Portraits and action poses grouped together on T206 sheets?

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by steve B

I can't really think of a solid technical reason to group them or to not group them. A few ideas come to mind, but nothing solid enough to really get behind as it would depend on things I doubt we'll ever know.

The following is all pure conjecture.

Like how were the cards packed, both leaving ALC and going into the packs. Some cutting sequences would lead to having stacks of the same card, others would lead to a more random distribution. Which of those they wanted would maybe determine the plate layout. Was there any attempt at getting a decent distribution in a carton, or would a carton purchase get you 10 of the same pose?

Or it could be as simple as whoever made the art and masters preferring working on Portraits or more of an action shot. Action might have been done by more experienced workers as they sometimes added the entire background. Or it might have hinged on what was ready when they went to lay out the plates.

I try not to ponder these things too much, the solvable stuff is complicated enough!

Steve B

It seems to me color could have played a role as well. You can see clear color patterns on the reconstructed sheets. It's especially noticeable with the way yellow backgrounds weave in and out of the columns. Blue too.