deepbluejacket
Verified Trader,
“There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know.
There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know.
But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don't know.”
-Don Rumsfeld
SERIES I
Compiling a master listing of Series I is a daunting undertaking because we just don’t know what’s out there with any precision. Combine some suspect quality control and it’s difficult to tell what Pro Set truly corrected and what are variations due to printing errors. No pricing guide I’ve seen has managed to untangle all of Pro Set. Beckett’s had errors in their listings since Day 1 that have never been proven to exist. So let’s start with what we’re absolutely sure of and work from there.
Let There Be No Doubt
This class of errors and corrections deal with changes to the appearance of the card in manners that had to be handled at a design level. No printer error could simulate these changes. We’ll start with the obvious.
Promo Card
#1 Brett Hull
Perhaps the most well-known card of the set. Under normal circumstances, a promo card would be in a class of its own as an item a hardcore collector would choose to seek out or not. But Pro Set did something odd; they released the promo card into its print run. As such, it's a variant, and not even a very difficult one. The Hull is easy to identify. Though it shares the same photo as the regular Hull, many things distinguish it. For starters, it's labeled card #1. There's a blue vertical line in the top bar off the card front. The colors, fonts and bio are slightly different. Hull's date of birth is also wrong.
Wrong Name
#1 Ray Bourque
If the Brett Hull promo card is the face of 1990-91 Pro Set, the other card #1 runs a close second. Who spells All-Star defenseman Ray Bourque’s name wrong? Name is misspelled “Borque” on card front only. The correction came late – later than one would expect – so the error card is much more common.
#7 Garry Galley
Garry is misspelled “Gary” on the card back. Both versions are fairly common.
#42 Joe Nieuwendyk
Misspelled “Niewendyk” on the card front. This was the ‘hot’ error of the set in the early going as it was listed at a whopping $3-4 in Beckett back in 1990. While it is an early correction, there are others that are much harder to come by. Corrected far more common than the error.
#60 Al Secord
He’s “Al” on the front and “Alan” on the back. Hardly seemed worth correcting, and they waited quite a while to do so. Error is more common than the correct, but there’s no difficulty finding either.
#129 John Tonelli
Misspelled “Tonnelli” on front. Beckett’s 1st annual price guide neglected to note the corrected version existed (though the magazine did since Issue #2). Though far scarcer than the error version, the corrected version can be found.
#167 Viacheslav Fetisov
Misspelled “Vlacheslav” (that’s an L instead of an I) on card front. There is an additional variant of this one that may be a bad airbrush job or may be a printing error, but we’ll deal with that when we get to it. Standard error and correction are common.
#198 Miloslav Horava
Misspelled “Miroslav” on card front and it took a long time before Pro Set took notice. Seemingly one of the last cards corrected. The Miloslav version is uncommon and can be difficult to find.
#228 Phil Bourque
If you misspell Ray, you better misspell Phil – and they did so on both front and back. This one’s interesting because the corrected card also edited the bio, removing a reference to the ‘bearded Bourque.’ This is one of the last cards corrected – some say it is the last card – and can be hard to find.
#245 Marc Fortier
Marc is misspelled Mark on both front and back. Error version is more common.
#275 Allan Bester
Misspelled “Alan” on front and as an extra bonus, there's a design flaw where number and position are gray instead of white. The corrected card clears up both problems. Common either way.
#335 Fredrik Olausson
Like Al Secord, Pro Set called him Fred on one side and Fredrik on the other. Beckett today erroneously states that the error is Frederick. While Pro Set does misspell Olausson’s name on Phil Housley's card, they mostly get it right on his own. The Fredrik version is harder to find than the Fred.
#369 Shayne Corson AS
Misspelled as “Shane” repeatedly on this card. The correction was issued very late and can be very difficult to find. Perhaps the toughest of the corrected cards.
Wrong Number
#39 Brad McCrimmon
The card number, 39, is on front instead of his number, 4. Error slightly more common than corrected, but not hard to track down.
#121 Mike Krushelnyski
Pro Set forgot to put both his number and position on the card front. Apparently this was an oversight they could not abide, because it was corrected very quickly. The error version is one of the most difficult to find. The good news is it’s easy to spot.
#246 Paul Gillis
This is the toughest of the tough. Gillis’s number is depicted as #37 before being corrected to #23. The number change is the giveaway, but there is an additional feature. On the #37 card, Gillis clearly has a bloody nose. The blood’s been cleaned up on the corrected card. Was Pro Set faint of heart, or was this designed as a chase card? If that was the case, they failed. The error garnered no attention and is still not mentioned in Beckett today.
#256 Michel Petit
Pro Set got played here. Petit wore both #21 and #24 for Quebec, switching jersey numbers mid-season. Petit favored #24, so the Error card is actually right. However, he was shown wearing #21, so the #21 is Correct and the #24 is the Error. Error is more common.
