Brian,
Thanks for sharing your scans. Those are some toughies and ones I have rarely seen. My Brown, an SGC 10 isn't much better, just completely there
. I agree with Pete. Not only do I think Blues are tougher to find, they are tougher to find in better condition.
Leon,
Here are a few odd/ball E98s. The Green McGraw has a white face with no skin coloring like the other color background McGraws. My Blue McGraw and my Blue Meyers have a split back of two cards with one card on front.
Staining- I definately see Rob's point on the staining of Green and Orange backgrounds. Many of my oranges and greens have staining, but so do many of my Blues. Maybe the Reds were given out as promotional pieces and not included in candy/caramel wrapped candies like the other colors????? This is a theory behind why how the family got all their Reds which were then placed up in that attic without being distributed and were left in incredible condition. It would also help explain why the majority of Old Put Backs (I've only seen 4 Blues stamped with an Old Put- Leon's Clarke, My Dooin, and 2 from a private collector) are on Red cards. The store owner might have gotten them as a promotion and decided to make his own advertising pieces??
Tim Kindler