T206 question - ghost image

[pokerplyr80]

I am not a big t206 collector but have been looking to add a couple here and there. How do you tell the difference between a ghost image and one that's just out of focus? I am considering a card that could be best described by me as having a slight shadow behind the player's image. If it were any other card I would just say it has poor registration. But on a t206 I don't know if that adds value, or hurts it.

Any help is appreciated.

[mrvster]

if you can, send me an image of the card......I will estimate the value:)

[swarmee]

Ghost images are normally wet sheet transfers from other cards, not the same image out of registration.

[JustinD]

Ghost images are normally wet sheet transfers from other cards, not the same image out of registration.

+1

Super normal to confuse these. Sounds like you are looking at registration shift with one of the color passes slightly off causing a shadow. These are neat and I collect them too as I like oddballs, but it's not a ghost. Ghosts are usually caused by the printer stacking fresh sheets and the wet printed image transfers to the card above slightly. They are usually far more desired than the color shifts.

[pokerplyr80]

+1

Super normal to confuse these. Sounds like you are looking at registration shift with one of the color passes slightly off causing a shadow. These are neat and I collect them too as I like oddballs, but it's not a ghost. Ghosts are usually caused by the printer stacking fresh sheets and the wet printed image transfers to the card above slightly. They are usually far more desired than the color shifts.

Thanks for the replies. This sounds like an accurate description. Does this color shift effect the value at all? I'm not sure if I should go a little more or a little less because of this color shift.

[Jobu]

I break ghosts down into four categories: wet sheet transfers, mis-registration (i.e., color shifts), roller transfers, and scraps/test prints. I tried to include examples of my cards where possible. There are lots of examples of T206 ghosts in this thread:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=118253&highlight=ghost

Wet sheet transfers can be an image of an ad back that has transfered onto the front of a card (sometimes years after printing) or can be the colors from the front of a card on the back. The colors sometimes form a ghosty image but they frequently just look like colors. (Leifield, posted here, is a mix)

Misregistration ghosts happen when one (or more) ink layer(s) is shifted to the side while the rest are where they should be. The image changes a lot depending on the color that is misregistered and how far off it is:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showpost.php?p=1327355&postcount=260

http://www.net54baseball.com/showpost.php?p=1371619&postcount=281

http://www.net54baseball.com/showpost.php?p=1426190&postcount=291

http://www.net54baseball.com/showpost.php?p=766347&postcount=41

Roller transfers produce clear ghosts. I am not a printing expert, but I believe this happens when ink is transfered to the roller that is used to feed the paper through the press (probably because the press was run without a piece of paper in it). When the next sheet of paper is then sent through the press it prints the layer it should on the front of the card while the roller that helps move the paper through the press transfers the other image (in reverse) to the back. These are great images:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showpost.php?p=1467332&postcount=11

Scraps/test prints are cards where the printer intentionally printed over another image as a test run and then scrapped it. These ghosts can be either on the front (Johnny's Bender-Lake, posted here because I know he won't mind that I shared it) or the back, like the Mullaney that was formerly Leon's:

http://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball/-the-1909-11-t206-mullaney-southern-league-overprint-back-with-cy-young-and-old-mill-brown-/a/7116-79004.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515

[Sophiedog]

Wow! That Lake is Incredible!!!

[pokerplyr80]

Thanks for the information. This one most closely resembles the card I was asking about.

[Luke]

No premium for that one

[Jobu]

What the hell Luke?! Don't talk shit about my Sheckard! :D

(Seriously though, Luke is right.)


No premium for that one

[pokerplyr80]

Thanks again guys, I will bid accordingly.

[Luke]

Haha, it's a nice card. No disrespect :)

[JustinD]

Thanks for the replies. This sounds like an accurate description. Does this color shift effect the value at all? I'm not sure if I should go a little more or a little less because of this color shift.


I think on these as a collector, value and price is in the eye of the beholder. Here is an example I picked up in October much like what you decribed -

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/pennysleeve/hoffman.jpg

This one has really no real premium and some strict collectors may pay less because of the slight misregistration. Myself, I love it as these soft shadows I think add an artistic touch to a T206, but that is me.

The other I picked up the same month, I paid a large premium for this as the shift was so drastic it really caught my eye and I ended up in an unexpected bidding war at the last minute. I way overpaid, but I really like it. The shift as so extreme some may call this a ghost. (I would not).

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/pennysleeve/Ewing%20001.jpg