As I was reading the thread on variant cards the other day, I realized that we never talk about error cards. Then it struck me that non-sport really doesn't have error cards today and possibly never did.

Now when I say error cards I am not talking about cards that have errors, like wrong photos or misspelled words. I mean cards that had corrected versions printed after an error card was spotted. This was a somewhat usual occurance in sportscards in the day. A premium was then attached to whichever card was deemed to be the shorter printrun. It might be that the error card was priced higher or the corrected version was priced higher. Some cards actually had more than two versions. Anyone remember the Billy Ripken FF bat handle card? I think there were 4 corrections on that one!

Anyway, with the one shot printings that are now done on non-sport cards I don't think any card can be corrected, hence no real error cards. They will all be the same regardless.

My question is, was there ever an error card(s) in a non-sport set that got a corrected version?

The first card that comes to mind is the 1977 Topps Star Wars 4th series #207 card of C-3PO. The first version was thought to be obsence so Topps made a revised version.

The early 1990's Hollywood Walk of Fame set from Star Line had some cards that were reprinted due to misspellings of star's names, resulting in error and corrected versions of certain cards. (Charleton Heston vs. Charlton Heston is one that pops to mind).

ProSet MusicCards from around the same time had a 2nd printing that resulted in variations (although not necessarily from errors that were fixed). At least one card was replaced with a different one entirely, card #86 Maxi Priest, I think that one was.

Tbe only Wacky Packages set from the 1990's, I think it was 1991, had a Barf's Rot Beer card removed when the Barq's Root Beer people complained, and that resulted in a new card with the same number, Tattoo Skins, and variations of all three checklists, some of which show Barf's and some of which show Tattoo Skins.

Cornerstone Communications/CMA did a Hammer Horror Trading set in 1995. A couple of cards were headed Hammer Glamour. The first printing had "Hammer Galmour" printed in error on the backs of theses cards, 79 and 80.

These 2 Cards were then reprinted with "Glamour" spelled correctly. Card stock is totally different so I prefer the originals!

Two come to mind, the New Zealand S1 promo card for the ST Generations set. The Regular S1 has prototype spelled wrong. The corrected one had some added text about being limited to 10,000 and sent to NZ, but are pretty rare. Though I see them more now then when I started collecting.
The second was a Levar Burton Insurrection auto card. There was a mis-spelling and the actor refused to sign so they had to make a second printing. May not count since it was never officially released.
There is a set of 4 Captain cards that came out in 4 different Trek sets. They were too dark and were reprinted, but *gift sets* sent out to execs from the first set the cards appeared in (I think the TOS III set) had all 4 of the dark ones in them.

If I remember correctly there was also one Silver Surfer base card with no number which was later corrected.


Since this topic has already came up, I am curious whether this hologram card was corrected?

I have several cards of this and they all have the floating left eye when viewed from the side. The left eye doesn't move together with the whole image when tilted.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: juke,

I seem to remember a stargate card from Rittenhouse, possibly in a preview set, that was wrong and had a correction card done.

Yes, the Stargate was from the US preview set, card P4 (actress's name was misspelled). Stargate season 6 also had 2 versions of cards 70-72.

Also, DC Cosmic Cards (Impel 1991/92) card 44 was issued with and without the trivia question on the back.

Return of Superman (Skybox 1993) had two versions of the foil inserts because some of them had the wrong back.

Regarding the Star Trek NZ promo, one sold yesterday on ebay for $ 120 !

ProSet Music Cards

The Madonna promo misspelled her last name and was subsequently corrected

The John Lennon base card shows him flashing the peace sign with either his left hand or right hand. Reversed negative.

ProSet would often go back to the presses, so they likely have quite a few cards with corrected errors or variations.

They issued football cards from 1989 to 1993 or so, and they considered their sets to be "living" sets, so if a player were traded to another team, or elected to the Hall of Fame, or even died, they would sometimes, in the next series, print a card from an earlier series but with a banner in the corner commemorating the event.

With ProSet MusiCards, there were LOTS of variations, so there were likely at least two printing of the entire set, and not necessarily just certain cards that were corrected. I still like that set. It was fun to open those packs. Too bad autograph cards hadn't come into vogue yet when those were issued. It could've had some pretty great ones.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
As I was reading the thread on variant cards the other day, I realized that we never talk about error cards. Then it struck me that non-sport really doesn't have error cards today and possibly never did.

Arggggh!! Raven you stole my thread! By coincidence I was just about to post an identical topic when I saw you had beaten me to it!
The difference between us is that I wonder why error cards are not a more solid discussion thread. As you have seen by successive postings there is no shortage of them. FPG Fantasy Art cards are rife with alternate text on the backs. Also in the Promo genre there are endless examples of release date changes on cards, various font changes (Judge Dredd promo set comes in thick and thin type). Sometimes morality issues seem to bite. Remember the Vampir Theatre card with the little female devil. In one version she appears in just her birthday suit but later editions has her naughty bits blacked out.
Art Treasures of the Vatican promo has alternate text backs. As a matter of interest I discount printers errors as they are endless. I have at least three Dick Tracey cards that are blank backed but this is simply a case where a sheet mist going through the printer and accidentally got released.Likewise cards that are so badly misaligned to be grotesque just reflects some sloppy printing and cutting.
Strangely, in stamp collecting these "error" printing stuff-ups are considered highly collectable and make some amazing prices at auction.
Anyway, the completest in me demands that I collect them all!

