The “Dark Ink” Connection Between The T206 Sweet Caporal Factory 649 Subset, 150-350 Old Mill Subset, and the Elite Eleven: Part Two

A normal looking Sovereign 150 Gilbert on the left, and a “dark ink” Old Mill on the left

In the first part of this series, I introduced the three distinct print qualities that can be found on poses from the 150-350 Series with Old Mill backs.  The Gilbert above is a good example of a “dark ink” Old Mill.  This “dark ink” phenomenon is not exclusive to Old Mills.  It can be observed on the following 150-350 Series backs:

1.  Old Mill

2.  Piedmont 350

3.  Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25

“Dark Ink” Manning Sweet Caporal 350 Factory 25. Sorry about the blurry scan. It was hard to find a scan with this back.

4.  Sweet Caporal 350 Factory 30

You’ll notice that the following 150-350 series backs are not a part of the above list:

  • El Principe de Gales
  • Sovereign 350 Forest Green

EPDG was the first back printed in the 350 portion of the 150-350 Series.  The fact that no EPDGs have been found with “dark ink” on the fronts is interesting, but not too surprising.  150-350 Series poses with EPDG backs look very similar to their 150 Series counterparts because they were printed soon after.

At this point, the jury is still out on whether there are any 150-350 Series Subjects out there with a “dark ink” front and a Sovereign 350 back.  I expect that there are, but I haven’t been able to find any scans to prove it.

Where the Sweet Caporal 150 Factory 649 Subset Comes In:

The most hardcore T206 nerds among us may notice that the five poses pictured above all have something in common.  They are among the 34 poses that comprise the Sweet Caporal 150 Factory 649 Subset.  The common theme with the majority of these “dark ink” cards is that they are poses that can be found with SC 150/649 backs.   So far, I have only found a few that feature players who are not a part of the Sweet Caporal 150 Factory 649 Subset.  The Keeler Old Mill below is one example.

Two paragraphs ago I mentioned that I have yet to find a “Dark Ink” front with a 150-350 Series Sovereign 350 Forest Green back.  The pattern would dictate that they do exist, but there is a reason why they would be tougher to find than a copy with Old Mill, Piedmont 350 or Sweet Caporal 350.

The Old Mill, Piedmont 350 and Sweet Caporal 350 Subsets all contain the majority of poses that make up the Sweet Caporal 150 Factory 649 Subset.  The Sovereign 350 Subset only contains 10 poses that are part of the SC 150/649 Subset.  Therefore, it is a lot tougher to find examples with Sovereign 350 backs to examine.  Here are the 10 poses that exist with both SC 150/649 and Sovereign 350 Forest Green:

  1. Bresnahan Portrait
  2. Davis, George
  3. Goode
  4. Griffith Portrait
  5. Johnson Portrait
  6. Killian Hands at Chest
  7. Liebhardt
  8. Manning Batting
  9. O’Leary Portrait
  10. Sheckard No Glove Showing

Of these 10, I have seen “Dark Ink” cards featuring only Killian, Liebhardt, and Manning.  I expect that one or all of those three poses will be found with a Dark Ink Sovereign 350.  If you have one or have a scan of one, please let me know.

In Part Three, I’ll explain what the Elite 11 and the “Washed Out” Old Mill, Piedmont 350, and Sweet Caporal 350s can teach us about the 350 portion of 150-350 Series Print Runs.