Wrong Photo
#17 Dave Andreychuk
#18 Scott Arniel
These teammates had their photos transposed on the card back. Corrected early on and both versions are common.
#54 Dave Manson
The error version depicts teammate Steve Konroyd on both front and back, an error easy to spot as Konroyd is card #52. Common.
#130 Brian Bellows
Teammate Dave Gagner is featured on the back. A later correction that did not appear in the first Beckett price guides and is omitted from Beckett Annual #1. The corrected card has not been too difficult to track down, however.
#175 Peter Stastny
#176 Patrik Sundstrom
These teammates have their photos transposed on the card fronts, leading to extra confusion. All versions are common.
#301 Andrew McBain
The front photo is of Jim Sandlak, who wore #19 at the time, although the #1 is folded over making it look he was #9, which was McBain's number. The corrected version is hard to miss as the real McBain is front and center. Neither version is scarce.
Wrong Position
There are a lot of cards where the position is one thing on the front and another thing on the back, but all but one of them remain uncorrected errors.
Yes, only David Maley needed to be fixed. Because he’s a left wing and he’ll always be a left wing! John Vanbiesbrouck? Yeah, I suppose he played a little center from time to time… Error version of Maley has him at center on card back. Common.
Or are we wrong, and the card with LW on the back is the error? If you look closely, it still says “Centre” above LW. Maybe that’s what Pro Set was correcting? Either way…
Wrong Trade Stripe
Here’s a bone of contention. It has been long established by Beckett that cards of Phil Housley, Dale Hawerchuk, Denis Savard, Chris Chelios, Chris Nilan, and Brad McCrimmon were all released without trade stripes. That would leave Scott Arniel as the only player worthy of a trade stripe upon the set’s initial release. Kind of strange seeing as he’s the least important player of the seven and that he was traded with Housley for Hawerchuk. Also strange since the Housley bio explicitly talks about how Housley had been traded and what may be expected from him in Winnipeg.
Beckett is wrong. Scandalously wrong. Those six cards are always found with trade stripes. Stop looking for them without; they don’t exist, despite Beckett faithfully tracking (and fabricating) their prices for years. Beckett begins listing the trade stripe variants in Annual #1 and Beckett Hockey #13. No explanation for the update was given.
#40 Joe Mullen
This card may be the source of the problem. Mullen was traded to Pittsburgh on 6/16/90*, the same day as the Hawerchuk deal and a few weeks ahead of the Savard deal. Yet he was issued without a trade stripe. It was corrected early on, so the error variant is harder to find.
*6/6/90 on card. Pro Set got draft day wrong on all the trade stripes for deals done that day.
#61 Duane Sutter
Pro Set thought it important to tell us that Duane retired in June. They didn’t tell us this until October or so, so there are two versions of this card – one with a stripe and one without. He is the only retired player with such a designation. The bio also updates his status. Neither version is difficult to find.
That said, there are THREE versions of the Sutter stripe. The final word of the bio - "off-season" – can be found spelled with a space after "off" and without, as well as without a hyphen! I.e, off season, off-season, off- season. Why?!?!
#87 Jari Kurri
Kurri opted to play in Italy after the 1989-90 season and Pro Set belatedly got around to telling us this. Very belatedly. This card is very tough to find with the stripe. The bio also changes to reflect his status.
#348 Jari Kurri AS
Same situation here and it’s the only All Star card worthy of a stripe. Bio on back updates his status as well. As an added bonus, the trademark by the All-Star logo on the card's front switches from white to black. This one is tough to find too.
Wrong Design
#53 Steve Larmer
#57 Troy Murray
#63 Doug Wilson
A trio of Blackhawks ended up with white position and numbers on the card front instead of the black that was expected. Both versions are common. Oddly enough, they’d repeat the error in Series II with two more Blackhawks.
#385 Lester Patrick Trophy
They forgot to put the card number on it. Both versions are easy to find.
Wrong Details
#55 Bob McGill
Bob’s PIM totals are missing in the error version. Though a seemingly minor thing in the grand scheme of errors, Pro Set corrected it early. Not the easiest card to find and it’s very easy to overlook.
#66 Shawn Burr
This one is right up there with Gillis in terms of difficulty. The Burr card was released without any write-up beneath his stats and was corrected very quickly. Beckett does not list it. Easy to spot at least, but almost never found.
#320 Mike Ridley
The word “points” is the last word of his write-up, and it has a typo in it. It was initially spelled “point.s”. Pro Set bothered to correct it and the corrected version is easy to overlook and difficult to find.
Probable Print Variations
Now we get to variations that may have been corrected by Pro Set or may just be errors with the printing operation. Are they true variations? That’s entirely up to the collector. Many of these below are very popular and are considered part of the Master Set. But I differentiate between them and want to give you the opportunity as well.
