The 1970 Topps baseball card set is well known among collectors for containing some notable errors that make certain cards quite valuable. During the manufacturing process of what was then Topps’ largest baseball card set to date at 714 total cards, a handful of mistakes slipped through that create special variants that capture the interest of error card collectors.
The 1970 set saw Topps greatly increase the size of their cards from previous years. Whereas cards had measured approximately 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches in the late 1960s, the 1970 set cards swelled to a dimensions of approximately 2.75 inches by 4 inches. This size increase allowed Topps to print larger photographs on the cards as well as add more stats and career highlights on the back of each card. The size change also brought manufacturing challenges, some of which resulted in notable errors that Topps failed to catch before releasing the cards to the public.
Perhaps the most famous error from the 1970 Topps set is the “Blank Back” Nolan Ryan card. During the printing process, Ryan’s card was miscut so that it was missing the entirety of the statistics and info normally found on the back of a baseball card. Instead, the back of the Ryan card was completely blank white paper except for the standard Topps copyright line at the bottom. This creates a hugely rare and valuable variant collectible. Only a small number of the Blank Back Ryan cards are known to exist today in collectors’ hands.
In addition to the Blank Back Ryan, there are a few other significant photo swap errors worth mentioning. The first involves Roberto Clemente’s card. On a small handful of Clemente cards, the photo of Clemente was mistakenly replaced with a photo of Dick Allen. This creates a very rare Allen/Clemente photo swap error. Another photo swap saw Joe Foy’s image replaced with Jerry McNertney’s image. Yet another saw Joe Keough’s photo swapped for Roric Harrison’s photo.
A somewhat more subtle but still cherished error involves pitcher Pat Dobson’s card. On most 1970 Dobson cards, his name is printed correctly as “Pat Dobson.” On a small amount of cards, there is a mistake where an extra “T” is added to his first name so it reads “Patt Dobson.” This creates a coveted variant for collectors.
In what is likely the most famous numerical error from the 1970 set, an unknown low number of cards featuring pitcher Bill Burbach have his uniform number mistakenly listed as “47” instead of his correct number “46.” Only a small lot of these are believed to still exist in high grade today.
Continuing with errors involving uniform numbers, Baltimore Oriole pitcher Tom Phoebus has his number listed as “48” when it should have been “29.” Relief pitcher Ted Abernathy also has his Giants number listed as “57” rather than his actual “47.” And most notably of this group of number flubs, Hall of Famer Juan Marichal has his number mistakenly written as “14” when he of course wore the iconic number “27” for the Giants.
Moving beyond personal stats, a couple of 1970 Topps errors saw whole team stats swapped between cards. Specifically, some Dick Bosman cards intended for the Indians instead printed Seattle Pilots statistics on the back. Conversely, some Bill Burbach cards meant for the Pilots ended up with Cleveland Indians stats on the reverse.
While far fewer in occurrence compared to the major errors mentioned above, a few other minor anomalies have also been documented. Dick Baney has the spelling of his first name printed incorrectly as “Dickk.” A small grouping of Johnny Briggs cards show the team logo in the bottom corner as the Philadelphia A’s instead of his actual Detroit Tigers. And Orlando Cepeda had a tiny print run where his listed city was botched from “San Francisco” to “Sah Francisco.”
While the 1970 Topps set had one of the highest print runs in baseball card history at the time consisting of over 714 total cards, the manufacturing errors make the collectible runs of certain cards exponentially more rare and valuable today. The high level of interest in error cards ensures some of these 1970 mistakes like the Nolan Ryan Blank Back and other photo swap variants continue to sell for thousands of dollars to obsessed collectors looking to add something truly unique to their collections. Though mistakes, they remain an enjoyably quirky part of the heritage of Topps baseball cards.
