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Junk Era rarities to look out for. 1987-1994 Rarities to check for before tossing out.

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Jan 14, 2009
595
5
Let this be a brief resource for those finding themselves asking "is there anything I should save" before throwing away bulk late 80's and early 90's cards.

I am NOT covering promos, inserts, test issues, tiffany sets because those are all very well covered on this board and others like the collector's universe and net54 sites.

This is stuff that can be found in anyone's junk era stash. A list of pack-issued rarities to pull aside before trashing or giving away your junk era stuff. This DOES NOT mean you will make a ton of cash in their sales as the E&V market is rather volatile. These are items that compared to the outrageous production numbers of this era, are genuinely scarcer.

1987 Topps Dave Lopes #4 with 1985 copyright on back (also, plate errors can make the copyright appear as 1957)
1987 Topps Greg Matthews with red neck, not flesh colored.
1987 Topps Turn Back The Clock with yellow dates on front

1988 Donruss Ray Knight with white or dark colored scar on neck
1988 Donruss Nelson Liriano with natural colored face, blacked-out version is the common version.

1988 Score Highlights cards with missing text. Several cards in this subset have been found with one or two words deleted or "whited-out" on back.

1988 Topps Glossy Offer Insert with black arrow over text on front
1988 Topps Glossy Offer Insert with silver arrow over text on front
1988 Topps Glossy Offer Insert without arrow and "cards not included" text on front
1988 Topps Angles TL with magenta stripe over Joyner's arm
1988 Topps John Tudor missing most of name on back
1988 Topps Tom Candiotti missing name on front
1988 Topps Keith Comstock with yellow name on front

1989 Fleer Checklists with positions
1989 Fleer Randy Johnson Marlboro sign and their numerous correction attempts (plenty of info out there on these)

1989 Score cards missing copyrights. These may fall into promo category as I have heard conflicting stories about their origins, included them being pack issued.

1989 Topps Tony Oliva missing copyright on back
1989 Topps Tony Oliva with blacked-out copyright on back (one of the rarest Topps variations produced)
1989 Topps Ed Hearn with blue streak over cheek.
1989 Topps Ryne Sandberg All-Star with large pink blotch over helmet
1989 Topps Company Store and Glossy Offer Insert cards printed on vanilla bean stock

1990 Donruss Grand Slammers Todd Benzinger with red star on front
1990 Donruss Bo Jackson DK with "redone i in Diamond Kings" whatever that means, it's been catalogued since 1990.
1990 Donruss All-Stars without yellow star on front (only a few known examples)
1990 Donruss All-Stars with black lines through star on front (Harold Baines is not particularly rare, other subjects are very rare)

1990 Fleer Dave Martinez yellow '90 on front
1990 Fleer Tracy Jones and Jose Lind with pink name banners on front (other players exist)

1990 Score Jim Abbott, Felix Jose and other red bordered subjects with red wedges by their names on front
1990 Score Milt Cuyler with ghost 9 in 998 visible. Whiteout/airbrushing visible over errant 9 in stats on back.
1990 Score Rickey Henderson and Will Clark MVP's with TM printed outside of box by AL/NL logo

1990 Upper Deck Ben McDonald with blank white circle on front
1990 Upper Deck Mike Witt with black box on back
1990 Upper Deck Checklist #800 with black box on back (if exists)

1991 Fleer Brewers Checklist with same checklist on both sides

1991 Leaf Gold Rookies with regular numbering on back

1991 Score Scott Chiamparino pitches Left
1991 Score Nolan Ryan HL with white stat box on back

1991 Topps Oil Can Boyd with black border around flag tip in 40th logo on front
1991 Topps A*B* print codes (except Daryl Boston...fairly common)
1991 Topps Mark Whiten hand outside border
1991 Topps Doug Drabek white border
1991 Topps Chris Hoiles white border
1991 Topps Joe Morgan 87 hits for Boggs on back
1991 Topps Randy Bush without print code
1991 Topps Sweepstakes Inserts with X and mailing address (extremely rare)

1991 Upper Deck Hologram variations...NHL, 1990, Comic Ball and 1992 type holograms on back
1991 Upper Deck Luis Salazar with print defect over i in name on back
1991 Upper Deck Milt Thompson with print defect over 86 in stats on back
1991 Upper Deck Don Mattingly missing stats on back

1992 Leaf series 2 cards missing stats

1992 Stadium Club with silver foil

1992 Topps Rickey Henderson RB with 1.991 on front
1992 Topps Chipper Jones PROSPECTS card missing black ink on back (unknown origin, some say pack-issued)
1992 Topps Match The Stats SPs...Mickey Mantle, Don Mattingly, Nolan Ryan, Ron Guidry (will update with full list)

1992-1993 Pacific Nolan Ryan Ghost Writing "Say No To Drugs" glow-in-the-dark ink messages on back

