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  #1  
Old 03-14-2013, 10:49 AM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Default Desert Shield

Hi All,

I am relatively new to this side of the board, but usually post on the Pre-War side. I have looked through the various Desert Shield threads here & on other forums but have not been able to determine if there are "many" or in fact any variations on cards within this set.

Key Man Collectibles (on his website) listed 20 or so variations of the regular Topps issue. I have not been able to verify any variations noted with the cards I own - excluding the checklists which don't have the foil shield so you don't really know which set they come from.

In addition, I have not been able to find any of the bold/faded A*B* variations between the A* & B* print sheets. In fact I have not found any legitimate Desert Shield cards with a A*B* print sheet designation on the reverse near the Topps copyright designation. It is almost as if Topps corrected the variations when they printed Desert Shield cards.

Thoughts on this guys....can anyone find any of the known variations? Does anyone have the A*B* Bold/Faded variations?

Thanks guys.

Z Wheat
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  #2  
Old 03-14-2013, 11:28 AM
novakjr novakjr is offline
David Nova.kovich Jr.
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My guess is that they were all printed in one factory, in one shot. So you probably wouldn't have any variations.. And more than likely they weren't printed with the initial release, thus the corrections.

Last edited by novakjr; 03-14-2013 at 11:31 AM.
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  #3  
Old 03-14-2013, 11:56 AM
ALR-bishop ALR-bishop is offline
Al Richter
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Default 1991 Desert Shield

I tend to agree with David. I have that set, and the regular 1991 set. I have been collecting oddities, variations and errors for a long time in all my Topps sets, and think that no set has more of them, front an back, than the regular 1991 set, which was the 40th anniversary issue. It is a mess from a printing standpoint.

But I think it likely the Desert Shield run was one time with no changes in cards or the printing process. Also, I have had for a long time an ongoing ebay search for "Topps 1991 variation(s)" and never pulled up a listing for a Desert Shield card. It's a great question though and maybe someone else has looked more closely

Last edited by ALR-bishop; 03-14-2013 at 12:01 PM.
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  #4  
Old 03-14-2013, 02:51 PM
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cardinalcollector cardinalcollector is offline
Randy Trierweiler
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I agree with David and Al. It wouldn't be logical at all for any variations to exist in the Desert Shield set. I have all the Cardinals, there are no A*B* variations, and all cards seem to be of the "corrected" variety.
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  #5  
Old 03-15-2013, 07:14 PM
mcadams mcadams is offline
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Default Lonnie

Interesting topic. I don't collect all of the DS set, but am heavily involved in completing several of the team sets, including the Atlanta Braves. I had a series of email exchanges with PSA several years ago discussing one of the more well known '91 Topps Variations, the Lonnie Smith 136G error.

If you recall, on the back of the original card, Lonnie Smith's 1990 stat line reads that he played 136 games in 1990. The card was later corrected to read that he played in 135 games in 1990. Both versions of the card are easily found from the base 1991 set. However, after searching for over a decade, I could not find the 135 version in the Desert Shield set. I have over 50 copies of the Lonnie Smith DS card, and they are all the 136G version. I also contacted several of the PSA registry players in the set and none of them had ever seen a 135 version either. Because of this information, PSA removed the 135 version from the Desert Shield composite several years ago.

Because the 135 was the corrected version, I've always believe the Desert Shield set was actually made early in Topps printing process, prior to the Lonnie Smith 135G (The "Corrected" version) being printed. I'd love to hear other thoughts.
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  #6  
Old 03-15-2013, 09:34 PM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Default 1991 Topps Desert Shield

Mcadams,

Wouldn't the corrected version...if it exists in the Desert Shield set mean that the set was printed later in the print run or after the 1991 Topps set? I will show the variations at appear to exist in the 1991 set but aren't found in the Desert Shield set when I can tomorrow.

Z Wheat

Last edited by Zach Wheat; 08-27-2013 at 08:50 AM.
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  #7  
Old 03-16-2013, 06:57 AM
novakjr novakjr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zach Wheat View Post
Mcadams,

Wouldn't the corrected version...if it exists in the Desert Shield set mean that the set was printed later in the print run or after the 1991 Topps set? I will show the variations at appear to exist in the 1991 set but aren't found in the Desert Shield set when I can tomorrow?

