1961 topps with green inside baseball

[ALR-bishop]

Saved--the middle one is a good one, but PSA has been putting labels on any Fairly card with the slightest smudge in the circle. Don't know what they will do if everyone starts turning in all the other cards with this defect. I think they were all just print defects of varying degrees with some of the green ink sloshing over on the plates. I don't they they intended it or corrected it.

On the other hand I guess it is as " prominent" as a missing part of the R on the back of the 57 Bakep " variation", which is, I think, just another unintended print defect. Only difference between these green smudges and the 57 Bakep, the 58 Herrer or the 52 Campos black or partial black star may be the fact they are apparently much more common that the latter

[steve B]

Those don't look much like overinked cards. Especially the middle one. It's just too neat of a curve. The other two don't look overinked, but don't look like much either.

One way of correcting this sort of thing is by using a special writing thing that's sort of like a limestone crayon. It can be used to erase stuff from the plate or fill scratches and other damage.

I'd guess the two on the sides are incomplete repairs. It's just a bit hard to tell with so little there.

Steve B

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Saved--the middle one is a good one, but PSA has been putting labels on any Fairly card with the slightest smudge in the circle. Don't know what they will do if everyone starts turning in all the other cards with this defect. I think they were all just print defects of varying degrees with some of the green ink sloshing over on the plates. I don't they they intended it or corrected it.

On the other hand I guess it is as " prominent" as a missing part of the R on the back of the 57 Bakep " variation", which is, I think, just another unintended print defect. Only difference between these green smudges and the 57 Bakep, the 58 Herrer or the 52 Campos black or partial black star may be the fact they are apparently much more common that the latter

[zachclose21]

Here is a photo of the bob turley

Thanks for all the response it has been a huge help

[ALR-bishop]

I would always defer to Steve on printing issues, but whatever the defect is, it appears on a good many of the 61 cards.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Saved--the middle one is a good one, but PSA has been putting labels on any Fairly card with the slightest smudge in the circle. Don't know what they will do if everyone starts turning in all the other cards with this defect. I think they were all just print defects of varying degrees with some of the green ink sloshing over on the plates. I don't they they intended it or corrected it.

On the other hand I guess it is as " prominent" as a missing part of the R on the back of the 57 Bakep " variation", which is, I think, just another unintended print defect. Only difference between these green smudges and the 57 Bakep, the 58 Herrer or the 52 Campos black or partial black star may be the fact they are apparently much more common that the latter

Al- I randomly ended up with 3 of the 4 Fairlys in lots I purchased...I may have gone through 15 total 492 cards to find the 3. If this is indeed an accurate representation of the population of these "green in the ball" cards, then 1 out of 5 does not seem like a very rare defect. The fourth I found at a shop in MI while looking specifically for variations.


Here is a 447 card I found earlier today, I call it the "green everywhere" defect/variation

[Cliff Bowman]

Found another...

[ALR-bishop]

Saved--I like that title...and the card

Cliff-- you should send all your greenies to PSA . Having done the Fairlty, they would appear to be in a corner. :-)

[savedfrommyspokes]

Thanks Al, found yet another 447, this one does not have so much green

[steve B]

Well that's interesting. And I think I might be wrong on this one. I've at least mentally refiled it under "needs more study"

It might be overinking after all. The 447s look overinked, especially the last one. The first one the ink at the top and bottom that makes the arcs looks very odd for overinking but the rest looks it.

So maybe the others are too.

And you guys made me look at all my 61s to see if I had any. Nothing solid, but I did see some interesting things. And had a couple ideas.

On some cards you can see the green under the black. Not easily but if the black is light and the green stronger it's there. in the picture with the three 492s showing the numbers up close it's visible especially on the left card. On that one it comes almost up to the birthdate line.

On other cards it doesn't go that high. Some it's barely covered by the black.

There's a cutout in the green where the number circle is.

I have a couple cards that are a bit out of register that show the edge of the cutout. Nothing special, just off register enough that the green shows.

And a couple that have some little bit of a mark in the ball. One is obviously overinked, the green is ragged on both narrow ends of the card. But the ball area is a nice smooth curve just like the out of register ones.

Another thing that I realized looking at the card and considering it is that the cutout area for the ball is a small space taken on its own.
The process works by the plate holding water to reject the oily ink from the parts that shouldn't print. And a small bit off the edge of a larger area is prone to uneven drying. And a slightly dry spot on the plate will print.

So I'm thinking there's a combination of things- Overinked, bad registration, and dry plates. And just maybe a few Fairlys with an actual variation.

Of course, now I have to check my extras to see if there are any where the green extends both far under the black and just a little. If there are that gives me a whole new bunch of stuff to look for.

Steve B

[ALR-bishop]

This thread should come with a warning that it may cost you some lost time and your sanity

[savedfrommyspokes]

Found another one also: