Blue Speedskaters

These two 1980 speedskaters appear alike in every way except the blue is different. They are both perf. 11.25X10.5. There doesn't appear to be any fading. Scott's only lists this a 'multicolored'
Can anyone with a Scott's Specialized tell me if it lists this colour variation?

James,

The 2011 Scott Specialized doesn't list any color variations for that design.

Steve

Hmm. Any thoughts? I thought there would be an obvious answer, but it wasn't there.

James,

There clearly appears to have been an absence of quality control in both the inking and the registration for this issue but I don't know enough about the photogravure process to comment on how frequent of an occurrence those problems are.

Here are three of my duplicates for comparison -- their coloration appears to be somewhere in between that of your stamps [but I am blue-green color blind so make your own judgement!].

Both the orange and red are "faded" too. That would seem to suggest exposure to sunlight or maybe a prolonged soaking. Just a thought.