Saturday, February 14, 2009

Mickey Mantle's 2009 Topps Card is NOT a Short-Print or Variation Card!!!

I've been going over auctions on the bay, seeing if the prices of the 19 Topps SP cards included with 2009 Series I have gone down. And they have, to somewhat reasonable levels (currently anywhere from $1.00-10.00, I'll wait until they come down some more...). However, I've noticed something disturbing here.

First, there are a number of auctions for the 2009 Topps Mickey Mantle #7 card (I do NOT want to put links to the offending auctions here, they do not deserve the publicity) on the Bay stating that this card is a short print variation card.

WHAT??! The Mantle card is a short print??! There's a variation??? SINCE WHEN??!

Maybe it's because his Topps card lists him as a shortstop, and the picture does show him in a possible shortstop throwing pose (think turning a double play). Maybe it's because there are 17 other legends short printed in the set. Maybe it's because some message board poster linked one of my posts, where I wrote, "And yeah, Mickey Mantle comes back as card #7. This time though, there is no current player that gets short printed as a variation...YET!!!"

BUT IT IS NOT ONE!!! STOP SAYING THAT IT IS!!!

Please repeat after me...

THE 2009 TOPPS MICKEY MANTLE CARD #7 IS NOT A SHORT-PRINTED VARIATION CARD!!!

There has been no news about this card being short printed, nor is there an actual living player who is listed as card #7 in the set. There is no second card of Mantle in 2009 Topps showing him as an outfielder. In fact, until Topps no longer has Mantle as an "Exclusive", card #7 will be reserved for Mantle in the big eponymous set. He was not part of the 17 player CMG deal. Stop calling this card a short print!!! And besides, even if it was one, don't you think (and I'm talking to you eBay Sellers!!!) it would be a good idea to put in the "regular" number 7 card for comparisons sake??? Here, I'll even put a picture of it here to show you what it looks like:

2009 Topps #7 Mickey Mantle Card. Not a Shortprint, nor a Variation!!!

Please compare this card to the scan of your "short-printed" variation card, and tell me if there are any glaring differences between the two? Guess what??? You can't!!!

So I am asking all of you, imploring all of you, buyers and sellers alike, on eBay or otherwise, please stop calling this card a short print. Please don't buy it or treat it like any of the other 19 cards. It is not a short print. It is not a variation card. I can't say it enough.

Rant over. Stepping off the soapbox. We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog posts.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

P.S. For those who think I'm nuts for posting this, if you do indeed have a short printed Mantle card and want to prove me wrong about the whole thing, please send the card to me. Send an e-mail to bdj610@hotmail.com, provide me a scan, I'll give you my mailing address, send me the card, and I will cease and desist all further posting about this topic. jba

6 comments:

dayf said...

This stuff happens every time a new set comes out because there is no easy reference for short prints and variations on the web or on the checklist anywhere. How freaking hard is it to put a reference somewhere on the web page when the product is released. Nope, they want to stealth everything and keep us guessing for a couple of weeks before finally putting the list up on Beckett. Meanwhile rip-offs like these happen. Remember the A&G 1/1 sketch cards in every pack in '07? At least Topps lists the inserts and ratios on their packs which is a hell of a lot more than Upper Deck does.

night owl said...

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive ... er, to short-print. Same difference.

TDLindgren said...

Whether or not it's a SP (and I know it's not) it's a pretty sweet looking card and I picked one up pretty cheap on eBay as soon as it came out.

On a similar related subject, does anyone have any information about the 6 degrees of Mickey Mantle card backs that some of the cards have? Are there just certain ones? I bought a rack pack at Meijer the other day and 10 of the cards had "6 degrees of Mickey Mantle card backs including David Price.

TDLindgren said...

I've been following the Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig SP's on eBay and they've been selling from $12 to $20 a piece. I did get lucky and got the Ruth for $1.50 "buy it now" when they first came out and picked up the Cobb for about $10. Now I'm going after the Gehrig and Robinson. I'm sure those are the main four of the SP's and all I really want at this time.

Anonymous said...

What is this Jed Lowrie I saw on ebay? 1/1?!? For a base card????

http://cgi.ebay.com/jed-lowrie-2009-topps-true-1-1-look_W0QQitemZ260363338491QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_SM_Sports_Cards?hash=item260363338491&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Anonymous said...

Topps has for several years put out "variations" of regular cards. The "printing plate" variation is the most scarce SPs (only one per card)in the set.