Some T206 questions...

[GKreindler]

Hey all,

Hope this thread finds y'all well.

I also had some random questions for you T206 nuts. I might have asked these before in a previous thread, so if I did, please forgive me - my brain seems to be in shambles these days.

So, I'm in the process of making more business cards for myself. Now, I don't know if any of you had seen or remember my originals, but they were done in the style of the T206s. We gave a lot of them out in 2009 at the National in Cleveland, but that stock has just about run out. On the front was my painting of Christy Mathewson, and there were a few different choices for the back designs.

For these new ones, I am going to be using between 5-10 different paintings to keep things fun. But this go around, I wanted them to mimic the T206s better than the originals had. In Chicago last summer, I ended up buying a random common to get a better idea of the paper stock that these things were made of, in the hopes that I could match it (or come close to doing so). In the end, when they're printed, I'd very much like for that stock to resemble what people would have seen after pulling the cards right out of the packs in the early 1910s. Since a lot of you have probably handled some really high grade ones, I thought this would be a good place to ask a few things to make this project work. With that in mind, if any of you can provide some insight, you would rule.

So, here goes:

1) On the front, is it safe to assume that the borders were as white as the driven snow?
2) Same question for the back, be it Piedmont or Sweet Corporal (or any of the others), was it also pure white? Or more of a fine cream?
3) Again on the front of the card, was there a slight touch of gloss on it? It seems like on my card, the portrait side has a tiny tiny bit of a sheen to it. It's barely noticeable, but I could be making that up.
4) Any of you T206 historians, might you know if there was a specific announced name/weight for the paper that was used for the cards?

Thanks for reading everyone. Again, any help you can offer is appreciated.

Graig

[Runscott]

Graig, I'm in the process of doing something similar to prepare for the National. I've created OJ reprints that were a pretty good match (not the larger ones I sold in boxes), so no reason to doubt I can get this done. I'll let you know what I come up with. Like you, I plan to have an obviously different back and my fronts will be fantasy images.

[GKreindler]

Friggin' a, Scott! You rule. Thank you.

[MVSNYC]

Hi Graig, sounds cool...here's my answers:

1) No. not white as snow. white, but not super bright.

2) Cream

3) Very slight sheen maybe, but certainly not glossy at all.

4) Don't know

[mrvster]

+1 to mike

can you do something cool like a yellow brown scrap

[Jantz]

Graig,

I agree with Mike. His answers are spot on.

We met at one of the Cleveland Nationals and if I remember correctly, you had the Matty painting on display at one of them. Truly incredible painting!!

Looking forward to seeing your new business cards.


Jantz

[MVSNYC]

Also- the caption at the bottom front (name, team) is in dark brown, not black...that small detail will make a world of difference.

[GKreindler]

Thanks for all of the replies, fellas. I really appreciate the insight.

Jantz, I did indeed have it on display there - man, that seems like it was forever ago. I'm kind of shocked that we did that one in 2009 and here we are five years later with the thing returning to Cleveland. Though I'll be in attendance, I just wish we were exhibiting. What fun that was. I have a VERY strong feeling that we're going to do it in Atlantic City, though.

Here's a shot of the booth - I'm the fool pointing stuff out to Bob Feller (who was amazing, BTW):



I think by that point, we had taken down the Matty and had it in the hotel room. But a lot of the people who saw it that first day really loved the thing.

Thanks for posting the business card, too. Now that I'm looking at some of the new designs, I need to do some editing, as they're some inconsistencies with sizes and some other stuff, and that's in addition to the questions I had asked in the thread). Also, I'm hoping I can add another 4-5 images or so, which you can see written on the page:



Who knows, I might even be able to get another painting or two done between now and then that would fit with the set I'm trying to create.

In the meantime, anyone on here have any experience with printers who use flat presses for business cards? It seems like all of the people we've tried over the past few years are completely digital, and the results are less than inspiring.

Thanks again, everyone!

Graig