Is this proof that foilboard isn't always necessary?
We got our first look at the retail version of 2009 Donruss Americana here on Tuesday and one thing’s apparent — one of my cardboard pet peeves has reared its ugly head again and I really didn’t realize the full scope of it until now.
Foilboard. You know — the super-reflective, show-all-fingerprints, horrible-to-scan staple of many a card company these days.
I’ll readily admit that I really like the improvements made to Americana this year — and the hobby version is still a set I like — but seeing the retail version of the set (no foilboard) made me realize how much better the cards look when the backgrounds aren’t comprised of silver foil.
(And I’ll bet that the autographs look a lot better, too, if they’re on retail print-run cards. It appears that some retail Proof inserts are not on foilboard while other are. Details will emerge as the product gets broken in the coming weeks.)
There’s no Photoshop adjustment made on the scan above — the two cards were scanned side by side. The hobby version is on the left and the retail on the right. While Jordan Ladd‘s card doesn’t have a whole lot going on in the background at least the background of the retail card doesn’t showcase scratches as much as the hobby card does. (That scratch, by the way, was my fault — be sure to wipe off fingerprints with a Kleenex, not a napkin … )
I also like how the new borders look on the retail cards, though they are stout on either version.
Another plus on the retail — the gold foil-stamped names are much easier to read as well. That’s a plus for a set where collectors may not know who every person is while sorting them.
Anyway, I’m off the soapbox.
And off to lunch.
Chris Olds has collected sports cards and memorabilia since 1987. Before coming to Beckett Media, he wrote about the hobby for the Orlando Sentinel on his blog, SportsStuff, and for the San Antonio Express-News and The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News. Do you have a comment, question or idea? Send e-mail to him at colds@beckett.com.
