Wednesday, August 14, 2024

Trippin' Balls

I know I've mentioned a few times on here in recent years how much I enjoy mis-registered cards. I don't come across them nearly as often as I'd like, and when I do, I'm not willing to pay the exorbitant prices that are usually attached to them. Occasionally though, i.e. once or twice a year, I'll happen upon one that isn't being sold by a delusional seller; like this absolutely wonderful George Saimes that I got off of the Net54 a couple of months back.

The '67 Topps football set is already the most psychedelic looking sports card set ever produced, so it seems sort of apropos to find such an acid trip of a card on that design. Has any card ever looked more Crimson and Clover than this one? If so, I've not seen it. One can only imagine what the full sheet must've looked like.

I have 5 or 6 cards that are this off now(I only like them when they're full on whack-a-doo), but this one is definitely my new favorite.

Other kinds of extreme printing errors appeal to me as well, and since I'm talking about such things, it seems like a good time to show off this wonked up TCMA card that I got from COMC last year...
 
There's an awful lot going on here, so hopefully I'll be able to break it down properly. First off, this is card #269 Al Worthington, except instead of Al's picture, you've got Al Pilarcik (#212) in the forefront, and Preacher Roe and Johnny Podres (#239) in the background. The colors are a tad off in the scan, but that doesn't away from how wild this particular card is. And what's more, it's kookiness isn't confined to just the front.

As you can see, it was supposed to be Al Worthington's card, but even his write-up wasn't safe from the ghost of Billy Cox (#83).

I'm not even sure how such card can happen, but from what I've seen, a number of other kooky cards were produced during the printing of this set. Whether they ever actually made it into packs, or were secreted out the backdoor, I do not know, and honestly, I don't really care. I do know however that it's a crazy-awesome card, and I feel very fortunate to have been able to get it.

16 comments:

  1. I've encountered a lot of a strange miscuts and the like over the years collecting vintage cards, but I never come across register errors like these. Very cool!

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  2. That Bills card is just too groovy, man!

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  3. You could make your own with the old 1996 Pacific Litho-Cels!
    I've got a few vintage miscuts, but don't think there are any wacky printing ones....

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    1. I used to really like those Litho-Cels, but they've really fallen out of favor with me in recent years.

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  4. Very nice. My idea back in the day was to make a "Bender Binder" with these types of cards-- flipping through it would tweak your brain damn near enough to get you drunk/high on its own!-- but yeah, sweet cards like these proved to be elusive for me, especially now that I've stopped going to the local card show. Don't think I've even filled one page yet.. but it was a fun idea.

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    1. I remember you mentioning this before, and yeah, it was a neat idea. They probably would be easier to find at shows, which I don't go to anymore either. The only time I see them is basically the once or twice a year that I stumble across one somewhere online. I'd love have a binder's worth, but at this point I'd be content just to a fill a page. Although, for the moment, the five that I do have are being displayed on a shelf.

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  5. Both of these cards are fantastic! Not sure what you'd define as exorbitant... but I definitely would pay $10 (maybe more) for that Saimes. It's so unique... and an incredible conversation starter.

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    1. I've seen them listed for well over $100 online. I don't know if any ever sell for that much though. George Saimes was $8.

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  6. "MY EYES! DE GOGGLES DO NOTHING!" These are a fun minicollection I can't say I've seen anywhere else, so, well done!

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  7. The TCMA looks like a sheet of makeready that got either backdoored or mistakenly trimmed up. There's a lot of paper that gets used in setting up a run and the more junk paper you use to do it the less good paper you waste.

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    1. I know next to nothing about the card printing process (or any other printing process for that matter), but I think I understand what you're saying. And if I am getting it, I can't help but then wonder how many interesting sheets have been produced, and then subsequently discarded, over the years while the various companies were getting the presses warmed up.

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  8. These are incredible! Especially the Saimes.

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  9. That Bills card is outstandingly cool

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