Topps 1952 Campos..new variation

[Exhibitman]

Al, I realize my word on it isn't worth a bucket of warm piss, but border breaks, missing inks, and misplaced blobs IMO are mechanical defects. Fun to collect but not 'variations' and that includes the partial border Campos. I mean who would intentionally omit a chunk of the outside border on the Campos card? Unlike say the Mantle with the variation on the Yankees logo box--that one looks like they made one of the DP versions slightly different than the others. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Campos multicolored star is probably another printing error where there was still some of the wrong ink on the plate for a part of the changed print run.

[ALR-bishop]

Some folks believe the differences in double print cards are variations because even if not intentional, they result from changes in the printing process and not a defect in it. The 52 Mantle is listed in SCD as a variation, along with the Thompson and Robinson DPs, because the stitching runs right or left on the back. But in addition to the logo box on the front which you mention, the e in the auto is either full or truncated and the top star line above his name is straight or wavy. These front differences in all cases correlate to the stitching difference on the back

[steve B]

The Campos black star is very unlikely to be a simple error that happened on the press. Different plates are used for each color, even in a multiple color press the colors are done with different plates and the ink comes from entirely different parts of the press.

Picture two presses welded together and you'll be really close.

Getting black ink into the exact spot to only ink the star is nearly impossible.

But the plates were made from negatives taped to an opaque mask. So mistakes in making that can cause odd stuff. Damage can happen as well.

The easiest examples are 81 fleer. Many cards show the tape used to attach the picture negative to the mask. (Or maybe the picture to the original art - Either way it's a mistake in production.) The box at the lower left corner of the Sullivan shown above is probably also tape.

So the Campos with the star must have had the star on the black plate. Possibly from a combination of a shortcut plus damage or error. sometimes it's simpler to photo the entire master at once, then mask off the bits that aren't wanted in whichever color. If the mask got torn, which isn't all that hard to do the star could have been exposed on the black negative. When the plate was made it got on like all the proper black print.

The partial star is a bit more complex, there's a special pencil made to repair plate damage or to erase something unwanted. So either the partial is from the mask being repaired but maybe showing a bit through a tear, or from a partial erasure of the entire star from the black plate. If it was a partial reassure the operator could simply stop the press and finish the erasure once it was noticed to be incomplete.


Border breaks are a bit more problematic for me. They can be from plates with flaws, like the Clemens/Seaver and the Thomas no name and the big strip of related cards. Or they can be from a random bit of debris getting into the press. Random debris usually makes one card without whatever color, then some with a patch of that color.(the debris is usually paper, and holds ink but doesn't transfer it as readily as the plate. ) The number of ones with the dark patch could be none, or hundreds, depending on how quickly the debris fell out, and if it didn't how quickly it was spotted.

If there's more than one of the identical frame break, it's most likely a flaw on the plate.

There are even varieties or variations that come from foolishness. 82 fleer again has a few cards from a late run that have a little pointing hand on them. Either there was an odd bit of wire or something in the platemaking process, or the press operator drew them in. Anything that will scratch the plate will do, just get through the water retaining layer and whatever you've drawn will print. I've suspected a press operator playing around since I first saw one.

Steve B

[steve B]

I should note that the comments above apply to offset lithography. And generally to most other commercial printing.

However, the BEP did/does have an intaglio (engraving) press capable of multiple colors from the same plate. It was used a lot in the late 60's for stamps. An impressive technical achievement, even if it seldom worked perfectly.

Steve B

[Zach Wheat]

Steve,

Interesting stuff. In one of the more unfortunate incidents in the '78 set, a number of cards for Molitor/Trammel are found with a thumb print at the bottom. Most of the cards I had, contained a red thumb print. I assume this most likely would have been caused by the press operators smudging the red layer so ink stuck to an area it shouldn't have been able to stick.

Thanks for taking the time to post all of this information.

Z Wheat

[ALR-bishop]

Great post as usual Steve. Thanks for the input

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Zach Wheat

Steve,

Interesting stuff. In one of the more unfortunate incidents in the '78 set, a number of cards for Molitor/Trammel are found with a thumb print at the bottom. Most of the cards I had, contained a red thumb print. I assume this most likely would have been caused by the press operators smudging the red layer so ink stuck to an area it shouldn't have been able to stick.

Thanks for taking the time to post all of this information.

Z Wheat

That was probably a print on the negative. Must have been a solid one to show so clearly. The plates are constantly wet, inked, then pressed onto the rubber offset blanket, so a fingerprint on the plate wouldn't last long.

None of the guys I worked with wore gloves, so the plates must have had loads of prints and I never saw one print.

I did see plenty from pranks
The ink is really sticky. And a tiny bit will spread very well by almost any contact.
So the typical prank was to take a tiny bit of some interesting color- purple, pink, orange .........and put the smallest dab of it on the side of something that's normally out of view. The backside of the levers on the press, the underside of the mens room doorknob, the handle of a broom, handle of the coffee pot.
The target gets a bit of ink on his hand, and most people have itches or sweat to wipe away or long hair that needs brushing away from the eyes...
And they end up looking like a sloppy reject from blue man group.
They main culprit got me a couple times one day, and in return I inked his entire press with 7-8 colors while he was at lunch.
The fun ended one day when he inked the press dept foremans desk.

Steve B

[steve B]

And since I went looking for Molitors with the fingerprint, I'm seeing plenty with a smudge at the bottom center.

If that's it, then it's just from careless handling before the sheets were dry.

Steve B