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.
