Bill Ripken Error Card Value And Variations

Bill Ripken baseball card value of the 1989 error card ranges from $0.99 to $2,650 on eBay. The value depends upon the grade and condition of the card.

The second baseman played for twelve seasons in the major league starting from 1987. He played for four teams during his career: Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, and Detroit Tigers.

He had a below-average career, finishing with 287 runs, 229 RBIs, and 20 home runs in 912 games at an average of .247. However, his baseball card is very famous among the collectors.

The reason behind this is the blunder made by Fleer, a company known for manufacturing sports cards. The collectibles were at their peak during 1989, and there was a lot of demand on the market.

During that season, in a rush to meet the demands, Fleer released a Bill Ripken card with an image of him holding a baseball bat while wearing his Orioles jersey.  The problem with the image used by the card manufacturing company was that the bat carried by the player had an expletive word written on the knob.

In an attempt to correct the error, Fleer rushed by releasing several versions of the card in which the text was either scrawled over with a marker, airbrushed, or whited out with correction fluid. The company obscured the offensive word on the final corrected version with a black box.

The black box version was the one included in all the factory sets. Because of this error by Fleer, both the original and the many corrected versions of the card became an important item to collect for the collector.

Billy Ripken error card eBay is available at a different price range depending on the quality and condition of the card. There are different grades for a card, such as Good, Excellent, Mint, Near Mint, and more.

The card became famous as the Fleer Bill Ripken Error Card and has been sold at a price ranging from as low as $0.99 to as high as $2,650. These are the values of direct buying, whereas, in auctions, the card can go a lot higher than that.

Billy Ripken error card PSA 10 grade is available for $2,625 on eBay. The PSA 10 grade is the highest in Professional Sports Authenticator, indicating the card is in optimal condition.

Here are some of the prices for the 1989 Bill Ripken Error cards:

1989 Fleer Bill Ripken error card had multiple variations. Fleer rushed to correct the error, resulting in multiple variations of the card being manufactured.

The error was noticed by the sports card manufacturing company only after they were released to the public. As soon as the collectors were aware of the error, it caused a frenzy among them and increased the hype of the card.

In an attempt to correct the error, Fleer first used a whiteout card, which covered the offensive word with a white blob. Further, they continued producing several variations, each using a different way of covering up the offensive word on the bat knob.

Here are the variations of the Bill Ripken error card:

1. The Orignal Card

This is the error version of the baseball card, which clearly shows the expletive word without any covering. The original card is among the most looked after by the collectors as they were very few.

These are among the most expensive cards of the player because of the rarity and the error that created hype around the collectible. The 1989 Fleer Error #616A Bill Ripken Baltimore Orioles card with the offensive word written on the bat knob is priced at $110 at Amazon.

2. The Whiteout Card

In this variation of the card, the expletive word on the knob is covered with a white blob. These cards were produced in limited quantities as the card manufacturing company switched to other variations.

The whiteout version of the cards is also among the rarest variations available on the market. As this was during the late 1980s, there were not many solutions available to fix something that was already printed.

Because of that, Fleer used wite-out to cover the words on the knob. However, this made the card look less appealing, and the company looked for other options to cover the word.

3. The White Scribble Card

The white scribble was the variation used after the whiteout version. In this variation, the words were covered with a white scribble that resembled an asterisk.

This version was less blocky than the previous one, as the scribbles obscured the words, but they did not entirely block them out. It looked like they applied the block and tried to erase them.

Because of that, they moved to another solution quickly. As the company opted for other solutions, the production of this variation of the cards was also limited, making them a rare item for the collectibles.

4. The Black Scribble Card

After the white scribble fiasco, Fleer moved on to the black scribble cards. In this variation, the words were covered with a black scribble that varied in size and shape.

Some sort of black marking, such as a marker or a Sharpie, was used to cover the error. Although the black scribble was successful in hiding the offensive words pretty well, it looked horrendous.

The card looked like someone from fourth grade just drew something with a marker. Hence, Fleer opted for something else to cover the words.

5. The Black Box Version

Billy Ripken error card black box variation is the most commonly available on the market. Here, the words were covered using a solid black box.

These are not so expensive as they were produced in large quantities. The black box used looks like black electrical tape tied on the bat knob, which is common in baseball.

Fleer was satisfied with this approach of hiding the offensive words, and this version was used for all factory sets.

Note: Apart from these five variations, other minor variations, such as double prints, color shifts, and saw cuts, are also available. However, these were printing defect errors and are not popular among the collectors.

Bill Ripken FF error card is among the best cards of the former second baseman. The error card is certainly the most valuable card of Ripken.

Some Topps cards released before the infamous error cards were also valuable. For example, the 1988 Topps #352 Billy Ripken card is priced at a range of $0.5 to $75, depending on the condition.

Billy Ripken FF card values are, however, very high compared to his other cards. The error provided a lot of hype around the card, thus increasing demand and the price of those cards.

The 1988 Feer version of Ripken's card is also among the most popular and valuable ones for the player. About 72 cards of the second baseman have been traded in the last thirty days on the eBay platform at an average of $120.23.

The cheapest one sold was the 1989 Topps #571 Billy Ripken PSA 9 for $5.55, and the most expensive one was the 1989 Fleer #616 Billy Ripken PSA 10 for $1326. The most traded Ripken card over the last few months has been the 1989 Fleer #616 Billy Ripken PSA 9 at an average price of $119.36.

Here are some of the best cards of Billy Ripken:

• 1988 Fleer #569 Billy Ripken
• 1988 Topps #352 Billy Ripken
• 1988 Topps Tiffany #352 Billy Ripken
• 1989 Fleer #616 Billy Ripken
• 1989 Donruss #259 Billy Ripken
• 1989 Upper Deck #283 Billy Ripken
• 1990 Upper Deck #184b Billy Ripken
• 1990 Fleer #186 Billy Ripken
• 1991 Topps Desert Shield #677 Billy Ripken
• 1991 Stadium Club #222 Billy Ripken
• 1991 Topps #677 Billy Ripken
• 1991 Upper Deck #550 Billy Ripken