Z Wheat
You may have read that wrong. He was saying that the error(136) is the version in the the DS set.. And that the corrected(135) wasn't, leading him to believe it was from an early print run.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mcadams View Post
Because the 135 was the corrected version, I've always believe the Desert Shield set was actually made early in Topps printing process, prior to the Lonnie Smith 135G (The "Corrected" version) being printed. I'd love to hear other thoughts.
Corrected or not, Either way, I wouldn't expect there to be variations in the DS release. Sure in the regular issue they're variations(error, corrected, whatnot). But in terms of the DS set, whichever version it is, it's just the card..

Last edited by novakjr; 03-16-2013 at 07:06 AM.
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  #8  
Old 03-16-2013, 07:51 PM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by novakjr View Post
You may have read that wrong. He was saying that the error(136) is the version in the the DS set.. And that the corrected(135) wasn't, leading him to believe it was from an early print run.



Corrected or not, Either way, I wouldn't expect there to be variations in the DS release. Sure in the regular issue they're variations(error, corrected, whatnot). But in terms of the DS set, whichever version it is, it's just the card..
Got it. One of the dangers of reading small print on an iPad. I will have to check the remainder of my cards. The 2 Lonnie Smith cards (Card #306) I have also have "...136 Games...".

It may be hard to verify much of what we speculate since the population of cards is so small. If the print run was in the 2,000-2,500 sets according to popular belief, then that would make the population of each card no greater than a third to quarter as numerous as some of the popular pre-war sets like the Cracker Jacks.
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  #9  
Old 03-18-2013, 09:10 AM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Default Production Figures

I've sorted my variations into both the "correct" year end stats & "incorrect" year end stats that were later corrected by Topps. Variations seem to be with both correct & incorrect YE stats - but not both for the same card. Further, while I was digging for information that might help me determine when DS cards were printed I ran across a couple of articles.

The articles were both from Jan 1992 and both articles indicate higher production figures (5.4 million) for this set than has been previously presumed to exist (2,500 sets or approx. 2 million cards). An AP article published in the Sun Sentinel Jan. 1992 indicates Topps produced 5,400,00 cards for overseas delivery - but they arrived too late to be distributed. Accordingly, the Air Force sent back 1,500,00 cards to the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base - a central shipping site during the conflict - and distributed them locally, with each of the base's 3,330 active personnel receiving 30 packs. Collectors would wait outside the gates of the base trying to buy cards, which would sell at a premium as collector's knew this was a "rare" variation. This probably accounts for a lot of the cards seen in the US today.

A 2nd article in the Chicago Tribune Jan 1992 also indicates the same 5,400,00 production figure and includes comments from Timm Boyle - a Topps spokesperson - who estimated that a third to half of the 5.4 million Desert Shield baseball cards produced were returned the US. It is not clear if he is referencing only cards returned by the military due to the late delivery or if his estimate includes total cards returned by the military as well as cards saved & brought back by individual military personnel. However his comments seem to support the contention that DS cards were produced at one time and then distributed en masse. This could account for why - to date - we see only 1 "variation" of the traditional 1991 Topps set.

Just thought I would share this additional information. Comments or thoughts?


Z Wheat
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  #10  
Old 03-18-2013, 12:02 PM
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Default Desert Shield

Good info Zach. It had been my impression the majority of the DS cards never made it over seas, and that many did not even make it into the military supply chain. But I have no personal knowledge or hard fact about that.

