1949 Leaf Theory
I know this set is talked about a lot on the board, and I am certainly alway looking to chime in, I love the quirkiness of the production value, but also the aesthetics of the cards. Simply put, I love them.
I have been researching the set, trying to figure out what exactly went on with the printing of the cards. There is an established and accepted fact that there was a primary printing and a short printing. The theory I am working on currently is that there was an actual 3rd printing of the primary set, though this printing featured changes to the printing plates, and can be identified by the more pinkish/magenta ink. There are marked changes in many of the key cards, Babe Ruth features "lines" that connect the background field of color to the name plate, Stan Musial's and Joe DiMaggio's hats were masked off, removing the detail and allowing the background color to show through, Jackie Robinson's hat details were removed and there were the additions of lines similar to Ruth's. In my opinion, there is actually a rarity to these variations that fall in line with the "accepted" variations in the set (Aberson, Peterson, Hermanski). While mentioning the Hermanski variation, I actually think that the designation on it is wrong. When you look at the card, the registration of the name in the field of red is the same on both versions, they wouldn't have offset the name, only to correct it later. My thought is that HERMANSK is the error (backed up by the presence of the pink toned magenta), and the correct version came out in the initial run, hence the 2:1 ratio in the PSA population report. This same ration is similar to the Peterson variation in which the Red Cap is part of the second printing.
I'd love to hear other's thoughts on this. I attached a couple of examples, though I know there are more out there. Ted Z among others have alluded to this before, and Ted has posted the uncut sheet image before as well. I think that in an effort to lighten up a second run of the cards, the plates were altered specifically in the hats to allow more color through and mask off the black plate with most of the details. If true, in my mind, it would change the values of some of the key cards in the set, as they would have been essentially short print in comparison to the first roll out of the set.
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