Category: That T206 Life Blog

George McBride and the “Blue Flame”

Take a look at the scans above.  Just below McBride’s belt is a little blue print mark that Pat Romolo has dubbed the “blue flame”.  Pat and I talked about this print mark a year or so ago and I had planned to write an article about it.  It was one of the (many) topics that I intended to write about, but never got around to.

Recently, I was very excited to pick up the McBride Tolstoi below.  When I got it in hand, I noticed the blue mark on his left shoulder.  I remembered the “blue flame” that Pat and I had discussed, but I thought this one might be slightly different.  I went through our old emails to see if I had just found another example of the “blue flame”, or if this was a mark we hadn’t seen before.  To my surprise, this blue mark was in a completely different place.

Excited about this new discovery, I sent an email to Pat.  As usual, he noticed something that I had failed to see.  It’s pretty rare to find one pose with two separate and distinct print marks.  But what makes this even more interesting is that both my Tolstoi and the five cards at the top of this article all share another print mark in common.  It’s hard to see (at least it was for me) but there’s a blue dot just to the right of his left elbow.  On my card it’s pretty faint, but it’s a lot more noticeable on the “blue flame” cards.

I wanted to understand more about these three different print marks, so I went through all of the recorded sales of McBride T206s on cardtarget.com.  I found two things that surprised me, and one that didn’t.  I was not surprised to confirm that every card that exhibits the “blue flame” print mark also displays the “blue dot”.  On the other hand, I was surprised to not find another McBride card that has the same print mark that my Tolstoi backed copy has.

Perhaps the most interesting discovery I made is that the “blue dot” appears on more cards that just those with the “blue flame” and my Tolstoi.  However, it does not appear on all McBride cards.

Card Target has four recorded sales of American Beauty backs.  One has both the blue flame and the blue dot.  Another has just the blue dot, and the other two cards don’t have any print marks.

Of the eight recorded sales of Cycle 350 backs, two have both the blue flame and the blue dot, five others have just the blue dot, and just one of them has no print marks at all.

The Sweet Caporal backs carry roughly the same ratios.  Of the nine recorded SC 350/25 backs, one displays the blue flame/blue dot combo, 6 others have just the blue dot, and three cards exhibit neither print mark.  Of the 28 SC 350/30 backs, two have the blue flame/blue dot combo, 16 have just the blue dot, and ten have no print mark.

Things got a little interesting when I looked through the Piedmont 350 backs however.  The vast majority of them display no print marks, while a small minority have just the blue dot, and an even smaller percentage exhitbit the blue flame/blue dot combo.

The reason I find print marks so interesting is that I think there is a potential for them to teach us some things about the printing process.  The fact that multiple cards can be found with the same recurring print mark tells us that many sheets were printed with the same layout.  That the “blue flame” is found with American Beauty 350 Frame, Broad Leaf 350, Cycle 350, Piedmont 350, and both Sweet Caporal 350/25 and Sweet Caporal 350/30 backs means that the layout of the sheet remained the same as each subsequent back was printed.

Having said that, I’m not sure I am any more knowledgeable about the printing process now than I was before I started to research these print marks.  It’s definitely interesting that so many of McBride’s cards have at least one print mark, but if there’s a pattern, I’m not seeing it.

My hope is that by studying these print marks and others like it, we may be able to shed some light on how these cards were printed.  Pat and I are working on a set of future articles where we will catalog all of the known print marks, and examine many of them in more detail.  We don’t have a timeline for when we expect to finish, but I am hoping it will be completed before the end of the year.

McBride Sweet Caporal 350 Factory 30 with just the “blue dot” print mark

Pulled From T206 Production Early: Tubby Spencer (and the recent sale of a Piedmont 350 SGC 40)

In honor of the Tubby Spencer Piedmont 350 in a SGC 40 holder that sold for $2,839 on June 11, 2018, it’s time for the next exciting episode of Pulled From T206 Production Early!  Spencer is one of the 11 players who were pulled from T206 production very early into the “350” portion of the 150-350 print run.  This group of players are known as the “Elite Eleven” among T206 collectors.  The term was coined by Ted Zanidakis in this Net54 thread, which was published in June of 2013.

Tubby Spencer was a light-hitting backup Catcher for the St. Louis Browns from 1905 to 1908.  He averaged just 68 games played in those four seasons, which makes it a little surprising that he was included in the set in the first place.  In 1909, he appeared in just 28 games with the Boston Red Sox, which presumably made the decision to pull him from the set a fairly straight-forward one.  He spent most of 1910 and 1911 with the St. Paul Saints of the American Association, and then had an 11-game cup of coffee with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1911.

For the next five years, he bounced around the Minor Leagues before catching on with the Detroit Tigers.  In 1916 he played 19 games, and followed it up with 70 in 1917 and 66 in 1918 before returning to the minors for good.

