1991 Topps variations

[jacksoncoupage]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

I remember some of what existed 30 years ago or even 20 years ago but if I wrote we had the card, we had the card. Beyond that I have no idea where the card is now. Who knew in 1991 we would still be discussing Valdez more than 30 years later

Sounds like the very difficult 2002 Topps Albert Pujols (IIRC the year correctly) where the original back was Placido Polanco but the last 10 percent of the print run Topps told us had Pujols. Yep, on that one I remember we had one of those at Beckett but again no idea where said card would be nowadays

The Valdez just drives me nuts and Im not sure why There used to be an image on TCDB but apparently they have had issues with photoshopped cards being uploaded before. Just enough lead to keep me concerned 30 years later!

For what its worth, I swear that I saw an ebay completed sale for the corrected Pujols* in 2007 or so. I know there is an old BMB thread somewhere in the internet ether where I posted about it around then too.

*Not the HTA or Liimited or Opening Day, the real deal

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by jacksoncoupage

The Valdez just drives me nuts and Im not sure why There used to be an image on TCDB but apparently they have had issues with photoshopped cards being uploaded before. Just enough lead to keep me concerned 30 years later!

For what its worth, I swear that I saw an ebay completed sale for the corrected Pujols* in 2007 or so. I know there is an old BMB thread somewhere in the internet ether where I posted about it around then too.

*Not the HTA or Liimited or Opening Day, the real deal

Don't get me started on how Beckett messed up the BMB because it was a major draw for collectors for years.

Rich

[Pat R]

I haven't went through mine in awhile so I pulled my box of them out and just started going through them. I'm only a few cards in (I started at 792 and I'm going backwards). So far I have two bold logos a Bob Milacki (1 out of the 7 was bold) and a Joel Skinner (1 out of 6). Maybe it's my imagination but the bold logos feel different (thicker maybe) to me.

[ALR-bishop]

I am in the doubtful camp on both Valdez and Pujols but woold gladly be wrong

[jacksoncoupage]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

I am in the doubtful camp on both Valdez and Pujols but woold gladly be wrong

I don't know if Im ready to give up on Valdez but I have several times over the years only to get pulled back in.

Even if my memory isn't to be trusted or I imagined a sale for the Pujols back then, how do we explain the corrected Loretta in the 2002 set? It seems unlikely to me that Topps issued a very late photo correction on his card but didn't do the same for Pujols.

To date, I know of just five copies circulating. Only one of those turned up since posting the blog on it two years ago.

[frankhardy]

(In my Paul Harvey voice).... "For what it's worth...."

Even if the 2002 Mark Loretta card was corrected (which I think it was) ..... There is no doubt in my mind that the Pujols was ONLY corrected for the HTA, Opening Day, Chrome, and Refractors. The HTA set has a version for Polanco back and a Pujols back. I know because I have both.

Ironically, I have been collecting Cardinals team sets since that very year of 2002. A couple of years into my collecting I became aware of the possibility of a Pujols corrected back for the regular card. I have scoured nearly the entire earth and I have yet to even see a scan or a picture, much less the real card. I do not believe one exists. Surely to goodness gracious at least one would have surfaced by now.

As for the comment of scouring nearly the entire Earth, I was exaggerating a little bit. I have literally scoured the entire Earth.

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

I am in the doubtful camp on both Valdez and Pujols but woold gladly be wrong

The Valdes we probably had but there was so many variations in those days that one is a distant memory.

The Pujols not only exists but was confirmed at the time by Clay Luraschi at Topps and I'll always accept Clay's word on things. Plus we have seen those Puhols cards

Rich

[Pat R]

How scarce are the manager cards with the logos?

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[frankhardy]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

The Valdes we probably had but there was so many variations in those days that one is a distant memory.

The Pujols not only exists but was confirmed at the time by Clay Luraschi at Topps and I'll always accept Clay's word on things. Plus we have seen those Puhols cards

Rich

Rich,

I consider you a well respected member of this board and this hobby. I don't know who you are referring to. Is it not possible that he was mistaken correcting the HTA, Opening Day, Chrome, and Refractors? If even 10 or 20 exist, why is there not any evidence of one in existence? And if 10 or 20 exist, why would Topps go through the trouble of correcting it for the flagship regular card? And if more than 10 or 20 exist (just random numbers that I'm pulling out of my head), then surely we would see some out there at some point. I have been searching for over 20 years for just one.

Again. I highly respect your opinion. We may just have to agree to disagree and that's okay.

[Pat R]

I didn't see it on any of the lists is #659 Oscar Azocar missing the Logo on the back a known variation?

img206.jpg

[jacksoncoupage]

Originally Posted by frankhardy

Rich,

I consider you a well respected member of this board and this hobby. I don't know who you are referring to. Is it not possible that he was mistaken correcting the HTA, Opening Day, Chrome, and Refractors? If even 10 or 20 exist, why is there not any evidence of one in existence? And if 10 or 20 exist, why would Topps go through the trouble of correcting it for the flagship regular card? And if more than 10 or 20 exist (just random numbers that I'm pulling out of my head), then surely we would see some out there at some point. I have been searching for over 20 years for just one.

Again. I highly respect your opinion. We may just have to agree to disagree and that's okay.

I do understand your logic here. I have seen enough strange decisions from Topps and other companies ca. the junk era that I am hardly surprised when something turns up that has remained hidden for decades.

And I understand that the existence of the Loretta doesn't prove a Pujols, but it certainly lays out some real consideration for it. Why him and not Pujols. And the card that I saw back in 2007 or 2008 on ebay was absolutely not a parallel of any type but the base card, which is why it was so remarkable. Even back then, I strongly doubted its existence. Could it have been a manipulated photo or some other shenanigans, absolutely but I am in the camp that some of these were made. Whether they ever made into the hobby through the normal channels (wax, factory sets) is another question.

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by frankhardy

Rich,

I consider you a well respected member of this board and this hobby. I don't know who you are referring to. Is it not possible that he was mistaken correcting the HTA, Opening Day, Chrome, and Refractors? If even 10 or 20 exist, why is there not any evidence of one in existence? And if 10 or 20 exist, why would Topps go through the trouble of correcting it for the flagship regular card? And if more than 10 or 20 exist (just random numbers that I'm pulling out of my head), then surely we would see some out there at some point. I have been searching for over 20 years for just one.

Again. I highly respect your opinion. We may just have to agree to disagree and that's okay.

We can and should agree to disagree: Clay L. was at the time the PR contact at Topps and has moved up since then on the corporate ladder. I don't know his exact postion today but he is extremely knowledgeable about the hobby and things related to Topps. We took his word in 2002 and we'll take his word today