Questions regarding '52 through '80 Topps

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Zach Wheat

Steve,

If multiple printers were used, say for early 1950's Topps cards, would they use the same "mask"? At what point would Topps have handed off material to create separate plates for printing if multiple printers were used?

Thanks.

That's a really interesting question.

If they knew they were going to use multiple printers, they could have made multiple masks and shipped the printer a set. It would depend on the relationship with the printer and what equipment they had. A printer they used regularly that had the same equipment as their other printer could handle that easily. One that was "new" as a contractor would probably want the original art so they could do their own camera work.

The first real indication of a different printer is the 62 green tints. Whoever did those must have done their own camera work.

The different groups with varying cardboard in the 50's might also indicate a different printer. If they used masks sent from Topps, there probably won't be any differences. If they did their own from original art they should have identifiable differences, even if they're very small.

The other catch is small corrections, or changes to a sheet. I haven't really checked if many of the cropping/logo type variations are just different positions on the sheet, or different sheets.
These things could have been done when a new set of plates were needed because of wear, or multiple presses. By at least 1970 there were multiple sets of plates.