Like the other entries previously entitled “Ongoing Checklist” this will function as a catalog for the errors, variations, promos and other recurring misprints in the 1990 Score Baseball set. If/when new additions are discovered, the list will expand. Score is not as heavily analyzed as Topps or even Fleer sets and I have spent less time examining this and the 1991 and 1989 sets than junk era Topps, Fleer and UD sets and don’t see that changing anytime soon. Still, I would be surprised if nothing new turned up over the next few years as recent ebay listings have turned up surprises in several junk era sets that even I had long assumed were empty of new findings.
NOTE: All blue border cards can be found with either light blue or dark blue names on back, neither appear to be rarer than the other.
107a Jamie Moyer “scintillating” 107b Jamie Moyer “scintilating” 168a Ron Hassey 27 168b Ron Hassey 24 176a Lloyd McClendon 1 176b Lloyd McClendon 10 195a Brett Saberhagen “joke” 195b Brett Saberhagen “joker” 220a Mike Aldrete 25 220b Mike Aldrete 24 232a Mike Devereaux RF 232b Mike Devereaux CF 280a Bo Jackson “Watham” 280b Bo Jackson “Wathan” 321a Felix Jose Red Wedge to left of F and J on front RPD 321b Felix Jose Corrected 325a Dave Henderson Red Wedge to left of D and H on front RPD 325b Dave Henderson Corrected 330a Jim Abbott Red Wedge to left of J and A on front RPD 330b Jim Abbott Corrected 338a Ken Griffey Sr. 25 338b Ken Griffey Sr. 30 385a Mark McGwire Red-less photo on front (borders fully printed) RPD 385b Mark McGwire Corrected 449a Billy Spiers Missing 66 in 1966 449b Billy Spiers Corrected 469a RJ Reynolds Blurry Photo On Back RPD 469b RJ Reynolds Corrected 477a Zane Smith .393 ERA 477b Zane Smith 3.93 ERA (very late correction) 491a David Wells Rev Neg Pic on Back 491b David Wells Corrected 561a Ryne Sandberg HL 3B on front 561b Ryne Sandberg HL “Ghost 3B” on front (faint print) 561c Ryne Sandberg HL Corrected (no 3B on front) 566a Bo Jackson AS No Copyright On Back 566b Bo Jackson AS Corrected 583a Milt Cuyler 998 Games 583b Milt Cuyler 998 Games 1st 9 in light blue 583c Milt Cuyler 98 Games 1st 9 whiteout-still visible 583d Milt Cuyler 98 Games 1st 9 removed entirely 608a Billy Bates Mentioned Triples in Text 608b Billy Bates No Mention of Triples in Text 618a Joe Skalski 27 618b Joe Skalski 67 633a Tom Barrett 29 633b Tom Barrett 14 670a Earl Cunningham FDP “Kid Hell” on Bat Knob **UNVERIFIED** 670b Earl Cunningham FDP White Bat Knob **UNVERIFIED** 670c Earl Cunningham FDP Multi-Color Square Over Bat Knob 670d Earl Cunningham FDP Multi-Color Square Over Bat Knob (Alt. Pattern) 683a Wade Boggs DT 215 Hits in Text 683a Wade Boggs DT 205 Hits in Text 693a Terry Steinbach DT “Cathers” in text 693b Terry Steinbach DT “Catchers” in text 696a Nolan Ryan HL No Copyright On Back 696b Nolan Ryan HL Corrected 697a Bo Jackson NIKE No Copyright On Back 697b Bo Jackson NIKE Copyright On Back (Black) **Possible Promo** 697c Bo Jackson NIKE Copyright On Back (Blue), 3/8″ Black Line Over Photo 697d Bo Jackson NIKE Copyright On Back (Blue), Line Removed 698a Rickey Henderson HL TM printed close to AL logo 698b Rickey Henderson HL TM printed away from AL Logo 701a Candlestick Park No Copyright On Back 701b Candelstick Park Corrected
Promos:
All cards #221-330 can be found in a prototype version that is missing their 1989 stat line and totals.
