In 1991, Topps released their Topps baseball card set commemorating 40 years of Topps baseball cards. As with any large scale trading card printing project, errors were inevitably made during production. This flagship baseball card release featured some notable mistakes and variations that collectors enjoy finding to this day.
To understand how errors occurred, it’s important to explain the printing process Topps used at the time. In the early 1990s, Topps still employed the traditional printing method where the front and back of each card were printed separately on large sheet runs of cards called “plate sheets”. These sheets would then be cut and inspected to produce the final packaged cards. With such a large number of cards to produce for the massive 40 Years of Baseball issue, quality control was difficult to maintain across the entire print run.
Some of the more common errors seen in the 1991 Topps 40 Years of Baseball set included:
Miscut or Off-Center Cards: Due to the sheet printing process, it was easy for cards to be unevenly cut or cropped too high/low on the sheet during die-cutting. This results in images spilling over card edges or excessive blank space around images.
Missing Ink or Ink Smears: Issues could arise during the printing stage where certain colors would fail to transfer properly or ink would smear in places before fully drying. This often affected uniform piping or cap logos.
Reverse Front/Backs: On rare occasions, uncut sheet rows would be accidentally flipped over before cutting, resulting in some cards having the front on one side and back on the other.
Printed on Wrong Card Backs: Some sheet rows contained duplicates of the same player on front but were assigned different player stats/info on the reverse.
Missing Signature Patches: A small percentage of signature cards lacked the swatch patch autograph on the front due to production errors.
One of the oddest errors involved the Mike Piazza rookie card. Piazza’s photo was accidentally replaced with that of fellow Dodgers catcher Rick Dempsey on a small run of cards. Also coveted by collectors are the elusive “Blank Back” errors, where a card was accidentally printed without any stats or information on the reverse.
The set is also known for dramatic color variations between print runs. For example, some early versions of the Nolan Ryan card feature a much darker uniform compared to the standard bright blue shade. Subtle shadowing differences can also be seen across example of certain player portraits.
Topps works diligently to proofread their giant checklists, but typos and stat mistakes and managed to slip through as well. On a small number of cards, player names were incorrectly spelled or career stats were inaccurate.
Condition is also a major factor when assessing error cards from the 1991 Topps release. Because many mistakes involve production flaws, affected cards often grade lower than pristine examples. Still, cutting errors tend to preserve the fragile uncut sheets a bit better compared to properly cut counterparts.
Today, collectors enjoy tracking down examples of the variety of manufacturing mistakes created during the massive 1991 Topps 40 Years of Baseball print run. While more common errors have less value, elusive one-of-a-kinds like the Mike Piazza/Rick Dempsey swap or complete blank backs remain highly coveted prizes for dedicated error card collectors. The set serves as a reminder that even in the computer age, all mass produced collectibles are prone to the occasional quirks and anomalies that make mistakes so intriguing to find decades later.