Celebrities
#131 Aaron Broten
Broten is the beneficiary of a very peculiar print error. A limited number of his cards were scarred by the printer to form what looks like a tiny Stanley Cup. The error starts small and grows bigger as the print error gets worse, so there are many different sizes to choose from. Clearly a print error, but very popular. A Tony Granato version has surfaced now as well.
#169 Alexei Kasatonov
This one’s fun. On his card back, the write-up has space to call him a “rookie”, and those quotes aren’t mine. It’s supposed to say “rookie”. But the quotes are frequently absent, clipped, etc. I’ve got a version with no quote, with just the right quote, with just the left quote, both quotes, and fragments in between. Not sure what went wrong here, but there’s just too much variety for it not to be a printing problem. But if you’re up for it, collect ‘em all!
#279 Tom Fergus
This is the only card that I designate as a probable print error class that Beckett lists as a true variation. On the back of the card, the word “that” is obscured leaving only the ‘t’ and part of the ‘h.’ There must be enough of them to warrant Beckett’s attention, but it’s not that easy to find and very easy to overlook. Most would deem this a definite part of the master set due to Beckett’s inclusion. I say Beckett’s authority on these matters is suspect at best.
Clipped
Some player names appear clipped, probably due to a printing process problem. These are the more prominent:
#124 Marty McSorley
The M in Marty appears to have been shortened a bit on the card front. Not obvious if it’s standing alone, but side by side with a full M, it becomes apparent. Doesn’t seem too rare.
#126 Luc Robitaille
The E on the card front is partially obscured. A little bit harder to find than the others. Could be a bleed issue.
#167 Viacheslav Fetisov
Here’s one I’m on the fence on. This variant is of the VL version and it looks like the L has been airbrushed so it looks like an I. Except they failed. Is it just clipped? Or a bad fix? It’s up to you. It’s easy enough to find.
#182 Patrick Flatley
The top of the “Y” is clipped on the card back. Pretty noticeable if you’re looking for it. Also doesn’t seem too rare.
#392 Clarence Campbell Trophy
The “LL” is partially clipped on card front. I’ve also got a copy in an in-between state. A little harder to find than the other clips.
There are also clipped stat lines or two-color stat lines. Brian Hayward, Mathieu Schneider, and Gordie Roberts are known to have these variants.
Read Between the Lines
The stat lines surrounding the headers and the totals aren’t always straight, thick lines. Sometimes they taper off, sometimes the thickness isn’t quite right; in one instance it’s jagged. They all look like print problems to me, whereas a missing line would be a legitimate variant (see Series II). Here are some examples:
#146 Chris Chelios
The line under the stat totals tapers off as it heads toward the right.
#158 Mathieu Schneider
Schneider has a lot of problems and he’ll pop up again. One of those problems is a thinner line than usual above his totals.
#245 Marc Fortier
On top of spelling his name wrong, they also ran out of ink on some of his lines as they thin out toward the right side.
#290 Gilles Thibaudeau
This variant has a jagged line beneath the stat headers. Easy to spot if you’re looking for it; I’ve seen quite a few of them – more than I’ve seen of the Fergus.
Marks
Occasionally a card will get marked up, sometimes in a way that looks like a possible legit design error. These include double prints, where the card appears to have been struck twice on either front or back. But some are a bit more interesting:
#120 Steve Kasper
It really, really looks like a rogue comma has been inserted between the S and T of his name on the card front. Kind of tough to find.
#158 Mathieu Schneider
It’s Schneider again, this time with a somewhat common error. On the card back, there’s often a black mark across his face. Kind of like the mark a puck would make against your jersey. It’s not too hard to find.
#205 Chris Nilan
I hesitate to include this one in the probable print variation section as the two varieties are distinct. If you look closely at the trade line, many copies of this card have a straight red line running parallel. It looks like a piece of design that wasn’t cleaned up, lost in the color of Nilan’s uniform. The red line version is less common than the corrected, but it’s around. The trick is noticing it’s there.
Why place it in this section? Because who in their right mind would bother correcting something so insignificant? Nevertheless, I do keep a copy of both versions…just in case.
#209 John Vanbiesbrouck
There seems to be an accent mark over the U on card front. Since there are no spacing issues and no accents on any other card fronts, I’d call it a printing error. Ulf Samuelsson (#109) has a similar error where an accent appears over the 'A' of his last name.
Bleed Like Me
Some cards end up with too much ink on them and create bleed “errors”. The most famous is the “Ray Borqu”, which is so blackened that the E is completely obscured. I’ve got a bunch of bleed cards and I treat them as oddities, but nothing more.
