Finally got a Blue Cap!

[samosa4u]

I picked up my PSA 4 Leaf Jackie (pictured left) just before the prices went nuts, and I thought that was it, right? Wrong. After studying a few examples and going back and forth with a few members on this forum, I realized that I needed to add one more to my PC, which I call the 'blue cap' variation. This card is seen on the right of the photo and you can tell the dramatic difference between the two. Okay, so exactly what is the 'blue cap' variation? The black ink (or black dots to be more precise) is missing on the cap. The black ink is what gives it a three-dimensional appearance, and without it, it is just going to look flat, or two-dimensional.

As for his pink face, the explanation behind that is simple: the magenta and black dots don't line up and this is why his face appears that way. If this registration problem was corrected, then the card would appear more like the one on the left (the PSA 4).

And finally, you are probably wondering why this card graded AUTH - ALTERED. I measured it, and top-to-bottom was fine, but it was a bit short left-to-right. It looks like somebody did a very sloppy trim job on the right edge. No, it wasn't done by one of those "professional trimmers" who have been outed on the Blowout Forums. I believe this trim job was probably performed decades ago when this card was worth a few bucks. I think that's all that was done to this card, but I might be wrong. If you're an expert on this issue and would like large front and back scans, then PM me your email. I would love to hear your opinions!

Anyhow, I hope this thread will make all of you study this set in more detail and go after the different variations. It's very fun!

[yanks87]

I don't know that it will ever be fully recognized, but there are several variations that were made in the printing plates, much like the Aberson, Hermanski and Peterson variations that are the mainstream ones.

Dimaggio, Musial, Jackie and I would argue Honus (lower hand) all had some kind of masking done to their plates to make hat colors more prominent.

It's a great set, and those are two great cards! Congrats!

[mrreality68]

very nice cards
Congrats
Also thanks for the education in this variation

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by yanks87

I don't know that it will ever be fully recognized, but there are several variations that were made in the printing plates, much like the Aberson, Hermanski and Peterson variations that are the mainstream ones.

Dimaggio, Musial, Jackie and I would argue Honus (lower hand) all had some kind of masking done to their plates to make hat colors more prominent.

It's a great set, and those are two great cards! Congrats!

Thank you!

I believe that these cards were early printings and corrections were made later on. So, in other words, the blue cap Jackie was printed before my PSA 4. The short sleeve Aberson was printed before the long sleeve, etc. Of course, one could argue that the opposite happened. For example, the long sleeve came out first and the short sleeve after due to a printing error. Ted Z. does argue this in one of his older posts on this forum.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Funny how the Leaf football variations get so much more official recognition.

[yanks87]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

I believe that these cards were early printings and corrections were made later on. So, in other words, the blue cap Jackie was printed before my PSA 4. The short sleeve Aberson was printed before the long sleeve, etc. Of course, one could argue that the opposite happened. For example, the long sleeve came out first and the short sleeve after due to a printing error. Ted Z. does argue this in one of his older posts on this forum.

Ted Z. is the guru of Leaf for sure, it would probably need to come down to which had the smaller run, the initial offering or the correction, as there are a lot less of the "blue hat" variations. In my printing experience, masking a plate off to mute heavy ink areas is usually the correction side of things, though that doesn't account for the yellow stripe on all "blue hat versions", if the stripe was the correction, then the full color version of the hats were the initial printing, and the details were added later by unmasking or remaking the plates, which may account for the short print? A mystery for sure. Ted has a uncut sheet layout and maybe able to (or already has) shed light on the short print distribution as far as date, and if it was a restrike, or a new printing all together that may have used stars as fillers to fill the page, with slight variations to the image.

[yanks87]

here is a side by side I did a while back.

LEAF_ERRORS_2021.jpg

[yanks87]

I actually came across the similar variation on a Phil Rizzuto card last night, chalk it up the to unrecognized variations!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

I picked up my PSA 4 Leaf Jackie (pictured left) just before the prices went nuts, and I thought that was it, right? Wrong. After studying a few examples and going back and forth with a few members on this forum, I realized that I needed to add one more to my PC, which I call the 'blue cap' variation. This card is seen on the right of the photo and you can tell the dramatic difference between the two. Okay, so exactly what is the 'blue cap' variation? The black ink (or black dots to be more precise) is missing on the cap. The black ink is what gives it a three-dimensional appearance, and without it, it is just going to look flat, or two-dimensional.

As for his pink face, the explanation behind that is simple: the magenta and black dots don't line up and this is why his face appears that way. If this registration problem was corrected, then the card would appear more like the one on the left (the PSA 4).

And finally, you are probably wondering why this card graded AUTH - ALTERED. I measured it, and top-to-bottom was fine, but it was a bit short left-to-right. It looks like somebody did a very sloppy trim job on the right edge. No, it wasn't done by one of those "professional trimmers" who have been outed on the Blowout Forums. I believe this trim job was probably performed decades ago when this card was worth a few bucks. I think that's all that was done to this card, but I might be wrong. If you're an expert on this issue and would like large front and back scans, then PM me your email. I would love to hear your opinions!

Anyhow, I hope this thread will make all of you study this set in more detail and go after the different variations. It's very fun!

That is a cool print offset on the blue hat one. Is it a double print card? That would explain the different color cap and one having a yellow line down the left side and the other don't. That yellow line isn't any kind of print error.

[NiceDocter]

I was at a show in Willow Grove in the early 1980s … a dealer named George Lyons ( who was always very nice to me and sold me a bunch of stuff) had a notebook with at least 10 exmt 48 Leaf Jackie Robinsons. I bought one for $40 … he said pick whichever you want. He told me to take one specifically but I chose another. The one he told me to take had a distinctly orange background….. different from all the rest. He was giving me good advice and I’m sorry I didn’t take it…. but I still remember that Day almost 40 years ago and that card I didn’t buy.