This month we’re going to take a look at Error Cards.

You might be asking, “What’s an Error Card?”

They are cards that simply contain an error. There are many different types of error cards… and all of them are possible despite the best checking processes, including proof readers and fact checkers.

Some of the more common error cards involve:

• Text Variations
• Graphic Design Errors
• Wrong Backs
• Mis-cuts
• Blank Backs
• Mis-Prints

And in case you’re wondering… errors are not new… they happen in virtually every release, although they are sometimes only small and less obvious.

Text variations include things like name mis-spellings, incorrect facts and incorrect statistics. These are somewhat common and occasionally go unnoticed.

I can give two recent examples of this.

David Wirrpanda’s card in the 2006 Supreme Series shows no space between his first name and surname name. It’s card number 172.

The other, from the same series is the Draft Pick Signature card for Jordan Russell (DS9).

The card lists his Date of Birth as 6.11.80 when in actual fact he was born in 1986. You can see for yourself by visiting his Player Profile on the Carlton web site

The misplacement of a logo or some other graphic design element are a little more obvious and as such are usually picked up by the proof readers prior to production. Some still get through however.

For an example of this see the card for Jason Saddington of the Carlton Blues from the 2006 Supreme Series. It is card number 29. The Carlton Logo in the bottom right hand corner is positioned differently to EVERY other card in the series.

Another common example is the card featuring Tim Clarke from Hawthorn in the 2005 Dynasty Series. His card is number 93 and on the front right hand side you will notice that one of the graphic borders has been misplaced. It appears higher and to the left of where it should be.

Wrong backs are exactly that… they have the wrong information on the back of the card . They have one player on the front of the card and anothers info on the back.

In the 2004 NRL Authentic Series 3 cards featured the incorrect player image. All three were re-printed and distributed to correct the error.

Another variation of the Wrong Back is a colour variation. This happened more often in the 1970’s and 1980’s and rarely happens any more. This is when a card should be printed in say Red text on the back and is actually printed in Black.

Mis-cuts are also a descriptive name. This is the term we give a card that has been cut incorrectly by the guillotine. It might be noticeably shorter than it should be, it might show some of another card down the edge.

I’ve even seen a few cards like the Jersey Die Cut card below that was cut upside down. This would be classified as a mis-cut.

Blank Backs are a lot like Wrong Backs… except… you guessed it… they have nothing on the back of the card. They are blank! This is pretty rare nowadays… but certainly still possible.

Mis-prints happen during the printing process and they are usually picked up by the quality controllers before being packaged up and distributed. This happens when one of the print plates slips and causes the card to be printed out of alignment… almost like a 3D card.

These are more likely to be one-offs and will be replaced by Select as a printing error — just as this one was.

In the following section we will discuss some of the error cards contained in the current releases from Select.

As I mentioned earlier… errors aren’t new. They occur in virtually every set released. So with that said, what errors have you noticed in the 2005, 2006 or 2007 AFL and NRL releases?

Click on the Comment Link below and share the details of the card number, player name and a description of the error that you’ve spotted (email me a scan of the card too if you can and I will post it for you).