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gracecollector
Well-known member
Here's a long read on an esoteric card set very few will even care about, but I just might be on to something that would change both Beckett and the Standard Catalog.
The story begins with a wanted card. The 1993 Donruss Triple Play set was supposedly previewed to dealers with a 12 card set. These preview cards were the first 12 cards in the set. Now, Beckett and SCD will tell you that the preview cards have a big "PREVIEW" stamped across the card backs. This was the case with 1992 Triple Play Previews.
Mark Grace is part of the 12 card set (he is card #11 ). Most of you know how hard I collect anything Grace (see website link below if unfamiliar). I had never seen a 1993 Donruss Triple Play Previews card in the last 17 years, one with a PREVIEW across the back. Seemed odd I had never seen one. But there it remained on my checklist, confirmed by both Beckett and SCD, remaining the only Grace card I needed from the pre 1/1 era beginning in 1997.
Last week a card claiming to be a Grace 93 Triple Play Preview was listed on eBay. No scan of the back was given. I jumped on the buy it now just taking the chance.
Yesterday I received the card and at first glance I was disappointed. It appeared to be the same as a regular Triple Play, and no "PREVIEW" printed across the back. Tonight I dug out my regular card example, and compared it very closely to the supposed "PREVIEW." Again it appeared identical. But then I caught one very slight difference.
On the card backs, there are faint "Triple Play" logos on the black areas of the card. They are very transparent though, so tough to see at first glance. I noticed on the regular card, the Triple Play logo was printed very sharply, with the thinnest of outlines around the letters. On the supposed preview, the outlines around the letters were much bolder and a little fuzzy. I tilted the card back and forth (like looking for a refractor finish), and was surprised that as I did so, the regular card logos stayed the same color, but the preview card logos faded to black - blending in with the card logos - but then came back into sight as I kept turning it. This could be a different ink between the cards.
The seller of the card emailed and said that they received these cards direct from Donruss in a clear 12-card cellophane wrapper, no "PREVIEW" printed on them anywhere.
I'm ready to believe that both the major catalogs are wrong in their description of these cards. If anyone can produce a scan of a 1993 Donruss Triple Play Preview card with a "PREVIEW" back print, I'll stand corrected. I've looked everywhere and can't. Please prove me wrong if you can! I just want to know the truth.
So for anyone who has ever looked for this issue, this may explain why you haven't found what you're looking for. The differences between the two are so slight as to be virtually impossible to detect unless you are looking specifically at those little back logos.
Here's a scan of the logos. My scanner had a very hard time picking up the "PREVIEW" logos, but no problem with the regular logos. I had to adjust the contrast very sharply to be able to show the difference in logo thickness.
BTW, here's the checklist of 1993 Triple Play Previews:
Ken Griffey Jr. 1
Roberto Alomar 2
Cal Ripken 3
Eric Karros 4
Cecil Fielder 5
Gary Sheffield 6
Darren Daulton 7
Andy Van Slyke 8
Dennis Eckersley 9
Ryne Sandberg 10
Mark Grace 11
David Segui-Luis Polonia-Awesome Action 12
The story begins with a wanted card. The 1993 Donruss Triple Play set was supposedly previewed to dealers with a 12 card set. These preview cards were the first 12 cards in the set. Now, Beckett and SCD will tell you that the preview cards have a big "PREVIEW" stamped across the card backs. This was the case with 1992 Triple Play Previews.
Mark Grace is part of the 12 card set (he is card #11 ). Most of you know how hard I collect anything Grace (see website link below if unfamiliar). I had never seen a 1993 Donruss Triple Play Previews card in the last 17 years, one with a PREVIEW across the back. Seemed odd I had never seen one. But there it remained on my checklist, confirmed by both Beckett and SCD, remaining the only Grace card I needed from the pre 1/1 era beginning in 1997.
Last week a card claiming to be a Grace 93 Triple Play Preview was listed on eBay. No scan of the back was given. I jumped on the buy it now just taking the chance.
Yesterday I received the card and at first glance I was disappointed. It appeared to be the same as a regular Triple Play, and no "PREVIEW" printed across the back. Tonight I dug out my regular card example, and compared it very closely to the supposed "PREVIEW." Again it appeared identical. But then I caught one very slight difference.
On the card backs, there are faint "Triple Play" logos on the black areas of the card. They are very transparent though, so tough to see at first glance. I noticed on the regular card, the Triple Play logo was printed very sharply, with the thinnest of outlines around the letters. On the supposed preview, the outlines around the letters were much bolder and a little fuzzy. I tilted the card back and forth (like looking for a refractor finish), and was surprised that as I did so, the regular card logos stayed the same color, but the preview card logos faded to black - blending in with the card logos - but then came back into sight as I kept turning it. This could be a different ink between the cards.
The seller of the card emailed and said that they received these cards direct from Donruss in a clear 12-card cellophane wrapper, no "PREVIEW" printed on them anywhere.
I'm ready to believe that both the major catalogs are wrong in their description of these cards. If anyone can produce a scan of a 1993 Donruss Triple Play Preview card with a "PREVIEW" back print, I'll stand corrected. I've looked everywhere and can't. Please prove me wrong if you can! I just want to know the truth.
So for anyone who has ever looked for this issue, this may explain why you haven't found what you're looking for. The differences between the two are so slight as to be virtually impossible to detect unless you are looking specifically at those little back logos.
Here's a scan of the logos. My scanner had a very hard time picking up the "PREVIEW" logos, but no problem with the regular logos. I had to adjust the contrast very sharply to be able to show the difference in logo thickness.
BTW, here's the checklist of 1993 Triple Play Previews:
Ken Griffey Jr. 1
Roberto Alomar 2
Cal Ripken 3
Eric Karros 4
Cecil Fielder 5
Gary Sheffield 6
Darren Daulton 7
Andy Van Slyke 8
Dennis Eckersley 9
Ryne Sandberg 10
Mark Grace 11
David Segui-Luis Polonia-Awesome Action 12
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