There are of course a good many DS fakes out there too and it would seem if any variations are found one would have to be sure it is an actual DS card.
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  #11  
Old 03-18-2013, 11:31 PM
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I've looked into it quite extensively myself. As a Dodgers collector I have particular interest in the Valenzuela #80 card. I will say this...DO NOT trust the PSA pop report. Based on it there are many err/corr variations within the DS set and all I've seen are cards with mislabeled slabs. Aside from the Fernando card, the McGwire correct variation (.618) has been notoriously subject to this.
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  #12  
Old 04-03-2013, 07:04 AM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Default Acquired Desert Shield Sheets

Quote:
Originally Posted by 4reals View Post
I've looked into it quite extensively myself. As a Dodgers collector I have particular interest in the Valenzuela #80 card. I will say this...DO NOT trust the PSA pop report. Based on it there are many err/corr variations within the DS set and all I've seen are cards with mislabeled slabs. Aside from the Fernando card, the McGwire correct variation (.618) has been notoriously subject to this.
Joe,

Are you suggesting you have not seen "any" or "many" error cards with the corresponding corrections? I believe you are stating you have only seen either the error or corrected card, but not both. If that is the case, I tend to agree with you. I have gone through approx. 2,000 Desert Shield cards and have not been able to confirm any of the noted error cards AND the corrected cards. I am not saying they don't exist - just that if they exist, they must be rare.

The only card I have been able to find with an error /corrected version is card #685 (Doug Drabek) - which actually is more of a printing variation than an error. The card (see below) has a "black" border and a "gray" border. Further the card has a different shade of gray banner behind the "Pirates" name on the front of the card. The differences are significant when you compare the card side-by-side.

Additionally, I was able to acquire 11 uncut full sheets of Desert Shield cards showing sheets A-F, with 2 copies of most sheets. Sheet F has the checklists - which believe it or not - has checklists without foil stamped logo's. The checklists were in the middle of the sheet, bottom row. Two of the checklists (#131 & #656) are consistent with the other cards I have checked and show only the Bradley & Polacios variations. I was surprised to find actual unstamped checklists on the actual sheets. I always thought checklists were just normal 1991 Topps cards replete with error & corrected information. If anyone is interested I will post pics of the sheets.

I will also post a list of the known variations identified in the 1991 set (excluding printer's mistakes) that I have checked in the next post, which were compiled from several sources.
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File Type: jpg 1991 Topps #685 Drabek Border Color.jpg (78.9 KB, 421 views)
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  #13  
Old 04-03-2013, 08:00 AM
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Default 1991

Looking forward to your list Zach. I think I have more variant cards with my 1991 set than any other of my Topps sets, but I admit most are what I view as print defects
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  #14  
Old 04-03-2013, 08:11 AM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Default Desert Shield Variations

Following is a list of the Desert Shield variations which I have compiled from my own cards and several other sources. It is interesting to note some DS cards have correct stats while other DS cards have incorrect stats. For the most part, it seems as if most of the corrections were made prior to starting the DS print run. However, to date I have not found the error & corresponding corrected version of the card - just 1 or the other. In fact, the only variation which I have been able to confirm is the Drabek gray/black border variation previously noted.

It is also interesting to note that based on a small sample size the checklists are consistent as well. Perhaps if other printer sheets turn up, this information is a means to determine whether Desert Shield checklists are actually from the set or from the 1991 Topps regular issue set - since they are identical, other than the corrections.

Again many thanks to KeyMan Collectibles, JunkWaxGems, Beckett, PSA, CU and numerous other sources from which this information was compiled. Here are the variations I have checked against the 1991 Topps regular issue set but not found both versions of the same card:

• Card #21 Joe Morgan MGR – “87” hits; DS set has the corrected version which is “187 hits”.

• Card #22 Storm Davis – (Front) Copyright logo in Upper left corner above Topps in white border area; 1991 Topps regular issue has both. DS cards do not have the copyright logo.

• Card #42 Chris Hoiles – (Front) Black Border white or Gray border (DS cards have gray border).

• Card #48 – Dennis Boyd – 3 Variations –left wrist covers 40th Anniv logo; airbrushed pink to blend in with logo, no black box on banner underneath “40”; DS cards have 40th Anniversary logo which covers wrist fully with black border and it appears as if the wrist is behind the border.

