General Forum

As many of you know, Topps loves to make variations. I know we discussed them (and how to identify them) for the 2013 set.

 I'm pretty new here, but I think I know the answer to this one because I suspect adding a variation got me my one point on the sight (Woot.).  You can go to the list of set in question, click on "errors/ variations" and then there's an option to "click here to submit an error or variation to this set."

That should do it.  

There.  Do I get another point now?

v3

   Intentionally adding a shortprint is a sleazy gimmick by Topps.   Back in the 50s and 60s, SPs were caused by the fact that cards were put out in series.    The later series  were printed in a smaller volume simply because the cards did not sell as well at the end of the season as they did at the beginning.

Knowing full well that I sound like an old man shaking his fists at kids on his front lawn, I've gotta say that I HATE all the short prints and fourteen different versions of cards and even the printing of a card for all sorts of "rookies" who've never played a game. When I started collecting, I knew that, say, the 1975 cards, were a reflection of the players who played in 1974.  It was almost all the players.  And there was one version of each card.  I wish Topps and world would have just accepted that, but nooooo.  If a player retired during the off-season, they wouldn't get a card, so Johnny Bench and Yaz don't have proper last cards, showing all their stats.  And I guess I have all the complete sets from 1973 to now, but I don't have all the purposeful variations, so does it count?  Don't get me wrong, I loved the "special" cards.  The Hank Aaron Specials, the Highlights.  Those became in higher demand because they were cool, not because only a few were printed. I just can't stand the bowing to commercialism, but I suppose it was inevitable and unavoidable. I still buy the set each year, but I'm glad my focus is on the old stuff I haven't completed yet.  It's a lot more fun.  Except for the damn high numbers thing....

There's my rant for the day. 

v3

Well said Vvvergeer I feel the same way about the modern 1,000 different parallels to the "base" cards (and the "rookie" cards of guys who never played a professional game or were even drafted by a pro team) For the parallels at least now they usually change the border to make the variations more obvious, but in the 90s and even up to a few years ago, they would change the silver foil printing of the players name that was hard to read to gold foil and call it a "gold" parallel. At the first look of the card you say "Wheres the Gold? Why is this any different?" "OH his name IS a different color." Oh and the difference between a regular "Chrome" card, the regular "refractor" and the "super refractor" or the "X-Fractor" is also ridiculous. "OH I see more squares in the pattern, guess that one is the "xfractor"?"

Also back in the day with just the set, with no variants there was no such thing as a "base set" or "Master set", unless you say that the 20-30 card insert "sub-sets" were part of the "Master set"
 

 Im with some of you on the modern Topps cards.. I don't care for the short printed variations..  it makes it harder to properly complete sets or collect favorite players or teams.. I don't mind as much the parallels, but they make too many of them really... Just buying 2 rack packs from Walmart the other day, i get the Walmart blue parallels, 2 yellow parallels, 1 light green, and 2 red foil ones... i do like the foil ones, they just look cooler.. the rest are just different colored borders... oh, and i do like the serial numbered gold ones...  but the rest, i dont care for.. same for the insert parallels... now you have the regular inserts, material inserts, autographed inserts, etc...   ill still buy more of the cards when i can afford them, as i want as many of the Cubs as i can get... good luck to everyone else collecting the new stuff..