New T206 Sweet Caporal back - strawberry red vs. cherry red?

[t206fix]

I have been actively collecting t206 Sweet Caporal factory 25s for the past few years and I’ve noticed a pattern.
When searching for 350s that are also printed with the 460 back, I’ve noticed a pattern with the color on back that only occurs in these cards. I can easily tell when a card pops up and the back color is a “warmer” red, I know it’s a factory 25. Comparable to the apple green/forest green Sovereigns, these cards appear to be a “Strawberry” color instead of the bright “Cherry” red used in the other sweet caps. Coincidently, these are the same cards that have the green apple. Let’s be clear here, I’m not talking about every SC.350.25. Only those in the following subsets: 350/460 print groups A and B, Super Prints and the XP print group (Doyle, etc). Please see list on the bottom of this post.

I have not done research into the 350 only or 350/150s – lots of examples in those print groups to extend patterns, and let’s be honest, when staring at differences in red colors, our eyes can go buggy. Also, some distinctions between strawberry and cherry may not be as obvious due to fading, wear, staining and glue residue. When comparing these cards, it is best to compare them side by side. When grouped together, hopefully you can tell the differences in red colors. I do not own very many sc.350.30s, so I contrasted them against their 460 counterparts.

The first scan contains cards from my collection from print group A, the second Print group B, and the third is an attempt to get them closer together so that you can see the differences.

[t206fix]

Here are a couple of examples from current ebay auctions:
Nap:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234526626502
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234548674753

McIntyre:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265803559807
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144475250139

Kaiser:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/265848548340
https://www.ebay.com/itm/294297851775?var=592939490447

Here are scans of those auctions because I know they will disappear off ebay over time.

[t206fix]

And also, a scan of the four backs together:

[steve B]

That seems entirely plausible.

At the time, inks were mixed by hand, to a fairly loose standard. They should be fairly consistent within a press run.

I believe the 350s were done at least 3 times, and having different subjects for some of that makes sense.
I also think that a general print run of fronts was done, then used to fill orders for particular brands. Possibly some smaller brands were done by themselves.

So I'm not surprised to see a known finite print run with a color difference match up well or exactly with a newly realized/discovered back shade difference.

[53toppscollector]

In my survey so far, I have noticed a bunch of the Fac 25s printed with a darker, deeper red compared to factory 30s. Will be something interesting to monitor as I make my way through the entire set.

[brianp-beme]

I thought this thread deserved a bump, because it seems it was mostly overlooked when originally posted and has some great observations about back color differences in some of the Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25 cards, similar to the Forest Green and Apple Green seen in Sovereigns. Fun stuff, and I always appreciate collectors like Tony who have invested time in researching a pattern in a set they collect, and even more importantly, are willing to share this with us as well

Here are two Sweet Caporal 350 cards from Print Group A with factory 25 and 30 designations. In my opinion not as much color difference as is seen between the SC350 f25 and SC350/460 in Tony's scans, but still noticeable.

Brian

[Leon]

+1 ...I agree very good info...

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

I thought this thread deserved a bump, because it seems it was mostly overlooked when originally posted and has some great observations about back color differences in some of the Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25 cards, similar to the Forest Green and Apple Green seen in Sovereigns. Fun stuff, and !always appreciate collectors like Tony who have invested time in researching a pattern in a set they collect, and even more importantly, are willing to share this with us as well

Here are two Sweet Caporal 350 cards from Print Group A with factory 25 and 30 designations. In my opinion not as much color difference as is seen between the SC350 f25 and SC350/460 in Tony's scans, but still noticeable.

Brian