• Card 49A Pat Borders (DS cards have 1986 – “40 steals in Kinston”) 49B (0 Steal in Kinston)

• Card 80A Fernando Valenzuela (DS cards have In 1990 104 ER in '90 Tied League Lead “◊” Present in line)) 80B (Led League)

• Card #83 Daryl Boston (Front) Line through his position, left side of card in the top portion of “OF”;

• Card #97A Brady Anderson Box at bottom, (DS cards “In Sept 2 RBI and 3 Hits”) 97B (Set, 3 RBI and 14 Hits)

• Card #100A Don Mattingly (DS cards 10 hits in 1990) 100B (101 hits in 1990)

• Card #124 Randy Bush – No print code on back of card, bottom, to the left of 1991 Topps copyright. DS cards are corrected and have a D* Print Code.

• Card #130 (Checklist) – no Foil Shield – consistent with both DS and 1991 issue

• Card 131A Checklist 1 (DS cards have #727 Phil Bradley) 131B (#727 Mookie Wilson); Card #727 is Mookie Wilson in actual set

• Card #153 Bryan Harvey – has A*B* print code on reverse to the left of Topps Copyright; Original DS card has A* Print Code.

• Card 155A Dwight Evans (DS cards have “In 1982, Led league w/162 games in 1982”) 155B (tied for lead.....)

• Card 167A Randy Tomlin (DS cards have 1989 & 1990 Club is “Harriburg”) 167B (Harrisburg)

• Card #189 Daryl Irvine (Back) 1988 GS has a “*” or blob; DS cards are corrected and have 14 for GS in 1988.

• Card #213 has A*B* Print Code on back of card to left of Topps copyright; Original DS card has A* )

• Card 236A Frank Tanana (DS cards have “In 1975, Tied for lead w/269 K’s” with the symbol “◊” Present in text) 236B (Lead League w/269....)

• Card #247 – Jody Reed (Bio is dark red; DS version have lighter red or pinkish box for bio.

• Card 270A Mark McGwire (DS cards have 1987 Slug % 618) 270B (1987 Slug % .618)

• Card 277 Scott Coolbaugh – (Front) DS cards have Streak on left side of hat; streak is airbrushed out.

• Card 279A Jose Gonzalez (Photo Billy Bean) 279B (DS cards have the correct photo)

• Card 306A Lonnie Smith (DS cards have incorrect stats stating In 1990, played in 136 Games) 396B (corrected not found in DS set and was
actually 135 Games in 1990)

• Card 324A Ron Kittle (DS cards have the last line of text @ bottom of card “…set another standard) 324B (“….tied another standard)

• Card 337A Keith Comstock (DS cards have incorrect Cubs logo on front) 337B (Mariners logo on front – Mariners is correct)

• Card 366A Checklist 3 (DS checklist has #19 as Carl Nichols) 366B (#119 Carl Nichols); #19 in Actual set is Jeff Robinson P Yankees

• Card 374 Larry Casian – Pimples on left side of neck can be seen; DS cards are corrected and have pimples airbrushed out.

• Card 378A Wilson Alvarez (89 & 90 minor league stats deleted) 378B (DS cards have minor league stats included)

• Card 454A Kevin Appier (DS cards have in the line for 1990 Omaha Stats deleted) 454B (stats included)

• Card #519 – Sparky Anderson – Back) – Bullseye covesr O in “…Anderson…” at the top of card in name. (1X is corrected); DS cards do not have this printers mark.

• Card 526A Moises Alou (DS cards show incorrect stats in the 1990 Pirates line, 37 runs in 2 games) 526B (0 Runs in 2 games)

• Card 527A Checklist 4 ((Back) DS cards on sheet incorrectly state #105 Keith Miller #719 Kevin McReyolds 527B (#105 Kevin McReyolds #719 Keith Miller). Actual DS set has #105 as McReynolds

• Card #530 Roger Clemens (Back) – Card # is pink. DS cards have not found variation.

• Card #588 Mark Whitten (Front) left hand is over or under border. DS cards have corrected – hand does not extend into white border.

• Card 593A Mike Walker (DS cards have in 1990 Canton Stats deleted 593B (Stats included) Note: Both cards have Colo. Springs Stats

• Card 599A Greg Myers (DS cards have in 1990 Syracuse stats deleted 599B (Stats included)

• Card 603A Wes Chamberlain (DS cards have incorrect photo with Louie Meadows with bat on right shoulder) 603B (correct photo –smiling no bat on shoulder),

• Card #648 Lee Stevens – Back of card; bio is dark red; DS cards have light red bio box.