1993 Leaf with silver foil (also affects inserts)

1993 Pacific Rob Maurer with Donald Harris (or is it Jose Oliva) photo

1993 Topps Black Gold ABCD
1993 Topps Black Gold Redemptions with and without copyrights on back
1993 Topps Black Gold AB and CD swamped images
1993 Topps Black Gold with flat gold foiling, non-holographic

1993 Upper Deck with white names on front
1993 Upper Deck with 1992 holograms on back (Griffey and Mays Heroes promos exist and are much more common)

1994 Collector's Choice Up Close subset with white or brown bar at bottom on front
1994 Collector's Choice Future Foundation subset white silver signatures and white lettering on front

1994 Topps cards with A or B print codes visible on back (extremely rare, typically A and B sheet players have no print code)
1994 Topps Black Gold ABCD

1994 Upper Deck base cards with silver stat headings on back
1994 Upper Deck electric diamond with silver stat headings on back
1994 Upper Deck Fantasy Team subset with electric diamond printed in bronze foil (very rare)

That's a start. Will update as more comes to mind.

Thanks!
 
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Jan 14, 2009
595
5
I have seen the TM almost entirely out of the white space. Also, on Clark or Rickey (not sure), one comes with a hand-done tm, rather than the regular printed font.
 

BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
Man, I love all this stuff!

I bought a '94 collectors choice set & all the "up close" cards had a white bar. Might only be in factory sets.

Don't forget the '86 donruss highlights cards with white letters in "highlights" & the players name.

Also the blank backed "x" card found in '90 topps major league debut

88 topps angels team leaders (joyner/ howell) with a red line on joyners arm.
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
Man, I love all this stuff!

I bought a '94 collectors choice set & all the "up close" cards had a white bar. Might only be in factory sets.

Don't forget the '86 donruss highlights cards with white letters in "highlights" & the players name.

Also the blank backed "x" card found in '90 topps major league debut

Nice find!

88 topps angels team leaders (joyner/ howell) with a red line on joyners arm.

88 Angels is noted above. I am not adding stuff from boxed sets and oddball sets since the idea is stuff to look for in any batch of junk era stuff. This is more in response to the "I broke a case of 1989 topps" or "is there anything to look for in 1990 Donruss" etc etc type threads.
 

henderson939

New member
Dec 14, 2009
1,922
1
New Jersey
Here are some more Hendersons That I have. I am not including sportflics copyrights and donruss/leaf (inc./inc). These are all legit variations. I do have some questionable ones, but I will only list if someone wants me to. I dont know if other players have the same variations, but I assume they do.

1) 1992 TOPPS GOLD WINNER #2 (LARGE TOPPS GOLD LOGO-BACK)
2) 1992 TOPPS GOLD WINNER #2 (SMALL TOPPS GOLD LOGO-BACK)
3) 1992 TOPPS KIDS [URL=http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=11]#11 8[/URL] (*)
4) 1992 TOPPS KIDS [URL=http://www.freedomcardboard.com/forum/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=11]#11 8[/URL] (**)
5) 1992 MCDONALDS BASEBALLS BEST #3 (*)
6) 1992 MCDONALDS BASEBALLS BEST #3 (**)
7) 1991 STARTING LINEUP CARD (BLUE BACK-STATS THRU A.S. GAME)
8) 1991 STARTING LINEUP CARD (BLUE BACK-STATS FULL SEASON)
9) 1991 939 BLACK & BLUE MARBLE BORDER (BLUE BACK)
10) 1991 939 BLACK & BLUE MARBLE BORDER (BLUE & WHITE BACK)
11) 1989 TOPPS BIG #2 71 (*)
12) 1989 TOPPS BIG #2 71 (**)
13) 1989 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (GRAY STOCK *)
14) 1989 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (GRAY STOCK **)
15) 1989 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (WHITE STOCK *)
16) 1989 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (WHITE STOCK **)
17) 1988 TOPPS BIG #165 (A*)
18) 1988 TOPPS BIG #165 (A**)
19) 1988 TOPPS BIG #165 (B*)
20) 1988 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (GRAY STOCK *)
21) 1988 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (GRAY STOCK **)
22) 1988 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (WHITE STOCK *)
23) 1988 DONRUSS #2 77 (TEAM COLLECTION-88 © )
24) 1987 TOPPS MINI LEADER #64 (BORDER VARI. A - PINK SPOT ON PHOTO)
25) 1987 TOPPS MINI LEADER #64 (BORDER VARI. A - PINK/BLUE SPOT)
26) 1987 TOPPS MINI LEADER #64 (BORDER VARI. B - PINK SPOT)
27) 1987 TOPPS MINI LEADER #64 (BORDER VARI. B - PINK/BLUE SPOT)
28) 1987 TOPPS MINI LEADER #64 (BORDER VARI. C - PINK SPOT)
29) 1987 TOPPS MINI LEADER #64 (BORDER VARI. C - PINK/BLUE SPOT)
30) 1986 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR A.L. TEAM #11
31) 1986 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (GRAY STOCK *)
32) 1986 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (GRAY STOCK **)
33) 1986 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (WHITE STOCK *)
34) 1986 TOPPS COMM. ALL-STAR #7 (WHITE STOCK **)
35) 1984 TOPPS MAIL-IN ALL-STAR (GRAY STOCK)
36) 1984 TOPPS MAIL-IN ALL-STAR (WHITE STOCK)
37) 1982 PERMA-GRAPHICS SUPERSTAR (SMALL LOGO ON BACK)
38) 1982 PERMA-GRAPHICS SUPERSTAR (LARGE LOGO ON BACK)
39) 1982 PERMA-GRAPHICS ALL-STAR (TAN STAR-DARK COPPER CIRCLE)
40) 1982 PERMA-GRAPHICS ALL-STAR (DARK COPPER STAR, INSET, & CIRCLE)
41) 1981 TOPPS SCRATCH-OFF #3 9 (BASEBALL HAT OFFER)
42) 1981 TOPPS SCRATCH-OFF #3 9 (SPORTS CARD LOCKER OFFER)
43) 1981 PERMA GRAPHICS (019 on bottom corner)
44) 1981 OPC #2 61 (GRAY STOCK)
45) 1981 OPC #2 61 (WHITE STOCK-RED BACK)
46) 1993 CLASSIC #T42 (BLUE BACK)
47) 1993 CLASSIC #T42 (GRAY BACK)
48) 1994 TOPPS #2 48 (B ON BACK)
49) 1994 UPPER DECK #60 (COPPER BACK)
50) 1994 UPPER DECK #60 (SILVER BACK)
51) 1994 UPPER DECK ELECTRIC DIAMOND #60 (COPPER BACK)
52) 1994 UPPER DECK ELECTRIC DIAMOND #60 (SILVER BACK)
53) 1995 TOPPS #559 (SILVER NAME)
 

