Month: June 2018

T206 Budget Series: If You Had $500 To Spend (3/4)

In last week’s article, I wrote about what I would do if I was starting a T206 collection with $100.  Today, we’ll take a look at the same scenario, but this time with $500.  If you read the first two, you know that I’ve settled on a grade range of right about GOOD. If you want to collect higher or lower grades, just adjust the numbers up or down a little and use the same general approach.  Last week, I broke it up into two different sections for raw cards v.s. graded cards.  The reason is that with a budget of $100, it makes a pretty big difference in terms of how far your money will go.  With $500, I don’t think it makes as big of a difference, so for this one, I won’t distinguish between graded or raw cards.

Here are three different ways that I might approach starting a T206 collection with $500:

Start with one major centerpiece Hall of Famer:

Making a big splash can be a fun way to kick off your collection.  There are a bunch of different ways you could go.  A nice lower grade Johnson, Mathewson, Speaker, or Young would fit the bill.  A nicer (Vg-Ex or so) copy of Eddie Collins, Keeler, Lajoie, or Tinker would also be a great option.

Buy a few Hall of Famers:

$500 can also get you a group of Hall of Famers.  You could specifically target certain players, or just be patient and wait for some nice deals to come along.  Another option would be to knock out all the poses of a given player.  You could buy both Joss poses, both Keeler or Waddell poses, or all three Bender or Chance poses.

Start with a big group of commons:

Putting the entire amount toward a stack of commons is also a nice way to get started and build some momentum.  $500 should get you somewhere between 20 and 30 cards depending on condition and whether you’re buying raw or graded.

Mix and Match

Of course, you can also add some Hall of Famers, and some commons.  This method has some appeal because it allows you to get one or two big name players, but also assemble a nice stack of cards.

Be an opportunist

This approach focuses less on which cards you’d ideally like to buy and more on which cards come to market.  If you’re patient, and don’t have a strong preference for any of the above strategies, this method can build your collection faster because you’ll be finding bargains you otherwise might have missed.  If you prefer to start with just Hall of Famers, or just players from a certain team or city, then obviously this approach won’t work for you, but it’s something to consider for most people.

Among the above options, my preference would be to tackle a small group of Hall of Famers first.  I still remember the feeling of awe I had when I bought my first few T206 Hall of Famers.  It’s hard to describe the feeling of flipping through your first handful of T206 Hall of Famers.  While commons are extremely cool in their own right, there’s just something special about holding 100 year-old cards of the legendary players I read about as a kid.

In practice, most people will probably go with a mixture of these approaches.  It’s good to plan out how you’d like to attack the set, but when you start shopping, you can only buy the cards that are actually available at the time.  Also, in practice, people don’t usually start with a $500 chuck on money to spend.  Usually it’s $40 here, $160 there, take a little from this paycheck, etc.  All that being said, I think it’s smart to spend some time thinking about how you’d ideally like to build your collection before you get started.

T206 Budget Series: If You Had $100 To Spend (2/4)

 

The first decision you’ll need to make is what condition you’d like your cards to be in, which I alluded to in Part 1.  The main consideration in choosing a condition range is how much of a budget you’re going to allocate to your T206 collection.  If you have a very large budget, you can afford to collect mid and high grades.  If you’re like most of us, your budget will be more modest, and lower grades will make more sense.

For the purposes of this series of articles, I’m going to focus on lower grades, in the Fair-to-VG range.  The reason for this is twofold.  For one thing, in my experience, most people that decide to start collecting T206s begin with lower grade cards.  It makes sense to test the waters when you’re trying something new, and lower grade cards are a great place to start.  Secondly, these articles would be a lot less helpful if I used mid-grades as our benchmark.  This article would just be about buying one PSA common for example.

If You’re Starting with Raw T206s:

Buy one Hall of Famer and two nice looking commons:

I would start by targeting a nice looking George Davis, Vic Willis, or Fred Clarke.  These Hall of Famers are under-valued in my opinion, and offer a great bang for the buck.  With some patience, you should be able to find one for $60 or less.  Then I’d go get a couple nice looking lower grade commons as well.

