1961 Topps Variations

[steve B]

I think there were different runs.

The inks are usually mixed as needed so the colors can vary.

The question is what caused a difference.

The top two cards seem to have a different level of black ink, The darkeness of the hat shows it a bit better. I've seen a lot of that, some black ink used was more opaque that others, or it was applied thicker.

The varying colors where blue or red are involved, especially purple or darker blues usually comes down to one of three things.
Lightly printed colors or not.
A slight shift in registration.
Or the odd one, many darker blues look like the blue was printed twice, and slightly off register. It can happen when an adjustment is made, but shouldn't be as common as it is. So I'm thinking it might be something that happened when the plate was made.

I should try to make scans of some of those. It's interesting just how much they affect the color.

Steve B