Sports Card Errors: What are they and which error cards are more valuable?

Error cards are all over the place in the sports card hobby. Mistakes happen at all stages of the card production process. There can be design errors, informational errors, and actual printing errors. Cards that have some sort of error or mistake on them are not rare at all, and you will never find a yearly series that doesn’t have it’s share of errors if you look close enough.

So how do we know which error cards are worth more?

It all comes down to scarcity. If an error is detected somewhere along the production line – somewhere from design to packing – and is pulled off the line and corrected, that error card has the potential to be more valuable than it’s corrected counterpart. Assuming that there are far less of the error versions in existence (and assuming error versions actually made it into circulation). That’s what it boils down to.

Take one of the most famous error cards as an example, the highly sought after NNOF (no name on front) Frank Thomas 1990 Topps rookie card. The standard version of this card is not at all rare. It was produced during the height of the junk era of cards and there are hundreds of thousands of them, if not millions. However, there is a version that is MUCH more rare. Early in the production run of these cards, a series of them were printed with an error – Frank’s name was missing on the front. Some quantity of these made it through the production and packing process and went out into circulation before the error was caught by quality controlled. Once caught, they corrected it by adding his name and continuing the production process. When all was said and done, plenty of normal Frank’s were out there, and just a handful of the error variation.

Now, 30 years later, and you can still get a 1990 Topps Frank Thomas rookie for $5.00 or less. But, to get a NNOF Frank, you’re likely needing to shell out thousand of dollars. Now, if it has been the other way during production – say that the error version without the name made it through 99% of the production process before they caught it, then finished off with the corrected version at only 1% of the production run, this version wouldn’t be considered an error, but it would be much more rare and thus would be far more valuable. If an error is never corrected, then it has full production run and is no different than any other card in the set. Uncorrected errors are very common. So, essentially, that’s how it works.

But that said, it’s a subjective thing. There are many types of errors that are clear errors or mistakes, but are not desirable for one reason or another. Consider printing flaws such as print lines or marks, mis-registered designs, and any number of other issues. Generally, these are not considered “errors” – they are just flawed cards. But that said, there are collectors who specifically look for those types of things, so those cards may be worth more “to the right person”, but in the broader sense, they are just flawed cards, and probably worth even less because of that. It’s considered a quality issue, not a variation.

So this is a good way of thinking about it. Could the error be considered a “variation” as opposed to a quality flaw? Take grading for example. PSA will mark against a card’s grade if there is a print line running down the middle of it (especially on chrome cards, for example) because that’s considered a quality issue. PSA will not put a mark against the NNOF Frank Thomas for missing the name, because that was a design error that was later corrected – hence, two variations of the same card (with one being far more rare).

Are miscut cards worth more?

Generally no. Miscut sports cards are not considered error cards in this sense, they are usually considered print/production flaws. If anything, they should be considered worth less than the normal version. However, it’s certainly not unheard of for a card with an egregious printing mistake to be sold for a lot more money, especially if it is of a star player. Again, it’s subjective and if someone really wants it for their collection, they’ll pay what they want for it.

Print and production mistakes

As detailed above, there are a variety of print and production mistakes that are not generally considered “errors” in that sense.

Missing back or missing front, or wrong back

These will often just have a blank back or front, or could feature one card on front and something else entirely on the back. Often one side or the other will also be misaligned or miscut. These are all just due to a bad print run – perhaps the sheet got flipped the wrong way after printing one side, or the job was set up incorrectly initially. Often there may only be a very small handful of these cards, which certainly would make them far more rare. But as stated, generally they are just not desirable.

Missing foil, or other print elements

In the 1990s all the way up through today, this is a very common issue. It’s simply due to the foil not adhering or getting transferred to a card properly. Sometimes bits of the foil is missing as if only partially adhered, sometimes there no foil at all when there should be, suggesting the machine ran out of foil or perhaps it never made it to the foil machine. A lot of times you’ll find an impression on the card of where the foil should have been, but no foil (indicating the machine was just out of foil at that moment).

Material errors

Oof, these have gotten pretty bad lately. 2021 Topps is still pretty new and already it is clear that quality control on jersey swatch cards was pretty bad during their series 1 run. We’re seeing a lot of cards that simply have the jersey swatch missing. Some people find them really cool and interesting, but most see them as just bad quality control.

Informational errors on cards

When we’re talking about error cards that have a corrected counterpart, thus making the error version more scarce and desirable, there’s a good chance it’s due to an informational error. One could consider the NNOF Frank to be part of this group. Another example would be a 1952 Topps Johnny Sain, which includes the wrong bio (Joe Paige) on the back. This card was corrected, and the error card is quite sought after. Interestingly, the Joe Paige 1952 Topps also has an error with the Sain bio (they just got mixed up), but is not nearly as desirable as the Sain just do to Sain’s historical accomplishments (last pitcher that Babe Ruth faced, and first that Jackie Robinson faced). Other examples of informational errors include misspellings, wrong stats or information from a different player, any number of things. Again, if the error was never corrected, then it is not rare and is considered just the normal card.

Design errors

Next to informational errors, these are probably the 2nd most common, and are usually corrected, so we have a host of sought after error cards due to design mistakes. 2006 Topps Alex Gordon rookie is a good example as this card shouldn’t have even been in the 2006 set. Rumor has it Topps put it in the set thinking he would make the opening day roster, but as it turns out, he did not, so that card (flagship release) should not have been in the set. Another good example is the 1989 Upper Deck Dale Murphy Reverse Negative error – which shows the photo reversed. It was later corrected, so this rare error card is pretty sought after.

What are error cards worth?

And this is the big question. Error cards depend on 2 main factors: Whether or not they have production scarcity (they are far rarer than corrected counterparts) and what the subject is. There are lots of later corrected errors out there that are simply not desirable – probably a common no-name player. But in the NNOF Frank, you take an egregious error of a hall of fame hitter (they forgot his name!), that is FAR more scarce than the mass-produced corrected version (believed to be only 200-500 in existence, as opposed to probably hundreds of thousands of corrected versions), and you have a super sought after card (selling for 5 digits or more in high grade).

Error cards can be desirable and sought after, and thus valuable, for all sorts of reasons. So, it quite literally depends on the card. Take the “F-Face” Billy Ripken (just Google it if you’re unfamiliar), which is probably the most notorious sports error card in history. Or the 1977 Star Wars C-3PO “error” – which may be the most famous error card EVER. The list goes on and on.

One of my personal favorites is the 1990-91 Hoops Sam Vincent. Who? Exactly. But on the “error” version of this card, it shows Sam driving the hoop with Michael Jordan defending him – only Jordan is wearing #12, which happened for only one game. Hoops ended up pulling that photo from the production run and replacing with an entirely different photo.