Here’s an interesting find. This is a 1991 Upper Deck card depicting Frank Thomas on the front and Tony Gwynn on the back. I usually don’t pay too much attention to this type of error with other players because it was fairly common in the ’80’s and early ’90’s. However, since I’m a Thomas collector, it made plenty of sense for me to jump on the opportunity to add this gem to my collection. I believe there is a high degree of scarcity with this particular wrong-back example because I’ve routinely investigated the secondary market for many years and since this cards inception, I’ve never encountered another one like it. Hence, I was floored when I made this discovery.
Question of the Day: It’s Thanksgiving this week so I figured I’d ask a turkey related question. What the heck do bunny rabbits have to do with Easter?
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Pronounced Green-oh. Patrick has a BA in Psychology, a BA in Sociology, and an MBA from the University of New Mexico. He also has a Project Management Certificate from UCLA Extension. He has lectured in Internet Marketing at the David Nazarian College of Business and Economics at California State University, Northridge. He is the author of, Student to Founder: Secrets to creating a student organization in college and starting a business after graduation. He has been interviewed on Good Day New Mexico and in Albuquerque The Magazine. Patrick is a frequent speaker and panelist at universities and events where he shares his insights on leadership, technology, and marketing. He's been a baseball card collector since 1987, and is the Founder & Principal of www.radicards.com | Visit the store
I have this card in mint condition, I thought I was the only one who had known of it. The card came in a pack, and all the others were the same (wrong backs). I also saved those cards as well.
Think of it, what are the odds that two hall of famers, one a first ballot the other almost certainly will follow, on an error card? a rookie none the less. Secondly, these were the most dominant hitters of their day. I have never seen this, are there any similar parallels?
Hi Daniel,
I wish I knew the odds, there really is no way to know. My guess is that this was unintentional so it’s really hard to say how many of these exist. As far as parallels, this is the only one I’m aware of. Thanks for reading 🙂
Hi Daniel,
I agree, it’s a conceptual anomaly. While I have not seen other versions of cards from ’91 Upper Deck like this, I’d imagine that they exist given that these were printed in sheets.
I just found a 2002 leaf Rookies and Stars frank thomas on the front and Wendell McGee on the back.. I can’t find any history of this existing.. Any help?
Hi Tyler,
That’s an interesting card. Wrong front/back errors are the most common of the errors. You don’t find any info because from the quality control perspective, that version of the card wasn’t supposed to exist. It’s as valuable as someone is willing to pay for it.
I have a mint condition frank thomas on front tony Gwynn on back knew I had since I was nineteen but recently my son got interested in collecting and I redisdivered in my closet let me know anything you know about this card
Hi Donny,
You’re the first person ever to inform me that another copy of this card exists. Logic might state that if this card suffers from this error, surely there are other cards in the set that suffered the same fate.
My husband and I were just going through his childhood card collection and came across a Thomas error card with a blank front. It’s in mint condition. We know of one other card like it.
I have a 1999 UD HoloGrFx Frank Thomas #15 HOF card with Frank Thomas on the front and Craig Biggio stats on the back from the same series. What’s interesting about this combination is this,
Frank Thomas- R 1989, 19 seasons, HOF 2014, WS 2005
Craig Biggio- R 1988, 20 seasons, HOF 2015, WS 2005
These guys played in the WS in 2005 against each other and their stats are eerily similar, what are the odds of that? I’m interested in selling the card.
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I have this card in mint condition, I thought I was the only one who had known of it. The card came in a pack, and all the others were the same (wrong backs). I also saved those cards as well.
Think of it, what are the odds that two hall of famers, one a first ballot the other almost certainly will follow, on an error card? a rookie none the less. Secondly, these were the most dominant hitters of their day. I have never seen this, are there any similar parallels?
Hi Daniel,
I wish I knew the odds, there really is no way to know. My guess is that this was unintentional so it’s really hard to say how many of these exist. As far as parallels, this is the only one I’m aware of. Thanks for reading 🙂
Hi Daniel,
I agree, it’s a conceptual anomaly. While I have not seen other versions of cards from ’91 Upper Deck like this, I’d imagine that they exist given that these were printed in sheets.
Well it’s for sale if anyones interested. Not sure the value, I was told one sold on ebay for a good buck.
Daniel,
Contact me through the Contact Me page at the top of the site. I’d like to discuss this card privately with you.
I just found a 2002 leaf Rookies and Stars frank thomas on the front and Wendell McGee on the back.. I can’t find any history of this existing.. Any help?
Hi Tyler,
That’s an interesting card. Wrong front/back errors are the most common of the errors. You don’t find any info because from the quality control perspective, that version of the card wasn’t supposed to exist. It’s as valuable as someone is willing to pay for it.
I have a mint condition frank thomas on front tony Gwynn on back knew I had since I was nineteen but recently my son got interested in collecting and I redisdivered in my closet let me know anything you know about this card
Hi Donny,
You’re the first person ever to inform me that another copy of this card exists. Logic might state that if this card suffers from this error, surely there are other cards in the set that suffered the same fate.
My husband and I were just going through his childhood card collection and came across a Thomas error card with a blank front. It’s in mint condition. We know of one other card like it.
Nice! Is the blank front card the 1991 Upper Deck or another brand?
I have a 1999 UD HoloGrFx Frank Thomas #15 HOF card with Frank Thomas on the front and Craig Biggio stats on the back from the same series. What’s interesting about this combination is this,
Frank Thomas- R 1989, 19 seasons, HOF 2014, WS 2005
Craig Biggio- R 1988, 20 seasons, HOF 2015, WS 2005
These guys played in the WS in 2005 against each other and their stats are eerily similar, what are the odds of that? I’m interested in selling the card.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the message. If you can send me an image of the card via our Contact Us page, we’ll discuss it there. Many thanks.