Name Boxes on T207 Cards

[Cozumeleno]

I can't seem to find any conversation/threads on this but I wanted to get the thoughts of T207 collectors on this.

The name boxes at the bottom of most cards are white. However, I have encountered a few that have more of an orange-colored/tan box. In hand, these cards appear to be just as legitimate. I've attached a picture to show the difference.

Have others been aware of this variance and is there anything attributed to it like brown ink running into the box, etc.? I have seen several of these cards out there so I know this isn't a one off or anything. Anyone have any of these or know about them? I know the thought may be that they are merely a little on the dirty side but that is not what it looks like in person.

Interestingly, I also have the T207 reprint set that Dean's produced and those cards have the colored box (though more pronounced) as opposed to the more standard white ones. That has always seemed odd given that the white ones are by far the more common.

[ronniehatesjazz]

Hey Anson, couldn't it just be toning with age? Or maybe something with the laminate coat on the cards?

[wondo]

Hmmmmmmm. I'm on the road, but when I get back I'll check through mine. Is there any correlation between the box shading and the reverses?

[wondo]

Hey Anson, couldn't it just be toning with age? Or maybe something with the laminate coat on the cards?

Tyler,

I hear what your thinking, but the shading looks way too uniform on the example for that - maybe?

[Cozumeleno]

Hi Tyler - I don't believe so, to be honest. I haven't noticed anything uniform going on with regards to toning on the rest of the picture vs. just that portion of it. Here's the full Austin card.

Hey John - I'll have to check once I get home but I don't believe so. I've known about these cards for some time and believe I looked at the backs before. But I can verify once I see them later.

[buymycards]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1912-T207-Brown-Background-Near-Complete-Set-VG-EX/273682304915?hash=item3fb8bc8f93:m:mGSch2kjAsl79Iy GiFAAziQ

Take a look at the side by side photos in this listing. There does appear to be color differences, although it may be caused by the scanner. Some of the PSA card holders seem to be frosted and the black background doesn't come through and a few of the holders seem to be clear and the black background shows through, and these appear to be the ones with the darker colors in the box.

I wish I had a dozen raw cards to hold in my hand.

[Cozumeleno]

Thanks for posting that Rick. I'll try to post a few more pics of the ones I have tonight.

I should add that I've seen a lot of minor variance between the bright white and the tan colored ones that I would attribute to age, toning, etc. But some, like the Austin I posted are excessive and seem to be more than that.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I guess the real question is can you find different colors of the same player?

[Cozumeleno]

Hey Scott - yes you can. I looked previously for the Austin I posted with the orange-colored box and most examples I've seen have the white box.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I do wish your Austin example was as clean as your Drake. Not saying it's definitively toning, but I'd like to see the "colored" box on an otherwise clean card. EVERYTHING about the Austin is darker.

[Cozumeleno]

Just realized my full Austin photo never posted. Here it is.

I'll have to check my others once I get home to see if there's a cleaner one with the darker box. This card has a distinctly different color than the rest of it. I'd be inclined to believe it was just darker due to aging/cleanliness if the color matched the border. But this one does not and it's distinctly 'more orange.'

But point taken - I'll check the others I have once I get home tonight to see if there's a brighter one with the darker box.

[Luke]

Just based purely on the scan, I think that Austin just has some unusual wear. The name spot looks like pink/beige to me, and seeing the mold dots on other parts of it makes me think the pink is mold coloration.

I realize you have it in hand and may be seeing something different than I am just looking at a scan. I'm going to take a look at all mine now.

[Cozumeleno]

Thanks, Luke - it definitely could be that. I appreciate you checking yours and I'm going to take a closer look once I get home. I wanted to bring it up in a thread as I've seen probably a dozen such cards. I'll see how pronounced the others may be and try to compare the wear on those as well.

[GeoPoto]

I am not at the same location as these cards so I can't look at them. The scans I have are probably too poor to tell, but I thought I would post them just in case.360942

360943

[Cozumeleno]

George - I can definitely see the difference in yours. I can see how it would be hard to tell but having seen mine in person, it's probably easier for me to see it. Were you aware of the difference in them before?

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I can see the difference too, but again it is the entire card, which to me is just the vagaries of the printing process as opposed to a variation. Everything on the 2nd Wajo is "browner"

[Cozumeleno]

That could be, Scott. I guess in that case I'd expect the box to simply be a browner shade and not a brighter orange/peach but your point on the print on particular cards vs. the print in the box is well taken.

Just to muddy the water, here are two Birmingham cards. The raw one is mine and the PSA one is not mine (from their site). The PSA one has a darker appearance to me but both boxes are still pretty white. I'll have to see if I can find other examples of cards with darker print but white boxes.

[Cozumeleno]

Well despite my best efforts, I can't get the PSA Birmingham to show up large enough. But here's a link (https://www.psacard.com/cardfacts/baseball-cards/1912-brown-background-t207/joe-birmingham/18978) to it where can see an enlarged picture.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

It's an interesting topic, and I love T207's. Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, just playing devil's advocate. If I see convincing evidence I'll be very happy!

[Cozumeleno]

Haha, I don't know that there will be any forthcoming, Scott. It's just something I noticed the last couple of years in chasing these and when I ran a search on it, was surprised that I could not find record of it being discussed before. Not sure anything conclusive will ever come out of it and I don't know what to make of it. But I've seen several of these and others no doubt have them. Will be good to see some others' and how they compare with other copies.

The really fascinating thing to me is that the Dean's reprint of the set used the colored boxes with this exact same color. I'd love to know how that decision was made and I'm guessing they had to have seen some of these before. It's too big of a coincidence otherwise.

Here's one of their reprint cards.

[Cozumeleno]

Okay, had a chance to take a closer look at some of these and tried to find two with the same type of print quality. I found this Lord and Donnelly, which look pretty close. The Lord is the one with the orangeish box, which hopefully shows up clear enough. It's not quite as pronounced as the Austin is on my screen but does show a colored box. Would be interested to see what others people might have.

[Ronnie73]

I always noticed the difference but never gave it much thought. I figured it was common knowledge. I'm not a collector of T207's so it didn't matter much to me and I have see many of both types so I figured there would not be any price premium to cash in on. I do prefer the look of the white box variation.

[GeoPoto]

I was not aware. The WaJo appears (again working from scans) to be the only one I have (out of 9 cards across 7 players). I think you just convinced me to hang on to both WaJo's.