Rookie & Traded Promos:
1Ta Dave Winfield 1Tb Dave Winfield 109Ta Steve Avery 109Tb Steve Avery 110Ta Terry Shumpert 110Tb Terry Shumpert
As the nostalgia-driven popularity of the junk wax era in trading cards grows, we have seen two well-known error cards explode in popularity: 1989 Fleer Bill Ripken 616 and 1990 Topps Frank Thomas 414. Take a look at asking prices on wax for these two products to get an idea of just how much these cards have grown in demand. I’ll dig into the Ripkens one day but for now, I’m looking at the Thomas, not so much the NNOF (No Name On Front) error but a few of its interesting misprint cousins.
One thing that needs to be made clear from the start is that the NNOF (and its connected neighbors) are a perfect example of what the hobby used to agree on was a “print flaw.” Meaning that the card’s problem or aberration was the result of a mechanical or production related mishap and not due to a design or layout problem later corrected after discovery. Things like fish-eyes and stray blotches and other odd shapes, typically in one of the four color press colors are some great examples of these. Obstructions to those plates result in cards missing a specific color to all or a portion of the card. For years prior to hobbyists adapting to the internet, we had descriptions based on one-line blurbs in hobby mags and annual catalogs to understand what we were looking for and in the case of the 1990 Thomas, NNOF was all you knew unless you were lucky enough to see one in person. It wasn’t until decades later that the “code” of how the card came to be was cracked that we fully understood that it was the product of an obstruction of some type, a sort of messy print flaw, rather than a design issue where Topps failed to include Thomas’ name on front. The card simply had a swath of missing black ink neatly omitting his name. After this was revealed, collectors quickly figured out who Thomas’ affected neighbors were and the rest is history.
Many of the newer hobbyists (including lapsed junk era kids returning to it) were not around for the rejuvenation of the hobby in the late 1990s after falling off in late 1994 due to the strike and rise of the NHL, NBA and NFL in the collecting world. The amazing 1998 baseball season, driven by the home run race and the emergence of grading, both PSA growing in popularity and Beckett entering the industry, created a massive interest in the superstars of the day’s rookie cards, which for several years had languished in quarter and dollar boxes. Suddenly Beckett monthly was showing up arrows in virtually all 80s and early 90s sets. People were digging into their overproduced 1989-1991 sets, picking out their Griffey, Thomas, McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, Bagwell and other star RCs and slabbing them en masse. Beckett even began listing long delisted sets like Score Young Superstars, Classic and Sportflics and began to include Topps Tiffany listings for the first time. Separate notes would be added to each sets listings showing recent sales for graded cards. The hobby was coming back and people were beginning to reckon with the idea that these overproduced “junk” years held the rookie cards of so many important players.
While there is no shortage of reading and videos out there regarding the Thomas NNOF, much of it of questionable intent (ahem! moving junk boxes at inflated prices), none of it matches the fantastic level of community work put into the reveal of how the card came to be though the course of a few years on the old Collector’s Universe boards – an absolute must read on the card or just anyone interested in deep hobby lore. I think its worth noting here as a minor side tangent that even back in the 90s when there was much more unopened product out there, the odds of finding a NNOF Thomas (and neighbors) in a box were astronomical due to how briefly the error ran vs the absolute glut of product Topps produced that year. As a member of several junk wax card groups online I see constant ads for various 1990 Topps products claiming that their boxes are “early” or have a good chance at the Thomas and so forth. The truth is that there may very well not be another sitting in unopened today and if there is, it may never see daylight. In the 90s and 00s dealers would tell you that the NNOF came out of whatever packaging type they struggled to get rid of: factory sets, vending, blister packs…always with confidence. Today, we still do not know exactly which case dates or which region of the country they were initially shipped to so keep in mind that at current prices, 1990 Topps wax are $75 lottery tickets at best. If you fail to land a NNOF or partial, 1990 Topps is pretty dry as far as valuable error and variation cards go, a kind of all or nothing product.
With the background out of the way, let’s take a peek at some of the other ways in which the Thomas has been found with misprints.
Before we get into the seldom seen, little-known stuff, let’s acknowledge the existence of the partial blackless cards. Its well known that a cousin of the NNOF exists where his name and other black ink portions of the cards are mostly printed with small chits of missir g bla k ink. PSA now recognizes these on their labels. There are even rumored variants within this variant with different pieces of black ink missing, however, these seem to be fairly consistent.
