1982 Topps Blueless cards (Not Blackless)

mcholke

I wanted to ask around about the 1982 Topps Blueless cards. There are 10 of them listed on Ebay right now. The seller is Zenithium who I have seen sell many of the 1982 Blackless cards in the past. I had always understood there to be a Blueless variation and this listing goes into great detail about these cards.

Ebay Blueless auction link

I have the Perez Blueless variation but until now had not seen confirmation that the variation exists. I am not sure it is a recognized variation or not. I know PSA did not recognize the variation when I tried to get it graded a couple years back. I have attached a photo progression of the regular, blackless and blueless version below. You can see PSA slabbed the PSA 6 as regular.



I am going to pass along this information to customer service and see if PSA will start to recognize this variation. Does anybody else have more information or experience with PSA recognizing this variation? I did not see any "blueless" variations in the population report.







CHECKLIST
of the
132 DIFFERENT CARDS
in a
COMPLETE SET
of
1982 TOPPS BLUELESS




11 GARY ALEXANDER
24 DAVE FROST
26 JORGE ORTA
28 JOHN URREA
37 DAN GRAHAM
39 LOU WHITAKER
42 RICK SOFIELD
48 BOBBY CASTILLO
49 ALVIS WOODS
52 LARRY ANDERSEN
64 LYNN JONES
68 ROY HOWELL
72 RICK AUERBACH
73 BUDDY SOLOMON
74 BOB CLARK
81 JIM PALMER IN ACTION
88 BIFF POCOROBA
94 ANDY HASSLER
98 TERRY BULLING
101 MIKE SCHMIDT IN ACTION
107 WAYNE KRENCHICKI
114 KEN LANDREAUX
116 JIM WOHLFORD
117 RAWLY EASTWICK
119 JOE PITTMAN
122 JAMIE EASTERLY
128 FRANK PASTORE
132 LEE MAY
134 DAN FORD
137 GEORGE CAPPUZZELLO
138 TONY PENA
158 BRIAN DOWNING
159 LARRY BIITTNER
201 GEORGE BRETT IN ACT
211 DAN PETRY
225 MIKE TORREZ
256 TONY PEREZ IN ACTION
262 DOUG BAIR
267 KURT BEVACQUA
275 BOB WATSON
280 BEN OGLIVIE
282 KEN MACHA
283 BRIAN ALLARD
288 GARRY TEMPLETON
297 CLINT HURDLE
302 DOUG FLYNN
307 RANDY BASS
313 JOHN HARRIS
324 STEVE DILLARD
330 RICK WISE
344 GARY CARTER ALL STAR
345 F VALENZUELA ALL STAR
349 GEORGE FRAZIER
352 DICK DAVIS
354 ROBERTO RAMOS
360 LEN BARKER
363 BOB MOLINARO
382 JOE SIMPSON
390 EDDIE MURRAY
397 KEN BRETT
398 MIKE SQUIRES
400 JOHNNY BENCH
406 AL HOLLAND
413 DAN MEYER
415 DON BAYLOR
421 MARK CLEAR
423 STAN PAPI
442 BRUCE KISON
443 MARK WAGNER
448 DARRELL PORTER IN ACTION
450 JACK MORRIS
451 ED MILLER
460 JACK CLARK
462 DAVE CHALK
467 MICKEY HATCHER
468 FLOYD BANNISTER
475 ALAN TRAMMELL
481 STEVE CARLTON IN ACTION
484 IVAN DEJESUS
492 JOE PRICE
498 DAVE BERGMAN
503 JULIO GONZALEZ
507 TERRY HARPER
519 GLENN ADAMS
520 MIKE FLANAGAN
521 BILL ALMON
523 GARY GRAY
524 TOM HAUSMAN
542 NED YOST
543 BILL ROBINSON
548 W RANDOLPH ALL STAR
549 GEORGE BRETT ALL STAR 550 BUCKY DENT ALL STAR
555 SCOTT MCGREGOR ALL STAR
560 DOUG CORBETT
565 JACKSON TODD
567 BOB BABCXCK
568 JOE PETTINI
573 RICK WAITS
575 AL COWENS
579 RICK MAHLER
585 ROLLIE FINGERS
594 RENIE MARTIN
603 RICH HEBNER
610 RICKEY HENDERSON
616 BOB BOONE IN ACTION
622 DENNIS LAMP
632 BRYAN CLARK
637 RICK CAMP
646 FRANK WHITE IN ACTION
649 KEN CLAY
661 D CONCEPCION IN ACTION
663 HECTOR CRUZ
665 JIM CLANCY
677 ALFREDO GRIFFIN
685 BERT BLYLEVEN
691 DAN SCHATZEDER
694 DAVE WEHRMEISTER
695 WARREN CROMARTIE
702 STEVE RENKO
704 MICKEY RIVERS
705 MICKEY RIVERS
710 JERRY REUSS
715 WILLIE STARGELL
716 WILLIE STARGELL IN ACTION
720 GREG LUZINSKI
721 GREG LUZINSKI IN ACTION
735 RUDY MAY
741 DAVE LOPES IN ACTION
742 DICK DRAGO
745 BAKE MCBRIDE
760 BILL BUCKNER
764 STEVE SWISHER
767 ROY SMALLEY
771 RICH GOSSAGE IN ACTION
776 MARK BELANGER
784 MILT WILCOX
792 FRANK TANANA

