[sreader3]

Hi Jason,

First of all, thanks for the robust discussion.

On your cards (which I think are cool and don't mean to denigrate), all of the colors--red, blue green, yellow, etc.--seem more or less equally faded whereas on my card there is no fading at all. The color differences on my card are of kind, not degree, and relate strictly to one color: Red.

Here are some of the particular differences:

1. Most standard issue Oakes cards (but not all--and the standard issue Oakes I have shown in this post is in the minority group) have a noticeable brush of red on his right cheek; this card doesn't.
2. Standard issue Oakes cards have a deep orange background; this card has a lighter orange (or deep yellow) background (note: orange - red = yellow).
3. Standard issue Oakes cards have bold red team lettering; this one has snowy white team lettering.

It would be a very neat trick to (intentionally or by accident) have removed the red ink from this card after-the-fact (including dissembling the red ink from the yellow ink in the background) without otherwise disturbing the color scheme, without creating signs of surface wear and while retaining the vibrancy of this card.

A final note: On a standard issue Oakes, the red ink applied to the team letters slightly spills over onto the blue jersey and creates the impression of a dark purple outline around the team letters. This card shows no evidence of that outline, which is consistent with a failure to apply red ink in the printing process. (See close-up scans of team lettering above).

Scot