Partial Blackless:
(Image from eBay seller: kabukicards – not mine/no affiliation)
NNOF Ghost Print:
After sharing this post on the Collectors Universe forums, a user shared this card that recently turned up on ebay for sale. This card, which I’ve referred to here as the ‘Ghost Print NNOF’ is the result of faint black ink transfer caused by the rubber blanket (did I get this right?). In 2019 I opened a holiday factory set that where every red sheet card had this type of misprint: basically very faint black print that is transferred from the rubber blanket rather than the black plate striking properly. An incredibly cool looking variant of the iconic NNOF.
No White On Back (to use the Jeff King descriptor) or Yellow Back:
A collector recently sent me images of this card. The first pics I received were blurry and difficult to tell exactly what was happening but upon closer examination, we have a misprinted Thomas where the yellow ink ran over the designated areas on back. Several 1990 Topps cards have turned up with this mistake: the infamous Jeff King card, long cataloged in the SCD annuals, John Wathan MGR and few others that escape me at the moment (I believe there are another 2-3 that have sold in recent years). Truly a cool find and it makes me wonder how many could be out there (UPD: A second collector via FB has confirmed another copy):
Next we have the Yellow Back’s opposite, this card did not receive any yellow print on its reverse. I have seen just four examples of this card throughout the years (though another collector told me ten years back or so that they owned a copy bringing it to five that I know of). Several other players from the F* sheet have popped up and at one point when I PC’d Robin Ventura, I owned a copy of his card without the yellow ink on back. My guess is that several sheets may have been printed without the yellow on back but its entirely possible that just like the Blackless cards, a distinct portion of the sheet was affected instead of the entire thing. For years I would scour ebay, examining thousands of Thomas, Ventura, Ryan, Ripken listings looking for these. In 2020, I opened a cello box of 1990 Topps that contained blackless back cards of all the blue sheet players (Ripken, McGriff, Lee Smith, etc), these cards featured no or minimal black ink on back and often misaligned orientation and looked like typical dumpster print waste but came out of the packs so these things do happen.
No Yellow On Back:
Up next is a very strange one. One where I found different F* sheet players at different times and from different places in the US. This card is long out of my hands but it was one of my favorite NNOF adjacent cards. This is a card that is partially missing just the red ink on front. Each player from this sheet was found with severe damage and looked like they had possibly been mounted onto a cardstock surface. My guess is this may have been printer scrap “salvaged” and cut up and dispersed through the hobby. Regardless, its truly unique to find missing red ink but fully intact yellow and cyan.
Partial Redless:
A card that I held briefly but sold in Summer 2008 and have yet to see another copy of is the Thomas missing all color from the front except for the fully and correctly printed black ink. A sort of inverted NNOF. Unfortunately I do not have a photo of this card. It was professionally cut from a complete F* sheet. So Nolan Ryan, the All-Stars and Record Breakers subset players and all the other stars from that sheet were also sold individually at that time. Searching online has not turned up any stray examples suggesting to me that they may have been a one off.
Colorless or Black & White:
(Sorry, no photo available)
Finally, its worth mentioning that as far as I know, to date, very few Thomas 414s have turned up with misaligned plates, specifically severely misaligned, which seems to have affected the blue sheet with Griffey. I have consistently found Griffey’s that appear 3-D due to one or more color plates being way out of alignment. I’ve now grown fond of some of these misaligned cards, especially those with severe examples out there and would love to find a nice Thomas. While I have seen some slight shifts making Thomas appear blurry, nothing like the extreme examples of Griffey (as shown here):
(If you have a pic of a severely misaligned Thomas 414, please email so I can feature it here)
That is it as far as I understand but I wouldn’t be surprised to see more oddball printing mishaps turn up. 1990 Topps is not known for its strong quality control. I’d be interested in seeing anything else not shown here so please comment below or email at [email protected] if you have any of the stuff outlined above or others not mentioned here (happy to add them and credit you as the source).
The 1989 Topps Tony Oliva Turn Back The Clock card #665 is one of the last remaining true mysteries of junk era error cards and one of the rare instances from the junk wax era where Topps made multiple changes to a card, a policy that was more common with Score and Fleer.
