October 2016 – That T206 life

Auction Report: REA

Luke November 17, 2016 October 31, 2016

Another fun REA auction has come to a close. Tons of amazing T206s are going to new homes. Let’s take a look at some of the most notable cards that sold last night:

Ty Cobb Red Portrait with Ty Cobb back goes for $192,000

The Fall edition of REA ended last night. This Cobb from the recent Lucky 7 find was the headliner as far as T206s go. Not everyone agrees that this card should be cataloged as a T206 however. There has long been a debate amongst T206 historians as to whether it should be included under the T206 umbrella, or given a slightly different distinction. The main reason for this is that Red Cobbs with Ty Cobb back all have a glossy finish on the surface of the cards. Whatever you want to call it, this is a spectacular card and I imagine the new owner is very pleased.

Burch 150 series proof goes for $10,200

There were two proofs from the 150 series in this auction. This Burch and Red Kleinow, which went for $8,400. Both are amazing cards, but the Burch in particular is stunning. There have been a few proofs on the market recently, and these two went for right about what I would expect.

Broad Leaf 460 Willis SGC 50 goes for $8,400

I thought this one went for a bargain price. Some similar BL 460s have sold for more recently. A Danny Murphy SGC 55 sold for $10,200 in last year’s Fall REA auction. I’m a little surprised, but not completely. Collectors don’t seem to care (or maybe even notice) that Vic Willis is in the Hall of Fame. I’ve thought for awhile that he doesn’t get the respect he should, and this is another example.

Sovereign 150 Cobb bat on shoulder PSA 8 sells for $54,000

A stunning card in all respects, I think this one went for a very strong price. The tough back probably played a part in that. Certainly one of the finest Cobbs in existence.

Drum Purtell SGC 82 sells for $10,200

This was one of my favorite cards in the auction. It would have been mine if only I was rich. I think the buyer got a nice deal, but I’m not too surprised. Recently, on net54baseball.com, Purtell was voted the ugliest card in the T206 set. If this had been another player, the price may have gone a bit higher.

Red Hindu Baker PSA 7 goes for $7,200

The new owner of this one has to be thrilled. While I can’t say that this was a bargain, it is an absolutely beautiful card. Hall of Fame examples with Red Hindu back don’t come up for sale very often. The “Exclusive 12 Subjects” are an exception to that rule. Wheat, McGraw and Duffy are fairly easy to find with Red Hindu backs.

Back Scarcity in the T206 150-350 series: Part One

Luke February 9, 2017 October 28, 2016

In this series of blog posts, I’m going to take an in-depth look at the different backs that make up the 150-350 series (also referred to as Print Group 1). The truly rare backs were not printed until the 350 series (Broadleaf 350 and Drum) and 460 series (Broadleaf 460, Lenox, Red Hindu, and Uzit). Because the 150-350 series is made up of backs which are considered relatively common, many very tough front/back combinations fly under the radar.

Cards from Print Group 1 can be found with the following backs:

Hindu
Piedmont 150
Sovereign 150
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 25
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 30
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 649
El Principe de Gales
Piedmont 350
Sovereign 350 Forest Green
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30
Old Mill

Many of the most iconic portrait cards in the T206 set were printed in the 150-350 series. Finding a card with one of these backs is easy, but finding a specific front/back combo can sometimes be quite difficult. For example, if you want a Green Background Ty Cobb portrait with the scarcest back, you need to find one with an Old Mill back. It might seem like this should be an easy task because Old Mills seem pretty common, but it could take you a few years to locate one.

I’m going to start with a very broad overview and drill down into the individual backs to see if we can find any patterns that will help us understand the 150-350 series better.

By the Numbers

There are 159 cards in the 150-350 series. Here is the checklist (thanks to the fine folks at t206resource.com).

Below is a breakdown of the backs that make up the 150-350 series (also known as Print Group 1 and abbreviated here as PG1):

As you can see, the vast majority of PG1 is represented with these backs:

Piedmont 150 (98%)

Sovereign 150 (94%)

Sweet Caporal 150 factory 25 (96%)

Sweet Caporal 150 factory 30 (96%)

The percentage is a bit less with these backs:

Piedmont 350 (91%)

Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25 (83%)

Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30 (84%)

Old Mill (81%)

The percentage is much lower with these backs:

Hindu (64%)

Sweet Caporal 150 factory 649 (21%)

El Principe de Gales (51%)

Sovereign 350 Forest Green (50%

In some cases, the reasons for differing percentages are known. Often, certain players were traded or they retired during production of the set. These players were removed from subsequent printings. For the most part, this is why players are missing from Piedmont 350 and both Sweet Caporal 350 print runs.

In other cases, the reasons are not known. Hindu backs were issued in 1909 near the start of T206 production. They had access to the same 150 subjects that were used for the Sovereign 150 printing, but only used 102 of them. For the the El Principe de Gales print run beginning in 1910, only 81 poses from PG1 were used. Likewise, only 80 PG1 players were used for the Sovereign 350 print run.

Were these omissions chosen randomly? Or is there a pattern? Let’s find out.

Intro and what’s to come

Luke November 23, 2016 October 19, 2016 1 Comment

First of all, thank you for stopping by and taking a moment to look around. This first post is going to be a brief overview of who I am and what I hope to accomplish with this blog.

My name is Luke, and I love baseball. I’m an avid T206 collector and researcher. For the past few years, I have spent around a dozen hours a week buying, selling, and researching the set. Over time, my interest has grown, and I’ve set out to learn as much as I can.

I anticipate that the vast majority of my posts will cover one of two overarching themes. First, the set itself. This will include things like the printing process used to create the cards, back advertisements, players depicted on the cards, timeline of production, print groups, individual player scarcity, back scarcity, and other such topics. Second, the collecting of the set. These type of posts will cover things like how to get started, different ways of collecting the set, making hobby friends, reacting to market trends, trading, new acquisitions, etc. I may occasionally stray into other topics such as current events in the hobby or other deadball era baseball card sets, but I will only do this when I have a compelling reason.

I decided to start a blog for a couple reasons. First, I have learned a lot over the last 7 years that I have been collecting T206s. I wanted a place to document and organize all of my thoughts and the new things I learn along the way. Also, I really enjoy talking with and interacting with other collectors. I think a blog is a great way to share knowledge and start a conversation. Working on a personal collection of anything is inherently a solitary endeavor. I have found that sharing it with others is what really gives meaning to a collector’s journey. I plan to post twice week and be active on social media and email. I hope you’ll stop by and be a regular visitor.