Spilled Paint
There are some odd doodles and blotches that appear on cards. Usually blue, red, or green. Stuff like that is obviously a print error, so I don’t pay them much mind. Examples are blue doodles on Mogilny and Moog. Green blobs have been found on Brian MacLellan. A red blotch has haunted Kirk McLean’s AS card. But…
#164 Sean Burke
There is a variant where his position and number are clearly tinted yellow on the card front. Some are more yellow than others. It's a curious print error as no other part of the card appears affected.
Upside Down Card Backs
This is a standard mistake. It happens. You can probably find a version for each card in the set if you hunted long enough, but it is especially prevalent among Penguins and All-Star cards. Same goes for miscut cards. If you get lucky, you can get a miscut with the color bar off to the right.
Light Ink
Like the Kasatonov, sometimes the ink doesn’t press hard enough and there are gaps. Many of the Trophy cards have a white spot on the card back where the trophy name is printed, probably from something obscuring the press. Glen Hanlon’s stats can be found half-printed and yes, old pal Mathieu Schneider has this problem with his write-up.
I’ve also noted some of the silver and gold edged cards (trophies, leaders) occasionally don’t sparkle like they should. Feels like a printer error.
Big, Bold and Brassy – Toronto Style
There are cards with too much ink where certain letters appear to have been pressed twice or entire bios are much darker than usual. Helpful for those of us with weaker eyesight. Toronto Maple Leaf cards tend to be impacted more frequently than others; All-Stars have their share as well.
Color and Tint
There is plenty of variation in terms of color and photo tint. It's just production variation; nothing more.
SERIES II
After the fiasco of the first series, Pro Set returned with a much improved second set. So instead of an error every other card, there was an error every fifth card. The big change was that Pro Set didn't bother to make nearly as many corrections. Initially, there was just one listed variation in Beckett. But it wouldn't last. It wouldn't last.
In general, the Series II errors and variations are not in much demand. They are not perceived to be difficult to acquire. Of the cards listed below, I've managed to pull most from a pack, and I'm talking both error and corrected versions. Maybe I've just been lucky.
Wrong Photo
#470 Todd Ewen
Teammate Eric Desjardins is pictured on the back. To help identify him, Desjardins is looking to the left while Todd Ewen stares you down on the corrected card.
Wrong Position
#597 Tim Sweeney
Sweeney is listed as a defenseman on the front of the error card. The corrected version puts him at LW. The D version is the harder pull.
Trouble with Trademarks
#533 Paul Fenton
An upside down restricted R invades the wedge on the front of Fenton's card in the error version. The corrected version cleans it up.
#573 Los Angeles Kings
Maybe the restricted R on Fenton's card fled from this one. On the error card, the restricted R is missing after the Kings' name at the top of the front of the card.
Read Between the Lines
#510 Gordie Roberts
On the error, there's a missing line beneath the stat headers on the card back. It looks rather naked without that line. Corrected card looks normal.
#637 John Tanner
On the error, there’s a blank line below the stat header. I was unaware of this one until 2020, so I can’t determine how rare it is.
Stat Headers
#632 Jaromir Jagr
On the card back, the stat headers are shifted to the right, meaning GP is over goals and G is over assists. Though no premium seems to be placed on either version, in my opinion, the error card greatly outnumbers the corrected card.
#552 Mike Lalor
#624 Jeff Hackett
The header is shifted to the left, along with the header lines. (Or conversely, everything below the header is shifted to the right.) These error cards may be among the harder ones to dig up…if they are in fact error cards, and not print variations. There’s a lot of weirdness like this in this set, and it sure doesn’t seem like Pro Set would take the trouble to clean them up.
#654 Gordie Howe Career Point Leader
#660 Gordie Howe Hall of Fame
These two cards are not errors; they are variants. On some cards, you'll find a (32) after "SEASON" or "SEASONS" in Howe's stat header. Howe seems to be the only HOF/Career Point Leader with this distinction. Maybe it's because 32 seasons is such a tremendous accomplishment. These two variants flew under the radar for a long time. They may prove to be uncommon.
Now we come to a subset of Stat Headers that is prevalent in Series II. An inordinate amount of cards – almost entirely rookie cards – have variants where the stat header is shifted to the left by a character space. Thus far, no one's got terribly excited about them, but they do strike me as legitimate variations. There appears to be a pattern as to which cards are affected, and below I'll list the impacted blocks. I have not verified each one as of yet, so I will take note of the cards within the blocks that I have not found – but strongly suspect.
428, 594 to 622, 638 to 649
I have not found the variant on these cards: 600, 601, and 612.
The only non-rookie where I've seen the variant is on Jacques Cloutier. He may just stand alone.
Probable Print Variations
#541 David Reid
This looks a lot like the Tom Fergus error from Series 1. The letter 'n' in the word 'in' appears to be hand-written on the back of some cards. Obviously, that didn't happen. More likely it's just a printing flaw that ended up looking like more than it is. Your call on whether you want to collect it or not as part of a master set.
