Asterisks

[toppcat]

The asterisks were used so the Art Dept in Brooklyn knew which part of a full press sheet (264 cards usually) they were looking at when the proofs came in from the printer. Not sure what they did before this practice started (1972?) but I got that from someone who worked at Topps.

[deweyinthehall]

But if ALL cards in a set - regardless of placement on either side of the full sheet - have a single asterisk, it's hard to see what they were going for or how it would help.

I'm not doubting it...I just can't see the utility of it.

It would make more sense if the asterisks were used to denote which slit a particular card was on in the days of issuance by series, where each slit was a but different than the other (usually).

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by deweyinthehall

But if ALL cards in a set - regardless of placement on either side of the full sheet - have a single asterisk, it's hard to see what they were going for or how it would help.

I'm not doubting it...I just can't see the utility of it.

It would make more sense if the asterisks were used to denote which slit a particular card was on in the days of issuance by series, where each slit was a but different than the other (usually).

Is there any variance in the half sheet arrays from 78-84? I'm not sure of the first set that was delineated like this but it seems to roughly coincide with the end of series-by-series issuance. Your observation of the 70's press sheets is a curious finding. Of potential interest, the backs were printed at different printers than the fronts.

I'm going to check my files-I may have the e-mail explaining this somewhere but it was from a while back.

Possibly some good info here: https://forums.collectors.com/discus...-and-asterisks