tunahead08

Funky, call me a masochist, but I wish there was a Ripken version for me to try and find (always wished that for the blackless too, like I need there to be more Ripkens out there I don't have)

DavidPuddy

I'm actually thankful that there's no Ted Simmons in the set.

That's an interesting story the seller has.

CDsNuts

The whole blackless blueless thing escapes me. It's clear that this was a point where the presses were running for a while after it was realized that a certain color ink had run out. Fine, the cards are rare and sell for a premium. But how is this different from any other type of printing error, such as wrongbacks, blankbacks, goldless (modern cards), etc.... These cards sell for nothing, yet 1982 blackless cards sell for a ridiculous premium because there's more quantity and they are thus deemed as "collectible". So a 1/1 wrongback sells for pennies while a 1/500 blackless of the same guy sells for $150??? How does this make sense?

psafan

The Perez "blueless" is not a printing variation, it was just left in the sun.

mcholke

<< <i>The Perez "blueless" is not a printing variation, it was just left in the sun. >>



The thought had crossed my mind when I picked it up several years ago. The lack of color though is uniform and the white is very white and has no sign of sun exposure. I had not given it much more thought until the Ebay listing appeared. This is one of the cards shown on the checklist and the coloring or lack there of is consistent with the samples listed on Ebay currently.


CDNuts, I understand your position completely and you have to have a willing buyer and seller I guess to make it valuable. I think the fact PSA makes a designation for blackless on the flips gives the variation more weight and thus it becomes more desirable for the set registry collectors. The other variations have not been given such status. Arbirtrary but once formally catalogued, they become real I guess.

viking7

CDsNuts, while no one knows for sure exactly how many blackless cards exist for each player on the "A" "B" and "C" sheets, I've never
heard anyone speculate that the number may be 500. As to the prices blackless cards can bring, its just supply and demand, or in some cases just a motivated buyer that isn't afraid to spend to get what they want. So you take the blackless collector, the team and player collectors and pretty soon it can make for fairly high sale prices for some of these cards. Some go pretty cheap too. I haven't noticed much
consistency with the prices these bring except for the "A" sheet commons.

Stingray

Topps proof card??

WinPitcher

Lee it makes sense only because marketeers need product to promote. It is hard to get the masss worked up over a 1/1 wrongback.

1986 Topps have some examples late in the season where the red ink ran out on the backs, yet I see no premiums or these even listed as a variation. Maybe not enough exist. Also all you need is for an 'error' to make it into the guide and you have an instant market.

Steve

julen23

i think you're onto something, but dont know enough about '82 topps to say?

you could be completely wrong also.

i love being on the fence.

j

mcholke

Ebay Auction Link

The Blueless Perez just went up on Ebay.


Starting bid is $397. I guess that is what I get for showing interest in the card before it was listed. At a minimum I was glad to see the card listed matches my card in appearance.

NickM

The seller indicates at least in some of the auctions that they appear to be sheet cut. I have a hunch that these may have all been from a sheet that was supposed to be scrapped but instead made it out the back door intact. As such, they shouldn't be considered as legitimate printing variations (i.e., never appeared in packs or factory sets).

Nick

mcholke

<< <i>The seller indicates at least in some of the auctions that they appear to be sheet cut. I have a hunch that these may have all been from a sheet that was supposed to be scrapped but instead made it out the back door intact. As such, they shouldn't be considered as legitimate printing variations (i.e., never appeared in packs or factory sets).

Nick >>



PSA at least put it in a slab (see first post) and they shy away from the sheet cut cards. They did not recognize the variation though so maybe were not on the lookout for a sheet cut card. It would be nice if he were not the only seller as this lends itself to the sheet cut theory.

metalmike

The "flood" of errors began in 1979 with Maury Wills son Bump. Anything after that MAY be "backdoor" proofs or blatant ripoffs a.k.a. Billy Ripken black and white proofs. And who is to say when a card is a PROOF vs. a BLANKBACK? STAT LINE SAYS BULLSPIT!

metalmike

If you grew up collecting baseball cards during the late 1970s, chances are the name "Bump Wills" has special meaning for you.