I've got a bunch of cards from the Avengers set by Cornerstone that were printed without backs or had part of the text missing, I never see any of these for sale anywhere but I doubt i'm the only person who has them.

quote:

Originally posted by chesspieceface:

With ProSet MusiCards, there were LOTS of variations, so there were likely at least two printing of the entire set, and not necessarily just certain cards that were corrected. I still like that set. It was fun to open those packs. Too bad autograph cards hadn't come into vogue yet when those were issued. It could've had some pretty great ones.

Definitely a lot of variations. There was a 2nd series which encompassed the original 260 cards plus 80 additions. That's where the Lennon change appeared. This was also the golden age of dumping. I bought boxes at my local dollar store. They were a fun break. Somewhere along the line I pulled the the scarce hologram too.

Another series that contains error cards that were corrected is Topps X-Files that was issued in the UK (these cards were previously mentioned in another thread). Occasionally both the error and replacement card were found in the same packet.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Regarding the Star Trek NZ promo, one sold yesterday on ebay for $ 120 !

I sold one once (on consignment for $1400. I bought mine in an NSU phone auction back in the day for $75

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:
Strangely, in stamp collecting these "error" printing stuff-ups are considered highly collectable and make some amazing prices at auction.

This is because in the world of stamps and coins the manufacturing and distribution is very closely monitored, and when a mistake is noted, its not unusual for entire runs to be destroyed. 300 million dollars of the new $100 bills were just shredded due to too much ink having been used on them.

Errors on stamps and coins are made all the time, but none of them get out, generally speaking. The most famous "error" collectible is the "Inverted Jenny" postage stamp, which is worth millions. Apparently the Jenny, an airplane, was pictured upside down on the stamp, and some got out before it was corrected. On that one, you can see how it happened. That plane pretty much looks the same either way.

Card manufacturers, particularly in the "old days" didn't spend a lot of time or money on quality control, so there were a lot of errors, misspelled words, misprints, etc., on various cards and after the huge boom in collecting them in the sports card market in the late 1980's, you have to wonder if at least some of the error cards that followed (in sports and non-sports alike) weren't made on purpose, so as to spur interest in a product.

Really, an error card is just a flawed card, and very rarely, does it offer something, aesthetically speaking, better than what would appear on the corrected card.
The value that becomes associated with error cards instead has to do with collectors wanting something a little different that what all the other collectors have, something unique in a hobby where everyone winds up with essentially the same thing. This also explains the popularity of 1 of 1 sketch cards, and autograph variants that sets certain signed cards apart from the bulk of the regular signed ones (a little drawing, different color ink, an inscription, a full name instead of initials or just a first name, the autograph on the wrong side, etc.).

quote:

Originally posted by STCardGeek:

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Regarding the Star Trek NZ promo, one sold yesterday on ebay for $ 120 !

I sold one once (on consignment for $1400. I bought mine in an NSU phone auction back in the day for $75

Ahhh the notorious (and very secretive) ST NZ promo. I have posted on this subject a year or so ago but just for the record here's the facts again. I have been a solid (read rabid) collector since about 1985. Since then I have been part of a number of collector's interest groups, I have worked as an accountant for a card manufacturer (Card Crazy) and I would know every collector of consequence in New Zealand (we are only a small country!!).
For all of that, I have never even seen this card let alone owned one and further no one that I know in the whole of New3 Zealand has ever owned one.
Purportedly 10,000 were sent to NZ but unless customs destroyed 9,990 of them then someone is telling porkies. Trust me, there is absolutely no way in the world such a number of promos could be circulating in this country without my knowledge. There are a few theories among my circle of collector friends ranging from someone at Skybox didn't send them but secreted them away somewhere for later easing onto the market one at a time to the idea that someone got the numbers wrong and just 10 (or a 100) were printed. Whatever, it really is an enigma that only Skybox could explain.

quote:

Originally posted by btlfannz:
Arggggh!! Raven you stole my thread! By coincidence I was just about to post an identical topic when I saw you had beaten me to it!
The difference between us is that I wonder why error cards are not a more solid discussion thread. As you have seen by successive postings there is no shortage of them.

I had no idea there were so many non-sport error cards, many of those sets were made way before I started collecting non-sport products. I think the reason it hasn't been discussed very much here is because, unlike sportscards, no significant premiums are attached to most of the error cards or their corrected versions. The only error card noted to be valuable of the ones mentioned so far is that Star Trek promo. So while completists may know about them and look for them, other collectors will only take notice if there is a higher value involved.

And yes, there were always rumors of intentional error cards put in sportscard products to boost sales. Aways denied by manufacturers of course.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
I've got a bunch of cards from the Avengers set by Cornerstone that were printed without backs or had part of the text missing,

That's because you were too cheapskate to buy the full card Wolfie, what you paid for was just half a card (the text was extra)