Month: March 2019

Some More Things to Consider Before Starting a T206 Back Run

Last week’s article focused on what I believe to be the most important consideration when it comes to starting a T206 back run.  Namely, finding out which backs exist for a given pose.  I took a broad look at which backs you can expect to need for your run based on which T206 Print Group your preferred pose falls into.

In a way, I got ahead of myself last week.  Knowing which backs make up the run is definitely important, but it probably won’t be the main reason why you choose a certain pose for your back run.  There are many reasons why collectors choose their back run’s subject.  Let’s take a look at some of them:

Player Collectors

This is one of the more common reasons to choose a player/pose for a back run.  If you pick based on a player, you don’t have to worry about any of the other selection criteria.  Unless the player you want to collect has more than one pose.  In that case you will want to take into consideration which backs exist for each pose.

For example, let’s say you want to do a back run featuring John McGraw.  You have four poses to choose from.  You can pick the one that looks the best to you, or the one that presents the biggest challenge, or the one that will the easiest or most cost-effective to complete.

The easiest would be McGraw’s Finger in Air pose as it only consists of a tough Old Mill, Sovereign 150 & 350, and a bunch of Piedmont and Sweet Caporal backs.

The toughest pose would be either Portrait With Cap or Glove at Hip.  There is only one known McGraw Glove at Hip with a Uzit back, so that would present quite a challenge.  Old Mill and Cycle 460 would also be very tough to locate.  Uzit, Lenox, American Beauty 460 and Cycle 460 backs are the biggest obstacles to completing a back run featuring McGraw Portrait With Cap.

Team Collectors

If you’re a team collector, it makes a lot of sense to choose a player from your favorite team as your back run subject.  In most cases, you’ll have multiple options.  This is nice because you can choose a pose based on which backs it was printed with in conjunction with how costly you want the project to be.

Share the same last name

This is a great reason to start a back run, but as with the player collector, doesn’t give you a ton of flexibility to customize the difficulty of the project.

Love the look of the pose

This selection criteria obviously doesn’t allow any flexibility.

Start with one of the rarest backs

This is another common reason that collectors choose to start a back run.  This method involves waiting until you acquire a card with a rare back, and then starting a back run for that pose.  It makes a lot of sense to knock out one of the toughest backs and start there.  I’ve done this in the past, and I know many other collectors who have as well.

Customize the Difficulty of Your Back Run:

Whether you want a project that is so hard to complete that it could take decades, or you want something you can finish within a couple years, the T206 set offers a pose to suit your preference.

How to Find Out Exactly Which Backs Exist for a Given Pose?

Click on this link ————–>  T206resource.com

From the checklist page of t206resource.com, click on each individual back and look for the pose that you have chosen as your back run subject.

There are spreadsheets out there that list back checklists by player, but I have yet to see one that is without errors.  The checklists on t206resource.com are the best that I have seen, so I recommend just using them and verifying each back individually.

Some Things To Consider Before Starting a T206 Back Run

T206 is the greatest baseball card set of all time.  Since you’re here, you probably already knew that.  One of the reasons is there are so many different ways to collect T206s.  One of the more popular approaches in the “back run”.  A back run is a collection of cards where the fronts are the same, but the backs are all different.

The most important thing to think about before beginning to collect a back run is, “Which backs are a part of the run?”  Some poses will make for a fairly easy-to-complete project, while others are pretty much impossible.  For example, a Dode Criss back run consists of 7 different front/back combos.  The toughest backs in the run are Old Mill and Sovereign 150.  Neither should be too difficult to find, nor should they break the bank.  In contrast, a Ty Cobb Red Background Portrait back run consists of 24 different front/back combos.  A few of those combos are impossible to find, and even harder to afford.   There are only 2 examples of the Broad Leaf 460, both firmly entrenched in collections.  Finding a Red Cobb with a Drum, Carolina Brights, Blank Back or Red Hindu back would be similarly tough.

Before you commit to chasing a T206 back run, you should find out which backs exist for each pose that you are considering.    Some collectors will want to find a back run that is fairly easy and inexpensive to complete, while others may prefer more of a challenge, and not be deterred by a larger financial commitment.

Gibson is a 150-350 Series pose

Let’s take a look at how the T206 Print Groups can help you select a pose that suits your preferences:

150-350 Series:

With just a few exceptions, a pose from the 150-350 Series will be easier (and cheaper) to complete than a pose from the rest of the set.  The toughest backs in this series are Old Mill and Hindu.  Either back can take awhile to locate, but it won’t break the bank once you do.

350 Only Series:

Completing a back run featuring a 350 Series subject is tougher than a 150-350 pose.  350 Series poses are found with some combination of the following scarce backs: Broad Leaf 350, Carolina Brights, Drum, Tolstoi.  Most 350 Series poses will have some, but not all of those backs.  For example, Tris Speaker is known with all 4 of those backs, but Jimmy Collins is only known with Carolina Brights and Tolstoi backs.

Murphy (With Bat) is a 350-460 Series subject

350-460 Series:

Other than the Super Prints, this series contains some of the toughest back run subjects you could choose.  This series features Drum, Black Lenox, Piedmont 42, Red Hindu, and Uzit backs.

460 Only Series:

These poses can be found with some combination of American Beauty 460, Black Lenox, Brown Lenox, Cycle 460, Piedmont 42, Red Hindu, and Uzit backs.

