I bought one group of cards from that batch that also showed missing red, but weren't listed that way.
Obvious glue and back damage, plus the lengthy exposure to sunlight.
I don't totally buy the glue explanation. Especially if the red on the back isn't faded or removed. The same for chemicals used in soaking. Obviously that would only apply to cards with red backs.
What I found interesting about the batch from Ebay is that there's no other fading. The seller had or maybe has a group still on the cardboard that has apparently faded cards next to cards that appear unfaded.
The ones I got have no color at all from the bright red, but the pink is there, and normal as are the other colors.
I looked at them on an angle, thinking that the difference in gloss between the inks and the cardboard surface would show for sure.
But that wasn't definite when I looked at them. (Both Cincinnati players) One showed gloss where the red on the uniform was, one didn't.
I finally found my high power magnifier, so I can take a better look today.
(The kids are fascinated with the 40X , and regularly take it and lose it)
The red from cochineal is colorfast for washing cloth, but isn't good at dealing with light. Unfortunately the time period for T cards was also one when the use of cochineal was changing to newer synthetic pigments. Some of the new ones were worse, but much cheaper, some were much better. And the exact makeup of the ink was a trade secret, so even if we knew what brand ALC preferred, we couldn't know what pigment was used
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Part that will probably draw some negative comments -
It's becoming possible to figure out some approximate ink formulas. There's a group that's begun using spectroscopy to look at the inks used for some stamp issues. The difference between some shades can be thousands of dollars in a few cases. And differences in the hundreds aren't uncommon.
It's still not cheap, but they've already found some surprises. Like a rust brown ink that was assumed to contain rust as the pigment has proven to contain almost no Iron at all.
I know some get down on technology and with good reason, since it's often used by scammers to support their claims. But properly used it can answer a lot of questions.
Steve B
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