In the last 10+ years we have seen some really fascinating examples of collaborative efforts revealing production timelines or causes of major error cards. 1989 Fleer Bill Ripken and 1990 Topps Frank Thomas NNOF are two great recent examples. When enough collectors are motivated we are able to puzzle together a production outline or map of a misprint. In the case of this card, I don’t expect the same level interest from the hobby but I have personally been fascinated by it ever since seeing it listed in a mass market copy of the Beckett annual price guide some time in the early 90s: ‘Fabricated Card’ in parenthesis is what Beckett editors used to note Oliva’s card. What did that mean? My younger self was intrigued but soon deduced that it referred to the fact that Topps created a solo version of Oliva’s 1964 Topps Twins Rookie Stars multiplayer RC. Still, something about the card just seemed interesting, despite having no interest in Oliva, the Twins, or even vintage Topps sets for that matter. But a few years later, Beckett would add an additional ‘A’ entry to the 1989 Topps 665 listing: “No Copyright” and this set forth a long hunt for this new variety that didn’t end until finding my first copy in 2004.
Let’s take a look at the various ways this card can be found, specifically the major variations.
(3) Versions of the card exist:
Missing copyright line on back (blank space were copyright goes)
Blacked out copyright line on back (vertical black bar printed over copyright)
Copyright line on back (copyright visible in correct placement)
It wasn’t until finally getting ahold of a dog eared copy of Dick Gilkeson’s Error & Variation Guide in 2005 that I was made aware of the third version, the “Blacked-out Copyright.” Most hobbyists, I think its fair to say, only know of the two versions. Actually, strike that, we have an entirely new hobby base post-pandemic, with even less interest in this type of minutia so I’d say that most only know of Oliva as a Turn Back The Clock subset card but some are aware that a version exists without the copyright line on back. I have seen very few examples of the blacked out card, possibly for this reason. It being a common card likely has something to do with that as well, could perhaps a bunch be sitting in binders and hand-collated sets? It’s possible but I doubt it. As with all cards that suddenly turn up in the market after years of evading the hands of collectors, a big sale on a platform like ebay would likely answer this question.
So, regarding the mystery behind this card, the important questions are:
What order were these produced? It is commonly known that there are two versions of the card and a copyright line was originally omitted in error but then added early on in the print run (it is a tough card to find by junk era standards with my own unscientific findings of roughly 1 ‘without copyright’ for every 800-1000 ‘with copyright’ cards). But the discovery of a third version challenges this. Like the black box on the 1989 Fleer Bill Ripken bat knob or the one on the back of the 1990 Upper Deck Mike Witt, this vertical black bar covers up the copyright line perfectly. So…
Could the copyright line version be the mistake? I think so but without confidence. Say the copyright line version runs from the beginning throughout the majority of the run, word comes in from someone (editor, proofer, lawyer…?) toward the end of production requesting the change, the plate is changed and the card receives the black strip over the copyright either to A) mark for removal from sheets or B) as the correction method itself. Perhaps Topps felt that aesthetically, the black bar doesn’t work, so, again, they change the plate by removing the copyright line entirely. If so…
Why did Topps need/want to remove it? Does it have something to do with the card being a mockup or “fabricated card” as Beckett calls it (and why does Beckett add that note here but not on the 1987 Topps Maury Wills TBC card, for example)? What possible reasons could Topps have to remove the copyright line from a product of theirs? A product that they likely own the designs for (1964 Topps, Turn Back The Clock, etc), they own the image used and likely the reproduction rights of the image.
Supplemental info on the card:
Both the copyright on back and missing copyright on back versions exist in blank front form.
The majority of copies, error or corrected, have a fractured H in TURN BACK THE CLOCK on front. Far fewer copies with the complete, fixed H, all ‘with copyright‘ as far I as I have seen.
Some collectors may consider a recurring print flaw affecting the card’s back to be a minor variation of note. This RPD has a thick, black Topps logo on back, the o and pp loops are filled in due to excess ink.
Topps repurchased these cards for its Rediscover Topps buyback insert program in 2017. Cards received bronze, silver, gold, blue and red stamps on front. So far, only ‘with copyright‘ versions have shown up.
In 2019, Topps repurchased ninety-nine (99) copies of these cards for its Archives Signature edition autograph buyback set. So far, I have confirmed just one copy in the 99 was an error copy (without copyright). All others that turned up online have the been the common version. Topps repeated the inclusion of Oliva’s 1989 card in its 2023 and 2024 Archives Signature sets and to date, I’ve only seen the common, ‘with copyright‘ card used for this program.
If you own a copy, I’d like to know. Have you ever pulled a copy? If you have any definite info regarding production or distribution methods of the blacked out copyright card, please comment below or email me directly: [email protected].
