Pro Set Week: Why I Own 25000+ Pro Set cards

[deepbluejacket]

Yeah, Mike. Why exactly DO you own 25000+ Pro Set cards?

Because I don't know what I don't know. And no one else does either. There are variants out there that keep a very low profile, and sometimes they only make themselves known when you can fan through 40 copies at once.

And sometimes, someone else finds something you've never seen. Like today:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1990-91-Pr...565388?hash=item5b78ac0d0c:g:OOsAAOSw3uxfBhHt

Is it a printing flaw? Or a true variation? I don't know what Pro Set's printers looked like, but a blank line certainly seems like a plate issue, and not a printer issue. So to me, this certainly feels like a true variant. And I never noticed it in 30 years.

But after being alerted to its existence, I dip into my boxes...and sure enough, I've already got it! Storage costs me nothing. I'll keep my 25000 cards.



Mike

 

[SNobles]

Very cool find.

Not sure if my buddy still has his Wendel Clark from 90-91. I cannot recall who it was but it was not Wendel on the back.

 

[mclean_m]

I agree - plate issue and true variant. Pretty cool find!

You should write a book on Pro Set and other releases from that era. I would buy a copy!

 

[hextall]

I, for one, support you fully in your Pro Set endeavors. Also I'd buy the book.

 

[deepbluejacket]

Perhaps we could convince Ken Reid to take Pro Set on as a subject! Or at least do an all Pro Set Hockey Card Stories.



Speaking of hockey card stories...let's talk David Maley. David Maley has a variant in Series 1. Here is what I had to say on this in a prior post:

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.

#171 David Maley
Yes, only David Maley needed to be fixed. Because he’s a left wing and he’ll always be a left wing!

Here is the correct card, then the error card:


1990-91 Pro Set - [Base] #171.2 - David Maley (Correct: Position on Back is LW)
Courtesy of COMC.com


1990-91 Pro Set - [Base] #171.1 - David Maley (Error: Position on back is C)
Courtesy of COMC.com

Did you notice the oddity on the correct card? The back has his position as "LW", but it still reads "Centre" above it. Could it be that we've had this backwards? That the card with the "C" on the back is the correct card, and the "LW" is the error card? Because Pro Set has dozens of cards where the position is one thing on the front and another thing on the back. And let's face it - many players play multiple forward positions and Pro Set's design didn't allow for that. So putting one of the positions on front and the other on the back has a certain logic to it. But a mismatch between the spelled out position and the abbreviated position...was this the grave offense that caught Pro Set's attention?

I haven't done a thorough check of spelled out vs abbreviated positions, and one of the arguments against this is a box I opened not too long ago. It was basically all error, and the Maley in the box had the "C" on back. As both version of Maley are extremely common, it would be surprising to find a corrected version of it in such an error prone box. But hey, would it shock any of us if Pro Set corrected a card...only to make it more erroneous?

Mike