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Posted By: Paul Muchinsky

Al,

At the risk of causing a ruckus on my network debut, I have noticed a subtle difference between those Mantle and Maris pins. Tell me if you agree. Look closer at the shade of red in both pins. In the pair on your message, I think the Maris pin has a deeper, smoother, and more "refined" tone than the Mantle pin. Would you agree? To compound matters, I have seen the reverse in other pairs. I wonder if there were two printings of these pins. If so, the first was of the more refined tone (like your Maris), and the second printing was like your Mantle. I can think of no other explanation for the color variation, other than the second printing may have been made off of the image of the first, as opposed to the original process of production from a printer's block. But this idea doesn't make much sense---why not just run a second batch off the original block? Back then there were no MLB licensing rights. It was simply a case of who ran off what images first, and then sold them on the sidewalk outside Yankee Stadium. My best guess is that, unless the slight color differences are just due to within batch variation, what happened was a second vendor made the second printing using a pair of pins purchased from the first vendor, thereby avoiding the need for the original printer's block. These pins are all vintage and real. They are not reproductions, fantasies, or re-issues. I have seen such subtle differences very rarely in pins. The rare times I have, they involve a famous athlete, suggesting a bigger than normal sale of the pins to warrant a second printing. I have two pins of Joe Louis, vitually identical, with the only difference being the shape of the letter "o" across the pair, one more round, the other more oval in shape. Another such example, the "Big PM10" pin of Mantle. Here the variation is a slight difference in the size of Mantle's head. Any thoughts? As I said in the book, "If only the pins could talk."

Paul