General Forum

Researching to see if anyone else has noticed different signatures atop of 1990 Donruss cards such as this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1990-Donruss-Error-Variation-Gregg-Jefferies-Baseball-Card-270-/191780683977?hash=item2ca70500c9:g:NZ8AAOSwAKxWalWC

Wow! That is definitely a difference. Any indication if it's the difference between the cards from packs vs. the factory sets? I have 1,000s of these cards, and I never noticed that - of course, I never really looked! Keep us posted.

thats crazy lol.. makes you wonder, i know they massed produced cards during that era, its like they had multiple presses running at one time and if someone inputted the cut or print setting off by a millimeter it throws everything else off-- i came across many error cards with a half of print or a person pic on the front wtih someone else bio on the back.. its like companies were just rushing to get prints done and on the shelf-- no QA at all

This got me curious, and I think I've solved it (I was on the right track before). First, look here:

http://www.comc.com/Cards/Baseball/1990/Donruss/270/Gregg_Jefferies/1972492

Our pals at COMC have 8 of them listed as of this moment. The seller named "commons" who has it listed at $1.25 has the card with the tighter loops. The other 7 have the curvier loops. If you look at the backs of these cards, you'll notice that copyright info in the upper right shows "(C) 1989 LEAF, INC" on the 7, and "(C) 1989 LEAF, INC." on the lone one. If I recall correctly, the ones with the period after INC are the factory set versions.

Now, I wonder how many other cards have more than the "." as the difference between the pack cards and the factory set cards... :)

Edit: Further study of the cards on COMC show 3 variations. Oh boy.

1 - Loopy front, with period

2 - Loopy front, no period

3 - Tighter front, with period

Where's BOBSCARDZ?

Dan....Here I am!

?1990 Donruss - If you have enough cards and enough time you can find a ton of variations. 25-50 cards of 1 player will guarantee variations. I actually have a "U-Pickem" on eBay now, somebody is always watching them. Valdez, Murphy, Johnson signature variations, broken lines, missing lines, w/ periods, w/o periods. A master set is over 1500 cards. Here is another tip [I read] for those that grade cards, the factory sets are so perfectly cut that 10s are almost guaranteed...whatta kicker! Who said card collecting isn't fun. BTW, If your interested in 1990 Donruss variations, you found the right guy. lol.

?~BOB~

Looks like another Hobby Archaeology project is in order to determine which cards have the name variations.  Is it just certain players, which would imply certain sheets, or is it the whole set?

If you check out eBay, somebody is always turning up another variation. Legit too, as I see it. I thought I had them all until I followed the above leads, seems to be more than I was aware of....Whole set ..Don't know? Factory or packs, don't know? Many of the errors that have been around for years, can be found in packs vs factory and visa versa. Hobby Archaeology project and good eyesight....comparing those signatures is brutal....finding broken lines is worse. Think maybe I will sit back and watch. lol.

~BOB~

Great spot, but terrible news for compulsive master-set collectors.  Maybe in a few years someone will notice "parallel versions" of 1990 Donruss cards with a slightly lighter red border.

When you print so many cards, you'll inevitably run low on ink...

Interesting that you mention "parallel", it was brought to my attention, if you carefully look at the background design there is a difference between wax box cards and factory set cards. Now the 1990 Donruss can really get crazy. I looked back at some of the unfamilar  "variation"listings in these posts....and in fact there are differences between many cards, and multiple instances to verify. Looks like I'm back to sorting the 1990 Donruss boxes! Collecting is so much fun.

~BOB~

I know there is allegedly at least one year of Donruss where the factory set and pack versions have backs turned in opposite directions from each other.  Not sure if that was 1990 or not.  Those variations go beyond my realm of interest, but I'm sure it's great fun for those who collect those sorts of things.