Post by Ghezzi_TCG on Jan 2, 2021 23:29:42 GMT -5
*Draft from my Upcoming Book*
The Best Theory on LOB Printings: Glossy and Wavy Cards
When LOB was being printed Yu-Gi-Oh! was already a very successful trading card game in Japan. With a great deal of advertising by both Konami and Upper Deck Entertainment the desire for this set soared in North America and tons of retail and hobby stores put their orders in. With plenty of suspense and build-up at hobby and retail stores the Trading Card Game’s (TCG’s) release came on 8 March, 2002.
Truly, there is no way for any collector to confidently assert which printing of LOB, glossy or wavy, came first and the metric used to measure these assertions are various. Some wonder which cards were printed first, others which hit stores first. Some collectors remember their first cards as wavy and others as glossy. The bottom line is that it is extremely likely both were produced within the same time frame and both types were available at release.
There are a few reasons glossy cards are presumed to be the initial or intended printing for LOB’s release. First and foremost, the aesthetics inherent in the quality of the cards is readily apparent. This also explains the extant multitude of glossy sheets and lack of wavy sheets. As a quality production run, these cards would have made great presentation pieces.
Many collectors also point to the “1ST EDITION” text on the box cover as evidence of glossy’s provenance. These collectors assert the large “1ST EDITION” label on the front of glossy boxes does not match any follow-on box text, while wavy boxes’ far smaller “1ST EDITION” lettering matches every other box. This at least creates a neat and orderly timeline.
Lastly and most importantly, glossy is the only set that has a box for both hobby and retail stores. This might not seem like an important point, however if you consider that Gaia the Dragon Champion was only available in retail boxes the idea of wavy being printed first becomes problematic. Since wavy cards were only released in hobby boxes and those hobby boxes would have only contained Tri-Horned Dragon cards, a purely wavy release would have left the set incomplete. As such, it seems extremely unlikely that wavy could have either been printed first or released first.
There are plenty of holes in this logic. It could be true they were the first and that glossy was made in conjunction with it. There are an infinite number of possibilities that could have led to an initial printing of wavy. Regardless, given all of the available information it seems likely glossy cards came first, or at least would have been the only printing that would have allowed collectors to complete LOB.
One thing is certain, printers that made glossy cards for North America did not make wavy cards. Based on the stark differences between the two printings it seems very unlikely that these cards came from the same printer.
Regarding printing, it is worth noting that glossy cards differ greatly from cards produced for the OCG, meaning that they were likely not made by whoever was printing OCG cards. North American glossy cards exhibit a clean flat glossy surface on the front (hence the name), but lack the same glossy reverse as OCG cards indicative of that period. With this, it seems unlikely these were made by the same printer.
Wavy cards exhibit a rather poor quality cardstock that generally looks like every sheet suffered water damage of some sort, producing ripples across the entire cardstock and foiling. This cardstock characteristic only extends to holofoils. Non-holos exhibit a darker color likely from greater color saturation and a grainy surface. Compared with glossy cards, non-holo wavy cards distribute light visibly less than their glossy counterparts. While wavy non-holos aren’t really wavy like holos, glossy non-holos do exhibit a slight gloss on them that is noticeably different from wavy cards.
A theory on why wavy cards were made exists, although at this point it is unprovable. Collectors believe LOB, when marketed, was so well received that an additional printing was needed to fulfill all the orders Upper Deck received. That additional printing was made at a different printer, who printed sheets using different cardstock. That cardstock, possibly produced under a time crunch, came out less than desirable, but still generally acceptable and was released. This print run would have been exclusively produced for hobby stores, who presumably ordered so much stock from Upper Deck that they could not fulfill all the orders and needed to produce more hobby products. This could also explain why wavy boxes were only produced using hobby distribution product lines
All of this information is extremely problematic in that it lacks seriously needed sourcing, however with little to no information on this available collectors have been left with conjecture alone. That said, this is the best we have.
The Best Theory on LOB Printings: Glossy and Wavy Cards
When LOB was being printed Yu-Gi-Oh! was already a very successful trading card game in Japan. With a great deal of advertising by both Konami and Upper Deck Entertainment the desire for this set soared in North America and tons of retail and hobby stores put their orders in. With plenty of suspense and build-up at hobby and retail stores the Trading Card Game’s (TCG’s) release came on 8 March, 2002.
Truly, there is no way for any collector to confidently assert which printing of LOB, glossy or wavy, came first and the metric used to measure these assertions are various. Some wonder which cards were printed first, others which hit stores first. Some collectors remember their first cards as wavy and others as glossy. The bottom line is that it is extremely likely both were produced within the same time frame and both types were available at release.
There are a few reasons glossy cards are presumed to be the initial or intended printing for LOB’s release. First and foremost, the aesthetics inherent in the quality of the cards is readily apparent. This also explains the extant multitude of glossy sheets and lack of wavy sheets. As a quality production run, these cards would have made great presentation pieces.
Many collectors also point to the “1ST EDITION” text on the box cover as evidence of glossy’s provenance. These collectors assert the large “1ST EDITION” label on the front of glossy boxes does not match any follow-on box text, while wavy boxes’ far smaller “1ST EDITION” lettering matches every other box. This at least creates a neat and orderly timeline.
Lastly and most importantly, glossy is the only set that has a box for both hobby and retail stores. This might not seem like an important point, however if you consider that Gaia the Dragon Champion was only available in retail boxes the idea of wavy being printed first becomes problematic. Since wavy cards were only released in hobby boxes and those hobby boxes would have only contained Tri-Horned Dragon cards, a purely wavy release would have left the set incomplete. As such, it seems extremely unlikely that wavy could have either been printed first or released first.
There are plenty of holes in this logic. It could be true they were the first and that glossy was made in conjunction with it. There are an infinite number of possibilities that could have led to an initial printing of wavy. Regardless, given all of the available information it seems likely glossy cards came first, or at least would have been the only printing that would have allowed collectors to complete LOB.
One thing is certain, printers that made glossy cards for North America did not make wavy cards. Based on the stark differences between the two printings it seems very unlikely that these cards came from the same printer.
Regarding printing, it is worth noting that glossy cards differ greatly from cards produced for the OCG, meaning that they were likely not made by whoever was printing OCG cards. North American glossy cards exhibit a clean flat glossy surface on the front (hence the name), but lack the same glossy reverse as OCG cards indicative of that period. With this, it seems unlikely these were made by the same printer.
Wavy cards exhibit a rather poor quality cardstock that generally looks like every sheet suffered water damage of some sort, producing ripples across the entire cardstock and foiling. This cardstock characteristic only extends to holofoils. Non-holos exhibit a darker color likely from greater color saturation and a grainy surface. Compared with glossy cards, non-holo wavy cards distribute light visibly less than their glossy counterparts. While wavy non-holos aren’t really wavy like holos, glossy non-holos do exhibit a slight gloss on them that is noticeably different from wavy cards.
A theory on why wavy cards were made exists, although at this point it is unprovable. Collectors believe LOB, when marketed, was so well received that an additional printing was needed to fulfill all the orders Upper Deck received. That additional printing was made at a different printer, who printed sheets using different cardstock. That cardstock, possibly produced under a time crunch, came out less than desirable, but still generally acceptable and was released. This print run would have been exclusively produced for hobby stores, who presumably ordered so much stock from Upper Deck that they could not fulfill all the orders and needed to produce more hobby products. This could also explain why wavy boxes were only produced using hobby distribution product lines
All of this information is extremely problematic in that it lacks seriously needed sourcing, however with little to no information on this available collectors have been left with conjecture alone. That said, this is the best we have.