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mchenrycards
Featured Contributor, Vintage Corner, Senior Membe
In an effort to jump start some conversations here on FCB I hope to write a weekly thread about some of the lesser known or more interesting cards or parts of this hobby that I have learned in 40+ years of collecting. My hope is that what I write is at least informative and at most entertaining to all of the readers here. I will not always write about expensive items or the hottest cards as modern is not my forte' but I hope I can shed some light on items that have brought me enjoyment over the years in this hobby we all seem to love. So, without any further delay, here is my first installment.......
1981 was a landmark year in the world of sports card collecting as the number of manufacturers of these cards tripled literally overnight. Topps had a strangle hold on this market since they purchased the floundering Bowman Company in the mid ‘50’s and survived an attack by the Fleer Corporation in 1963. Topps emerged as the leader in sports cards by default and enjoyed nearly two more decades without major competition to their business. That would all come to an end in 1981 as a lawsuit brought by the Fleer Company a few years earlier finally saw a judge break the monopoly that was the Topps Chewing Gum Company and allowed others to enter into this potentially lucrative sports cards market.
In the rush to put product on the shelves, both Fleer and Donruss produced card sets that were filled with errors and production issues that fueled a run on their first edition print run. Errors such as incorrect numbers on the back of cards, mislabeled sub titles, reverse negative pictures and probably the one error card that has most held it’s value, the “Craig” Nettles card with the first name printed with a capitol “C” on the back instead of the intended “G”. Perhaps some of the most overlooked and possibly unique cards are from the 1981 Fleer series and are not errors at all but what is commonly known as a production variation. There are six cards that appear to have what can only be described as a hand with a pointing finger (better known as “finger” errors) that has been drawn either on the front or back of the card. These cards are not easy to find but they can be found by those who know what they are looking for in common bins and many card shows.
When these cards first appeared many wrote them off as a common production error where lint or some other foreign material worked its way onto the printing plates and then transferred to the cards. A closer look at this error showed that the “hand” was the exact same shape on each card which would indicate they were purposely drawn on each printing plate which eliminated the foreign matter theory. The common theory is that a disgruntled printing facility employee was trying to slip one past the proof readers or was upset with a boss and decided to “flip the bird” to them in a subtle, yet impactful method. Either these hands were drawn on by a employee or somehow were a part of the production of these cards, well we may never know but these hand errors have proving to be a very interesting collectable.
There are six cards with this hand attached and each card will be found with either the drawing etched to the front or back of the card. While not very expensive, these production variations have been found to be an interesting subset to collectors in a set that has proven to be bland at best. These cards can be found on Ebay either graded or ungraded and are a great conversation starter among collectors. It will be up to you to decide if these were caused by an upset employee or just a simple, mechanical twist that caused a very realistic hand-like drawing to be placed randomly on six separate cards.
Taken from Keymancollectables.com, the following is the checklist for these cards that have the hand etched to them as well as the location where you can find this small drawing. I have also attached some front scans of two cards in my collection. While not very easy to find, next time you see a box of 1981 Fleer, dig in. You never know if you will find these odd variations hiding in plain sight among their corrected counterparts.
Card 114 Dave Lopes (Small hand on back)
Card 126 Ron Cey (Small hand on back)
Card 177 Rick Dempsey (Small hand on front)
Card 215 Bill Bonham (Small hand on back)
Card 251 Gary Matthews (Small hand on back)
Card 342 Britt Burns (Small hand on front)
1981 was a landmark year in the world of sports card collecting as the number of manufacturers of these cards tripled literally overnight. Topps had a strangle hold on this market since they purchased the floundering Bowman Company in the mid ‘50’s and survived an attack by the Fleer Corporation in 1963. Topps emerged as the leader in sports cards by default and enjoyed nearly two more decades without major competition to their business. That would all come to an end in 1981 as a lawsuit brought by the Fleer Company a few years earlier finally saw a judge break the monopoly that was the Topps Chewing Gum Company and allowed others to enter into this potentially lucrative sports cards market.
In the rush to put product on the shelves, both Fleer and Donruss produced card sets that were filled with errors and production issues that fueled a run on their first edition print run. Errors such as incorrect numbers on the back of cards, mislabeled sub titles, reverse negative pictures and probably the one error card that has most held it’s value, the “Craig” Nettles card with the first name printed with a capitol “C” on the back instead of the intended “G”. Perhaps some of the most overlooked and possibly unique cards are from the 1981 Fleer series and are not errors at all but what is commonly known as a production variation. There are six cards that appear to have what can only be described as a hand with a pointing finger (better known as “finger” errors) that has been drawn either on the front or back of the card. These cards are not easy to find but they can be found by those who know what they are looking for in common bins and many card shows.
When these cards first appeared many wrote them off as a common production error where lint or some other foreign material worked its way onto the printing plates and then transferred to the cards. A closer look at this error showed that the “hand” was the exact same shape on each card which would indicate they were purposely drawn on each printing plate which eliminated the foreign matter theory. The common theory is that a disgruntled printing facility employee was trying to slip one past the proof readers or was upset with a boss and decided to “flip the bird” to them in a subtle, yet impactful method. Either these hands were drawn on by a employee or somehow were a part of the production of these cards, well we may never know but these hand errors have proving to be a very interesting collectable.
There are six cards with this hand attached and each card will be found with either the drawing etched to the front or back of the card. While not very expensive, these production variations have been found to be an interesting subset to collectors in a set that has proven to be bland at best. These cards can be found on Ebay either graded or ungraded and are a great conversation starter among collectors. It will be up to you to decide if these were caused by an upset employee or just a simple, mechanical twist that caused a very realistic hand-like drawing to be placed randomly on six separate cards.
Taken from Keymancollectables.com, the following is the checklist for these cards that have the hand etched to them as well as the location where you can find this small drawing. I have also attached some front scans of two cards in my collection. While not very easy to find, next time you see a box of 1981 Fleer, dig in. You never know if you will find these odd variations hiding in plain sight among their corrected counterparts.
Card 114 Dave Lopes (Small hand on back)
Card 126 Ron Cey (Small hand on back)
Card 177 Rick Dempsey (Small hand on front)
Card 215 Bill Bonham (Small hand on back)
Card 251 Gary Matthews (Small hand on back)
Card 342 Britt Burns (Small hand on front)