I’m not sure exactly why, but it seems that backup catchers got a lot more love in the deadfall era than they do now.  Spencer’s inclusion in the T206 set seems a little surprising based on his lack of playing time offensive output.  What’s really shocking is that he was chosen to be included in Philadelphia Caramel’s 30-card set (e96) released in 1910, about the same time that he was being pulled from T206 production.

Spencer is considered by most T206 back collectors to be the scarcest of the “Elite Eleven” *.  The recent sale I mentioned above resulted in a few messages from friends, all of which sounded something like, “Did you see what the P350 Spencer just sold for????  What the (heck)???”  Going into the auction I was asked by a couple friends what I thought the card would sell for.  I did give a range that I thought it might fall in (which was way off, sorry guys) but I told them that I didn’t have a great feel for where it might end up.

At the moment it seems that these tough Piedmont 350s are among the most volatile T206s in terms of what they will sell for on the open market.  It makes some sense.  We have near perfect information about many front/back combos, but the “Elite Eleven” Piedmont 350s are still a gray area.  It’s hard to know how many of each player are out there, and even tougher to guess what they’ll sell for when they hit the open market.

* This seems to be the consensus among the collectors I talk to.  If not the toughest, Spencer is certainly in the top three in terms of scarcity

T206 Budget Series: If You Had $1,000 To Spend (4/4)

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This PSA 1 Cobb Red Background Portrait recently sold on eBay for $912

For the last installment of this series, we’ll take a look at how you could spend $1,000 if you were starting a T206 collection.

Buy one big-time Hall of Famer:

For the first time in this series, we get to talk about Ty Cobb.  A low grade Red Portrait or Bat On Shoulder can be had for around $1,000 if you wanted to make a big splash.  Alternatively, a nice looking Cy Young or Walter Johnson Portrait in around GD/VG condition seems like a great way to start a collection.  A VG-EX Tris Speaker or Christy Mathewson would fit the bill as well.

Buy a stack of Hall of Famers:

This is probably the route I would go.  If you spend $200 or less on each card, you should be able to get somewhere around ten cards for $1,000 if you stick with the lower and mid tiers of Hall of Famers.  I’d try and get some combination of 7-10 cards of these guys:

  • Home Run Baker
  • Chief Bender
  • Mordecai Brown
  • Jack Chesbro
  • Fred Clarke
  • Eddie Collins
  • Jimmy Collins
  • Sam Crawford
  • George Davis
  • Elmer Flick
  • Addie Joss
  • Willie Keeler
  • Iron Man McGinnity
  • John McGraw
  • Rube Waddell
  • Bobby Wallace
  • Ed Walsh
  • Zach Wheat
  • Vic Willis

Start with a large group of commons:

Kicking off your collection with a big stack of commons definitely has some appeal.  Depending on what your goals are, this might be a great way to build some momentum.  This approach has the added benefit of helping you get comfortable with how authentic T206s should look and feel.  There’s really no substitute for holding a stack of cards in your hands and being able to examine them up close.

Start with a mixture of Hall of Famers and commons:

In other words, just be patient and be opportunistic when a good buying opportunity presents itself.

You could also start to dabble in back collecting:

I didn’t bring up backs in the previous articles because the vast majority of T206 collectors do not start out as back collectors.  In fact, only a small percentage of collectors end up collecting backs, and it typically is a preference that is developed over time.  In general, I advise that if you don’t have a strong desire to collect the different backs, I would just focus on the fronts when you are getting started.  You’ll always be able change course in the future if you decide to.

However, if you do feel a strong attraction to the different T206 backs, a $1000 budget allows you to get a few different backs and still have some money left over for a few Hall of Famers with common backs.  If you decide to sprinkle some backs in your collection, I would recommend starting out with these backs, which offer a great combination of bang-for-the-buck and great eye appeal:

  • American Beauty 350 With Frame
  • Cycle 350
  • El Principe de Gales
  • Polar Bear
  • Sovereign 150
  • Sovereign 460
  • Tolstoi

Whatever approach you choose, just take your time and do your best to educate yourself on the market and you’ll do fine.  In the last few months it seems that the prices for Hall of Famers has risen a bit.  If that continues, you’ll have to adjust to the changing market and budget a bit more for them than I have suggested in the last few articles.

One of my favorite things about the T206 set is how liquid it is.  If you ever want or need to sell some of your cards, it’s very easy to do, and the demand is always there.  Because of this, there really isn’t much risk involved in starting a T206 collection.  As long as you educate yourself and make sure you’re paying fair prices, you will likely be able to sell your cards for pretty close to what you paid for them in the event you decide to go in a different direction.  Hopefully the articles on this site will go a long way towards helping you feel comfortable as you begin your T206 collecting journey.  If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will respond to any and all.  Good luck, and have fun!

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)

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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.

 

Ten T206 Hall of Famers for Less than $100

I could have called this article something like “Under-rated T206 Hall of Famers” and snuck a few more players in, but I felt like keeping all the prices in the same range was a good idea.

I’ve selected these ten poses for a couple reasons.  First, you should be able to find a nice looking copy of each of these cards in GOOD to GOOD+ condition for $100 or less.  Second, in my humble opinion, all of these poses are among the best in the set.

In no particular order:

George Davis

Davis is pictured in the final season of an illustrious career.  A slick fielding shortstop, he also more than held his own with the bat.  He put up a career batting average of .295 to go with a .767 OPS.  He finished in the Top 10 in Offensive WAR seven times, and the Top Ten in Defensive WAR twelve times.

Fred Clarke (With Bat)

In my opinion, Clarke is very underappreciated by collectors.  He managed the Pirates for 16 years, winning 4 National League Pennants, and winning the 1909 World Series.  On top of that, he was a great hitter.  He had 2678 career hits, a .314 batting average, and and OPS of .814.  I could have just as easily picked Clarke’s Portrait pose, as it is also one of my favorites.  However, I feel like the With Bat pose is particularly underrated.

Frank Chance (Yellow Background Portrait)

Frank Chance probably would not qualify for an article about underappreciated players.  However, his Yellow Portrait is a “Super Print”.  As a result, it is more common (and costs less) than his other two poses.  A nice looking “2” can often be had at $100 or less.

Bobby Wallace

Wallace is another slick fielding shortstop.  He finished first in the National League in Defensive WAR in 1901, 1902, and 1908.  He placed in the Top 10 thirteen times.

Hugh Duffy

Duffy was a heck of a hitter.  In 1894, his stat line looks like it came from a video game.  He had 237 hits, 51 doubles, and 18 Home Runs.  His batting average was .440 and his OPS was 1.196.  Not surprisingly, all of those marks lead the National League.

Vic Willis (With Bat)

This is probably my favorite of the “with bat” poses.  It’s especially cool because Willis was a .166 career hitter.  Luckily, he was much better on the mound.  He put up a career record of 249-205 to go with a 2.63 ERA.  He placed first in WAR for Pitchers in the N.L. in 1899 and 1906, and finished in the Top 10 8 times.  Like Clarke, Willis’ Portrait would have also been a great inclusion in this list.  I wanted to get it in here somehow, so I used it as the header scan.

Jimmy Collins

Collins was a great third baseman and all around player.  He hit just below .300 for his career (.294) and had a stellar glove.  He finished first in WAR for Defensive Players in 1899 in the N.L and 1901 in the A.L.

Chief Bender (Trees in Background)

I’ve always thought it was a bit strange that Bender has two poses in the T206 set that are so similar.  In my opinion, the “With Trees” is the superior pose, aesthetically speaking.  It would probably be a stretch to include his Portrait in this list, but you should be able to snag a nice looking lower grade copy of this pose for less than $100.

Clark Griffith (Portrait)

This is one of my favorite portraits in the set.  I love the dark orange background.  When this card came out in 1909, Griffith was managing the Cincinnati Reds and his pitching days were behind him.  On the hill he put up a 237-146 record to go with an ERA of 3.31.  He managed in the big leagues for 20 years, putting up a record of 1491-1367.

Elmer Flick

Flick really only played in the majors for 10 seasons (in his last three seasons he played only 9, 66, and 24 games respectively) but he made those 10 seasons count.  He hit .313 for his career and OPS’d .834.  He was a threat on the base-paths as well, with 330 career steals.  He placed first in Offensive WAR in the N.L. in 1900, and the A.L. in 1905.

T206 Kitty Bransfield Piedmont 150 with Very Interesting Print Mark on the Back Found in a Lot on eBay

It’s pretty rare these days to find a T206 print oddity that we’ve never seen before.  A few weeks back, T206 collector Jay Kaplan made just such a discovery.  The above lot of seven cards was sold on eBay via auction, which ended April 24, 2018.  The listing flew under the radar and sold for the very reasonable price of $175.42.  As I type this, I am still kicking myself for not noticing the card in question.  I was the under-bidder on the lot, as I was interested in the two Sovereign 150s and the Magee.  I scanned the backs and just thought the Bransfield had some back damage or tape, etc.  When you collect rare backs and oddities, you get used to competing for cards, and losing auctions is a part of it.  It always takes a bit of the sting out of it when the winner is a buddy and you know they are excited to get the card.

I talked with Jay about his new acquisition, and here is an excerpt from our conversation:

When did you realize the back of the Bransfield was something special?

When I bought the lot I had no idea on the Bransfield.  I bought the lot for the Sov150’s and the 649 overprint.  Just thought it was a normal common with tape on the back.  It wasn’t until Scott Russell made a thread on net54 that I figured anything out.  He zoomed way in on the back, and it was very clear that the imprint was not tape, but was ink.

