Detecting Color Added on ‘71 Topps

[YazFenway08]

I have some nice ‘71 star cards that I am considering having graded. Want to do some prelim work on them and looking for some advice on the best way to ascertain if they have had any color added

I don’t see any “bleeding” from the black fronts to the back where I assume sloppy “doctors” would make that mistake…at the edges, corners, etc. I don’t see anything odd under basic loupe magnification.

Will any alteration “fluoresce” even against the black borders and is that the most foolproof way of seeing if any funny business has occurred?

Thanks in advance

[tjisonline]

i found a way if you are in a pinch after getting one of my cards sent back w/ the dreaded "color added" on the flip. i was given the card by a respected person of the hobby who (like me) didn't check it. oh well.

take a close-up picture of the card or use a scan. grab your fav mobile device photo editing app (or laptop app). i use photoshop express. open the images and use the "invert" filter. you will see imperfections immediately. i circles the areas on my 1971 ernie banks. on the 71s, black displays as "white" and green as "purple".


added ink will be a dark color as that doesn't invert. Stands out especially on the back edges / corners. still can't believe i didn't check before wasting money getting this graded.

Originally Posted by YazFenway08

I have some nice ‘71 star cards that I am considering having graded. Want to do some prelim work on them and looking for some advice on the best way to ascertain if they have had any color added

I don’t see any “bleeding” from the black fronts to the back where I assume sloppy “doctors” would make that mistake…at the edges, corners, etc. I don’t see anything odd under basic loupe magnification.

Will any alteration “fluoresce” even against the black borders and is that the most foolproof way of seeing if any funny business has occurred?

Thanks in advance

[Aug06]

Some are very hard to detect. I recently sent out a few Burt Blyleven RC's and of the 4 I sent 2 came back as "color added". I usually will buy them raw off ebay then send them in. Right away i want to blame the seller but sometimes i wonder if the seller even knew it before they sold it. I had one come back recently that i still cannot detect where the color was added.

[Bigdaddy]

I hear ya. Just got back the Baylor/Baker RC from SGC with the dreaded 'color added' notation.

I'll have to use something other than my eyes to screen them before sending out.

[jchcollins]

Blacklights are pretty good at picking them up if you know what you are looking for. Also, many kids back in the day were careless and got Sharpie marks on the edges that sometimes even bleed over into the back.

That said, I’ve been duped before as well.


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[Smanzari]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Blacklights are pretty good at picking them up if you know what you are looking for. Also, many kids back in the day were careless and got Sharpie marks on the edges that sometimes even bleed over into the back.

That said, I’ve been duped before as well.


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I've had some success with this method - I will check the sides/top of the stack, then individually go through with a Black Light; its not perfect as some probably get missed, but I do feel like its more effective than trying to figure out under regular light

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Smanzari

I've had some success with this method - I will check the sides/top of the stack, then individually go through with a Black Light; its not perfect as some probably get missed, but I do feel like its more effective than trying to figure out under regular light

Obvious recoloring on the front of a ‘71 Topps card is going to flouresce purple under a blue light. But tiny areas still could be hard to pickup.

I bought an EX-MT-ish ‘71 set a few years ago, and for the first time invested in a blacklight. Looked not at every single card, but you can bet all the stars and HOF’ers. (The cards were purchased from a collection of over a thousand ‘71s, and were obviously from the same source).

They were all clean, but it took some time.


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[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

I hear ya. Just got back the Baylor/Baker RC from SGC with the dreaded 'color added' notation.

I'll have to use something other than my eyes to screen them before sending out.

Looks like the bottom left hand corner on the Baker/Baylor was touched up.

71's been getting touched up by collectors since about 1972 or so. Not unique to the grading era. Most are pretty sloppy, but I'm sure it's gotten more sophisticated recently.

Always thought that was a great card BTW. Not often you get 3 different guys with 18+ year playing careers on a single Rookie card.

All 3 have also had lengthy careers in baseball after their playing days ended.

[YazFenway08]

I think I am going to try the blacklight this weekend. I have owned all of these since ‘82, so I guess I am going any shenanigans were not Uber-sophisticated. Just sharpie. I see no bleed with the naked eye or under regular magnification. I am cautiously optimistic.

The first suggestion of using the filters seems awesome, but it might be outside my skill set 😊

[JollyElm]

To save time and effort, Topps should've just inserted magic markers instead of gum into packs in 1971.

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by tjisonline

i found a way if you are in a pinch after getting one of my cards sent back w/ the dreaded "color added" on the flip. i was given the card by a respected person of the hobby who (like me) didn't check it. oh well.

take a close-up picture of the card or use a scan. grab your fav mobile device photo editing app (or laptop app). i use photoshop express. open the images and use the "invert" filter. you will see imperfections immediately. i circles the areas on my 1971 ernie banks. on the 71s, black displays as "white" and green as "purple".


added ink will be a dark color as that doesn't invert. Stands out especially on the back edges / corners. still can't believe i didn't check before wasting money getting this graded.

Did this with the Baylor/Baker card - scans directly from SGC and using GIMP. I'm guessing the evidence is clearly seen in the upper right corner on the back - corner closest to the card #.

[cesarcap]

Time to try Kurts card spray on the touched up commons to see what happens...

[JollyElm]

That made it more confusing. The dark 'inverted' area in the '709' corner corresponds to the white (what I assume is) wear there in the regular scan...so where has color been added?