1979 Topps Baseball Forum

Would love to hear this explained if you don't mind.

I've been working on cataloging errors and variations among my late 80s/early 90s stuff and had seen the 91 Upper Deck Thompson bullseye error listed here for instance, so wasn't sure if the Metzger met the criteria for listing or not. FWIW here's a photo of the one I picked up.

This is the first version of the line variation (aka the full line); the second version has the line showing only between ROGER and METZGER, it does not continue into the Giants banner; the third version has the full black line, like the first, but it is faint, a thinner density. It is worth noting that the black line always appears in the exact same space, unlike most stray print line misprintings. 

See also Dave Roberts' card in the 1979 Topps set. 

PS: the 1991 Upper Deck Milt Thompson is the very definition of a fish eye, print flaw. An aesthetically interesting one due to its placement. It just made its way into the annual guides so long ago that it seems to gets a pass.  

I knew about the partial-line version of the Metzger but didn't realize there was a thinner version of the full-line one. I'd come across another copy of the full-line a long time ago (didn't get it) but haven't personally seen a partial-line copy anywhere.