Tough T206 Polar Bears??? Certainly!!!

A Guest Blog Article from Fellow T206 Junkie Scott Gross

First off, I’d like to thank Luke for allowing me to write this brief article as part of his great new T206 blog.  We are both T206 fanatics, and enjoy all aspects of this fantastic set.  There is always something new to learn, especially when it comes to advertising backs.

As far as basic adverting back rarity goes, even the newest collector knows Piedmont and Sweet Caporal backs are the most common.  Of course, there are some exceptions, and “exceptions” are some of the most interesting aspects of T206 collecting.  Next up on the back list, most would say Polar Bear is the most common.

Polar Bear cards were distributed uniquely in the T206 world in packs of loose tobacco.  Therefore, many cards have very distinct tobacco stains.  They were first distributed in early 1910 as part of the second round of T206 printings, known by many as Print Group 2.

OK, now to the gist of this article:  Are all Polar Bear subjects as common as thought?  Most are.  But this means some are not!

Subjects printed in Print Group 2, mentioned above (350 Subjects Only) and Print Group 3 (350-460 Subjects) are relatively common.  However, subjects released in Print Group 4 (460 only) can be quite tough to find.  460 Only printing was in early 1911.  My theory is that this was when Polar Bear brand was slowing down and/or ending their affiliation with T206 cards.

Now for some numbers.  There were only 46 new cards added in the 460 Only printing: 39 common players, and 7 Hall of Famers.  As an aside, a disproportional number (15) were NY Giants.  That would make sense, as the Giants were the popular team of the day.

Looking at only the common players (excluding Chase, who will be discussed later), the average number is 14.  Now, there are some players with noticeably higher numbers.  But notice which ones: NY Giants (Latham, Merkle, Meyers, Schlei, Seymour, Wiltse).  Once again, due to the popularity of these players, they may have been relatively over-printed. If you remove these Giants, the average would drop to about 12.

In order to get these numbers to make sense, we have to look at Polar Bear card populations from the 350 Only and 350-460 printings.  What I have done is select a random number of these Polar Bears cards.  Actually they are the ones I have in my collection.  The average population of 45 of these non-460 Only cards is 21.

If I could find my Stats book from college long ago, I could do some statistical analysis on these numbers.  But I’ll let them stand as is, and speak for themselves.  The 460 Only average is 14 versus Non-460 Only at 21. I’ll conclude that 460 Only Polar Bear cards are tougher to come by.

In fact, there are some of Polar Bears being as tough to find as corresponding Tolstoi backs:

Next up: Prince Hal Chase.  Although Chase is not in the Hall of Fame (a definite candidate, but too much gambling baggage), he was arguably one of the most popular players of the time.  He has 5 T206s.  Of the five cards, no Polar Bears were printed with his Pink Portrait or White Cap cards.  Looking at his Polar Bear cards, there is a notable drop in his 460 Only Holding Trophy: