days without seeing sunlight,most cigarettes smoked in a 24 hour period,most phone calls received from Lud between midnight and six a.m.ina single season.

    There’s more….WOW!

    I just thought you should be aware of such a card…I have it….So what do you think? What’s this going to be worth?

    • Trent Poyner August 2, 2010 at 7:57 pm #

      Hello Ralph! Yes, that card is quite possibly THE RAREST 1990 Pro Set card. Potentially worth anywhere from $500+! Are you a Pro Set Master Collector? If not, I would like to make you a good offer on this card RIGHT NOW. Please e-mail me if you are interested, as this is a rare one. Where do you come across this card? I can’t imagine where this card could be procured.

      You can e-mail me at TrentPoyner@gmail.com. Do you have pictures of the card? Would love to work something out. Plesae e-mail me and let me know, I’m VERY interested. Thanks.

  9. Jeremiah Erickson October 2, 2010 at 1:45 pm #

    Errors and variations have always been a passion of mine and last March I acquired a quarter million cards from the junk wax era. I have been reading your blogs and I have found a few very interesting undiscovered variations of my own. I have been focusing on 88-90 score lately and will shift my focus elsewhere soon. Keep up the good work.

    • steve whitzman April 3, 2011 at 3:15 am #

      did you notice any new Montreal Expos errors or variations

      Thanks

      Steve

  10. J.R. November 2, 2010 at 7:41 pm #

    Please email me at your earliest convenience. I am interested in selling my entire Matt Luke collection, including my 1/1 and two /9′s. I’d love to see it have a nice home. Thanks.

  11. Bob Tompkins November 4, 2010 at 7:27 pm #

    How does one go about purchasing Donovan Ryan’s Error & Variation Guide? Thanks.

    Bob

  12. Barbara tiernan November 24, 2010 at 11:18 pm #

    I sold 3 copies of the Yellow Martinez error about 3 years ago on Ebay. Each one went for between 40 and 50 dollars. I got all of them out of a cello box that was green. Later cello boxes were a different color.

  13. J.R. January 11, 2011 at 11:13 pm #

    Any chance at you ever getting back to me re: my Matt Luke collection? I’d love to let you get at it, I just need to hear from you!

    • junkwaxgems January 12, 2011 at 12:36 pm #

      Hi,

      I’m sorry but at this time, I am not interested in purchasing any collections. My budget for cards is pretty much limited to error & variation research (i.e. junk wax and thrift store finds). If at some point you feel like splitting up some of it, feel free to contact me, as I mentioned before, I’m especially interested in the 1999 UD Exclusives.

      Thanks again!

  14. cheflar-pa January 27, 2011 at 8:35 am #

    Can anyone tell me or show me a pic of a corrected 1989 Topps Football #51 Derrick Burroughs? (I know there are at least 12 versions of the #32 Rodney Holman-i recently found one that only had a B for Bengals, but no ENGALS…)…but can’t find anything about the Burroughs…also, anyone ever seen a pick of the 1990 topps baseball #454 jeff king with no black ink?

  15. Mike Crain March 10, 2011 at 8:12 pm #

    I have a card that I have not seen it listed as UER or a variation. It is a 1988 Sportflics Fred Lynn, #23. It has his last line s “1978 Orioles” when it should read “1987 Orioles”. I have not seen another card to see if it is there or not. Do you have any ideas?

  16. cyberstout May 25, 2011 at 9:47 am #

    Hello JunkWaxGems,
    I’m going through my daughter’s card collection. Mostly 1987 and 1988 Topps. I have 1988 Topps #778, Keith Comstock, with PADRES printed in white. Do you want a scan? I also have #348 with a white scratch on Jim Eisenreich’s right arm.

    I have a “1988 Topps Glossy Send-In” complete set of 60 cards. Card #45 is Shane Rawley but is misprinted (upside-down) on the back as “Tony Gwynn – Card 38 OF 60″. Do you know if that might make the set worth any more or less than usual?

  17. Robert Gottberg June 6, 2011 at 4:52 pm #

    I am trying to find a errors and variations list for 1989 proset football, like what you have done with the 1990 set. Know of anyone who has one thanks

  18. Michelle Conway July 7, 2011 at 12:03 pm #

    I have a Don Beaupre 1991 Pro Set hockey card (#601). Washington Capitals is misspelled (Captials). Not great shape, but curious as to whether it has any value to anyone.

  19. Roger Grider July 11, 2011 at 8:59 am #

    I also have the Frd Lynn Sportflics card.My question is i Have a 1991 Pro Set Joe Gibbs card with the registeration mark that they use for the NFPPA.

  20. Tim DuBell August 30, 2011 at 6:10 pm #

    Just stumbled on the site.
    Ever see a 1992 Football’s Finest Dan Marino? The card design resembles the 1992 Topps Football’s Finest set, but it has a different back and no team logo’s. At first, i thought it was an unlicensed card with the same design, but with a little bit of research, the name of the company that produced the card also owns the Patent for the Chrome technology. Could this have been a promo card used to sell the Chrome technology to card companies?

    http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q290/collegetim916/PC%20Marinos%20NFT/1984-1994/05-03-2010074414PM.jpg

    Let me know if you have any information!

    • Dylan September 11, 2011 at 7:12 pm #

      I’ve never seen it, thanks for providing a scan! It may be a mock-up created before the whole NFLPA and NFL Properties division happened? Very odd, I’d like to hear other reader’s input on this one.

  21. Mike October 10, 2011 at 8:42 am #

    Hi, I’ve enjoyed looking over your site and have had fun looking for variations I didn’t know existed in sets like 1991 Topps.

    I was sorting some cards recently and noticed I had two 1993 Upper Deck #136 Rickey Henderson cards. The one is a normal card with Henderson’s name written in Gold colored script. However, the other has his name written in White script (just like the Upper Deck name and team name/position). Everything else about the card appears to be identical. Any idea how rare this variation might be, how it was issued, or if more cards from the set can be found like this?

    Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

  22. Patrick December 28, 2011 at 8:45 pm #

    Does anyone get on this site anymore?

  23. Aaron Pippin January 8, 2012 at 4:11 pm #

    i have a topps baseball card of steve olin from the indians looks like a 1993 and the card has no back to it. Its just blank? no idea if its worth anything and i cant find anything on it so if you or anyone knows something about it i would like to know please.

    • Dylan February 1, 2012 at 9:05 am #

      A blank back. Very common with 1992 and 1993 Topps.

  24. Eric April 27, 2012 at 10:47 am #

    Thought I would leave a question here about a card I am trying to track down, if it even exists. Nslists has a detailed checklist of 1991 Pro Set Musicards. (http://www.nslists.com/supmus1.htm). However, one of the things that it lists are three different versions of card #15 – John Lennon:

    15* John Lennon [Logo at top left; left hand raised]
    15* John Lennon [Logo at bottom right; left hand raised]
    15* John Lennon [Image reversed in Series 2 packs; right hand raised]

    I am familiar with the reversed image, and the movement of the logo from top left to bottom right, but I have never seen the interim variation, where the logo is moved before the picture was reversed. Has anyone heard of this second variation and if so, could you post a scan? Thanks.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out / Change )

Connecting to %s

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 70 other followers