Super Prints:

The Super Prints* were so named because they were printed with so many backs.  The Red Background Ty Cobb Portrait mentioned above was printed with 24 backs.  The exact back makeup of the six poses differs, but they can be found with the following array of rare backs: Broad Leaf 350, Broad Leaf 460, Carolina Brights, Drum, and Black Lenox.

Southern Leaguers:

A Southern Leaguer back run can range from very easy to complete, to near impossible.  14 poses were printed with only Piedmont 350 and Old Mill backs.  Another 34 poses were printed with Piedmont 350, Old Mill, and Brown Hindu backs.  If those two or three backs is all you are looking for, it should be a fairly easy and affordable project.  However, some Southern Leaguers were also printed with the extremely rare Brown Old Mill back.  In addition, Southern League poses can be found with a blank back.  If the poses you are working on exists with both Brown Old Mill and Blank backs, that is going to make for an incredibly expensive and challenging project.

Mailbag: What is The Best Scanner for Graded Cards?

I could make this a really long post with tons of in-depth information on how scanners work.  Thankfully, that is not necessary.  If you plan to use your scanner for more complicated projects than just scanning slabbed cards, then you do need to do some additional research.  Although if you have the need for a high-end scanner, you probably already have one.  For our purposes, there is just one thing you need to know:

There are two main types of “scanning elements”: CIS and CCD.  You need a scanner with a CCD element.

The reason you see so many horrible blurry scans of graded cards is that most commercially available scanners have a CIS element.  If your scanner has a CIS element, you will always have blurry scans of graded cards.

CIS Element:

CIS stands for Contact Image Sensor.  The full name actually does a pretty good job of explaining why a scanner with a CIS element does a poor job of scanning graded cards.  CIS elements scan the surface that is directly against the glass.  Scanners with CIS elements do a great job of scanning raw cards because they are laying directly on the glass.  When you place a graded card on a CIS scanner, the scanner is scanning the front of the plastic slab, leaving the image of the card behind very blurry.

CCD Element:

CCD (which stands for Charged Coupled Device) technology was originally intended to be used for scanning film slides.  Scanners with CCD elements can focus on the image in a slide (or a card in a slab) rather than just the first layer of plastic (in the case of a slabbed card) or paper (in the case of a film slide).

In order to make sure you’re buying the right scanner, you have look through the specs and make sure your target scanner clearly states that it has a CCD element.  Like I said earlier, if you get a scanner with a CIS element, you will have blurry scans.  There aren’t any adjustments you can make to improve the quality of scans.

All of the scans you see on this website were taken with my Epson Perfection v33 scanner.  It’s a refurbished unit that I got on eBay for $40.  If you currently have a scanner with a CIS element and you own graded cards, buying yourself a scanner with a CCD element may be the best present you can give yourself for the price.  As you can see from my example, you can get one for the price of a PSA 2.5 T206 common.

Mailbag: Why Is It That Most T206 Hall of Fame Portraits Were Not Printed With Rare Backs?

A couple different friends have asked me recently why it is so hard to find a T206 Portrait of a Hall Of Famer with a rare back. The answer is pretty simple.  Most of them were never printed with a truly rare back.  For the purposes of this article (and all my other work) “rare backs” refers to Carolina Brights, Broad Leaf 350, Black Lenox, Brown Lenox, Red Hindu, Drum, and Broad Leaf 460*.  Let’s get into why.

There are 31 Portraits in the T206 set that feature a Hall of Famer.  23 of them were printed in the 150-350 Series.  The rarest backs that were printed in the 150-350 Series are Old Mill and Brown Hindu.

These 23 Hall Of Fame Portraits were printed during the 150-350 Series (along with the rarest back(s) the pose was printed with):

  • Bender (Old Mill)
  • Bresnahan (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Brown (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Chance Red Background (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Chesbro (Old Mill)
  • Clarke (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Cobb Green Background (Old Mill)
  • Evers (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Griffith (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Jennings (Old Mill)
  • Johnson (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Joss (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Keeler (Old Mill)
  • Lajoie (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Mathewson (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • McGraw No Cap (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Plank
  • Tinker (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Waddell (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Wagner
  • Walsh (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Willis (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Young (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)

These 8 Hall of Fame Portraits were printed in later Series (and which rare backs they were printed with):

  • Beckley (350 Series – Broad Leaf 350)
  • Chance Yellow Background (Super Print – Broad Leaf 350, Carolina Brights, Drum, Lenox, Red Hindu)
  • Cobb Red Background (Super Print – Broad Leaf 350, Broad Leaf 460, Carolina Brights, Drum, Lenox, Red Hindu)
  • Eddie Collins (350 Series – Broad Leaf 350 & Carolina Brights)
  • Jimmy Collins (350 Series – Carolina Brights)
  • Huggins (350 Series – Broad Leaf 350)
  • Marquard (350 Series – Broad Leaf 350)
  • McGraw With Cap (460 Only Series -Lenox, Uzit)

The above 8 poses were printed with various rare backs**.  They definitely are not easy to find, but at least they exist.  To learn exactly which poses were printed with each back, I recommend perusing the checklists at t206resource.com.

The moral of the story is, if you attempt to own the rarest back for a given Hall of Fame Portrait, you will become very well acquainted with Brown Hindu and Old Mill backs.

* I did not include Blank Backs in this list because they don’t follow the same patterns as all other backs.  This is because were not intended to exist.

** They were also printed with various mid-tier backs such as American Beauty, Cycle, EPDG, Piedmont 42, and Tolstoi.  I didn’t list each because that is beyond the scope of this article.