The 1972 Topps baseball card set is well known among collectors for containing several valuable error variations that can fetch high prices in the collecting market. The baseline 1972 set includes cards of every major league player from that season, spanning numbers 1 to 660 in the standard design Topps had been using since the late 1960s. Among the more common design elements were team logos along the bottom border and a centered color photo of each player above their vital stats. Buried within the mass production run of the ’72 Topps cards were a handful of mistakes that created accidental variations which are now highly sought after by error card aficionados.
One of the most famous 1972 Topps errors is the uncorrected rookie card of LA Dodgers pitcher Tommy John, card number 244. On the original issue of John’s rookie card, his first name is misspelled as “Tommie” instead of the correct “Tommy.” Only a small number of cards were printed and distributed with this typo before Topps caught the mistake and rushed out a corrected version. As one of the few known examples of an errant first edition of an important rookie card, examples of the “Tommie” John card in near-mint condition have sold for over $30,000 at auction.
Another major error from the ’72 set involved Cleveland Indians second baseman Duane Kuiper’s card, number 317. Inexplicably, Topps swapped the photo used on Kuiper’s card with that of Rangers shortstop Jim Mason, whose card was number 622. Only a brief production run was completed with the mismatched photos before Topps stopped the presses to fix the error. The photo-swapped Kuiper and Mason cards are major rarities in the set, with PSA/DNA-graded gems trading hands for sums above $15,000.
One of the strangest mistakes from 1972 Topps was a bizarre Frank Robinson Cardinals card. At the time, Robinson was actually playing and pictured as a Los Angeles Dodgers on his correctly printed regular issue card, number 119. But somehow during production a test card was created with Robinson in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform, despite him never suiting up for that franchise. Only a sample size of around 25 are believed to exist today in collectors’ hands. With its completely anomalous team logo placement, the Frank Robinson Cardinals error is highly coveted at over $25,000 in top condition.
In addition to player photo and logo mix-ups, there were also some problems involving team affiliations listed on the back of certain 1972 Topps cards. Boston Red Sox pitcher Sonny Siebert’s card, numbered 85, was issued with stats for his 1970 season when he was actually with the Cincinnati Reds printed incorrectly on the reverse. An even rarer multi-error card mistakenly lists Minnesota Twins pitcher Jack Aker as property of the Chicago White Sox on the back of his card 111, despite his real team being the Angels. Both of these stats error variations have sold in the $5,000 range.
One final major aberration from the 1972 Topps run involved future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan’s card. While Ryan’s basic front image and number 628 card are common, an elusive test variety was somehow mixed in showing him in an Angels uniform despite being pictured as a member of the California Angels as he should be. Only approximately 10 of these sample Nolan Ryan Angels error cards are known to exist today. In pristine condition, it is among the most valuable 1972 Topps mistakes at auction value upwards of $50,000.
In total, around a dozen strongly documented errors are recognized among the 1972 Topps baseball release. While the standard issue cards can be acquired for little more than a dollar each, the accidently produced variations command prices several thousand times higher courtesy of their incredible rarity and nostalgia appeal. For serious error card collectors and vintage baseball memorabilia aficionados, finding high grade examples of these 1971 Topps production mistakes would represent owning some of the crown jewels of the entire hobby. Even after 50 years, the misprints and unusual deviations remain captivating mysteries from the early days of the modern trading card era.
