Many collectors have discovered a rare error card at one point or another. The Billy Ripken “F— Face” card and the Frank Thomas “no name” card are two of the most famous examples.
As much as I love seeking out rare cards, I get even more of a thrill out of it if they’re a bit weird and somehow tied to my favorite team, the Philadelphia Phillies.
In 2024, I was set up at a card show when someone asked me if I had any Kyle Kendrick cards.
Why Kendrick?
They said there was an error card of his and figured I would have it. Baffled, I went on eBay to see what I could find.
Although he never reached the heights of being an All-Star, Kendrick had an interesting career. He played a decade in the big leagues, with a career 4.68 ERA and 81-83 record. He had some hilarious moments with the Phillies, namely when he was tricked into thinking he was traded to Japan for Takeru Kobayashi, the competitive eater. But most importantly, he was a part of the 2007-2011 teams, winning a World Series in 2008.
In 2013, the Phillies were not impressive. They would finish fourth in the NL East with a 73-89 record, and Kendrick’s base card in that year’s Topps set was equally unremarkable. It looked like this…
Kyle Kendrick’s 2013 Topps card, as the company intended to print it. (Photo: eBay)
But there was another version of the card floating around, featuring just one part of the same image…
The other version of Kendrick’s 2013 Topps card. (Photo: eBay)
In 2014, Topps confirmed the card was legit and said it was only included in a small number of 2013 factory sets (a box containing every card in the base set rather than the traditional, randomly assorted packs).
“It is an extremely rare error card that is found only in complete sets,” Clay Luraschi, at the time Topps’ director of product development (and now senior vice president for global product development at Topps’ parent company, Fanatics Collectibles) told Beckett. “It was due to an image processing error. The error was found very early in the printing, removed and corrected.”
The print run on this card is unknown, but it has become a rare novelty among collectors.
There were only a few of these listed in ungraded (raw) form on eBay when I first searched for it in 2024.
Over the last few months, it’s sold for between $40-$70 ungraded.
There was only one Gem-Mint PSA 10 example available when I went on my goose chase. Even today it holds a population of just 12 in PSA’s highest grade, and one sits on eBay (not mine) for $500 or best offer as of this writing.
I went to Instagram and started searching for the card to see if any collectors had posted it. Perhaps I could coerce one of them into selling it to me for less than comps. I kept going back to eBay, wondering why there were raw cards and only one PSA 10. In my collector sense, I figured if you held the raw card and knew it was rare, why wouldn’t you send it to get graded. Typically holding a rare card for more than a decade could hurt its condition.
I received a direct message from someone who saw my comment.
“Any interest in this Kyle Kendrick card?”
“Yes,” I replied.
But all card collectors know never to get their hopes up until a price is mentioned.
The seller threw out the price of $125.
Admittedly, I told him I couldn’t find a recent sale to compare, a common tactic in sports card negotiations. I added to my negotiation that I held $50 in my PayPal at the time.
He politely suggested we meet halfway.
After a back-and-forth, we worked out a deal for $90.
The seller was a Packers fan who admitted to me that he had held this card since he was a kid.
It’ll be a card I keep in my personal collection for the long-term. Unless, of course, Kyle Kendrick himself expresses an interest in owning it.
After I started writing this article, I was able to chat with Kendrick about the card.
“When the card came out, I found out about it,” Kendrick recalled, “but I was not sure how I saw it or why they printed it.”
I told Kendrick that there is a small cult following around this card that is amplified every once in a while through a Facebook card group. Kendrick’s knowledge of the collecting hobby ended in his childhood and while he knew about the card, the relevance of it and why anyone would want it was a mystery to him.
“A year or two ago a buddy sent it to me asking if I knew about the card and I was like, ‘Yeah I can’t believe they printed it,’” Kendrick said. “My son collects cards, but I am not sure if he even has the card. I know he has other cards of mine, but not this one.”
I sent Kendrick the base (non-error version) of this card. He replied that his son definitely had that one in his collection. After our conversation, Kendrick picked up his son from school with a question in mind. He asked him if he’s ever seen the infamous error card of his father’s mid-section and showed him one of the images. His son laughed, then said he’s never seen it, but he does want it.
Many collectors bring cards to the ballpark for their favorite players to sign, but Kendrick said he’s never been asked to sign this card.
A big part of collecting, and what makes the hobby compelling to many, is the stories behind the cards. Even Kendrick now sees this as another fun tale from his career.
The story of Kendrick’s career can be symbolized in a lot of ways, but the sight of this particular error card reminds me of many things about his time with the Phillies. Particularly his belt.
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