Any Sports Illustrated poster experts out there?

[mrmopar]

I was trying to determine if there are multiple versions of some of the 70s-80s SI posters issued. It would appear there are, but was looking for some sort of verification from someone who is certain one way or the other.

I had 3-4 of the white framed SI posters when I was a kid. They were all from the late 70s to early 80s and do not remember any that didn't have the white border on all 4 sides.

I have recently noticed some of those posters being offered for sale online have only the border along the top, where the players name is featured. I had always assumed that someone cut off the other three borders, but with the amount I see for sale, I am beginning to doubt that theory now.

Here are two examples, Rose and Jackson, showing both styles. One seller even pictures a close up of the poster information that normally shows up in the lower white border, further leading me to believe that some versions just didn't have the other three white borders. Any information on this topic and maybe how/why they were distributed/sold that way would be helpful. Thanks.

[pawpawdiv9]

Damn! I thought this would be the Swimsuit Editions.

[Mark70Z]

Look like they are cut to me, but I'm not an expert by any means. I know a little about the '68's, but not much after those... They really look cool either way.

[mrmopar]

By the way, I just picked some random photos where I could find both versions on ebay. I did win a lot of posters a few years back and some of them were non-bordered, but they are packed away somewhere. I don't remember/think they appeared cut to me at the time I got them though.

[Mark70Z]

Are they different sizes? I would think that the regular issue SI posters would be the normal 24"x 36".

[Bigdaddy]

I too had a bunch of these as a kid, practically plastered my whole bedroom walls with them.

My guess is that the borderless ones are trimmed to remove the pin holes, tape marks, etc.

[mrmopar]

These are not my posters, I just took the images from google for examples. I'd have to dig through my posters to see if I still have any of the borderless ones and see how they size up. Right now I am trying to flatten out all of the posters I have, so they are all stacked up with items on top to flatten them, so they are inaccessible right now.

I did receive an email from someone who claimed to have interviewed a factory worker who said a certain retailer ordered their posters this way with the factory "trim job". No specifics were offered as to who the retailer was or anything further, but it was interesting to read.