I know you have quite the back collection.  Do you collect print oddities as well?

I do not collect print oddities.  Honestly, they scare me.  There are too many, and there isn’t nearly enough information for me to feel like I can be an intelligent buyer.  I do appreciate them for their coolness value though.

Do you know whether you’ll be hanging onto it, or selling/trading it?

I’ve gone back and forth on this.  Originally I was dead set on selling it, but it’s grown on me.  It was so cheap it’s definitely something I could throw into my collection as a type card.  But, I really like trading, so if someone made me an offer on something I liked a lot I’d definitely trade it.

T206 Ty Cobb Red Background Portrait with Broad Leaf 460 Back Sells for $60,000

On March 11, 2018, an eBay member listed the above Ty Cobb Broad Leaf 460 as a 7-day auction.  As you can imagine, it caused quite a stir in the T206 collecting community.  I was notified within minutes when a friend sent an email titled simply, “Did You See This?”  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  Not even a year earlier I had written an article about the only Cobb Broad Leaf 460 in existence.  I got online to take a look at the card, fully expecting the find reasons to doubt its legitimacy.  I pulled up the listing, and my initial gut reaction was, “Holy crap.  This is real.”

I took a closer look at the edges and read the seller’s description. Anytime a significant front/back combo shows up for sale in raw form, the main thing you want to look out for is the possibility that the card has been re-backed.  There are two types of re-backs. In the first type, the front is real, but the back is fake.  In the second, the front is real and features a huge star like Cobb, Young, Johnson, etc and the back is also real, but was taken from a common player’s card and affixed to the Hall of Fame front.  After looking closer at the card, I felt more confident that it was legit. The back was clearly real, which eliminated the possibility that someone had bought an $800 Cobb, created a fake Broad Leaf 460 back, and combined the two.  The seller’s description also rang true.  I’ve read hundreds of eBay descriptions written by scammers, and this one didn’t raise any red flags for me.

A thread soon developed on Net54.  Not surprisingly, a majority of posters were concerned about the card being a fake, or more specifically, a fake back affixed to a real front.  I was a little surprised at how many posters felt certain the card was no good.  Plenty of well-known collectors who have handled tons of T206s flat-out called it a fake.  There tends to be a good deal of skepticism among collectors on Net54 with any new find a raw card, so perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised.  In this case, I don’t blame people for being skeptical.  The seller didn’t have any recent feedback, and more concerning, they hadn’t listed any common players or backs.

The auction ran for two days, and the Net54 thread raged on.  On March 12th, a Net54 member posted the following message he had received from the seller:

Hello xxxxxxx,

As I stated in my listing yes, I would refund high bid if and only if, card is a fake or rebacked (word of the day) lol.  I have an offer of $21,000 to end auction and 2 collectors flying out to view card before making an offer.  Both collectors are aware of the $21,000 offer.  Good luck bidding.

regards,
xxxxxxx

On the 13th, the auction was ended by the seller.  It wasn’t immediately clear what had happened, but we didn’t have to wait long to find out where the card had ended up.  In the meantime, a friend of mine, who had been corresponding with the seller, sent me the following pictures of the other cards in the collection the Broad Leaf 460 Cobb came from.  It’s a small collection, but man is it packed with some tough cards!

On March 23rd, Brian Dwyer of REA posted the preview of the Spring Auction, which would be headlined by the Cobb Broad Leaf 460!  On April 13, 2018, the auction opened to the usual fanfare of an REA offering.  Before I even had a chance to put in my initial bids, the lot was at $20,000.

When the auction ended last Sunday, (May 6, 2018) the final sale price was $60,000 after the juice.  My opinion probably doesn’t mean that much, as I was just a spectator, but I feel like the buyer got a great deal on this card.  Obviously $60k is a lot of money, but for T206 back collectors, it doesn’t get any better than this.  In my article titled T206 Hall of Fame Front/Back Combo Power Rankings: The Elite: Top 10 (Which is a fun read that I recommend checking out), I ranked the Ty Cobb Red Background Portrait with Broad Leaf 460 back as the #1 most desirable front/back combo in the T206 world.

It was a lot of fun to watch this saga unfold.  It’s something of a feel-good story for all involved.  I imagine the consignor is very happy to pocket $50,000 for a card they didn’t initially realize was anywhere near this valuable.  The seller got an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime card at a very nice price.  And all of us onlookers got a great show!

Sources:

–http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?p=1756667
–https://www.ebay.com/itm/1909-11-AUTHENIC-t206-Ty-Cobb-Red-Portrait-Broad-Leaf-/123014766205?ul_noapp=true&nma=true&si=FxvAju%252FrlQGmLecQpFMeR6UidQQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557