Smith-Waite Centennial Card Back Colour

Ambrosia

I have both the stand alone Centennial deck (not the commemorative set) and the pocket deck in a tin and have noticed in both decks (particularly the pocket), that there is some variation in the blue shade on the card backs. Some cards tend to be a sort of teal duck egg blue/green, while other cards are more of a grey/blue shade.

Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just my decks? The standard sized deck is not as noticeable as the pocket. You can't really tell unless you have several laid face down in a spread.

Can anyone check their decks for me please and let me know if it's just mine? Especially the pocket version in a tin.

Thanks in advance...
 

FLizarraga

My Centennial set is in a box somewhere (still unpacking after a move), but I keep the tin version on my desk, and I just went through it.

I can't see any color variation on the backs. What's hard for me is to tell what color are they, exactly: a sort of grayish teal that becomes silvery when the light hits it. But they all look exactly alike.

It could be a particular batch. I remember that the second edition of the Bohemian Gothic had a batch that came out with red dots all over. Something to do with the ink.
 

Etene

I observe this.

For process color, it's probably well within expected tolerance, but I am disappointed that they did not use a spot color when about 85% of the surface is receiving it. I can only assume that it would have required additional labor or machine maintenance to print the faces with process and the backs as spot+key and that they opted to keep the costs down. Now we have something to look forward to for the Bicentennial collector's edition.
 

McFaire

My set and tin are consistent although if you examine them carefully under bright light you can detect the slightest of variation here and there, which is a normal. It's undetectable under normal lighting.
 

Ambrosia

Thanks for your replies all...

I'm just asking out of curiosity really. As one poster mentioned, it really is only noticeable under bright light. I have no intention of swapping them, I love them to bits...just wondered if it was common with other people's decks.

My Vanessa Tarot has the same issue, as does my pocket Universal Waite. Seems to be more prevalent in the pocket sized decks for some reason...