A background billboard turns a common rookie-era card into a hobby story. Fleer's 1989 card caught Randy Johnson, the tallest man ever to pitch in the majors, warming up in front of a Marlboro cigarette billboard, then airbrushed the logo out on later runs. It belongs in the Error Card Craze exhibit alongside the Sam Vincent card as proof that an incidental detail could create a chase. The uncorrected Marlboro version is the one collectors want. Same principle every time: a photo-desk oversight becomes a $20-100 conversation piece.

The cigarette ad card. Once collectors noticed the Marlboro billboard behind the Big Unit, everybody wanted the version where you could still read it. Kids learned that Fleer had airbrushed it out later, which made the uncensored one the chase. It felt a little scandalous, a cigarette ad hiding on a baseball card. You'd squint at the background to see if yours still had the logo. The Marlboro Randy Johnson was the "look what they let slip through" card, and finding the real one felt like a score.

Fleer's 1989 Randy Johnson card #381 originally showed a Marlboro billboard in the background of a spring-training shot; Fleer airbrushed the logo out on later print runs. The uncorrected Marlboro version became the chase, trading at roughly $20-100 depending on condition and centering. It's a classic example of an incidental background detail generating an error-card story, the same dynamic that made the Sam Vincent Hoops card notable. Johnson's Hall of Fame career keeps interest alive. A common card elevated by a billboard nobody meant to include.

The key variation is the uncorrected Marlboro version (Marlboro logo visible in the outfield billboard) versus the corrected version (Marlboro replaced with a 'WELCOME TO THE VET / Coke' billboard on later print runs). The uncorrected Marlboro is the chase and carries the premium, trading at $20-100. The example pictured on this page is the corrected Coke/Vet version, the common variant most collectors encounter. Confirming the background is the whole task when hunting the chase: the readable Marlboro text is the tell. Centering affects grade. Because the difference is in the background, sellers sometimes misdescribe copies, so verify the billboard against a known reference.

Card #381, 1989 Fleer design, Randy Johnson warming up with an outfield billboard behind him. On the uncorrected version the Marlboro logo is legible in the background; on the corrected version it's airbrushed out or obscured. The back is the standard grey Fleer layout. Confirm the visible Marlboro text to identify the chase version, and check centering for grade.