Clockwise from upper right: Without Copyright; Blank Back; With Copyright; Blacked Out Copyright
Back in the early 2000s when I was deep into the Randy Johnson Marlboro hunt the first time, I sorted through several hundred thousand junk wax cards looking for a range of errors but also other cards that had conspicuously placed Marlboro ads in the background, same for other cig brands and beers, etc. I remember noticing the 1989 Fleer Kevin Brown/Reimier Prospects card and the 1990 Fleer Ted Power as a couple of offenders.
Now that we are in a major 1989 Fleer renaissance (check out what boxes sell for today) as nostalgia based social media has brought a lot of attention to the various Bill Ripken and Randy Johnson variations, I figured now would be a good time to revisit this concept: the edited obscenity card. I’ve already covered Bill Ripken’s less-popular cousin in 1989 card controversy, Score’s Paul Gibson card, which Score edited three different ways. 1990 saw another bat knob obscenity, as hard to believe as that is, in the slightly obscure Pacific Senior League set, specifically Jim Nettles’ card. And let’s not forget about the 1990 Score Earl Cunningham bat knob, which, to date, seems to have been successfully hidden by Score’s editors leaving an interesting mystery unsolved.
Topps definitely worked a little harder on Piniella’s card (also check out his ’77 Burger Kings too), covering up Mr. Marlboro himself with a swift black streak. Pretty amazing to see this consideration so many years before the Randy card.
Now I haven’t pored over thousands of copies like I’ve had the luxury of doing with the more junk-y of the junk wax era products but I’ve seen enough to say that the Piniella card definitely has some variance in the black blob shape and its opacity and visibility of the letters in Marlboro though none seem to be too difficult to find. Brohamer on the other hand hasn’t revealed itself yet to have any variance in the edit that cannot be directly attributed to color levels. I’m not 100% convinced that a cleaner sign or a even another unique coverup shape doesn’t exist for one or both players given how many times 2nd or 3rd or even 4th varieties have turned up in old Topps sets decades later, whether due to early correction rarity, late production correction or in the form of unreleased proof cards. The recent discovery, nearly 2 decades later, of a corrected version of the 2002 Topps Mark Loretta card is an interesting study in this phenomenon.
Jumping forward in time is a card that has intrigued me since I first noticed it back in the early 2000s and it comes from a set that, in my opinion, has not been examined enough by error enthusiasts like myself: 1993 Topps. I believe that a few more surprises are waiting to be uncovered in this set but just haven’t had the opportunity to dig through substantial volume of this product. But I digress…back 15-20 years ago when Topps Vault had an ebay presence, unloading tons of original photo prints and match proofs and other production oddities throughout their 50+ years of sets, I kept watch for anything relating to Skeeter Barnes’ 1993 Topps card. Unfortunately, nothing ever turned up but let’s take a look at the back:
Take a look over Skeeter’s left shoulder. What a coverup! Blinding white blobby scrawl over the outfield signs. I would love to know what’s under it(ca. 1992, its a Miller Lite ad; see 0:38). Another card I always put aside when I come across it. To date, no unaltered copy has turned up.
Jumping over to Topps’ sister brand Bowman, “home of the rookie card,” the 1990 set is well-known to have gone through two separate printings with a few cards existing in three varieties, one of the first articles I did here went into that variation-heavy set. Lots of great, old-school Topps style airbrushing to be found throughout it. But the next card comes from the 1991 Bowman set which is pretty slim on variations aside from UV reactive ink and sheet code differences, another set that I believe still holds a few surprises waiting to be discovered. Another recent discovery, collectors discovered another sign coverup on Scott Lusader’s card. The first version clearly shows a bright red Budweiser ad behind him, the second version shows a crudely edited-out sign with bits of yellow blobs that don’t quite erase the brand’s name. Its the third version, which, as far as I can tell, is by far the scarcest, showing a full block of whiteout area, that finally did the trick. I’ve opened many boxes, loose packs and factory sets looking to pin down the source for this third version to no luck. This is probably sounding a little familiar to the 1989 Fleer collectors.