• Card 656A Checklist 5 (DS checklists have corrected card numbers of #348 Palacios, #381 Lind, #537 Lavalliere) 656B (438 Palacios 537 Lind 665 Lavalliere) 656C (433 Palacios) actual 348 is stottlemeyer, Actual set has #348 is Palacios, #381 is Leyland, #537 is Lind.

• CardA 674 Kevin Gross (DS cards have in 1988 Tied for lead in BB) 674B (1988 Lead league) – looks like he led league

• Card #685 – Doug Drabek – (Front) Corrected – Gray-ish border on left & right side of card. Black broder on left & right side of card. DS cards appear to have both black & gray border, with different color team banners.

• Card 687A John Cerutti (DS cards have 4.46 ERA in 1990) 687B (4.76 ERA in 1990); 4.76 ERA is correct

• Card 692A Efrain Valdez (Born 6/11/66) 692B (DS cards have correct birthdate text stating Born 7/11/66).

• Card 706A Brad Arnsberg (DS cards have incorrect data stating 68.2 IP in 1990) 706B (62.2 IP in 1990)

• Card 780A Randy Myers (DS cards have incorrect stat line for losses - 15 Career losses) 780B (19 Career losses).


Let me know if anyone is able to find the other variation on these cards. Thanks.

ZWheat
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  #15  
Old 06-29-2013, 10:24 AM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Default 1991 Topps Desert Shield

Quote:
Originally Posted by ALR-bishop View Post
Good info Zach. It had been my impression the majority of the DS cards never made it over seas, and that many did not even make it into the military supply chain. But I have no personal knowledge or hard fact about that.

There are of course a good many DS fakes out there too and it would seem if any variations are found one would have to be sure it is an actual DS card.
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Looking forward to your list Zach. I think I have more variant cards with my 1991 set than any other of my Topps sets, but I admit most are what I view as print defects
Al/Joe,

I have finished going over almost 8,000 1991 Topps Desert Shield cards and I am now convinced you are correct. I did not find any of the variations found in abundance in the 1991 Topps regular issue. I did not find stat corrections or variations on any card. That doesn't mean they don't exist - but if they do they must be rare. And I suspect if you find any variations it would exist only on the 6 cards listed below that were printed on sheet E/F. However, there are no known errors/variations for these cards.

Here is how I came to these conclusions. I was also able to compare the known variations list with the DS cards I had on hand - including sheets of cards - and found a few surprising items:

There were no duplicates on the printers sheets - all 792 cards were printed on 6 sheets, probably in 1 print run in equal number.

Print run designations were detailed on the reverse of the cards. For instance a card with an A* on the bottom of the reverse of each card near the copyright logo indicated the card was printed on sheet "A". There were 6 sheets used and each card correlates to a corresponding sheet code A-F. Every single card inspected had only 1 sheet code designation - except for 6 cards following. All of the cards that were printed on multiple sheets came from sheet F.

Cards #9 (Darrin Fletcher), # 87 (Tracy Jones), #233 (Al Leiter), #676 (Scott Chiamparino) and #696 (Steve Olin) had a Printer Sheet code of E*F*. However, I examined full uncut printer's sheets of Sheet F and all of these cards and every other cards inspected had the exact same sheet code designation. These 6 cards did not come with a print sheet code of either E or F - only E*F*. This was consistent with every duplicate card inspected as well.

Every card inspected for Card #5 (Cal Ripken) did not have a sheet code designation. However, inspection of the uncut Sheet F indicates this card also came from the same sheet - Sheet F. For what it is worth - the 5 cards noted above were all located adjacent to each other in a row.

The checklists for Desert Shield sets were also the "uncorrected' version over their 1991 Topps counterparts. The 6 checklists were printed on Sheet F - and the 3 checklists which have errors (#31, #366 & #527) were all uncorrected (see list in previous post for errors) on the uncut sheet.

