Smokey The Bear, Efo?

I have a Plate No. block of 4, with what appears to be a small black error in the lower left stamp. It is missing part of the bark at the very bottom. The bottom right stamp also seems slightly different than the upper two stamps. Is this just to be expected from the lovely quality control of the US Postal System?

Definitely an EFO. Apparently the ink pot holding the black ink was running low. Or something else I can't think of.

It is an F or O now, but if you can find another sheet with the same position inking then you have an E. Call it a fancy name like the clawed bark variety and it coudet quite a premium. Good luck hunting. I will watch at she's and if any are found will purchase and post here and contact you.

It's possible that there was a small adhesion on the sheet when the black was printed; when it fell off this was the result. In which case there will not be any others. The good thing is that it is a position piece, making searching for others much easier.
Even if it is found to be constant, it would really be considered a printing variety or flaw, rather than an error. It seems unlikely to be the kind of variety that would command a significant premium.

Thanks for the search offer, Crouse27. I tend to agree with others, though, that this was probably just a one-off, but interesting, nonetheless.

"Smokey, the bear, Smokey, the bear...howlin' and a growlin and a sniffin' the air!" How many remember that? The only thing I can lay claim to is seeing the original "Smokey" at the Washington Zoo when I was a kid! I agree, however, that it is interesting! I'd like to know if any others exist...i.e....could this possibly be something like the "broken hat" variety Columbian? If that were the case, I would think someone would have picked up on it already, though.

"He can spot a fire before it starts to flame, that's why they call him Smokey and that's how he got his name!" As a kid I lived in Maryland and saw him at the DC zoo too!