"perfection-challenged" old tobacco cards

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Posted By: runscott

I'm really curious how the rest of you feel about these cards that are variously labelled "proofs","printer scrap","errors","miscuts",etc...

We've had past debates over what a "proof" is, but I'm asking about any card that was involved in the "testing" process and never was intended for production - if that's the definition of a "proof", great. I recently got an email from another collector who was complaining about my $1,300 BIN on the OBAK with the upside-down miscut back. He said it was "printer scrap", but I had a right to get whatever the market would bear. The thing that was curious to me was that he was so emotional about the whole thing. I'm sure you've all noticed all the t206 "errors" showing up on ebay recently - I'm not sure what caused these to come out of the woodworks, but I'm glad, since I've been collecting them from the moment I got interested in vintage card - to me they are a window into the history of how old tobacco cards were producted. It allows me to feel closer to the production process, which we don't really know that much about. Any thoughts? If anyone else loves these cards the way I do, let me know - I have several unexplained curiosities and more keep popping up.