Color shades on models

[Tinman]

There is one big problem with color hues that has not been discussed here. While we have covered the topics of the effects of different cameras, lighting, computer monitors and the degradation of colors transmitted through the Internet and our devices, there is another very important issue.

The vast majority of men fail to see small color shade (or hue) differences, even when those colors are placed side by side. This is a problem for nearly all men (women do far better at seeing these differences). Reds and Blues are some of the colors most affected when viewed by men.

I recently took a test to determine my ability (or inability) to spot shade differences. The results shocked me and I was quite poor at spotting shade differences. Although I could see the difference of the spectrum from one end to the other (including those shades close to the end), I failed to be able to detect minor shade differences next to each other across the entire spectrum.

The difficulty for men to spot shade differences are not limited to reds and blues either and most men have this difficulty in seeing shade differences between a wide spectrum of colors. In some cases, this can be bad enough that one person's "red" shade is another person's "blue" shade. This problem is not to be confused with color blindness which is an all together different condition.

While the overwhelming majority of men struggle with color shade differences, an overwhelming cross section of women have no problem at all spotting minor shade differences. Back to color blindness, only .04 percent of women have this issue while as much as 10 percent of males suffer from color blindness.

This is a bad situation for a hobby dominated by males. Unfortunately, I am not alone in my difficulty in spotting shade differences. The rest of the men who took the test along with me also had trouble spotting shades differences. I was not the worst in the group, but that did little to ease my concerns as I faired poorly compared to women. In fact, I did poorly enough to place doubts on my ability to spot minor shade differences in hand.

Color hue/shade differences continue to be of interest to collectors and some desire to catalog even the most minor of differences. This is an impossible task not only because of the hardware/software issues but also because so many men simply struggle to see the differences. I mention this because I've actually had other men become angry at my inability to see a specific shade.

Some men are at the upper end of the scale with their ability to detect shade differences and others are at the bottom of the scale and have little perception of shade differences. I fall in near the middle of that scale. and some men are worse at spotting shades and some are better. I mention this because of that issue with people arguing over color shades. It's important to consider that while you might be near the upper part of the percentage who can spot shade differences, others are near the bottom of that scale.

I no longer engage in color shade discussions because I've been treated poorly by other members in such discussions. This has much to do with the low participation in discussions of different color shades and why many only collect shades of color that have a significant contrast in shades. Remember, not everyone can see the difference and we should never argue over color shades. As far as cataloging color shades, please keep these differences as notes and let's not attempt to assign Codes to color shades.

[johnboy]

Acccording to this website, http://dykn.com/how-well-do-you-see-color/ this is the reason men and women's colour perception differs:

"While women are better at seeing the color spectrum, men have a greater ability to see small details and movement. This is due to the hunter/gatherer phase of human development. Women needed the ability to see a wider range of color in order to identify different berries, fruits, plants and insects, and men were equipped with vision that helped them track and kill moving prey".

There's no way I'm telling that to my wife. They have a colour test on the site as well, I don't know how reliable it is though especially using different screens.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

...this is why I like to add the word 'Distinct' when assessing or commenting on colour shades...Model 'A' is a distinct shade difference to model 'B'. How distinct is then up to the viewer of those models, this does away with one model suddenly becoming a 'Reference' for the other model to be assessed against.

GHOSTHUNTER.

[Brad Pittiful]

JP i see what youre saying...er more like...dont see!

[radar]

Regularly had this out with ex partner.

She'd see the ocean as green - I'd swear it was blue. Not aquamarine. Not turquoise.

viz a viz blue dress/white dress.

Anyway, I ] collect only one of each - RW or partner - happy to move on.

[Tinman]

Anyway, I ] collect only one of each - RW or partner - happy to move on.

I can now clearly see the error of my ways as I could never collect just one of either.

[SMS88]

I would like to take an online test to see how good or bad my colour perception is.I have done reasonably well collecting shade variations based upon my memory of which I already have but must admit that I am bored with shade variations and direct my collecting to other vintage brands now rather than more near identical toys

[brainstrust]

if you google gold white dress you'll see how differently each of us see things. There's some good shade eye testers in there too that may freak you out

[GHOSTHUNTER]

if you google gold white dress you'll see how differently each of us see things. There's some good shade eye testers in there too that may freak you out

Something similar to this was featured on British Television in some of the News programmes and it was amazing the different colours seen by the General Public out on the streets.

Ghosty.

[pjm-mb]

This is also why smart men always ask their significant female other to double check their choice of ties or even shirts (not all "whites" are white!). Great point to bring up. I have had particular trouble with creams, reds and even greens in my 1-75 collecting. I always give my spouse a chance to tell me if I'm nuts or really on to some new variation! Patrick from Santa Fe, NM, USA