There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know.
But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don't know.”
-Don Rumsfeld
SERIES I
Compiling a master listing of Series I is a daunting undertaking because we just don’t know what’s out there with any precision. Combine some suspect quality control and it’s difficult to tell what Pro Set truly corrected and what are variations due to printing errors. No pricing guide I’ve seen has managed to untangle all of Pro Set. Beckett’s had errors in their listings since Day 1 that have never been proven to exist. So let’s start with what we’re absolutely sure of and work from there.
Let There Be No Doubt
This class of errors and corrections deal with changes to the appearance of the card in manners that had to be handled at a design level. No printer error could simulate these changes. We’ll start with the obvious.
Promo Card
#1 Brett Hull
Perhaps the most well-known card of the set. Under normal circumstances, a promo card would be in a class of its own as an item a hardcore collector would choose to seek out or not. But Pro Set did something odd; they released the promo card into its print run. As such, it's a variant, and not even a very difficult one. The Hull is easy to identify. Though it shares the same photo as the regular Hull, many things distinguish it. For starters, it's labeled card #1. There's a blue vertical line in the top bar off the card front. The colors, fonts and bio are slightly different. Hull's date of birth is also wrong.
Wrong Name
#1 Ray Bourque
If the Brett Hull promo card is the face of 1990-91 Pro Set, the other card #1 runs a close second. Who spells All-Star defenseman Ray Bourque’s name wrong? Name is misspelled “Borque” on card front only. The correction came late – later than one would expect – so the error card is much more common.
#7 Garry Galley
Garry is misspelled “Gary” on the card back. Both versions are fairly common.
#42 Joe Nieuwendyk
Misspelled “Niewendyk” on the card front. This was the ‘hot’ error of the set in the early going as it was listed at a whopping $3-4 in Beckett back in 1990. While it is an early correction, there are others that are much harder to come by. Corrected far more common than the error.
#60 Al Secord
He’s “Al” on the front and “Alan” on the back. Hardly seemed worth correcting, and they waited quite a while to do so. Error is more common than the correct, but there’s no difficulty finding either.
#129 John Tonelli
Misspelled “Tonnelli” on front. Beckett’s 1st annual price guide neglected to note the corrected version existed (though the magazine did since Issue #2). Though far scarcer than the error version, the corrected version can be found.
#167 Viacheslav Fetisov
Misspelled “Vlacheslav” (that’s an L instead of an I) on card front. There is an additional variant of this one that may be a bad airbrush job or may be a printing error, but we’ll deal with that when we get to it. Standard error and correction are common.
#198 Miloslav Horava
Misspelled “Miroslav” on card front and it took a long time before Pro Set took notice. Seemingly one of the last cards corrected. The Miloslav version is uncommon and can be difficult to find.
#228 Phil Bourque
If you misspell Ray, you better misspell Phil – and they did so on both front and back. This one’s interesting because the corrected card also edited the bio, removing a reference to the ‘bearded Bourque.’ This is one of the last cards corrected – some say it is the last card – and can be hard to find.
#245 Marc Fortier
Marc is misspelled Mark on both front and back. Error version is more common.
#275 Allan Bester
Misspelled “Alan” on front and as an extra bonus, there's a design flaw where number and position are gray instead of white. The corrected card clears up both problems. Common either way.
#335 Fredrik Olausson
Like Al Secord, Pro Set called him Fred on one side and Fredrik on the other. Beckett today erroneously states that the error is Frederick. While Pro Set does misspell Olausson’s name on Phil Housley's card, they mostly get it right on his own. The Fredrik version is harder to find than the Fred.
#369 Shayne Corson AS
Misspelled as “Shane” repeatedly on this card. The correction was issued very late and can be very difficult to find. Perhaps the toughest of the corrected cards.
Wrong Number
#39 Brad McCrimmon
The card number, 39, is on front instead of his number, 4. Error slightly more common than corrected, but not hard to track down.
#121 Mike Krushelnyski
Pro Set forgot to put both his number and position on the card front. Apparently this was an oversight they could not abide, because it was corrected very quickly. The error version is one of the most difficult to find. The good news is it’s easy to spot.
#246 Paul Gillis
This is the toughest of the tough. Gillis’s number is depicted as #37 before being corrected to #23. The number change is the giveaway, but there is an additional feature. On the #37 card, Gillis clearly has a bloody nose. The blood’s been cleaned up on the corrected card. Was Pro Set faint of heart, or was this designed as a chase card? If that was the case, they failed. The error garnered no attention and is still not mentioned in Beckett today.
#256 Michel Petit
Pro Set got played here. Petit wore both #21 and #24 for Quebec, switching jersey numbers mid-season. Petit favored #24, so the Error card is actually right. However, he was shown wearing #21, so the #21 is Correct and the #24 is the Error. Error is more common.
