[Volod]

Originally Posted by skooter

Over the years I've accumulated amost half of this set, and I've decided to try to complete it. I've noticed a few, like the Bob Cain below, are not as bright, or crisp as the rest. The picture is more "subdued", and even the borders are more "off-white", or even tan, when compared to most of the cards. The back is the same shade as the rest.
I was wondering if the card has faded, or is this how it came from the company. Does anyone else, who collects this set, have any cards like this? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

It's an interesting question. While putting together this set back in the '80's, I came upon several cards that were dark, despite appearing to be near mint in all other respects. Most of them seemed to be in the first two series (#s 1-72). Could be mistaken, but I think I recall reading something in an old hobby publication claiming that these darker specimens came off the Bowman press run like that. Not sure why, but maybe a pressworker put in an inferior stock sheet, which would have been caught pretty quickly, but a decision was made to just release the cards anyway rather than toss them out.