Buy four nice looking commons in GD+/VG condition:

These days a GD/VG T206 common can be had for $25-30.  I would imagine $100 would buy a nice group of 4 pretty easily.  As I mentioned in the first installment of this series, I think it’s smart to buy some raw T206s as soon as you can.  Take them out of their top-loader or card saver and examine them closely.  Feel the paper, look at how the ink sits on the paper, notice how a wrinkle or crease looks on an authentic T206, etc.  This next bit of advice may seem odd, but you should also smell your raw cards.  They tend to have a distinct old and musty smell.  All of these things will help you get comfortable with handling T206s.  At some point in the future it will pay off when you have a chance to buy a raw T206 (or more often a group of raw T206s) at a good price and you have the confidence to pull the trigger because you feel confident the card is legit.

 

If You’re Starting with Graded T206s:

Buy one Hall of Famer in a “1.5”, “2”, or “2.5” graded holder:

When buying graded cards, your money won’t go quite as far as it does when buying raw, so I would probably just try and spend the entire $100 on a single nice looking Hall of Famer that can be the centerpiece to your new collection.  The players mentioned above should be available in a “2.5” or “3” if you spend a little time looking.  Below is a list of Hall of Famers that are typically available in a graded “2” at $100 or less:

  • Beckley
  • Bender
  • Bresnahan
  • Chance (Yellow Portrait)
  • Clarke
  • Collins, Jimmy
  • Davis
  • Duffy
  • Flick
  • Griffith
  • Huggins
  • Jennings
  • Kelley
  • Marquard
  • McGinnity
  • McGraw (Finger in Air and Glove at Hip)
  • Wallace
  • Willis

Here is a handy checklist of the Hall of Famers in the T206 set, courtesy of T206resource.com:

T206 Hall of Fame Checklist

Buy three graded commons:

If you spend a little time looking, you can find three nice graded commons in the GOOD/VG range for $100 or less.  Buying a group from a forum or Facebook group is probably the most efficient option as it will allow you to save on shipping charges, which is always nice when you’re trying to build a T206 collection on a budget.

T206 Budget Series: Introduction (1/4)

1 Comment on T206 Budget Series: Introduction (1/4)

I’ve spent a lot of time lately delving into some pretty deep and obscure T206 topics.  So when a friend suggested I get back to basics, it sounded like a good idea.  In this series, I’ll give some advice to T206 collectors who are just getting started.  With this article, I’ll start by taking a look at some different approaches you can take when building a collection.  In the next article I will tackle the question, “If you had $100 to start a T206 collection, what would you buy?”  Parts three and four will address the same question, but with the $100 replaced by $500 and $1000.

Some Different Ways to Get Started:

  • Start with the Hall of Famers

This was advice I got when I first started to collect the set, and it served me well.  The idea is that when you get started, you don’t really know where the journey will take you.  You might get hooked, stay hooked for years, and complete the set.  Or you might lose interest at some point.  By buying Hall of Famers first, you make it easier to sell your cards and move on to something else if you decide to go that route.

  • Start with commons

Starting with commons has merit too.  You can build up a little stack of them quicker than if you were paying more for Hall of Famers.  Seeing your collection grow can give you some momentum to keep at it.

  • Start with one team, or city

In my opinion this is the ideal way to get your feet wet with the T206 set.  It also makes a ton of sense if you happen to be from (or have ties to) a city or town that is featured in the set.

  • Be an opportunist

This approach requires patience and a lot of research to make sure you understand the market.  If you wait for good deals and bid in a lot of auctions, you’ll eventually add some cards to your collection at great prices.  The downside is it will take longer to build the collection this way.

  • Buy some cards from a friend or trusted seller

Buying a group from a friend or someone you trust is probably the easiest way to get started these days (shout out to net54 and Tobacco Row as a couple of great places to buy).  The biggest benefit to doing it this way is that you can buy raw cards and feel comfortable that you are getting authentic T206s.  In my opinion, handling raw cards is imperative if you want to learn how to identify fakes, reprints, and altered cards as you progress in your journey with the set.  The only drawback to buying in this manner is that it kind of limits your ability to select which players and poses you’d most like to acquire, simply because you’ll only be able to choose from the cards that your friends or fellow forum members have for sale.

Some Important Decisions to Make Before Buying Anything:

  • What condition do you want your cards to be in?

This is among the most important things to figure out.  It’s not the end of the world if you buy a bunch of cards and then decide you wish they were in nicer (or worse) condition, but you’ll probably end up spending some time selling or trading them.  When I started my collection, I wanted cards in Fair/Good condition.  I got about 150 cards into my set before realizing that I preferred cards with a higher level of eye appeal.  Luckily for me, I enjoy selling and trading, so it didn’t bother me when I decided I wanted upgrade some of my initial purchases.  However, if selling a big stack of T206 commons doesn’t sound like fun to you, it’s smart to spend some time making sure you know what you want before you start buying.

