We have written about errors and error cards a few times now… and the subject has come to the surface again in 2008 because collectors have found a number of errors in the Classic and Centenary Series footy cards.

For a quick catch up on the previous error card articles take a look here…

What’s an Error Card? from August 2007

Error Cards in the 2007 Supreme and Invincible, also from August 2007, and

The Mother of ALL Errors from February 2008

Error cards usually don’t change the value of the card unless a reprint is produced by the card manufacturer.  None of the cards highlighted below have been reprinted, nor do we expect them to be reprinted… but nonetheless, it’s interesting to see what errors were released.

Here is a brief list of the error cards we have found in the 2008 Series 2 releases.

2008 AFL Classic Errors

Let’s start with the Big Ones… the Platinum Draft Pick Signatures.

The Rhys Palmer Platinum Draft Pick Signature card (DPP7) has a number of related errors on the back of the card.  The details on the back of the card all refer to Cyril Rioli.  It has Rioli’s Club, Date of Birth, Height, Weight and Junior Club.

Another similar error occurred on the Ben McEvoy Platinum Draft Pick Signature card (DPP9), again involving Rhys Palmer.  This error mentions Rhys Palmer in the Certification section on the back of the card.

Neither of these cards are going to be corrected by Select, so all cards retain their normal value regardless of the errors.

There are two more errors in the AFL Classic Series that we have found so far… and they both involve Matthew Scarlett.  To be fair, these may not even be considered errors… but they are definitely inconsistencies that don’t match other cards in the same series.

The first error is shown on the common card on the left.  The Cats logo is featured in the Top Right hand corner of the card.  Scarlett’s card is the ONLY All Australian card to feature the players club logo.  See Darren Glass’ card has no Eagles logo.

The other error, or inconsistency that relates to Matthew Scarlett is his All Australian Holofoil card.  EVERY other player in the parallel holofoil sub set features the same picture as their common card.  You can see below that Scarlett’s picture is different to his common card.

What other errors have you found in the 2008 AFL Classic Series?  Add your comments by clicking on the comment section below and share your find with other collectors.

Now… let’s move on to the 2008 Rugby League Centenary Series.

Most of the “errors” we’ve found in the Centenary Series are simple factual errors, typos or a lack of attention to detail… here is what we’ve found so far.

Tonie Carroll from the Brisbane Broncos (card #120) has his debut listed as 1986.  Not bad, he would been the youngest ever debutant in the NRL at 10 years of age if you believe his Date of Birth (1976).  His actual year of debut was 1996.

Hazem El Mazri from the Canterbury Bulldogs (card #125) has an extra unnecessary space in his Date of Birth and an leading zero that no other player has.  His DOB is listed as 01.1.19 76.

Matt Orford from the Manly Sea Eagles (card #147) is similar to El Masri above… his Date of Birth has an extra unnecessary space.

Israel Folau from the Melbourne Storm (card #151) gives us the hat trick of the same error.  His Date of Birth also has an unnecessary space.

Jarryd Hayne from the Parramatta Eels (card #167) is an unusual “inconsistency” that was hard to find.

Typically the Series 2 releases feature player photos taken from the same year.  Hayne’s photo is clearly from 2007, you can tell because his jersey doesn’t have the Centenary Logo, and the sleeve sponsor is different from all the other Eels players.

Krisnan Inu also from the Parramatta Eels (card #168) is a talented footballer, but did you know that (according to Select) he made his debut 82 years BEFORE he was born.  In fact, he started playing Rugby League BEFORE rugby league even existed in 1905.  Now that takes talent! 

Dale Shearer played for a number of NRL clubs including Manly, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, but he was selected as a Past Hero for the Gold Coast club in the Past Hero sub set (card #PH9).

It’s a mystery to us WHY Shearer is shown wearing a Manly jersey from the 1987 Grand Final, the year before the Gold Coast entered the competition?

In the same vein, we couldn’t skip a discussion on error cards without also asking why the two Cronulla Sharks Past Heroes are shown wearing NSW Blues jerseys?  Gavin Miller and Mark McGaw are shown wearing the Sky Blue NSW jerseys rather than the Sky Blue Sharks jersey.  Simple error?  Yes.

And to finish off… it seems odd to me, that the Past Heroes sub set, which was, according to Select supposed to highlight heroes from the past three decades.

How do Jack Rayner and Ian Moir get to represent South Sydney when they finished their careers in the 1950’s?  Their photos are in black and white which was probably the biggest give away.

And Bill Mullins for the Roosters… he just makes it because he finished his career in 1978, despite his photo also being in black and white.

There are probably dozens of other mistakes, errors and typos in the 2008 Centenary Series.  Have you found any others?  Add your comments by clicking on the comment section below and share your find with other collectors.

LATE ADDITION:

Following on from Paul’s comment below… here is a photograph of the card he is referring to.  If you have the 2008 Champions cards take a look at yours to see if you have the same error.