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
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10-17-2013, 01:05 PM
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