This is a side-by-side demonstration of how easy it could be to miss out on a cool variant if you don't pay attention to some specific details on the card. Here is a great example of this. The two cards in the images are the same card except they are two different sizes. If you were to see these in a listing and already have it, you may pass it by as something you already have. This used to happen to me when I began my journey into collecting Vintage Strawberry Shortcake cards. They basically look the same especially when they zoom into the cards to when photographing it for selling. Many times, we don't know off hand which size I have because for the most part I do not have a catalog of the card's sizes to reference, just the from image and sometimes the writing inside of the card.
The main way to figure out if you already have the card, it so look at the back of the card. Make sure to check where the suggested retail price is at. When a card is larger it will have a higher price. If your card is priced at .75 and the card you are looking at is priced $1.00 or more, you need to investigate further as to why it is more. Sometimes but rarely) it will be because it was made by a different printer or country. This is hardly ever the case in my experience with this scenario. It is usually the case that the higher priced card is a larger version. It may also be die-cut or embossed which would make the card more expensive and slightly fancier than the less expensive one. In the case of this example, the fancier card is the smaller one with both a die-cut feature and embossing, it was still marked cheaper than the larger one that has neither of those things.
You can also look for font sizing. In this example, the message on the card is smaller and sort of tighter inside of the leaf, the larger card has larger font and seems to have good amounts of space all around the leaf. This will indicate a larger variant from the one you already have. Another thing to watch for is changes in colors on the front, back and inside of the card. In this example the 2 cards both have white writing on the front of the cards. But on the back, you have both different colors and different branding. These cards also have a different branding on the back. Both things should be a reason to investigate further (although it may be a good enough reason to consider it a variant because of the branding difference for some).
I will include the images of the inside of this card as a side by side soon. These are a few tips to help you along the way on your Shortcake Greeting card adventure. Have fun!
The main way to figure out if you already have the card, it so look at the back of the card. Make sure to check where the suggested retail price is at. When a card is larger it will have a higher price. If your card is priced at .75 and the card you are looking at is priced $1.00 or more, you need to investigate further as to why it is more. Sometimes but rarely) it will be because it was made by a different printer or country. This is hardly ever the case in my experience with this scenario. It is usually the case that the higher priced card is a larger version. It may also be die-cut or embossed which would make the card more expensive and slightly fancier than the less expensive one. In the case of this example, the fancier card is the smaller one with both a die-cut feature and embossing, it was still marked cheaper than the larger one that has neither of those things.
You can also look for font sizing. In this example, the message on the card is smaller and sort of tighter inside of the leaf, the larger card has larger font and seems to have good amounts of space all around the leaf. This will indicate a larger variant from the one you already have. Another thing to watch for is changes in colors on the front, back and inside of the card. In this example the 2 cards both have white writing on the front of the cards. But on the back, you have both different colors and different branding. These cards also have a different branding on the back. Both things should be a reason to investigate further (although it may be a good enough reason to consider it a variant because of the branding difference for some).
I will include the images of the inside of this card as a side by side soon. These are a few tips to help you along the way on your Shortcake Greeting card adventure. Have fun!