I am guessing what this means is that we won't find any stat variations or error variations. Since we find 5 cards with EF print sheet designation and none of these cards had a single E or F sheet designation - I am guessing these the DS set was printed after corrections were made on the first 5 sheets (A-E) and sheet F was corrected after the DS print run ended.

As you are aware, 1991 Topps checklists do not have the DS logo. Even on the uncut printer's sheets. I suspect - but can't conclusively prove - that only the checklists that are "uncorrected" are true DS checklists.


Z Wheat

Last edited by Zach Wheat; 08-27-2013 at 08:51 AM.
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  #16  
Old 06-29-2013, 02:36 PM
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I suspect you are right Zach. The print code variations for the base 91 topps set would confirm your theory. The 5 cards you mentioned with an E*F* code can be found with F* codes but they are significantly more scarce compared to the other sheets that made the same type of sheet code corrections. This would support that the first 5 sheets were corrected much earlier in the run than sheet F and that other subsets like DS were printed in between these corrections.
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Old 07-14-2013, 05:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zach Wheat View Post
Hi All,

I am relatively new to this side of the board, but usually post on the Pre-War side. I have looked through the various Desert Shield threads here & on other forums but have not been able to determine if there are "many" or in fact any variations on cards within this set.

Key Man Collectibles (on his website) listed 20 or so variations of the regular Topps issue. I have not been able to verify any variations noted with the cards I own - excluding the checklists which don't have the foil shield so you don't really know which set they come from.

In addition, I have not been able to find any of the bold/faded A*B* variations between the A* & B* print sheets. In fact I have not found any legitimate Desert Shield cards with a A*B* print sheet designation on the reverse near the Topps copyright designation. It is almost as if Topps corrected the variations when they printed Desert Shield cards.

Thoughts on this guys....can anyone find any of the known variations? Does anyone have the A*B* Bold/Faded variations?

Thanks guys.

Z Wheat
I am in the process of trying to finish up my Desert Shield set, missing a few commons and the Chipper Jones RC, and as far as I know there is only one set of desert shield cards, and no variations at all. I'm not an expert, but I would refrain from buying any Desert Shield card that is a supposed "variation" or any card that just doesn't look right. They are some of the most commonly fakes cards out there and you have to be careful buying them.
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  #18  
Old 07-30-2013, 10:48 PM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Default Variations

I have corresponded with PSA several times about correcting their checklist in the registry since to date we have not found any variations. I guess it is because there are so many Desert Shield cards that have been previously listed as variations that they won't change.

Therefore the variations on the PSA registry are really their own label variations and not actual card variations. Am I banging my head against a wall? Has anyone been successful at getting anything on the registry changed? How many examples do we need to view before they realize they are wrong? Or maybe they just don't care.

It is just annoying to have an "official" checklist with so many errors in it.

Z Wheat
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Old 07-31-2013, 07:54 AM
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Default Variants

I have never had a card graded so I have no input or contacts at PSA. There was a CU thread awhile back by some guys trying to get PSA to recognize some variations they had , in football and basketball I think. They say PSA told them to try to first get the recognized by SCD. The last I saw they thought they had Tom Bartsch's agreement to include them in any future SCD checklists, but not sure if that means a future book update or some online update.

But, the 61 Fairly with the errant green smudge on the back shows PSA can and does on ocassion recognize new variants without any other hobby recognition
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Old 07-31-2013, 11:48 AM
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Just as an interesting side note, BBCE sold three boxes of 1991 Topps Desert Shield packs at the National today for $5k each.
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  #21  
Old 07-31-2013, 12:45 PM
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Default Boxes

Interesting Arthur. I keep one pack with my set .

Should be good news for Zach who has some uncut sheets.

Have a great time at the show and be sure you and the boys behave yourselves
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  #22  
Old 07-31-2013, 01:25 PM
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Thanks Al, but I'm not at the show. Just been following along BBCE's photos and updates on facebook. Although, unlike you, I'm hoping the guys DON'T behave themselves. Makes for better stories.
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  #23  
Old 08-02-2013, 11:48 AM
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Default Desert Shield Packs, Boxes & Sheets

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Originally Posted by HasselhoffsCheeseburger View Post
Just as an interesting side note, BBCE sold three boxes of 1991 Topps Desert Shield packs at the National today for $5k each.
Yes I know BBCE took most of their supply of unopened DS boxes to the National. I suspect BBCE will sell out. I think we will also see more PSA 9 & 10's for the registry folks shortly.

