[evolb909]

I was in Grand Rapids last Wednesday and stopped at a card shop and I'm glad I did! I wanted to grab a Topps II box and ended up grabbing 20 packs of 2011 Pro Debut, 8 packs of 1981-82 Topps Hockey, one 1991 Topps rack pack and believe it or not, the owner had a box of 1989 Score Football in the back so I grabbed that as well. Couldn't resist haha... I saw the 1991 rack sitting there and thought to myself... man it would be cool if it was an early run pack with one of the super rare variations like the Mark Whiten... Store owner said he wanted .99 cents and I decided why not. Good choice on my part because the last card in the third section of the rack was the #588 Mark Whiten hand over border variation!!!! Check the BV if you think I'm crazy haha.


I didn't even notice but the Whiten was on the back of the pack when I bought it so when I cracked the last section and finally saw it, the suspense was thick when I pulled down the second to last card knowing what was behind it!
Alot of folks don't know the Whiten is one of the rarest and toughest 1990's Topps cards to find next to the 1990 Frank Thomas NNOF. There are variations of Chris Hoiles and Doug Drabek's cards in the 1991 Topps set which are EXTREMELY rare also. For the record, as rare as the Whiten card is, I pulled a corrected Drabek from the same rack!

I have had good luck in Grand Rapids lately, I also scored a 1978 Topps baseball cello box for $180 at a coin shop a few weeks ago so if anyone needs '78's I have some real nice ones.

[rentzington]

Hah cool! I found out about these variations a few years ago and sent me on a hunt through old boxes

[evolb909]

Thanks haha... Same here, I was talking to Jacksoncoupage (I believe? sorry Jackson if I butchered that..) on the boards about errors and variations. I think he is also the one who set up the site where I found alot of the tougher 90's variations. I contributed a dozen or so unlisted ones myself on an Ebay group and the Error/Variation thread. Glad to see Beckett is recognizing some of them now like the Whiten, 90-91 Pro Set Paul Gillis, etc. Makes me glad I still have so many old commons boxes, that's for sure!

[natejeffries]

very cool pull. I have about 10 Mark Whitens with his hands inside the border

[pjrussell529]

Wow BV on that floored me. As a kid I didn't pay much attention to those rare errors and variations. I had tons of 91 Topps and other junk wax years then donated all my commons to Childrens Hospital after high school. I always wonder what I may have had in those boxes and boxes of "commons" but at least they went for a good cause.

[alstott9adams]

Awesome odds