Wrong Photo
#17 Dave Andreychuk
#18 Scott Arniel
These teammates had their photos transposed on the card back. Corrected early on and both versions are common.
#54 Dave Manson
The error version depicts teammate Steve Konroyd on both front and back, an error easy to spot as Konroyd is card #52. Common.
#130 Brian Bellows
Teammate Dave Gagner is featured on the back. A later correction that did not appear in the first Beckett price guides and is omitted from Beckett Annual #1. The corrected card has not been too difficult to track down, however.
#175 Peter Stastny
#176 Patrik Sundstrom
These teammates have their photos transposed on the card fronts, leading to extra confusion. All versions are common.
#301 Andrew McBain
The front photo is of Jim Sandlak, who wore #19 at the time, although the #1 is folded over making it look he was #9, which was McBain's number. The corrected version is hard to miss as the real McBain is front and center. Neither version is scarce.
Wrong Position
There are a lot of cards where the position is one thing on the front and another thing on the back, but all but one of them remain uncorrected errors.
Yes, only David Maley needed to be fixed. Because he’s a left wing and he’ll always be a left wing! John Vanbiesbrouck? Yeah, I suppose he played a little center from time to time… Error version of Maley has him at center on card back. Common.
Or are we wrong, and the card with LW on the back is the error? If you look closely, it still says “Centre” above LW. Maybe that’s what Pro Set was correcting? Either way…
Wrong Trade Stripe
Here’s a bone of contention. It has been long established by Beckett that cards of Phil Housley, Dale Hawerchuk, Denis Savard, Chris Chelios, Chris Nilan, and Brad McCrimmon were all released without trade stripes. That would leave Scott Arniel as the only player worthy of a trade stripe upon the set’s initial release. Kind of strange seeing as he’s the least important player of the seven and that he was traded with Housley for Hawerchuk. Also strange since the Housley bio explicitly talks about how Housley had been traded and what may be expected from him in Winnipeg.
Beckett is wrong. Scandalously wrong. Those six cards are always found with trade stripes. Stop looking for them without; they don’t exist, despite Beckett faithfully tracking (and fabricating) their prices for years. Beckett begins listing the trade stripe variants in Annual #1 and Beckett Hockey #13. No explanation for the update was given.
#40 Joe Mullen
This card may be the source of the problem. Mullen was traded to Pittsburgh on 6/16/90*, the same day as the Hawerchuk deal and a few weeks ahead of the Savard deal. Yet he was issued without a trade stripe. It was corrected early on, so the error variant is harder to find.
*6/6/90 on card. Pro Set got draft day wrong on all the trade stripes for deals done that day.
#61 Duane Sutter
Pro Set thought it important to tell us that Duane retired in June. They didn’t tell us this until October or so, so there are two versions of this card – one with a stripe and one without. He is the only retired player with such a designation. The bio also updates his status. Neither version is difficult to find.
That said, there are THREE versions of the Sutter stripe. The final word of the bio - "off-season" – can be found spelled with a space after "off" and without, as well as without a hyphen! I.e, off season, off-season, off- season. Why?!?!
#87 Jari Kurri
Kurri opted to play in Italy after the 1989-90 season and Pro Set belatedly got around to telling us this. Very belatedly. This card is very tough to find with the stripe. The bio also changes to reflect his status.
#348 Jari Kurri AS
Same situation here and it’s the only All Star card worthy of a stripe. Bio on back updates his status as well. As an added bonus, the trademark by the All-Star logo on the card's front switches from white to black. This one is tough to find too.
Wrong Design
#53 Steve Larmer
#57 Troy Murray
#63 Doug Wilson
A trio of Blackhawks ended up with white position and numbers on the card front instead of the black that was expected. Both versions are common. Oddly enough, they’d repeat the error in Series II with two more Blackhawks.
#385 Lester Patrick Trophy
They forgot to put the card number on it. Both versions are easy to find.
Wrong Details
#55 Bob McGill
Bob’s PIM totals are missing in the error version. Though a seemingly minor thing in the grand scheme of errors, Pro Set corrected it early. Not the easiest card to find and it’s very easy to overlook.
#66 Shawn Burr
This one is right up there with Gillis in terms of difficulty. The Burr card was released without any write-up beneath his stats and was corrected very quickly. Beckett does not list it. Easy to spot at least, but almost never found.
#320 Mike Ridley
The word “points” is the last word of his write-up, and it has a typo in it. It was initially spelled “point.s”. Pro Set bothered to correct it and the corrected version is easy to overlook and difficult to find.
Probable Print Variations
Now we get to variations that may have been corrected by Pro Set or may just be errors with the printing operation. Are they true variations? That’s entirely up to the collector. Many of these below are very popular and are considered part of the Master Set. But I differentiate between them and want to give you the opportunity as well.
