Building a set from scratch

[G1911]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

My favorite Topps set of the 50s. But the photography is dark and muddy. In some thread, maybe the never ending variations thread, it was noted that two versions of every card seem to exist, one lighter and one darker in coloring. Many examples were posted. Some believe the Mantle card can be found with various degrees of air brushing of the mystery guy

Nice to see this mentioned. It has always seemed to me the striking difference in hand is not merely the result of having more or less ink in the press that happens in every set over a long production. It seems at least a couple of the series had two different print runs, like some other sets of this period. It's hard to tell in eBay scans sometimes, as everyone uses different scanner settings or lighting, but in hand it's pretty obvious.