  We present a detailed examination of the brown dwarf multiples 2MASS
J08503593+1057156 and 2MASS J17281150+3948593, both suspected of harboring
components that straddle the L dwarf/T dwarf transition. Resolved photometry
from Hubble Space Telescope/NICMOS show opposite trends in the relative colors
of the components, with the secondary of 2MASS J0850+1057 being redder than its
primary, while that of 2MASS J1728+3948 is bluer. We determine near-infrared
component types by matching combined-light, near-infrared spectral data to
binary templates, with component spectra scaled to resolved NICMOS and Kp
photometry. Combinations of L7 + L6 for 2MASS J0850+1057 and L5 + L6.5 for
2MASS J1728+3948 are inferred. Remarkably, the primary of 2MASS J0850+1057
appears to have a later-type classification compared to its secondary, despite
being 0.8-1.2 mag brighter in the near-infrared, while the primary of 2MASS
J1728+3948 is unusually early for its combined-light optical classification.
Comparison to absolute magnitude/spectral type trends also distinguishes these
components, with 2MASS J0850+1057A being ~1 mag brighter and 2MASS J1728+3948A
~0.5 mag fainter than equivalently-classified field counterparts. We deduce
that thick condensate clouds are likely responsible for the unusual properties
of 2MASS J1728+3948A, while 2MASS J0850+1057A is either an inflated young brown
dwarf or a tight unresolved binary, making it potentially part of a wide,
low-mass, hierarchical quintuple system.
