I was digging through cards last weekend and stumbled onto an unusual one from my past, a blank-back version of Mike Schmidt's 1983 Topps card...

While I wasn't spoiled growing up, my parents did a good job of encouraging my desire to collect baseball cards. It was not uncommon for my dad to surprise me with a pack of cards or make an impromptu trip to the card shop. My main collecting focus was that particular year's Topps set and Mike Schmidt cards.

I got the blank-back card sometime in the late-80s at the Home Plate card shop, where we were regular customers. At the time I figured we were buying a standard issue card from the set. And, it wasn't until we got in the car that I noticed the blank-back. Being the honest people we are, my dad and I went back into the shop to let the owner know about the error. He told us the card was a production mistake, that he had accidently put out for sale - thinking it was a standard card. Rich (the dealer) was pretty honest, too - and said "a sale is a sale." The card has been in my collection since...

The blank-back cards are a rare variation that are known to have been an issue with Topps cards from the 1970s and early 1980s. At the time, Topps would willingly replace the "error" cards mailed to them with standard printed cards. Despite their irregular nature, the blank-backs do not generally carry a premium price tag. I recently saw another 1983 Topps Mike Schmidt sell on ebay for $8.