Media in Philadelphia and sports bloggers around North America have caught on to the latest Topps error card.
The #89 card in the company’s 2010 Opening Day set features pitcher Roy Halladay, who will, of course, suit up for the Phillies this year.
As is often the case, Topps had to rush to get the cards printed in time for spring training so a little graphic artistry was needed to turn an in-action photo of Halladay into a Phillies card.
Topps swiped the Blue Jays’ uniform for a made-to-order 1980-ish Phillies job, but painted on the #32 on the back of his “Phillies” jersey.
One problem.
That number belonged to Steve Carlton and was retired several years ago.
Halladay has switched from his traditional #32 to #34 for his Phils’ tenure.
Topps is taking some heat from die-hard fans and media in Phillies country over the oversight.
The NBC TV affiliate talks up the ‘error’ card on its website. A baseball blog at SportingNews.com did the game and so have blogs at SBNation and Gather.com.
The card has all but dried up on eBay but as collectors know, unless Topps produces a corrected version, it’s nothing more than a conversation piece.