And while this one isn’t an obscenity or inappropriate ad, here is a card that has intrigued me since pulling it in 1989, from my favorite non-sports product ever, 1989 Topps Batman “What Tim Burton Wants.” Another card that I would scour Topps Vault listings for, hoping to find the original photo or proof of it so I could see which production folks were blacked out. Take a look behind Mr. Burton and Mr. Keaton, I count four, maybe five scratched-out faces:
Pretty raggedy edits there. It looks almost violently done, like the person in charge was really pissed that day. I find this especially interesting since no other card in the set, which features plenty of production/behind-the-scenes imagery, received edits. Another card that likely doesn’t exist in a different version but fun to check out next to you come across one.
That’s it for now but I will be updated this as new additions are uncovered.
Wait, spoke too soon. Make sure to check out these two incredible deep dives into some more sign/ad coverups, thoroughly dissected by Baseball Cards Come To Life blog, really fantastic work all around:
Let me know what other cards you’ve found that show evidence of advertising, possible obscenities or other adult content having been edited out. While I am very good at and really enjoy the task of finding oddities in these products I am constantly surprised by what other collectors find in sets that I had concluded are thoroughly exposed of variations. Through hobby forums and sites like TCDB and COMC, I’m alerted to variations and card curiosities that somehow slipped past my efforts over the years and that’s truly one of my favorite aspects of this hobby.
Send me an email: [email protected] or comment here with any other interesting discoveries in this theme.
Back in the early days of JunkWaxGems, waaayy back in 2009, I wrote a quick blurb about this card. As far as I know, absolutely zero new information has come up regarding this mystery and I periodically find myself drawn back toward it. With this entry, I hope to shed some new light on it and possibly with the help of collectors, maybe reveal what Score airbrushed out.
First, let’s take a look at the card in question:
Looking at the back of the card, it’s pretty noticeable that Score used some method of editing over a large chunk of the bat knob. In fact, unlike Topps and Fleer, Score regularly used this type of multi-colored, almost pixelated in appearance, coverup. The 1989 Roger Clemens, Paul Gibson and 1990 Milt Cuyler cards all have elements covered up in a similar fashion.
After the insanity caused by Fleer producing a card in late 1988 for their 1989 baseball product, showing Bill Ripken holding a bat with the words Fuck Face written on the knob, card companies were extra vigilant in avoiding another fiasco of its size. The news of the offending card extended nationally and beyond the card collecting hobby. Dick Gilkeson, a collector and error and variation enthusiast was a regular columnist at several hobby publications at the time and noted in his July 1990 column for Tuff Stuff magazine that some collectors had noticed the Cunningham bat knob. This tells me that the magazine received letters about it since this was typically the way that columnists for these periodicals would learn about new, unusual stuff.
Gilkeson also mentions, in the same article, that another bat mishap hit Fleer in their 1990 set with Rafael Palmiero’s card. Somehow, even I recall rumors of this (I was very young) and I am pretty sure it was mentioned in some Reader’s Write Beckett columns around the time. It always seemed to me that this was a ruse meant to push slow selling Fleer product, and, to date, I don’t think anyone has been able to find evidence of anything offensive (or legible) on his bat knob.
Reading this in a copy of Gilkeson’s Baseball Card Errors & Variations book (continued on excellently by Mike Cady), around 2005, I was very surprised to see it mentioned as I thought I was really special for having “discovered” the coverup, in fact, I remember gathering copies of this card at that time and finding what seemed like variance in the colors/editing pattern which only fueled my interested in the card. As a die-hard E&V documentarian, I quickly discovered, via old hobby magazine letter columns that collectors were on these discoveries immediately. The pre-internet days meant a lot of mail correspondence and word-of-mouth, especially in the niche area of error cards, which by late 1990 had started to come down from their peak popularity in the years prior. By the middle of the 1990 card season, many collectors started to move away from the hot error card of the week, especially after seeing how many of the companies major errors that year affected superstar players and top prospects.
It is unsurprising to me that Cunningham’s card didn’t get more attention. Outside of Chicago, he wasn’t among the big prospects within that year’s Draft Picks subset and Score had been full of relatively boring variations that year. With hot products like Leaf coming in late in the season, drawing interest away from solidly-designed but less-than collectible sets like Score, it is of little doubt to me that collectors stopped poring over the back of their commons.
Let’s take a closer look at Cunningham’s bat:
Interesting, yes? Do you see anything? Definitely gets the brain trying to see something!
