This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/19/2012
One of the most important error cards of modern card collecting is the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas “No name on front” variation. It was a beacon in an otherwise lackluster issue from Topps to start the decade. The serendipitous combination of the printing error combined with Thomas’ status as one of the year’s most promising rookies, kept collectors plunking down their change in hopes of yielding this elusive rarity from packs. For years, speculation ensued as to the cause of the omission of Thomas’ name from the front of a miniscule population of cards, with a popular theory today being that the NNOF error was the result of an errant strip of cardstock obstructing the printing dyes on several runs of the orange card sheet. Whether this was done intentionally or not by Topps to provoke collectors still remains a mystery. The 1990 Topps Frank Thomas “No name on front” variation still tops the “10-most-wanted” lists of many “error card” collectors.
To date only 143 examples of the 1990 Topps Frank Thomas “NNOF” variation have been found and submitted to PSA among the untold millions of 1990 Topps cards collectors have mulled through. Presented here is the lone specimen to have earned GEM MINT 10 status. Given its overall degree of difficulty, Hall of Fame player representation, and hobby folklore, this is likely the single most valuable card ever produced in the 1990’s.