2011 1992 Bowman #557 USA Baseball Alumni "No Foil Error"

Card Review: N/A (I gave the non-error a 4.5)

I came across this on eBay recently.  This an error (that's what we used to call variants back when they were unintentional) printing of the 1992 Bowman card.  The correctly printed version has gold foil around the edges of the card.  This one is just plain card stock, like the rest of the 1992 Bowman set.

I prefer the standard '92 Bowman to these USA Gold Foil subset cards, but I don't mind the foil as a limited run in the set.  So I have mixed feelings about this card.  That said, it's fun to come across new Wallach's from that era some 30 years after they were produced.  I'm not sure how rare these are or if the other USA cards also have non-foil versions floating around.  I also haven't checked to see if the gold foil is something that can just be rubbed off.  If it's the case, then this post will be getting a big re-write and this card will just get tallied with the others as a low grade copy.

Here's a look at the 1992 Bowman for a refresher:

   

Number of this card in my collection: 1

1991 Stadium Club Printing Error

My sorting process for Wallach cards has evolved of the years.  When I pick up a half dozen or so new Wallachs, be it by eBay or the generosity of a stranger by mail, it's not very time efficient to go to the stacks and try to log them into their proper place.  I keep an 1,800 count shoe box for new cards to go into.  When it begins to fill up, that's when I break down and sort the new arrivals into the mix with the other 20,000 plus Wallach's.  It's tedious, but I enjoy it.

Recently while undertaking that task, I was thumbing through a small stack of '91 Stadium Club, counting out 25 at a time to place into team bags, when the card above on the left caught my eye.  It's missing the gold foil stamping.  I'm pretty sure I've seen these pop up on eBay before, but it never interested me enough to pay the asking price for one.  That said, it was pretty cool to find one in the wild like this.

I'm not  a huge "error guy" when it comes to Wallach's, I actually prefer things like wildly off-centered cards or grossly off caliber color printing levels, but I do have a few wrong backs, blank-fronts, blank backs, and things of that nature.  This will find it's way into a binder with those.

Below is the card back, which as you can see is perfectly normal.

1991 Score "Wrong Back" error

This is a 1991 Score "wrong back" error, with the back to a Jay Buhner card appearing in place of the normal Wallach card back.  I remember these errors being somewhat common in the late 80's and early 90's.  I never actually pulled one out of a pack, but just about every card shop I ever went in had at least one or two of these in there case.  They used to demand a pretty high price, $10-30 if I remember correctly.  This one didn't cost me much of anything.  To be honest I don't remember how I came into possession of this, it was stuck in a drawer to be posted and forgotten about for the last year or so.  It was either sent by a reader (sorry for not giving credit if that's the case) or bought for no more than a buck or two on ebay.

For book keeping purposes, I'm not counting this as a unique card, or towards the 1991 Score tally.  I'm just deeming it another oddball collectible. 

1991 Score #210/125 "Wrong-Back"

Card Review: N/A  I'm not counting this as a card.  It's getting the catch-all "odd-ball" abbreviation.  It's a "wrong-back" error with Jay Buhner on the back instead of the Wallach card back.  In the 1980's and early 90's these would show up on a somewhat regular basis.  I never pulled one from a pack myself, but I know I saw them in card shops and probably knew a kid or two that had one.  They used to sell for really obscene prices.  They were sort of a forerunner to today's limited print run inserts.  I don't really see the appeal myself.  I'm sure there are some neat combinations out there.  A Pete Rose/Ray Fosse card or Mitch Williams/Joe Carter one would be kind of neat.  But for the most part, I just see them as random printing errors.  Not that I mind finally having a Wallach example in my collection.

1989 Topps #720 Blank Front

This is an blank front error of the '89 Topps card.  I've seen a lot of blank backs over the years, but not many blank fronts (of anyone not just Wallach).  It doesn't show well in the scan because it's white, and slick, like a normal card front.

I could be way off on this, but I don't ever remember Donruss or Fleer producing blank back cards in the 1980's.  Something that was unique to Topps.  I'm not wild about these errors myself, and they are not something I actively pursue.  I'm not grading this card, or counting it towards the over-all number of cards I have, because I don't really consider it a card.

*Update Jan. 31, 2013*
Upon further review this card has been added to the '89 Topps tally, but is only be counted as 1/2 a card.