I’m planning on doing an updated information video for 1st Edition Base Set Grey Stamp Pokemon Cards. I want to focus primarily on what is considered factual, but do want to mention a little speculation as well, such as origin. I made a similar post for the WOTC Gold Stamp cards and got some amazing pictures from you guys, so I was hoping to get some help again along with some fact checks.
I know @gemmintpokemon has a couple great videos on Grey Stamps where he shows some off. I want to do something similar but focus more on the information. His video is linked below.
Thick Stamps HOLO cards are not typically found as Grey Stamps, only Thin Stamps.
Non-Holo Rares are not typically found as Grey Stamps
Base Set is the only set where you can reasonably collect grey stamps for every card with the exception of those noted above. Other sets can have Grey stamps, but they are sporadic and not nearly as numerous.
Red Cheeks Pika can not be found as a grey stamp or it is extremely rare.
Origin is unknown, but it is “speculated” that it might be caused by low ink printing or having wet ink rub off on the back of other cards, hence why some cards have ink botches on their backside relative to the type of card depneding on stamp location. Granted it appears there are more Grey stamps than cards with blotches on the back.
What I could use for a video…
More examples of Holo Gray stamp. I have a couple, but I would love some more for the video. A zard Pic would be great specifically but not necessary. I have seen them before.
I would love a picture of Gray Stamps from “other” sets. The more Grey the better.
I would love more examples of cards with a stamp blotch on the back side. Preferably with ink located in different locations. I only own one personally that I kept.
Any other additional Grey stamp exampls that you think would look great. The more Grey, the better.
Most importantly, do you prefer “gray” or “grey”? Haha
Anything else you guys can think of would be appreciated. I would love the assistance of @stagecoach@PokemonClassics again.
I have a few gray stamp cards and a Machop with the backstamp . . . nothing overly exciting to contribute this time, but I’m happy to help however I can. Your information is consistent with what I’ve also been told/assumed about gray stamps, but I’m definitely not an expert on them.
Grey. Also, for what it’s worth, there are grey set stamps in other sets - I own a card from skyridge that’s a grey stamp. Here it is, with a pic of it next to the same card with the normal set symbol:
The reason I ask is because I suspect that the overall black levels might be different, which could be detectable by comparing the text. I would say it’s not quite the same as a grey stamp simply because it’s not a “stamp” in the same way 1st ed base is. I’m guessing this is more what CGC would classify as “insufficient ink”, which affects the entire layer of black ink
It’s odd to not see it on all sets, though. Why might that be? If it was an issue with ink opacity or thickness (i.e., missing the double black print CMYKK), it should show up as an error on every set.
Maybe it’s related to a specific printer location. Or maybe it’s related to human error that only occurred sporadically.
I would assume they usually notice the ink is running low and discard the cards with insufficient ink, and every now and then one slips through (so indeed human error) that’s grey instead of black for it’s ‘K’-layer EDIT: top black layer.
Here are two grey misprints I have myself from other sets than the ones already mentioned:
Also, I was unable to find the specific videos, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the Skyridge cards with grey set symbol a few times before in videos of both @TCAGaming and @gemmintpokemon. Maybe they can shed some light whether the entire card is lower on black ink, or just the set symbol in their copies.
I would assume the entire card indeed, and it’s just most noticeable on the set symbol being a larger grey area, as @pfm suggested. But in the current pictures shared by @octaane, the text doesn’t look too much lighter. But a side-by-side would indeed make this a lot clearer.
Hmm, the overall text on the Misdreavus does look slightly lighter, instead of only the set symbol. But on first glance, this doesn’t seem to be the case for the other three, just like octaane’s Miracle Sphere γ.
At first I thought the black of the Darkness-Type Pokémon in the back was lighter as well, but I just realized it’s a Retro Energy which is supposed to be grey at the bottom…
I imagine all WOTC sets have some degree of variances in the intensity of ink color. Maybe some sets have a disproportionate amount simply because they didn’t catch the black ink running low for an extended period of time for certain sets. Or maybe a set like Team Rocket holos uses a disproportionate amount of black ink, so it’s just harder to maintain sufficient levels 100% of the time.
I’m just speculating.
To be clear, there are 2 black layers. The “CMYK” “K”‐layer is printed as dots similar to the other colour layers but I think the problematic layer (and the more black-intensive layer) is a spot colour, meaning the ink is printed on an entire area which allows the text to be sharp and is used on the darkest parts of the card art, like the outline of Celebrations pikachu
Ah, I’ve indeed mentioned the wrong black layer. it’s the additional layer that goes on top of it after the CMYK Rosetta pattern. Mb, and thanks for the correction.
