Desert Shield

[mcadams]

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.