Quick Look: 1993 Topps Black Gold Foil Variations

Her is a little-known variation that affects one of the few inserts sets from 1993 to retain and even grow in popularity. In 1993, Topps included a special insert called Black Gold featuring 44 of the biggest players at the time. Collector’s could find one of these every other box or so, but on occasion, they could also find “Winner” redemption cards for sets of 11, 22 or all 44 of the cards, since these cards are so popular with player-collectors, the 44 card winner redemption has greatly appreciated in value over the years. Along with the already-documented “switched backs” errors, a blog for another day, a variation in the foil used on these cards can be found.

Most commonly the cards use a holographic gold foil, however, a small sampling of them feature a non-holographic, simple gold foil treatment. In my years of knowing about these cards, I’ve only encountered a handful of examples. Unfortunately, not a single copy of my player, recently-appointed manager of the Chicago White Sox, Robin Ventura.

Quick look: 1993 Topps Russ Swan #96

1993 Topps contains a handful of variations which I will outline in a later blog. But for now, take a look at one of the weirder ones: #96 featuring Mariners pitcher Russ Swan. The first version has the “Complete Major League Pitching Record” heading printed twice. The second corrected it and shifted it to the left as well. Though one can never be sure, I am almost certain that this is one of my own discoveries as it had previously not been mentioned as far as I know.