The term “T206” was created by hobby pioneer Jefferson Burdick and has been used ever since. It’s really just an arbitrary catalog number. “White Borders” is also used by collectors, and it is certainly more descriptive. Many collectors are fond of referring to the set as “The Monster”, a term coined by hobby pioneer Bill Heitman.
The T206 set was produced over a 3 year period from 1909 to 1911 by the American Tobacco Company (ATC). At the time, baseball cards did not exist as we know them. The production and release of these cards was a massive advertising tactic meant to get people to buy more cigarettes and tobacco products. It was a huge hit with customers, and what started as a launch of 150 different cards, grew into a 524 card set. Most of the baseball cards that had been produced previously had been black and white. The vivid colors set them apart and baseball fans loved them.
The cards featured all the stars of the game, many of whom are enshrined in Cooperstown today. Ty Cobb, Nap Lajoie, Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, Tris Speaker, Eddie Collins, Mordecai Brown, Walter Johnson, and Wee Willie Keeler can all be found on a T206. In all, the set contains 76 cards featuring Hall of Famers.
In 1909, the “150 Series” was released. These are the first 150 cards in the set. At the time, ATC didn’t know that the cards would be so well received by their customers. In 1910, they decided to expand the set, and they released the “350 Series”. In 1911, they added to the checklist even more with the release of the 460 series.
ATC was a large tobacco conglomerate that consisted of dozens of cigarette and cigar brands. T206s were inserted into packs of these 15 different ATC tobacco brands:
Each of the 524 cards (with just a few exceptions) were printed were multiple different advertising backs. If you add up all of the different front/back combinations, you get over 5,500 different cards that make up the T206 Master Set.
The T206 set has a little something for every type of collector. Cards with common backs are plentiful and affordable, making it accessible to beginning collectors. The scarce backs and mysteries of the set keep it interesting and exciting, even for people who have been collecting the set for decades.
This is a very brief introduction. If you’d like to learn more, please check out the fantastic “Inside T206” by T206 Researcher Scot Reader. There is a link to download a free PDF file of the book at the bottom of the page.