The second baseman, son of Maury Wills (the 1962 National League MVP), had a decidedly unspectacular six-year Major League career with the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs: a .266 career average with 36 home runs in 831 games. But at least for a while in the summer of 1979, Bump Wills cards were the hottest around -- so popular, they were even featured on at least one major television network news show.

Why? Because Topps made a mistake, and an "error" card was born.

For anyone who hasn’t been collecting long enough to remember a time when error cards were in high demand, the chase for Bump Wills’ cards in the summer of 1979 would have to seem odd. But at a time with only one major baseball card set issued each year (instead of one or more per week), error cards were like the short-printed rookies of today. Not everyone had them, so everyone wanted them.

The first version of Bump Wills’ card to appear in 1979 showed him in his Texas Rangers uniform, but Topps had mistakenly put "Blue Jays" on the front of the card for the team name. Later in the season, Topps began issuing corrected "Rangers" cards in packs.

Because of the variation, either version of the Bump Wills card was printed in lesser quantities than the other cards in the set, so the chase was on as collectors wanted copies of both versions. The national TV exposure only added fuel to the fire.

At a time when singles of even the top superstars generally sold for less than $1 (and commons cost only pennies apiece), the Wills Blue Jays card started selling for $5 or more. Eventually collectors learned that the corrected Rangers version of the card was actually printed in shorter supply than the Blue Jays version, so the Wills Rangers cards soon leapt into the $5-$6 range, while the Blue Jays version dipped below $4.

Today either version of the card has a high value of $3 in mint condition. Only 17 other cards in the 726-card set are priced higher.

Those Bump Wills 1979 Topps cards certainly weren’t the first "error" cards ever made. In fact, since the 19th century many baseball card sets have included variations of individual cards -- in some cases correcting a misspelled name, in other instances changing a team name to reflect a trade, or often putting a new photo or artwork on the card.

One of the most famous and expensive error cards ever made is the Sherry "Magie" misspelled card from the T-206 series. The corrected "Magee" spelling sells for $100 in top condition, but the "Magie" error books for $15,000 (prices from the 2003 Beckett Baseball Card Almanac).

Even recent collectors are undoubtedly familiar with the concept of variation cards, since that is an intentional part of many sets (such as Topps Heritage or Cracker Jack) today. But in the past, many sets included variation cards unintentionally -- not really "errors" in the literal sense, but creating the same kind of interest.

For instance, the first 80 cards of the 1952 Topps set can be found with the backs printed in either red or black ink. That same variation was recreated (intentionally) when Topps brought back the 1952 design for its inaugural 2001 Topps Heritage set.

Another famous series of variations came in the 1974 Topps set. Apparently believing off-season rumors that the San Diego Padres would be moving to Washington, D.C. for the 1974 season, 13 of the Padres players (plus the manager and team cards) had their team name listed as "Washington ‘Nat’l Lea.’" in early printings of the set. Later printings restored the San Diego Padres name. Strangely, although all the Topps cards were printed as a single series for the first time ever that year, some Padres cards (including Dave Winfield’s rookie card) do not have "Washington" variations.

Not surprisingly, history has shown that a company’s inaugural card set often has many errors that are corrected in later printings.

The 1981 Fleer set -- Fleer’s first issue of current players since 1963 -- included many misspellings, incorrect or reversed photos, misnumbered cards and typos in the first printing, which were later corrected in second and third printings.

fur72

This could be a whold different thread but does anyone think lately Topps has been making quite a few "mistakes" just to move some more product. You have the Jeter with Bush and Mantle card, 5 Blue Mike Vick cards that were not to be produced but ended up in the 2007 set, the Alex Gordon Heritage deal. Just to name a few.

p.s Who can forget a guy named Bump? Could only be named by a guy named Muarry.......

F1ferrari

The 1981 and 1982 Donruss and Fleer sets were chuck full of errors and variations. I'm one card away from the '82 Fleer (the Littlefield rev neg) and a few away from the '82 Donruss, and then I may work on the '81 sets.

metalmike

http://cgi.ebay.com/1982-Topps-Baseball-Proof-Cards-1-of-1-You-Pick_W0QQitemZ190175461682QQihZ009QQcategoryZ60512QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

A761506

I am very familiar with the Topps blackless cards, and they are a true print variation...

