TOPPS 75 TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION AUCTION
193. 1958 Topps #399 Marv Grissom “Blackless” - PSA PR 1
Every so often, a familiar card forces us to take another look at something we thought we understood. Presented here is a remarkable 1958 Topps #399 Marv Grissom which exhibits a dramatic loss of black ink along the right side of the card. Most
abnormal loss of black printing on this Grissom occurs along the same side of the sheet as the defect responsible for the Herrera anomaly, with the Giants logo box on the Grissom appearing directly above the “a.” Taken together, the sheet position and visible progression of missing black strongly suggest that the Grissom was affected by the same press obstruction or printing anomaly that produced the famous Herrer error. To the best of our research, this phenomenon has never been documented on the Grissom card. Though we have found a few other Grissom examples with faint disruptions of the black, we have located no other example exhibiting the same degree as evidenced on this card, nor have we found the card listed in any hobby references. LOTG submitted this example to PSA specifically seeking recognition of the anomaly; PSA declined to designate the card as a separate variation. That decision does nothing to diminish what can plainly be seen on the card itself - or, more importantly, what can be seen when the card is compared with its original position on the printing sheet. Whether another example has survived remains to be seen. What we can establish is that this card exhibits an unusual and extensive loss of black ink, that the loss extends well beyond the team logo box, and that immediately beneath it on the uncut sheet sat the card that became one of the most celebrated printing errors in the history of Topps - a simple obstruction of black ink on the area of the card immediately below the team logo box on the Grissom. For more than 60 years, collectors have known the Herrera printing error. This may be the first opportunity to analyze what was happening directly above it.
immediately apparent is the Giants logo box at the lower right, which is almost entirely devoid of black printing, leaving just a small portion of the left outline of the box, along with a few faint black smudges. Closer examination reveals that the anomaly extends considerably beyond: black detail is also absent along the right side of Grissom’s photograph, including portions of his hair and cap. Interesting on its own, for sure. The card’s position on the original Topps press sheet, however, makes the card considerably more intriguing. Directly beneath Grissom on the sheet is #433 Pancho Herrera - the source of one of the most famous printing errors of the 1950s. On the celebrated “Herrer” variation, the final “a” in Herrera’s name disappears, with surviving examples (including one featured in this very auction) exhibiting different degrees of black ink loss. Long treated by the hobby as a distinct error card, the “Herrer” is among the great rarities of postwar collecting. The Grissom offered here appears to provide another piece of that story. Comparison with an original uncut sheet establishes the physical relationship between the two cards: Grissom sits immediately above Herrera in the same vertical column. The
MINIMUM BID: $500
195. 1958 Topps #88 Duke Snider (HOF - Black line in bottom border) - PSA VG 3 MINIMUM BID: $25
194. 1958 Topps #85 Luis Aparicio (HOF - Yellow Team) - PSA GOOD 2 MINIMUM BID: $50
196. 1958 Topps #100 Early Wynn (HOF - Yellow Team) - PSA EX 5 MINIMUM BID: $50
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