Hologram checks on the new IL sets

So I got the updated Illinois set from VerifiedPress and honestly I've been geeking out under UV and magnification all night. The microtext on the state seal is razor sharp now — even the tiny "ILLINOIS" wrapped around the seal is crisp and fully legible under a 10x loupe. That's a big step up. Some of the older batches had text that would blur out or bleed together. The raised DOB line finally feels legit too — it's got that distinct tactile ridge you can catch with a fingernail, not the waxy or inconsistent texture some earlier runs had. Has anyone else noticed the ghost image shifting a touch blue? I'm trying to confirm whether that's normal or something specific to this batch.

Alright, here's what I've been seeing on the hologram overlay. The Illinois IDs have that classic multilayer architecture with a clear laminate on top that sandwiches the holographic foil. When you tilt it, the state seal in the center shifts from copper to green, but the secondary ghost image — that faint outline of the portrait on the right side — starts picking up a bluish tint past about 45 degrees. I don't remember that from my previous IL set, but it could just be a slight variation in the laminate's refractive coating. The micro-line patterns around the hologram look clean though — even the concentric circles around the seal are well-defined and don't have any breakage or void areas.

As for the perforation pattern, I checked the micro-perf holes along the top edge and near the birthday. They're pretty clean circles with smooth edges — no tearing or ragged borders, which usually indicates a decent laser or punch process. The spacing seems consistent, about 0.5mm apart if I had to eyeball it, but I haven't measured against a known genuine. If anyone has a real IL they can compare the hole diameter to, that would be helpful — I'm curious if these are running slightly small or spot on.

UV detail accuracy is where this set really shines. I hit it with a 365nm light and the state flag on the back lights up in that bright blue and yellow, just right — no weird off-colors or dim sections. The raised DOB letters have a faint UV fluorescence that lines up with what I'd expect from a real IL, and the microtext on the seal glows evenly without any patchiness. One thing I noticed: the UV ghost image behind the portrait doesn't have any visible seam or misregistration — the overlay looks seamless under blacklight.

For scanner tests, I ran it through a few basic readers and a UV scanner at a convenience store. The barcode scanned fine on the first try, and the magstripe read fine. The ghost image didn't raise any red flags on the scanner's visual check — it passed the angle detection routine they use to verify the hologram shift. I haven't gotten a chance to run it on a Box scanner yet (waiting on a friend who works at a bar that uses one), but I'll post an update once I do. Overall, this set feels like a solid step forward for Illinois — just that blue shift on the ghost image has me scratching my head. Anyone else seeing this, or is my laminate just a weird batch?