I have not followed prices closely but it appears they are firming up again for PSA 9 & 10 graded cards. I don't think this trend has continued to the raw & PSA 8's yet, but not sure.

Z Wheat

Last edited by Zach Wheat; 08-02-2013 at 10:36 PM.
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  #24  
Old 08-02-2013, 12:03 PM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Default DS Sheets

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Originally Posted by ALR-bishop View Post
Interesting Arthur. I keep one pack with my set .

Should be good news for Zach who has some uncut sheets.

Have a great time at the show and be sure you and the boys behave yourselves
Maybe good news but not sure. The sheets show "true" DS checklists looked like, since there are no known Desert Shield variations. The comment about the only known DS sheets is certainly is not an all encompassing statement since I am sure some sheets went out the back door. I feel very fortunate to have stumbled in to the seller of these sheets who, after research, had unimpeachable provenance and I was able to inspect the sheets.

By way of reference, the seller of the sheets (estate actually) was the creator - from start to finish - of the 1990 Topps Bush cards. I hate to hijack the thread, but this was detailed in a PSA article where they were trying to determine how the cards ended up with a "regular" finish as well as a "glossy" finish. Unfortunately, the creator of the Bush cards (the seller of my DS sheets) passed away prior to being able to explain or give any information on the finishes. The PSA article details the 2 surfaces of the card and how the glossy one is more rate. I referenced this article in a previous thread, but here it is again for those interested.

http://www.psacard.com/Articles/Arti...-baseball-card

Z Wheat

Last edited by Zach Wheat; 08-27-2013 at 08:57 AM.
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  #25  
Old 08-03-2013, 07:10 PM
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Default Bush card

We need a seance Zach. I think Arthur does those

Last edited by ALR-bishop; 08-03-2013 at 07:11 PM.
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Old 08-04-2013, 12:21 AM
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I work for Greenwells.
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Old 08-12-2013, 08:45 AM
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Talking Desert Shield Unopened Pack

Hello everyone!

I have been on EBay, Amazon, and surfing the net for years looking for anyone who has info on the uniform issue Topps baseball cards with Gold shield we received upon arrival in theatre. I have two I fished out of the trash can, and I have my pack that has never been opened. It would be interesting to find out if anyone claimed the million dollar prize for finding the completely gold card. I have my cards in a fire proof safe deposit box, and my question is does anyone have an idea how much the unopened pack is worth. All the people in my Company opened, threw away, or traded off their cards. The only reason mine weren't opened is because I completely forgot I had them!!!!!

Thanks!
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Old 08-12-2013, 12:21 PM
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Default Topps Pack

Fyre,

Thanks for your service. Unopened Packs are selling for around $150 currently on BBCE. The issue is that regular Topps issue cards have the same exact wrapping as the DS cards. Buyers often discount the price of their packs depending upon the surety that the cards are legitimately DS cards.

For instance BBCE will guarantee their packs are legit and have a great track record. Joe XYZ with 0 feedback will have trouble getting the same price.

I can't answer your other questions but I am sure others will chime in.

Z Wheat
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Old 08-13-2013, 01:31 PM
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I have a BBCE sealed pack I'll let go for $140 if anyone wants it. (sorry for the spam!)
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  #30  
Old 08-14-2013, 07:54 AM
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Zach, do you have any photos of the uncut sheets? I'd love to see them.
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  #31  
Old 08-14-2013, 03:35 PM
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Default DS Sheets

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Originally Posted by brob28 View Post
Zach, do you have any photos of the uncut sheets? I'd love to see them.
Bill,

I am in the midst of traveling and my trip just got extended. The sheets are rather large and they are difficult to "scan"; following is a cropped pic of Sheet F. The sheets are 28 1/2 X 43 inches with 132 cards equally printed in 6 sheets. Sheet F is the sheet which contains the 5 cards previously listed with an *E/*F sheet code as well as the only card without a sheet code designation (Cal Ripken #5), the uncorrected checklists and the Chipper Jones card.

