16: 1990 Topps Frank Thomas No Name on Front

People of a certain age absolutely remember this card and the chase for it, along with the pitfalls of the growing counterfeit card industry. Topps was littered with continuity errors during this era (in their defense, so was Upper Deck) that still managed to slip into packs. While this could have been just another card in the junk wax era error database, this stands out because Frank Thomas was at the beginning of a Hall of Fame baseball career and would go down as on the Mt. Rushmore of best baseball players of the 1990’s.
1990 was not a particularly strong set beyond the second year card of Ken Griffey Jr. second year card. This card holds an almost mythic place among collectors of my generation because it was the first really rare card we were chasing through boxes of low end product.

Random Frank Thomas Fact: After leaving the White Sox after the 2005 season, Thomas would sign with the Oakland Athletics. Frank said that he had hard feelings towards the White Sox because owner Jerry Reinsdorf didn’t call him to let him know he would be released. In his first game against his former team, Thomas homered twice.