What Year Am I??

Gooch12

I think we are all aware that on the backs of most sports cards there will be a year that the card was manufactured and the company name that manufactured the card:

Ex. (C) 1975 TOPPS CHEWING GUM INC (Whis is on the back of my 1975 Topps Hank Aaron Card)
or (C) 1986 LEAF, INC. (Which is on the back of my 1987 Donruss Greg Maddux Card)

The point being, whatever the date on the reverse is the date the card was manufactured; or maybe I should say the date on the reverse is USUALLY the date the card was manufactured? Does anyone know if this is always the case or usually the case?

I'm asking because I have several 1995 and/or 1996 Classic Football Cards of Terrell Davis. ALL cards show on the reverse 1995. Many of the cards that were graded were listed as 1996, others listed as 1995. I even have 2 of the exact dame cards that 1 shows 1995 while the other shows 1996. Here's what I'm talking about....

Classic Football Cards

Most of the cards I have share one of the same 3 reversse as shown on the site posted above; but all cards at the bottom of the page all show 1995. However, some people say some of the cards are really a 1996 card, while others stick to if the card lists 1995 it should be graded as a 1995...PSA seems confused as to what should be graded as what; even telling me to return a few of the cards listed as 1995 because they are actually 1996 (Dont remember which ones).

PSA insists the Classic Sliver Signature Cards are 1996, but then listed the other Classic Signature Cards as 1995

So, what are your thoughts? Should all cards be graded according to the date on the back of the card? Graded according to some book or guide someone wrote, graded according to what someone feels or thinks?

Stingray

The card should be labeled for what year card company calls or lists the card as. Topps used to release baseball in December the year before, but you would not want them labeled with the date that they were released knowing that they are really cards for the upcoming year.

Gooch12

<< <i>The card should be labeled for what year card company calls or lists the card as. Topps used to release baseball in December the year before, but you would not want them labeled with the date that they were released knowing that they are really cards for the upcoming year. >>



I'm not sure if your post agrees or disagrees with me...lol. In your example of Topps releasing baseball in December, what date did they put on the back of the card? (Lets say for example they did this in Dec 1974). If they put in the back of the card 1974 then called the cards 1975 I would disagree with their decision. If they labeled the cards as 1975, and referred to the cards as 1975, then I would have no problems with that. My point was and is, cards labeled as 1995 on the back being called 1996 cards. In this instance it doesn't matter if the cards were issued on 31 Dec or 01 Jan, if they wanted the cards to be part of the 1996 set they should have labeled the cards as 1996. Since they dated the back of the cards 1995, the cards should be part of the 1995 set(s).

I'm not even sure if Classic themselves are the ones referring these cards as 1996, or if Beckett did because they were due to be released in late 1995, but somehow were released in 1996. Either way the date on the back should be the date of the set.

I'd like to know more about the Topps sets issued in Dec; when was that and what year was stamped on the back..may help strengthen my point (Or weaken it), but at least I'll have something to compare it to. Thanks for the input Stingray!

Stingray

If the 75s were printed in 74 and it says such on the the back, they are still intended as a 75 set. So I would say that the would be labeled as 75. I am sure for Topps, now that they have to release in the year they are dated, are printed in the year before so the can be sold in January.