Austin

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
5,706
41
Dallas, Texas
Cool thread. I didn't know about a lot of those, and I'm a pretty knowledgeable '80s collector.
The one that stood out to me is the '88 Donruss Ray Knight with a light or dark scar on his neck.
So I looked on your website, and I saw that it's actually a printing mark and not a real scar, which would have been cooler.
It's funny that Donruss first only erased the mark on his face, but left it on his neck. Then they erased the entire think.
It looks like a piece of lint got on the printing plate.
Here's the pic from your page:

img503.jpg
 
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nosterbor

Well-known member
Jun 20, 2010
6,099
431
Sunny Florida
You forgot this. 1994 Collector's Choice Silver Signature UP Close No Silver on Bottom
I only found these in the super jumbo packs. Those boxes dried up in 1 week because of the strike.
juan_picture.php
 
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gt2590

Super Moderator
Aug 17, 2008
38,658
3,246
Near Philly
Thanks for posting, very cool thread.

Maybe @gilmo can add it to the stickies so people can add to it here and there...
 

BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
But is that really a variation?

Just a big old yellowish print splotch.

Either that or Keith REALLY peed his pants.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
But is that really a variation?

Just a big old yellowish print splotch.

Either that or Keith REALLY peed his pants.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

As always, that's subjective. But it has been catalogued in Dick Gilkeson's Errors & Variations guide since 1989 or so. Also listed in the SCD annual as such.

If they are going to list the 1990 Topps Jeff King "no white on back" as a variation, then this absolutely qualifies (same misprint type).
 

BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
As always, that's subjective. But it has been catalogued in Dick Gilkeson's Errors & Variations guide since 1989 or so. Also listed in the SCD annual as such.

If they are going to list the 1990 Topps Jeff King "no white on back" as a variation, then this absolutely qualifies (same misprint type).

Good call.

To me, the comstock "looks" like it's botched, defective, while the king "looks" like a genuine variation.
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
Good call.

To me, the comstock "looks" like it's botched, defective, while the king "looks" like a genuine variation.

Both cards are the product of excess single color inking (yellow in both cases). There are other subjects in 1990 Topps such as John Wathan where the back is 80-90% covered in yellow ink. The King card (which only one example is known/ever seen), just "lucked out" by being entirely effected by the ink run.

1986 Topps has many excess/solid red backs, 1967 Topps has several solid green backs etc...all similar excess ink run misprints.

Although I recognize their rarity and find them very interesting, I do not think any of them should be listed as "true" variations per Beckett's definition, or if so, they should open it up to the hundreds (thousands?) of others like them.
 

BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
Yes, this is a bump, but worth it.

I've periodically looked over the years for an image of the 1991 leaf gold rookies variation with regular card numbers instead of "BC"

Just started reading a 1995 annual and here it is 1522028864804.jpg

Sent from my [device_name] using Freedom Card Board mobile app
 

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