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The top version of these two boxes shows the model in what appears to be blue rather than purple as the bottom version. When I looked at this box earlier today my first thought was possible sun/light influence but when I inspected the box all over I discounted that due to both faces and both endflaps all being exactly the same.

I know a pre-production model in Blue exists so maybe this is an early version done to match, regardless it will be interesting to see what members think.

Fascinating, it also displays NEW above 67 on the end-flap where the box below is blank!

GHOSTHUNTER.

Intriguing!
Red and blue make purple but, given the red elsewhere on the boxes, it seems extremely improbable that it is a misprint with the red missing from the car image.
I suppose these days we have to question whether this is a genuine box.
Are “NEW 67” boxes known with purple cars? (Why was it NEW anyway? The model had already been released in a transitional F box.)

Very interesting Rob, i dont know what is going on with this box, aside from the very different colour of the car, even the end flap borders and the striker edges are a much deeper shade of blue. Perhaps Christian can help out with this one?

I have attached a few more photos to illustrate that boxes from both ends of the SF era had differences in printing colours. The two 50 Harley boxes are clearly different and also there are at least two shades of purple with the 67 VW1600TL as the photo shows,

Many other boxes show differences in colours as well, but as with model shades you need to have them side by side to clearly see this.

I can say 100% that all these boxes are genuine, after many years of handling SF boxes you can tell a genuine box by the touch and the smell of it, every fake box I have seen so far clearly stands out from a genuine one.

Perhaps subtle box differences/shades were down to ink supplies at any given time. I suppose it stands to reason that if we have shade differences on models due to paint mixes/supplies etc then we can also have it with the printing on boxes.

I have 2 of the 67 boxes. One with and one without the "New" but buth are in purple.

I love this box!

Most 'G' boxes had long runs so print differences are out there. I've got 13 of these but none approaching the blue shade shown here.

I've long speculated that Lesney tweaked the box colours to match the shade of their models but seeing oddities like this make me want to reconsider.

Nice one Rob!

Never seen another with blue graphics.Could this be a prepro box?
Nice one Rob
numi

Generally for all G type boxes except those made for regular wheel models, boxes with "NEW" tend to be more common than those without "NEW". The "NEW" lettering was removed rather late in the G box era, approximately in the second half of 1972, so for some models which were phased out earlier G type boxes without "NEW" do not exist at all.

The printing of "NEW" on the end flaps of G type boxes is in no way related to the prior existence of F type boxes for the same models; they all started out saying "NEW" regardless. I suppose all Superfast models were officially regarded as "new" well into 1972.

Most boxes come in numerous printing shades, and I gave up trying to catalogue those long ago. This blue shade, however, is extreme. I have not seen one like this before and cannot offer any explanation for it, aside from speculation that it may just be a case of more blue ink and less red ink.