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ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 3:19 am
by BillBo
Hi Folks:

Sorting away ELD cards I noticed a color variance among stacks and indeed, cards are different under UV light: cards whose card stock shines bright and white under UV light as usual and cards that do not, just dull colors. Moreover, the black edges around the card turns golden under UV light on those cards whose card stock looks white and normal. Anyone else noticed this, or am I imaging things?

Cheers, Bernd

Update. The cards with reflecting card stock (as usual) came from a fat pack, the dull cards from a booster box. Also, all foiled cards get golden border on their front face under UV light irrespective of their card stock.

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:26 am
by GlobalBoosterHunter
Interesting!

I have the Theme Boosters but I haven't bought any of the "Draft" packs yet.

I hope there is a clear distinction in product so I don't have to start opening lots of boosters to confirm a set of each!

Also slightly worrying that you were checking for this...

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 3:29 pm
by BillBo
GlobalBoosterHunter wrote:
Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:26 am
Also slightly worrying that you were checking for this...
I agree, not a good sign at all … :-D

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 4:12 pm
by l0qii
Which country were the fat packs and the booster boxes made in?

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 4:25 pm
by BillBo
l0qii wrote:
Wed Oct 16, 2019 4:12 pm
Which country were the fat packs and the booster boxes made in?
According to box and wrappers everything was made in the US. Only some prerelease boosters I got were made in Japan.

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 9:35 pm
by l0qii
Hm, interesting that they are all made in the same place then.
On a side note, all my booster boxes were made in Japan

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2019 9:42 pm
by BillBo
l0qii wrote:
Wed Oct 16, 2019 9:35 pm
On a side note, all my booster boxes were made in Japan
We can leave this to Mark to sort out :-D

I was just curious, and still am sort of, whether I missed something about new card stock or new surface finish/coating. I still hope someone more knowledgeable than me decides to chime in …

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 3:35 am
by GlobalBoosterHunter
Great, more things to collect (that look exactly the same !)

I guess that is half the fun, I usually don't start buying the new sets until they have been out for a while so this is something to look forward to!

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2019 5:43 am
by BillBo
Okay, folks, here are some rough-&-ready pictures I snapped w/ my cell under black light. You will see all three variations I noticed w/ ELD card stock:

1. Bright and fluorescent card stock, what we've seen for 20+ years; UV light: black borders on both sides appear golden and the foiled version looks extremely dull; unfamiliar thin & whitish looking under light test; made in the US, pre-release product.

2. Whitish but non-fluorescent card stock; UV light: back side looks dull and black&whitish w/o color under UV light, foiled version has golden borders; familiar look under light test; made in the US, fat pack and booster box product.

3. Greyish-dull card stock; UV light: front looks very dull, almost w/o color, but the back looks like a regular Magic cards (the only version which does); familiar look under light test; made in Japan, booster box product.

Photo 1: back of the cards; order 1-2-3:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/107139562@N04/48972051246

Photo 2: front of the cards (bad photo, but it shows the different amount of "whiteness"); order 1-2-3 (front to back)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/107139562@N04/48971499998

Photo 3: front of foiled cards (shows different amount of dullness); order 1-2-3 (back to front)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/107139562@N04/48971499813

Photo 4: front of regular cards (bottom) and foiled cards (top) (shows different whiteness and golden borders of foiled cards type 1+2); order 1-2-3
https://www.flickr.com/photos/107139562@N04/48971499643

In the meantime I realized that the variation in card stock goes back at least to 2016 with KLD and C16. I won't go into more details, though, since no one else seems interested; but I felt I should post these pics for the record since documenting stuff is what this site is about, among others.

I stop here before Mark doubts my sanity again (and probably he'd be right in doing so ;-)

Cheers, everyone – Bernd

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2019 5:59 am
by GlobalBoosterHunter
That is quite a difference!

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 3:00 am
by cataclysm80
It seems like a coating difference to me.
To see the cardstock, you'd need to look at the thin edge of the card where it's cut after the coating is applied.

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 3:03 am
by cataclysm80
l0qii wrote:
Wed Oct 16, 2019 9:35 pm
Hm, interesting that they are all made in the same place then.
All made in the USA doesn't mean that they were all made in the same place.
There are multiple print facilities in the USA for Magic cards.

Re: ELD = a new Alt 4th?

Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2020 6:24 pm
by BillBo
cataclysm80 wrote:
Mon Dec 30, 2019 3:00 am
Thx for chiming in! Always good to have an expert weigh in ;-).
To see the cardstock, you'd need to look at the thin edge of the card where it's cut after the coating is applied.
This is what my rough classification 1–3 was partially based upon. When the cards are stacked, you can separate #3 from #1+2 w/o much further inspection just w/ your naked eye. I then used a black light to further separate #2 from #3. The different feel of the two surfaces wasn't reliable enough an indicator; better than chance, yes, but maybe only 80% or so accuracy w/o the light.