Mission Impossible: 1991 Topps

I will be honest with you.  It has been quite some time since I’ve given a passing thought to 1991 Topps Baseball.  The set was right in the thick of the card boom and in my mind (at the time), not a very attractive card.  There were premium sets such as Leaf, Stadium Club and Upper Deck that were looming over the hobby and Topps just felt tired to me.  They were trying to spice things up with an Instant Win contest that gave collectors a chance at Vintage Topps Cards but it wasn’t enough for me.  I knew my chances were slim.  I had been striking out all season with Donruss Elite after all.  And after owning the 1990 Topps crazy neon colored set, the cards were just bland.  Except for the “40 Years of Baseball” logo in the top corner of the card, it was more of the same from ’88 and ’89.  At least that’s what I thought at the time but as the old saying goes, “Hindsight is 20/20.”

Back in those days, there was also a set of 1991 Topps that made its way overseas to American Soldiers in Iraq, fighting in Desert Storm.  This is a completely different blog post one day but that set didn’t go over quite like Topps thought it might at the time.  But now, the set is one of the most (if not the most) valuable 90’s sets you can get your hands on.  Not only was it produced in smaller numbers than other sets during that time, there were also several soldiers who didn’t collect cards or didn’t care too much about the set.  They would discard them altogether if there was no interest.  This has made the cards even more scarce.  My childhood best friend’s dad was a soldier in the war and I remember him bringing some back home.  Even then, they weren’t of great interest to us because it was ’91 Topps.  Again, that hindsight thing.  But back to the base 1991 Topps Baseball set.  Like I mentioned, I hadn’t thought much about this particular set in quite a while.  Probably since 1991 to be honest.  I have bypassed many packs and boxes over the years, convinced that there was nothing to gain from dropping the money on them.  All of that changed recently, thanks to a Beckett Radio podcast guest, David Wright.  Not the Mets David Wright, but the 1991 Topps David Wright, also known as @longflyball on Twitter.  At any rate, he proceeded to discuss how he had begun a project of trying to put together a master set of ’91 Topps with all of its variations and errors.  As I listened to him explain the set, the errors in the set and the multiple corrections that were attempted over the print run, I found myself thinking about the few ’91 Topps I still had in a shoebox in my closet.  Color me intrigued! 

After hearing the David’s spot on the podcast, I had to start to do a little more research.  This led me to a blog post on Junkwax Gems labeled “Unlisted 1991 Topps Errors.”  I was blown away.  Every card seemed to have some sort of variation.  Whether it was an actual printing error on the card or the wrong player on the wrong card or a different shade of red on the back or even the previously unknown (to me) glow back variation, every card seemed to be affected.  My interest slowly changed to a sense of “there’s no way I could ever do this.”  Where would I start?  How would I ever understand all of the variations?  I decided to start slowly.  Slowly needs to be taken in context though because the base set alone is numbered to 792!  So, I started a spreadsheet with the base cards listed.  Then I added a column for a glow back variation.  Then I went in and added the individual card variations and errors.  Finally, I made a column for the “Bold 40^th Logo” variation.  I’ll get into these variations a bit more in a minute.  Let’s keep in mind thought that I am a total novice at this project.  I am flying by the seat of my pants and asking for directions the whole way.  BUT, it’s growing on me and I am currently neck deep in 1991 Topps.  And for the first time in my life, that’s a good thing. Let’s talk about the variations a bit.  This is going to be a 10,000 foot view of those variations too because I still don’t have a good handle on them.  Let’s just say that even the sweepstakes card that is in every single pack has variations…..yeah.  The variations (errors) include different colored borders, airbrush issues, incorrect photos, trademark and registration symbol issues and misspellings, among many other items.  There are a few very valuable variations in the set.  By very valuable, I mean they could approach $100 if given the right circumstances.  The major 3, also the hardest to find, include Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd, Doug Drabek and Mark Whitten.  The Boyd card has a few variations but all related to his hand originally covering part of the 40^th Anniversary logo.  There is an airbrushed version with a pink flag and then one with a black line at the end of the pink flag.  Drabek is a hot commodity in the set with a black inset border and white inset border card.  And Whitten has his hand over the border in one card and that has the border over his hand in an obvious rework.  There are others like these but these seem to be the most popular. Then, you have the glow backs.  As far as I can tell, these versions can be found for every card except for the sweepstakes cards.  They may even be there but I haven’t run across any.  In true 90’s fashion, these glow backs are exactly how they sound.  They glow under black light and look like the back of a Spencer’s Gifts in the Mall.  Again, by all accounts, there is likely one for every card in the set.  Can you imagine if we had discovered this in 1991?  There wouldn’t have been enough Zima in the world to top that! The final column of my spreadsheet is one for the bold 40^th Anniversary backs.  So far, I have not come across any of those.  I am only midway through my first box and a few jumbo packs in but still, none so far.  These are just how they sound as well.  There are cards with backs that have the 40^th Anniversary barely visible and then there are some with the logo very bold on the card.  Take a look at the two versions of the Carlton Fisk card.  Pretty easy to spot but don’t appear easy to find so far.  Maybe it’s the box I have.  So far, every card has been a glow back.  I’m guessing that the print runs are important in the boxes.  And that is what we all a bold assumption. Of course, apart from the errors and variations, you have the classic Topps back tidbits, as discussed in my previous post, Remembering Card Backs.  I mentioned the Ken Howell card that stated that he and his wife were building a house in Michigan.  It seems that Mickey Tettleton also “lists Froot Loops among his favorite foods.”  Look at that again.  He lists it among his favorite FOODS.  We’re not talking about his favorite cereal.  This is right up there with steak and shrimp friends.  This is info that you can only find on the back of baseball cards.  The other staple for 1991 was gum!  I am not chewing it but it definitely brings back that familiar smell when you open a pack.  I call it the scent of nostalgia.  I’d wear it as cologne if I could bottle it.  1991 would be the last year they put gum in the packs.  Which meant it was also the last year you could find an authentic “gum stained” back.   I have just begun this journey and the spreadsheet will undoubtedly grow.  I will probably be old and feeble (I’m already 40) before I am ever able to pull this together.  And that is IF I am able to pull this together.  Right now, I am committed.  I think about ’91 Topps in my sleep.  I head to my kitchen table whenever I have free time to rip a few packs.  That will die down a little as time passes, like anything else would.  But, I will remain steadfast in my journey to continue to work on this set.  It may come and go from time to time but I won’t pass up any packs or boxes when I see them at the flea market or a garage sale.  No, there is value to this set for me now.  

Here is the part where I get on my soapbox.  I’m still learning to appreciate the many variations of the meaning of value.  It used to be about the Mike Trout Auto or the Kris Bryant Relic.  But I have learned to glean value from other sources that are more affordable.  Value to me can be described as committing to learn something new about a product and setting a goal to reach.  Several of my twitter friends have their own goals.  They want to obtain a certain number of a particular player or they want a card from each set of a particular player.  No matter the actual goal, the only way for us to reach them is to be a part of this community and help one another.  I will never know enough about the ’91 Topps set on my own so I lean on David Wright and Kin Kinsley and others.  That’s the only way I’ll get there.  But that’s what it’s all about to me now; making those connections and being good stewards to the hobby.

My plan is to periodically update my progress on the set.  Maybe there is info I can pass along to you if you are interested.  Or maybe you can help me and correct some of the misconceptions I may have so far on the set.  Either way, I’m here to help when I can and I appreciate those that are here to do the same in return.  Until that next update comes, happy collecting and keep the hobby alive!

J-Dub