I recommend choosing a condition range that works well with your budget.  I’d love to build a T206 set in EX and above, but I don’t have an extra $300,000 laying around, so attempting such a project would be an exercise in frustration.  It doesn’t hurt to do a little math before you get started.  Try and figure out how much you want to be spending on T206s each month, then look at roughly how much much it will cost to reach your collecting goals, and see how long it will take.  The right approach will be different for everyone, but as with any goal, you want to make sure yours is attainable.  If it’s too difficult, or it will take too long, you’re likely to get frustrated and lose interest.

  • Buy graded cards, raw cards, or a mix?

This is something you’ll want to consider before you make any purchases.  My advice would be to try and get comfortable with raw cards as quickly as you can.  Some collectors strictly buy graded cards, and that’s a perfectly fine approach if it feels right, but you’ll miss out on a lot of opportunities if you’re not willing to buy raw cards.  I’d estimate that around 25% of the cards in my collection were raw when I acquired them.

Stay tuned for the next three installments of this series:

Part 2 Sunday June 17th

Part 3 Sunday June 24th

Part 4 Sunday July 1st

If You’re Into T206 Backs, Here’s What You Need to Know About Brown Hindu and Red Hindu Backs

If you’re new to back collecting (or if you don’t really care about the tougher backs, and haven’t paid much attention to them) the Hindu backs can be a little confusing.  I get a lot of questions about the Hindu backs from hobby friends, so I figured an article on the topic might be in order.  Like many T206 topics, this one may seem complex on the surface.  Luckily, it’s actually pretty simple.  You just need to understand two simple rules, and know where to go to jog your memory if you forget them.

In order to get the most out of this article, I recommend opening the two checklists below (courtesy of t206resource.com) in another tab so that you can refer to them as we go:

Brown Hindu Checklist

Red Hindu Checklist

Mutual Exclusivity

Brown Hindu and Red Hindu backs are mutually exclusive.  This means that if a pose exists with a Brown Hindu back, it does not exist with a Red Hindu back, and vice versa.

The two backs were printed at completely separate times.  Brown Hindu backs were printed very early in T206 production, in 1909.  Red Hindu backs were printed in the latter part of 1910 and/or early part of 1911.

Understanding the Print Groups is Key to Understanding the Hindu Backs

If you collect backs, or are considering it, I highly recommend setting aside some time to read and digest the Print Group checklists that are posted over at T206resource.com.  I’ll also be writing more about the Print Groups in a the coming months.

Brown Hindu backs are found on:
  • 102 of the 159 Print Group #1 poses (T206resource.com refers to the 150-350 Series as Print Group #1)
  •  34 of the 48 Southern Leaguers (T206resource.com refers to the Southern Leaguers as Print Group #6)

Print Group #1 Checklist (the 150-350 Series)
Print Group #6 Checklist (the Southern Leaguers)

Red Hindu backs are found on:
  • 26 of the 63 Print Group #3 poses (T206resource.com refers to the 350-460 Series as Print Group #3)
  • 12 of the 46 Print Group #4 poses (T206resource.com refers to the 460 Only Series as Print Group #4)
  • 5 of the 6 Print Group #5 poses (T206resource.com refers to the “Super Prints” as Print Group #5)

Print Group #3 Checklist (the 350-460 Series)
Print Group #4 Checklist (the 460 Only Series)
Print Group #5 Checklist (the “Super Prints”)

Currently t206resource.com lists 43 confirmed poses with Red Hindu backs.  The reason that only 5 of the 6 “Super Prints” are listed in the Red Hindu checklist is that Mathewson (Dark Cap) has not yet been found with a Red Hindu back, though it seems likely that it was a part of the print run.  In addition to Mathewson, t206resource expects that McIntyre (Brooklyn and Chicago) and Reulbach (No Glove Showing) were also printed with Red Hindu backs.  That brings the expected checklist up to a total of 46 poses.

Red Hindu backs are exponentially scarcer than Brown Hindu backs.  There is a decent chance that an unconfirmed Red Hindu pose could show up in the future.  Conversely, it would be very surprising if a new player was found with a Brown Hindu back.  It’s possible, but very unlikely.