Celebrities
#131 Aaron Broten
Broten is the beneficiary of a very peculiar print error. A limited number of his cards were scarred by the printer to form what looks like a tiny Stanley Cup. The error starts small and grows bigger as the print error gets worse, so there are many different sizes to choose from. Clearly a print error, but very popular. A Tony Granato version has surfaced now as well.
#169 Alexei Kasatonov
This one’s fun. On his card back, the write-up has space to call him a “rookie”, and those quotes aren’t mine. It’s supposed to say “rookie”. But the quotes are frequently absent, clipped, etc. I’ve got a version with no quote, with just the right quote, with just the left quote, both quotes, and fragments in between. Not sure what went wrong here, but there’s just too much variety for it not to be a printing problem. But if you’re up for it, collect ‘em all!
#279 Tom Fergus
This is the only card that I designate as a probable print error class that Beckett lists as a true variation. On the back of the card, the word “that” is obscured leaving only the ‘t’ and part of the ‘h.’ There must be enough of them to warrant Beckett’s attention, but it’s not that easy to find and very easy to overlook. Most would deem this a definite part of the master set due to Beckett’s inclusion. I say Beckett’s authority on these matters is suspect at best.
Clipped
Some player names appear clipped, probably due to a printing process problem. These are the more prominent:
#124 Marty McSorley
The M in Marty appears to have been shortened a bit on the card front. Not obvious if it’s standing alone, but side by side with a full M, it becomes apparent. Doesn’t seem too rare.
#126 Luc Robitaille
The E on the card front is partially obscured. A little bit harder to find than the others. Could be a bleed issue.
#167 Viacheslav Fetisov
Here’s one I’m on the fence on. This variant is of the VL version and it looks like the L has been airbrushed so it looks like an I. Except they failed. Is it just clipped? Or a bad fix? It’s up to you. It’s easy enough to find.
#182 Patrick Flatley
The top of the “Y” is clipped on the card back. Pretty noticeable if you’re looking for it. Also doesn’t seem too rare.
#392 Clarence Campbell Trophy
The “LL” is partially clipped on card front. I’ve also got a copy in an in-between state. A little harder to find than the other clips.
There are also clipped stat lines or two-color stat lines. Brian Hayward, Mathieu Schneider, and Gordie Roberts are known to have these variants.
Read Between the Lines
The stat lines surrounding the headers and the totals aren’t always straight, thick lines. Sometimes they taper off, sometimes the thickness isn’t quite right; in one instance it’s jagged. They all look like print problems to me, whereas a missing line would be a legitimate variant (see Series II). Here are some examples:
#146 Chris Chelios
The line under the stat totals tapers off as it heads toward the right.
#158 Mathieu Schneider
Schneider has a lot of problems and he’ll pop up again. One of those problems is a thinner line than usual above his totals.
#245 Marc Fortier
On top of spelling his name wrong, they also ran out of ink on some of his lines as they thin out toward the right side.
#290 Gilles Thibaudeau
This variant has a jagged line beneath the stat headers. Easy to spot if you’re looking for it; I’ve seen quite a few of them – more than I’ve seen of the Fergus.
Marks
Occasionally a card will get marked up, sometimes in a way that looks like a possible legit design error. These include double prints, where the card appears to have been struck twice on either front or back. But some are a bit more interesting:
#120 Steve Kasper
It really, really looks like a rogue comma has been inserted between the S and T of his name on the card front. Kind of tough to find.
#158 Mathieu Schneider
It’s Schneider again, this time with a somewhat common error. On the card back, there’s often a black mark across his face. Kind of like the mark a puck would make against your jersey. It’s not too hard to find.
#205 Chris Nilan
I hesitate to include this one in the probable print variation section as the two varieties are distinct. If you look closely at the trade line, many copies of this card have a straight red line running parallel. It looks like a piece of design that wasn’t cleaned up, lost in the color of Nilan’s uniform. The red line version is less common than the corrected, but it’s around. The trick is noticing it’s there.
Why place it in this section? Because who in their right mind would bother correcting something so insignificant? Nevertheless, I do keep a copy of both versions…just in case.
#209 John Vanbiesbrouck
There seems to be an accent mark over the U on card front. Since there are no spacing issues and no accents on any other card fronts, I’d call it a printing error. Ulf Samuelsson (#109) has a similar error where an accent appears over the 'A' of his last name.
Bleed Like Me
Some cards end up with too much ink on them and create bleed “errors”. The most famous is the “Ray Borqu”, which is so blackened that the E is completely obscured. I’ve got a bunch of bleed cards and I treat them as oddities, but nothing more.
