Questions regarding 1974 Topps Deckle Edge - specifically white backs

BaltimoreYankee

I have recently acquired a few of these. I have six white backs in PSA holders (mid grade) and have noticed three of them are more toned or darker and three are lighter. The photo below illustrates what I'm talking about. Is this a common thing? The excellent blog "ToppsArchives" does mention that white backs seemed to be tackier than grey backs and may exhibit front damage due to that. (Again, my cards in question are all white backs - I do have a couple of grey backs as well). I can see that the three that look more toned do look like they are clinging to the little plastic bag inside the holder whereas the three lighter ones don't exhibit that at all.

Finally, regarding PSA labeling, I have read that they originally did not notate "white back" on the front of the flip in the beginning but did later. However, the Bob Watson card below has the recent PSA hologram - why doesn't that have a "white back" indication?

Thanks for any insights!

vols1

Do you have picture of back? I know the tone can be changed with exposure to UV light.

BaltimoreYankee

@vols1 said:
Do you have picture of back? I know the tone can be changed with exposure to UV light.

Here is a pic of the backs. This is representative of the three whiter ones as well as the three darker ones.

vols1

I think it just normal paper toning. They printed the Watson on a cheaper paper and over time it's turned from white to a yellowish brown color. So maybe it's confusing if they labeled it 'white'. But if you want the Watson lighter then sit it in the sun a couple of days and it will fade.

bishop

I can not offer any thoughts whatsoever on why PSA does what they do, but I have collected this set several ways. I have it in white back, gray back, cut proof form ( cut from sheets but undeckled ), and on two uncut sheets. Also have a couple of progressive proofs and a couple of fakes ( where someone copied a deckled photo and pasted it to card board), and a couple of unopened packs

The white backs are scarcer than the grays. I have not found the white back fronts to be that much different. I have scans on photobucket but not sure how to post them on here under the new format. if someone can tell me how I will.