What I am seeing is what appears to be a rectangular swatch of multi-color coverup that sits just above but separate from some black markings, possible lettering, at the bottom edge of the knob. Looking at it closely like this, I realize that it is very familar; very similar in shape to the famous Ripken bat knob corrections. I’m wondering whether or not these colors could be separated or pulled apart layer by layer to reveal anything. This is out of my skill set but maybe someone reading can attempt it?
Now that I have your interest, the goal of this entry is to find some solid info on this card. It is truly amazing what the big collectors of the 1989 Fleer Ripkens have managed to obtain from former Fleer people, even through this decade! So here are the important questions for this card and figuring out what’s under that editing:
Was an unedited card produced and packed-out? I doubt it but stranger things have happened in junk era variations. It cannot be ruled out entirely even if I believe it is highly unlikely to turn up.
If not packed-out, was an unedited card produced in proof form? This is highly likely. Since the closing of Donruss, Playoff, Fleer, Skybox, etc, the hobby has seen an untold amount strange and unusual proofs and test issue pieces from these companies. Strangely enough, there has been far less aftermarket/backdoored Score pieces in the market.
Were the words/image on the knob anything offensive or was it possibly just Score being extra careful with their 1990 set? If that 1990 Fleer Raffy had the hobby seeing…something…then I wouldn’t be surprised if Score wished to avoid any potential problems.
Can the edited area of the card be examined better with today’s tech? Anyone interested in giving it a try? I recall getting the large black box on back of the famous 1990 Upper Deck Mike Witt card to become somewhat translucent with the aid of a strong light source and the application of a blacklight.
Who would have overseen the coverup of anything offensive on the cards? Names, people! Does anyone have connections to former Score higher-ups? Any hobby investigators with a talent for finding old employees?
Where are the photo negatives/proofs for the card? I won’t hold my breath here, I strongly doubt anyone rescued this stuff upon the dissolution of the company but you never know. There is a precedent for Score issuing early versions of cards on wrong back sheets (or sheets “rescued” from dumpsters) like the 1990-91 Alexander Mogilny ‘Defected’ variant. I’ve searched periodically and have yet to find any uncut 1990 Score wrong back sheets. Maybe someone reading has them?
Does Earl remember anything about the card? I would seriously doubt it unless whatever was covered up by Score was something truly remarkable. I cannot imagine trying to recall something I wrote or drew on a piece of paper when I was 19. This Baseball America article ca. 2019 catches up with him. Earl, if this makes it way to you, any info you could share about that photo, that day, the bat, anything would be greatly appreciated.
A Cubs (and Cunningham) fan dug into this a bit on his site, a great read and hopefully they were able to get a lead on Score photography folks of that time. If anyone reading this finds this to be as intriguing as I do and wants to help reveal this mystery, please feel free to comment here or reach out via email: [email protected]
If I’m being honest I truly hope that one day I can see what was covered up by Score. And while finding out that a vulgarity or some controversial symbol quickly covered up by Score’s proofers would be interesting, I would love it most of all if it turns out that Earl had simply drawn a horse or Mickey Mouse or some such harmless nonsense.
**UPDATE** Well it looks like we have some very cool news!
Recently, a comment posted by Notessc appears to shed some light on the bat knob mystery:
I found this blog looking for an Earl Cunmingham baseball card from my memory. The card may not exist, however, we can solve this mystery. Earl coaches my buddy’s son, so I shared this question with him. Earl wrote his childhood nickname, “Kid Hell”, on the knob. He earned the name hitting so many home runs in Little League.
Amazing! I still have a few questions but for now a big THANK YOU to Lee and Earl for taking the time checking out this bit of hobby fun.
This variation has been listed in Dick Gilkeson’s E&V guides since the late 1980s and I have chased it since the early 2000s without luck. Over the years I’ve flipped over 1000s of copies of this card in my search and found that while it is prone to a number of printing issues in the copyright text, none have shown a definitive 1985 date.
PICTURED: Common, correctly printed version with 1987 Copyright on back
Lets take a look at the factors that go into determining whether this card exists or not:
To begin, here is cause to doubt that it exists: The most pressing reason is that nobody seems to own a copy. Not the big variation collectors or the Topps master set builders. Not a single copy (listed as such) has turned up for sale in the 25 years that I have monitoring the card, this is hard to ignore and usually means the card doesn’t exist (looking at you, 1988 Score Marvell Wynne) but as some major recent discoveries have proven, that doesn’t always prove nonexistence.