Spilled Paint
There are some odd doodles and blotches that appear on cards. Usually blue, red, or green. Stuff like that is obviously a print error, so I don’t pay them much mind. Examples are blue doodles on Mogilny and Moog. Green blobs have been found on Brian MacLellan. A red blotch has haunted Kirk McLean’s AS card. But…
#164 Sean Burke
There is a variant where his position and number are clearly tinted yellow on the card front. Some are more yellow than others. It's a curious print error as no other part of the card appears affected.
Upside Down Card Backs
This is a standard mistake. It happens. You can probably find a version for each card in the set if you hunted long enough, but it is especially prevalent among Penguins and All-Star cards. Same goes for miscut cards. If you get lucky, you can get a miscut with the color bar off to the right.
Light Ink
Like the Kasatonov, sometimes the ink doesn’t press hard enough and there are gaps. Many of the Trophy cards have a white spot on the card back where the trophy name is printed, probably from something obscuring the press. Glen Hanlon’s stats can be found half-printed and yes, old pal Mathieu Schneider has this problem with his write-up.
I’ve also noted some of the silver and gold edged cards (trophies, leaders) occasionally don’t sparkle like they should. Feels like a printer error.
Big, Bold and Brassy – Toronto Style
There are cards with too much ink where certain letters appear to have been pressed twice or entire bios are much darker than usual. Helpful for those of us with weaker eyesight. Toronto Maple Leaf cards tend to be impacted more frequently than others; All-Stars have their share as well.
Color and Tint
There is plenty of variation in terms of color and photo tint. It's just production variation; nothing more.
SERIES II
After the fiasco of the first series, Pro Set returned with a much improved second set. So instead of an error every other card, there was an error every fifth card. The big change was that Pro Set didn't bother to make nearly as many corrections. Initially, there was just one listed variation in Beckett. But it wouldn't last. It wouldn't last.
In general, the Series II errors and variations are not in much demand. They are not perceived to be difficult to acquire. Of the cards listed below, I've managed to pull most from a pack, and I'm talking both error and corrected versions. Maybe I've just been lucky.
Wrong Photo
#470 Todd Ewen
Teammate Eric Desjardins is pictured on the back. To help identify him, Desjardins is looking to the left while Todd Ewen stares you down on the corrected card.
Wrong Position
#597 Tim Sweeney
Sweeney is listed as a defenseman on the front of the error card. The corrected version puts him at LW. The D version is the harder pull.
Trouble with Trademarks
#533 Paul Fenton
An upside down restricted R invades the wedge on the front of Fenton's card in the error version. The corrected version cleans it up.
#573 Los Angeles Kings
Maybe the restricted R on Fenton's card fled from this one. On the error card, the restricted R is missing after the Kings' name at the top of the front of the card.
Read Between the Lines
#510 Gordie Roberts
On the error, there's a missing line beneath the stat headers on the card back. It looks rather naked without that line. Corrected card looks normal.
#637 John Tanner
On the error, there’s a blank line below the stat header. I was unaware of this one until 2020, so I can’t determine how rare it is.
Stat Headers
#632 Jaromir Jagr
On the card back, the stat headers are shifted to the right, meaning GP is over goals and G is over assists. Though no premium seems to be placed on either version, in my opinion, the error card greatly outnumbers the corrected card.
#552 Mike Lalor
#624 Jeff Hackett
The header is shifted to the left, along with the header lines. (Or conversely, everything below the header is shifted to the right.) These error cards may be among the harder ones to dig up…if they are in fact error cards, and not print variations. There’s a lot of weirdness like this in this set, and it sure doesn’t seem like Pro Set would take the trouble to clean them up.
#654 Gordie Howe Career Point Leader
#660 Gordie Howe Hall of Fame
These two cards are not errors; they are variants. On some cards, you'll find a (32) after "SEASON" or "SEASONS" in Howe's stat header. Howe seems to be the only HOF/Career Point Leader with this distinction. Maybe it's because 32 seasons is such a tremendous accomplishment. These two variants flew under the radar for a long time. They may prove to be uncommon.
Now we come to a subset of Stat Headers that is prevalent in Series II. An inordinate amount of cards – almost entirely rookie cards – have variants where the stat header is shifted to the left by a character space. Thus far, no one's got terribly excited about them, but they do strike me as legitimate variations. There appears to be a pattern as to which cards are affected, and below I'll list the impacted blocks. I have not verified each one as of yet, so I will take note of the cards within the blocks that I have not found – but strongly suspect.
428, 594 to 622, 638 to 649
I have not found the variant on these cards: 600, 601, and 612.
The only non-rookie where I've seen the variant is on Jacques Cloutier. He may just stand alone.
Probable Print Variations
#541 David Reid
This looks a lot like the Tom Fergus error from Series 1. The letter 'n' in the word 'in' appears to be hand-written on the back of some cards. Obviously, that didn't happen. More likely it's just a printing flaw that ended up looking like more than it is. Your call on whether you want to collect it or not as part of a master set.
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