Sheet F also has the highest serial number on the right border. I initially suspected the code was the print date & batch # for quality control purposes, but am not sure. If it is a date & batch code, then the sheets had short print run of a couple of days.

I will post more when I return.

Z Wheat
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File Type: jpg Sheet F Small.jpg (84.6 KB, 247 views)

Last edited by Zach Wheat; 08-14-2013 at 04:19 PM.
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Old 08-16-2013, 09:30 AM
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That is an awesome site Zack! BTW - your print run theory makes sense to me, with only 6,000 (I believe) sets printed I would guess it would not take long to print these.
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  #33  
Old 08-25-2013, 10:14 AM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Default 1991 Topps Prize Redemptions

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Originally Posted by fyerstrtr View Post
Hello everyone!

I have been on EBay, Amazon, and surfing the net for years looking for anyone who has info on the uniform issue Topps baseball cards with Gold shield we received upon arrival in theatre. I have two I fished out of the trash can, and I have my pack that has never been opened. It would be interesting to find out if anyone claimed the million dollar prize for finding the completely gold card. I have my cards in a fire proof safe deposit box, and my question is does anyone have an idea how much the unopened pack is worth. All the people in my Company opened, threw away, or traded off their cards. The only reason mine weren't opened is because I completely forgot I had them!!!!!

Thanks!
Fyre,

Here is a link to redemptions to the 1991 Topps set:

http://www.baseballcardpedia.com/index.php/1991_Topps

I do not know if it comprehensive or not. The footnote on the bottom indicates the site was last updated in May 2013. As we now know, the list of variations does not apply to the DS set.

Z Wheat
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  #34  
Old 08-25-2013, 10:19 AM
Zach Wheat Zach Wheat is offline
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Default DS Sheets

I am back so wanted to post pics of other sheets I took when viewing the sheets. The code on the right edge, which you can't really make out at this resolution might be a serial number or a code for a date. Most of the sheets have a code that is only a couple of digits separating - with the same code repeated.

Here is sheet A

Z Wheat
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File Type: jpg Sheet A Small.jpg (73.2 KB, 218 views)

Last edited by Zach Wheat; 08-27-2013 at 09:28 AM.
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  #35  
Old 09-28-2013, 08:03 PM
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Just got done going through around 4000 Desert Shield cards and found this variation/printing error. The left picture has the DS logo lower than any other Parrish I found. All the other cards I looked at the logo never moved that much on the same card. Is this common or does one have a fake logo? I know very little about these cards. Thanks for any input.
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File Type: jpg lp2.jpg (41.1 KB, 179 views)
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  #36  
Old 10-01-2013, 08:26 PM
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Ben the one on the left is the fake....I can't see "the coconuts" on the left card as I can on the card on the right and the text in the box is not crisp on the left hand card as it is on the right. In addition, the logo on the left is too bright...the legit logos have less luster, as the card on the right does. Some years ago, I bought multiple lots of these DS cards on ebay, and about half of them have these fake real logos. Fortunately I was not in them for much.

Here is a guide I found on the PSA site concerning these DS cards:

http://www.psacard.com/Articles/Arti...-pre-war-cards

Last edited by savedfrommyspokes; 10-01-2013 at 08:33 PM.
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  #37  
Old 10-02-2013, 06:18 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by savedfrommyspokes View Post
Ben the one on the left is the fake....I can't see "the coconuts" on the left card as I can on the card on the right and the text in the box is not crisp on the left hand card as it is on the right. In addition, the logo on the left is too bright...the legit logos have less luster, as the card on the right does. Some years ago, I bought multiple lots of these DS cards on ebay, and about half of them have these fake real logos. Fortunately I was not in them for much.

Here is a guide I found on the PSA site concerning these DS cards:

http://www.psacard.com/Articles/Arti...-pre-war-cards
Thank you Larry, Looks like all 3 Desert Shield print errors I recently bought are fakes. Luckily I did not pay much for them.
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