Friday, March 17, 2023

Variations and other card show finds

 The current methods used by card companies to drive collector interest are wide and varied.  Refractors, serial numbers and parallels are the most common, but there is a real niche for the variation crowd.

Today's variations have their roots in the variations of the past, which originally, were mostly printing issues.  They seem to have happened when card companies switched factories or equipment mid-stream, or were due to other quality control issues.  One example is the 1962 Topps tint variations.

They are subtle-ish, but obvious when they are side by side like this.  Seems to me that this was just printing issues, but they are considered variations.

Today's variations have gotten a lot more involved (and purposeful), mostly by using completely different photos with the same card number. Or another common variation, the nickname variation, where instead of the players name on the card, you get their nickname. The current semi-standard for photo variations seems to be the regular base card, then a SP variation, and often a SSP (Super Short Print) variation too.  Lot's of times these photo variations are of the same player, but it is common to have a legends variation, where the base card is a current player and the SP is a retired legend.

All this makes me super happy I am not a set collector that cares about all the variations!!  


I have mixed feelings about variations.  A few I really like, and others make me wonder why the hobby has gone down the tubes.  And there isn't a lot of rhyme or reason to which variations I like and which I hate.

Anyway, enough with the preamble, I am actually posting about some pickups from a recent card show.  Of course variations feature prominently in the cards I will be showing.  Some I will be keeping, and others are up for trade if anyone is interested. And some are just available to claim for free. I apologize that I didn't scan them separately, but I will try to note anything that is available for trade.

Here are some cards!


These were all dimes or quarters, even the rookie year Ichiro.  That one surprised me.  Some good color/sparkle in here with the Arraez, Franco and Scherzer.  I absolutely love the Aaron with Mays, my two favorite players of all time.  Some really cool oddball-ish vintage with the Hubbs, Herzog and Cochrane.  The Herzog is from the 1975 Fleer Cloth Patches - Laughlin Pioneers of Baseball set.  My first time even hearing about that set.  The Cochrane is from  Shakey's, a Seattle area restaurant and is a 1976 issue. The Ruth/Gehrig is not a variation, but it looks like it could have been.  What the heck, the Ruth/Gehrig is up for grabs, along with some actual variations later in the post.

I also found some basketball cards, from sets I have a hard time finding in my price range.

Not superstars, but good cards, especially when I find them cheap.  Takes me back to my childhood.

And I finally found some of those Laughlin stickers from the early 70s that I keep seeing on other peoples blogs!  Happy to add a few of these.

OK, finally the first of the variations!  This one is from 2022 Topps Update.  Remember how I said I like some variations and hate others?
Well this one is a love for me!!  I'm keeping this one.

Here are a couple of other sweet cards I picked up for what I thought were pretty good deals.  Certainly not quarter box though!
However, once I got them home, I realized that the Cabrera is a dupe.  So it is on the trading block.  And the Henderson, while kind of awesome, I am just not sure about.  It may be semi-rare (I don't see ANY on COMC), and hopefully someone will want to start up a trade for it?

Here is another pic of it, as you can see it is more orange than the scan shows.  After a little research, I believe this called a Tiger Stripes Prizm.

And let's finish off with more variations!
Mantle - 2018 Optic Nickname Variation
Altuve - 2018 Optic Nickname Variation
Colon - 2021 Donruss Holo Orange Nickname Variation
Tatis - 2022 Donruss Nickname Variation
Tatis - 2020 Donruss Nickname Variation (Panini couldn't decide which nickname was best, I guess)
Judges - One of these is a photo variation, I couldn't be bothered to figure out which one...
All of these are up for grabs


Ruth - 2021 Topps Legends Variation
Gwynn - 2020 Topps Legends Variation
Clemens - 2022 Topps Update Legends Variation
All of these are up for grabs too



OK, now for clarity here are all the cards that are available, either for trade of to claim for free:

Up for free!  Just claim in the comments.  I'd rather you claimed several, but if you only want one, that's fine too
2010 Topps Ruth/Gehrig
Mantle - 2018 Optic Nickname Variation
Altuve - 2018 Optic Nickname Variation
Colon - 2021 Donruss Holo Orange Nickname Variation
Tatis - 2022 Donruss Nickname Variation
Tatis - 2020 Donruss Nickname Variation
Judges - 2018 Donruss version 1
Judges - 2018 Donruss version 2
Ruth - 2021 Topps Legends Variation
Gwynn - 2020 Topps Legends Variation
Clemens - 2022 Topps Update Legends Variation

Up for trade - comment or shoot me an email
2001 Bowman Miguel Cabrera
2022 Panini Prizm Rickey Henderson Tiger Stripes Prizm

8 comments:

  1. I'd like to claim the Colón, Altuve, and Gwynn cards. Honestly wouldn't say no to any of those up for claiming, but I'm sure there are some Yankee fans who'd get more joy out of many of them than I would. Thanks!

    Man, an Ichiro rookie-year card for a quarter? Nice!

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  2. If those Star cards were a quarter or less as well, I'd say that you got an amazing deal on those. Somehow I've never even seen the Walton before.

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  3. I'll claim the Clemens and Ruth/Gehrig variation! Thanks!

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  4. looks like the Legends variations are spoken for already, shucks.

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  5. Awesome pickups! I am hoping to find some good deals in bargain boxes at a card show I plan to go to next month.

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  6. That Manny variation is awesome! I remember seeing a video where he went into the Fenway scoreboard in the middle of the game. I wonder if this was from that game or if he visited the scoreboard on numerous occasions.

    Love the Hubbs too. Received my copy a few years ago from a fellow blogger (GCRL).

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  7. I'd love the 2021 Topps Babe Ruth variation if it's still up for grabs. I love photo variations, the "tints" and other similar things don't interest me much. I remember reading that Topps did indeed switch factories in the middle of their 1962 Topps production run, which is why the tints exist. (A few of the cards even have different photos all together.)

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  8. Could I get the Mantle and the Judges? Thanks!

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