1970 Topps Baseball Forum

I recently acquired a small amount of 70s Topps and I noticed that there is a large difference in back color.  Some cards have a vibrant bright yellow back and some have a darker goldenrod color to the back.  What is don't see is anythign inbetween these two variations of yellow.

I have not really started collecting the set, so I am wondering if this is a printing error, if there are actually two versions of the card backs, or is it just that the cards are old and the brightness on some cards is turning dark.

Thanks for your help.

I've nearly completed the set and have seen the same thing. Much like the 68 set, my take is that its due to age and handling.

The 1970 Topps #1 Mets Team card has 5 different front/ back combinations that have been identified. A 6th 1970 Topps #1 Mets Team variant might exist, but as of Feb 2021, random market card sampling hasn't yielded a "white border" front with a Variant 1 (yellow) colored reverse.  

To date the "Yokai" variants include: 1) 1970 #1 Mets Team with bright yellow back (V1), 2) 1970 #1 Mets Team with mustard colored back (V2), 3) 1970 Mets Team #1 with black line on right front w/ (V1) reverse, 4) 1970 Mets Team #1 with black line front w/ (V2) reverse and 5) 1970 Mets Team #1 with white line on right front w/ (V2) reverse.  

Likewise, (5) variants, similar in nature to the 1970 Topps baseball #1 Mets Team card are known to exist with card #198 "Mets Celebrate".  No line, black line, white line fronts exist with (V1) and (V2) back combinations.

Only (2) variants have been discovered for the #1970 Topps baseball #197 " Ryan Saves the Day" card.  (V1) and (V2) reverses exist.

Canadian O Pee Chee cards have been shown to have similar Variants with no line, black line, and white line fronts.  All reverses on the Canadian OPCs are (V2) mustard color.