Strange Backed / Textured Revised Card

[Tenacious_Dyl]

I've come across a revised Mishra's War Machine that feels unlike any card I have ever felt. That's right... felt.

The front of the card feels much more like "paper" than a "card" (it has a very slightly rougher texture) but the back of the card is what is clearly noticeable. It feels like very very fine grain sand paper, and extremely dry on my skin.

I thought it was in my head at first, but the backing was far too noticeable to deny. I dug out about 30 random other revised commons / uncommons, mixed them all up and my roommates picked out the War Machine instantly saying "it feels weird".

I found 3 other War Machine's that do NOT feel like this one, and after going through hordes of Revised have not found a single other card like it. It is completely pack fresh, which rules out weird wear and tear. It has an almost identical gloss to other revised cards when tilted in the light, but seems very slightly less glossy. It weighs the same, it bends the same, and it has the same colors / brightness / contrast as all my normal War Machines.

Does anyone know anything about this? Like I said... the front is only slightly perceptible but the back feels SO different from a normal card. Touching it almost makes my skin creep.

[l0qii]

My first guess we be that something spilled on it

[Tenacious_Dyl]

I thought the same thing at first too, but this is a card stock issue (I'm fairly certain) The card shows NO warping of any kind, and is to the naked eye really not any glossier or matte than a normal card. Cards with liquids, etc damage curve, they warp, they stick to each other, they are usually unevenly affected, etc.

I also gently tried rubbing a portion of the back to see it was just an incredibly well applied and taken care of drink damage or something but its the card stock itself that feels that way. It is almost as if the "back" of the card was printed on crappy business card stock. It is entirely uniform in its texture on both front and back, with the back being distinctively dry and courser than normal and the front only being slightly so.

Looking at the side edges of the card, there is no staining, nothing odd at all. If you looked, but did not touch this card you would think it came fresh from the pack.

Does anyone know of cases of cards being printed on bad or lower quality stock (aside from the amstel beer mirage tests?) I suppose that anything is possible. Perhaps the stock that this was printed on simply had a "rough" underside and was not smooth or high quality as is the normal. Perhaps after being inked, it reduced that rough appearance, but not the texture?