I can tell you with certainty that the "blueless" cards are nothing more than a "C" proof sheet with fully printed backs that somehow got out of the factory (probably stolen sometime around 1982) and chopped up into the individual cards. You will never find these cards in packs or vending cases, there likely is only a couple of each card, depending on how many proof sheets were cut up initially.

Their value is no more than a couple bucks a piece for the commons and a small premium for the stars, just like any other 80's proof cards. PSA graded that Perez card in error, it should have not been graded at all, as they do not grade proofs.

thekid8

<< <i>Their value is no more than a couple bucks a piece for the commons and a small premium for the stars.... >>



So are you saying that I should wait until the price of this Gary Carter "Blueless" card comes down a bit
Mike

Leiascards

<< <i>Ebay Auction Link

The Blueless Perez just went up on Ebay.


Starting bid is $397. I guess that is what I get for showing interest in the card before it was listed. At a minimum I was glad to see the card listed matches my card in appearance. >>



Ebay has pulled the listing

Stingray

<< <i>If you grew up collecting baseball cards during the late 1970s, chances are the name "Bump Wills" has special meaning for you.

The second baseman, son of Maury Wills (the 1962 National League MVP), had a decidedly unspectacular six-year Major League career with the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs: a .266 career average with 36 home runs in 831 games. But at least for a while in the summer of 1979, Bump Wills cards were the hottest around -- so popular, they were even featured on at least one major television network news show.

Why? Because Topps made a mistake, and an "error" card was born.

For anyone who hasn’t been collecting long enough to remember a time when error cards were in high demand, the chase for Bump Wills’ cards in the summer of 1979 would have to seem odd. But at a time with only one major baseball card set issued each year (instead of one or more per week), error cards were like the short-printed rookies of today. Not everyone had them, so everyone wanted them.

The first version of Bump Wills’ card to appear in 1979 showed him in his Texas Rangers uniform, but Topps had mistakenly put "Blue Jays" on the front of the card for the team name. Later in the season, Topps began issuing corrected "Rangers" cards in packs.

Because of the variation, either version of the Bump Wills card was printed in lesser quantities than the other cards in the set, so the chase was on as collectors wanted copies of both versions. The national TV exposure only added fuel to the fire.

At a time when singles of even the top superstars generally sold for less than $1 (and commons cost only pennies apiece), the Wills Blue Jays card started selling for $5 or more. Eventually collectors learned that the corrected Rangers version of the card was actually printed in shorter supply than the Blue Jays version, so the Wills Rangers cards soon leapt into the $5-$6 range, while the Blue Jays version dipped below $4.

Today either version of the card has a high value of $3 in mint condition. Only 17 other cards in the 726-card set are priced higher.

Those Bump Wills 1979 Topps cards certainly weren’t the first "error" cards ever made. In fact, since the 19th century many baseball card sets have included variations of individual cards -- in some cases correcting a misspelled name, in other instances changing a team name to reflect a trade, or often putting a new photo or artwork on the card.

One of the most famous and expensive error cards ever made is the Sherry "Magie" misspelled card from the T-206 series. The corrected "Magee" spelling sells for $100 in top condition, but the "Magie" error books for $15,000 (prices from the 2003 Beckett Baseball Card Almanac).

Even recent collectors are undoubtedly familiar with the concept of variation cards, since that is an intentional part of many sets (such as Topps Heritage or Cracker Jack) today. But in the past, many sets included variation cards unintentionally -- not really "errors" in the literal sense, but creating the same kind of interest.

For instance, the first 80 cards of the 1952 Topps set can be found with the backs printed in either red or black ink. That same variation was recreated (intentionally) when Topps brought back the 1952 design for its inaugural 2001 Topps Heritage set.

Another famous series of variations came in the 1974 Topps set. Apparently believing off-season rumors that the San Diego Padres would be moving to Washington, D.C. for the 1974 season, 13 of the Padres players (plus the manager and team cards) had their team name listed as "Washington ‘Nat’l Lea.’" in early printings of the set. Later printings restored the San Diego Padres name. Strangely, although all the Topps cards were printed as a single series for the first time ever that year, some Padres cards (including Dave Winfield’s rookie card) do not have "Washington" variations.

Not surprisingly, history has shown that a company’s inaugural card set often has many errors that are corrected in later printings.

The 1981 Fleer set -- Fleer’s first issue of current players since 1963 -- included many misspellings, incorrect or reversed photos, misnumbered cards and typos in the first printing, which were later corrected in second and third printings. >>




What about the 1974 Topps Alou with missing position on front of card.