t206 Polar Bear Question

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Posted By: Morrie

I was going through my 206's the other night when I noticed something strange. I have 2 Doolan (batting) cards, both with Polar Bear backs. On one of the backs, there are two letters missing from the word "Series" (that is, it reads, "Ser s"). There's also a printing imperfection in the B in "Bear." On the other back, all the letters are printed normally.

Curious, I went through the rest of my 206's and found one other card with the same exact imperfections (Bradley). Unfortunately, I don't have a second Bradley Polar Bear to which to compare the "Ser s" version.

It looks rather like a plate got damaged or gummed up or something, and if I hadn't been able to verify (1) that I have the same player/pose with 2 different versions of the Polar Bear back and (2) that the exact same imperfection occurred on a second card, I wouldn't have bothered posting.

My suspicion is that this is just a printing glitch that isn't meaningful, but on the off chance that this might be some rare uncatalogued variation, I thought I'd post and ask whether anyone else had noticed this.

I'd post scans, but I don't own a scanner. I can take a pic of the 2 Doolan backs with my wife's digital camera this weekend if need be. For now, I'm at work, and was more curious than anything.

thanks

Morrie

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Posted By: Harry

I have seen some Polar Bear backs where the letters are very crisp and others where that is not the case. Probably just a result of too much ink or the quality of the ink.

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Posted By: Morrie

I rejected it when I found the exact same variant back on different cards.

It's probably nothing, I'll admit, and I'm not asking because I want to sell them (I've seen how much lame printing errors go for and really don't care about the money). I just wanted to see if this particular print variation had popped up in anyone else's collection. I'll try and use the wife's digital camera tonight to take some pictures, if anyone cares. If not, I'll go back to lurking.

Morrie

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Posted By: Morrie

At the risk of sounding like a dolt, today I confirmed the existence of a second copy of the Doolan (batting) print error I posted about back in May. It's part of a lot of 10 Polar Bear-backed t206's currently up for sale on eBay, and the print defects on the back are identical to the print defects on the back of my Doolan (batting) and Bradley t206 Polar Bears (the print flaw in the "B" and the missing "ie" in "Series"). I'm going to go ahead and post the scan of the front from that auction, and the back scan I received directly from the seller (both have been cropped out of the full-size picture for clarity of presentation and to save bandwidth).

So, now I've confirmed two copies of the card with the exact same print flaw. Whether it makes it a "true" variation, or whether anyone cares, is another matter altogether.



I hope that worked...

Morrie

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Posted By: Scott Forrest

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

I have same card with even more problems...........

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Posted By: Julie

Wish I could do that...

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Posted By: Max Weder

It was amazing what I dug up in grampa's locker this afternoon....

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Posted By: Morrie

I'll shut up and go away. Sorry for trying to contribute something I found interesting.

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Posted By: Joe_G.

Board members are just having a little fun. You know this thread will cause more than a couple to take a look at their own stash of Polar Bears. Thanks for sharing your find.

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Posted By: Julie

Polar Bear backs are printed inversely, that is, the light spaces are "left out" not "printed on top of" the blue. So in the case of at least two each of these two cards, the factory forgot to LEAVE space in the blue, not simply put white on top.

My findings: 3 cards: Johnson, hands at chest--normal, but a bit of extra "blue left out space" just above the "T" in "The." Griffith, holding bat: normal. Willits: normal.

(Not trying to show off. My few T206s are almost entirely HOFers; I don't collect the set.)

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Posted By: John/z28jd

I have 50+ polar bear backs,so i can check mine to see if any have similar misprints as yours you just have to give me a few days before i can

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Posted By: JimB

I have 9 Polar Bears and none of them have either of these errors.
Jim

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Posted By: Joe P

Morrie,

From my numero uno T206 set = 70 Polar Bear's

From my original and favorite T206 set, made up of cards loved and handled by every T206 tobacco card collector that ever lived = 66 Polar Bear's

From my T206 back collection = 1 Polar Bear

Loose T206 cards = 10 Polar Bears's

From the 147 Polar Bear's, all had "SERIES" completely spelled out.

I didn't bother to look for Ol' Blue Eyes.