Recently, I’ve received a few emails recently from friends and readers asking me to explain the term “printer’s scrap” as it relates to the T206 set. I figured it would be a good idea to post something that everyone can read. In fact, I am probably long overdue in writing an article on the subject.
The T206 set offers a myriad of collecting niches from the straight-forward, to more esoteric pursuits. Of the many mysteries and intricacies of the T206 set, printer’s scrap may be the least understood. Because each example is unique, it can be very difficult to figure out a price for a given card. As a result, most collectors do not feel comfortable buying them, and tend to stay away. With this article, I hope to make you feel a little more comfortable the next time you come across a piece of T206 printer’s scrap.
The Short and Simple Definition:
Any T206 that was discarded by the printers prior to production being completed.
The Longer, More Detailed Definition:
The term “printer’s scrap” can be used to describe cards that vary greatly in appearance. The one thing that all printer’s scrap cards have in common is they were not inserted into packages of cigarettes/tobacco and were not released to the public. They were either thrown away at the factory and saved by neighborhood kids, or perhaps brought home by the printers and given to kids (or even adults) who collected them. This means that a sheet of cards could have gone through every step of the printing process, but then been discarded for some reason prior to being cut. If that sheet of cards was cut up by hand rather than being factory-cut and inserted into packages of cigarettes, the card is considered printer’s scrap. On the other hand, some of the more striking examples of printer’s scrap cards feature drastic printing mistakes, blank backs, or multiple players and/or back advertisements.
Let’s take a look at the various types of T206 printer’s scrap:
Brown Old Mill Southern Leaguers
The most sought after examples of printer’s scrap are the Brown Old Mill Southern Leaguers. These cards were created accidentally. Old Mill Southern League backs were supposed to be printed with black ink, but at least one sheet was printed with brown ink by mistake*. After the sheets were printed, the mistake was caught. All Brown Old Mill Southern Leaguers are hand-cut, and it is believed that none of them were inserted into packages of Old Mill Cigarettes. This back is either the rarest or second rarest T206 back, depending on whether you consider the Ty Cobb back a T206. Brown Old Mill Southern Leaguers tend to sell in the low five-figure range.
Proofs
These are the early versions of the artwork for each pose. Some proofs feature the caption at the bottom while others do not. Each proof has cross marks on the borders of each edge that were used to help the printers with alignment. Proofs tend to sell in the $10,000 range, give or take.
Multi-Player Prints and Ghosts & Multi-Strike Backs
These were essentially test sheets used by the printers to calibrate the equipment. You can imagine most of the test sheets would have been discarded after use, but luckily for us some were saved. Values vary greatly depending on how visually striking or unique each card is, but it’s rare to find one of these for less than $1,000.
Blank Backs
Blank Backs are the easiest form of printer’s scrap to identify. Sometimes people will have differing opinions on whether a card is scrap or not, but with Blank Backs, there is no such confusion. They exist in varying levels of completion. The fronts of some Blank Backs look like a completely finished product, and make you wonder why they were never finished. Some are missing one or more color passes while others have registration or “ghosting” issues as the telltale signs of why they were scrapped. Blank backs are currently selling for $800 and up with individual prices varying based on condition, player, and whether the card has any additional printing oddities other than the blank back.
Yellow-Brown Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 30
Though they were printed with normal backs, the “yellow/brown” scraps received only the yellow, brown, and black color passes. Very distinctive and unique, copies in Fair condition and above will typically sell for in excess of $1,000.
Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 30 “No Prints”
I plan to devote an entire article to these at some point, but the short version is this: These sheets of cards were almost completely finished, but they had one final step of the production process that still needed to be completed. They were supposed to get the Factory 42 Scroll Overprint, but for some reason, they never did, and were instead cut up by hand and kept together for over 100 years. The person who cut them did a very nice job, and the cards were kept in very nice condition all these years. Two or three years ago the cards were brought into a card shop in the Midwest and slowly sold over the course of a few months. There were hundreds of cards in the collection. Most were poses that are in the Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 30 checklist, but the ones that are known as “Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 30 No Prints” are the most sought after and valuable cards in the group. In my opinion, it’s a little too early to say what the market is for these as many of them went from eBay directly into collections and not too many have been offered again publicly.
Hand-Cut and Missing Color Passes
These are easy to spot because their fronts look a bit odd due to the missing color pass(es). Their value is directly tied to three factors:
- How striking the missing color passes are
- Registration (the more messed up, the more desirable)
- The borders (the larger the better, and the more jagged the edges are, the better)
Hand-Cut but not Missing any Color Passes
Because these look very similar to a card that was inserted into a cigarette pack, it can be difficult to determine whether a card should be given the “printer’s scrap” moniker or not. The Bob Groom below is a good example of one that’s hard to classify. All four edges are hand-cut, but the card is of normal size. In my opinion, it has to have been cut from a sheet by hand because if not, it would have to have had huge borders in order for someone to have been able to trim each side and have the finished product still have roughly normal dimensions. While rare, these cards do not sell at much of a premium over a similar factory-cut T206. In my opinion they are among the best values in the T206 world.
Hopefully these general guidelines will help you to evaluate any T206 printer’s scrap cards you come across. The general rule is pretty simple: The cooler the card, the more you should expect to have to pay for it. The most dramatic examples tend to get the most attention and sell for the highest prices. However, the less visually striking examples offer a combination of scarcity and affordability that can appeal to collectors of all budgets.
*I’m not certain if there were one or more Old Mill Southern League sheets printed with brown backs. I’ll look into it further, and if you happen to know, please shoot me an email (luke@thatt206life.com) or leave a comment.