Much of the info Gilkeson (and the hobby publications he wrote columns for) received came via xeroxed images from readers alerting them of possible new variations as new products rolled out. This 1985 date variation may be a simple misreading of a printing flaw in the copyright created by the mask effect of the xerox. We have no idea if this is what led to inclusion or if Mr. Gilkeson received physical copies of the card. As I mentioned earlier, several unusual dates can be found in the copyright line due to printing glitches, 1957 and 198? for two recurring examples.
Why I think it may exist: Continuing from the above, those two known printing glitches have a sort of logic to them as they fit within the shapes of the numbers 1 9 8 and 7, whereas a 7 cannot easily be turned into a 5. That would be a pretty major warping of it and require an assist from a stray blotch of ink to end up anywhere near the shape of a 5. Also, lets consider that another area of this card’s copyright is frequently found with printing issues: the PRTD IN USA type is often found warped, incomplete or askew. This hints to me that the plates could have went through some modification to fix these issues. It is entirely possible, as shown in other junk era variations, that an attempt to fix a misprinting card created a different, adjacent problem. Perhaps this card can even be found without portions of the date or the rest of the copyright?
But the main reason that I keep a light on in hopes for this card turning up is that there already exists a sort of precedent for Topps jumbling 1985 and 1987. Some collectors may already be familiar with the fact that Topps issued 1987 factory sets in 1985 Topps copyright marked boxes. This is tenuous evidence but not entirely ignorable. Lastly, Mr. Gilkeson has a very impressive record, given the limited (and arguably crude by today’s standards), ways of collecting info on variations as it pertains to what turned out to exist vs. what has since been debunked. There are few examples of a card he documented in his guides turning out to be false by any means: counterfeit, simple print flaw/fish eye or just nonexistent. The potential for the card to technically exist is also out there, as it may have been created as a proof, corrected before production and never seeing insertion in to packs.
There is a very good chance that all of this speculation is for nothing, but that wouldn’t be entirely true, I get a lot out of these deeper looks into these sets. It’s some of the only real fun left in the hobby for me. So if you have any info on this variation or better yet, can provide a scan showing it exists, I’d love to update this to show it (with credit if desired). After all these years, I’d love to own one but if they are in fact out there they are incredibly rare. As always, let me know what you find!
A very under-the-radar error card coming from a nearly forgotten junk era product, this card has echoes of Bonds’ infamous 1987 Donruss Opening Day error with, again, another player (presumably Jeff Cook) shown on his card in the earliest part of the print run.
Not once, not twice, but tree times over, Classic used the wrong player on this card. To date just a handful of them have turned up.
Had this been a Topps, Fleer or UD product, this would likely remain one of the more sought after variations from the 1990s.
1991 Score is not what I would call a loaded set for the variation collector but I do believe that there are a few more surprises to be uncovered still. The problem is that it is an extremely unpopular set from a weak collecting year produced by a defunct brand. This typically results in reduced enthusiasm for research and analyzation. But recently, a major variation was discovered featuring a rookie subset player, Dean Dingman. The early version issued shows Jarrod Bunch in the background wearing a Michigan Wolverines helmet, complete with yellow stripes. This was edited by Score with a crude airbrushing correction to the helmet, turning it solid navy blue. Apparently corrected quickly as I have seen just a few copies of the error compared to nearly a hundred copies of the correction.
It is interesting to note that 1990 and early 1991 (series one) Score cards were not prohibited from showing players in their college uniforms. Something must have happened bewteen the production of the two series and I’m curious to know what it was.
Donnie Hill’s 1991 UD card can be found in a few different versions:
The ‘toughest’ version has his card showing his position printed twice on front. This is not an off-registration issue as the black ink is correctly aligned and printed everywhere else on the card. The second version shows his position, IF, printed high up in the base. And his slightly more common versions, the “correct” versions, shows his position either high up or low down in the base. It is worth noting that aside from a handful of cards in the 1991 set, most players do not have “wandering” positions due to print alignment issues, UD was pretty good that year. Brian Downing’s card is the most well-known to suffer from this issue. Hill is the only known to show his position printed twice on front.
A very recent discovery, likely by the seller who first posted them on ebay, this is one of just a few known (so far) 1992 Upper Deck NFL variations. The error version has a thick black line across the top on back. Corrected copies do not.
Junk Wax Gems 
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