error – That T206 life

This copy sold via Love of the Game Auctions for $15, 340 in 2013

As a T206 back collector, I tend to think about cards in terms of value. Which backs are over-valued? Which are under-valued? Which cards are over-rated, and which are under-appreciated? My favorite part of collecting this set is searching for value and scarcity, especially when it is hiding in plain sight.

It can be hard to impress T206 collectors. There are hundreds of specific front/back combos that exist in quantities of less than 10 and are met with a collective yawn from collectors when they hit the market. If a Cycle 350 Shad Barry SGC 30 goes to auction, it’s likely to sell for less than $100. If a Demmitt Polar Bear SGC 30 goes to auction, it will probably sell for around $1,000. PSA and SGC have combined to grade 4 copies of the Barry Cycle 350 and 278 copies of Demmitt Polar Bear. Pretty crazy when you really look at the numbers.

Obviously the Demmitt, O’Hara, and Magie cards are more highly sought after than a random Cycle 350 with a low population. The main reason is that many set collectors feel the need to own a Magie, O’Hara and Demmitt for their sets. However, there are plenty of T206 collectors who are not necessarily attempting to complete the set. For those people, I really wonder if the massive price tags for these 3 cards makes sense.

PSA has graded 118 copies of the Magie error (which only exists with a Piedmont 150 back). SGC has graded 62 of them. So, according to the Pop Reports, there are 180 Magie errors out there. Of course there have probably been some crossovers, but there are probably some raw copies out there too.

Sold for $1,028 via PWCC Auctions over the weekend

A few days ago, this PSA 4 Sherry Magee portrait with El Principe de Gales back sold for $1,028 via PWCC Auctions. PSA and SGC have combined to grade only 11 copies of this card.

Sold for $2,022 via Goodwin & Co. Auctions in 2016

Earlier in the year, Goodwin and Co. auctioned off the above Old Mill Magee portrait in an SGC 40 holder. It sold for $2,022. PSA and SGC have graded a combined 4 copies of this card.

The Pop Report Numbers for Magee Portrait with Hindu and Sovereign 150 backs are similarly low in comparison to the iconic Magie Error:

The Old Mill above is so rare that it’s almost non-existent, and yet it sold for just 13% of the $15,340 that the PSA 3 Magie pictured at the top of this article went for. We know that there is more to value than the supply side of the equation, but I can’t help but come to the conclusion that the Magie Error is over-valued. As long as collectors continue to covet the Magie Error to the extent they have historically, prices will remain high. With more information available to us via the Pop Reports, it’s possible that prices will adjust over time to be more in line with actual scarcity (or the lack thereof).

T206 Tinker hands on knees PSA Chicago variation — This is the third copy that surfaced, and by far the nicest. Originally sold by REA in Fall 2013 for $11,850

The T206 Tinker Hands on Knees “Chicago” variation is one of the more valuable errors/variations in the set. For a card that has repeatedly sold for five figures, it seems to fly under the radar in terms of notoriety. It’s a relatively recent discovery, which could be a contributing factor. The first copy surfaced in March 2011 on ebay. A thread was started on net54baseball.com to discuss it. There was a lot of skepticism initially. However, a few long-time T206 collectors stated that they thought it was legit. On April 15th of 2011, Bob Lemke posted that the card had been graded by SGC and was deemed a legitimate variation.

At the time the first copy was being discussed, it was known that an early proof of Wildfire Schulte front view had “CHICAGO” written
across his jersey rather than “CUBS”, lending credence to the idea that perhaps Tinker was originally slated to have “CHICAGO” across his
jersey as well. The Schulte proof, which is one of the coolest T206 cards in existence, is owned by Keith Olbermann. He wrote an article about proofs and variations in 1997 for the Vintage & Classic Baseball Collector magazine which included a scan of the Schulte proof. I’m less sure about the timeline of the discovery of this Tinker photo, which legitimized the variation for anyone who was still skeptical. It’s clearly the photo that was used for Tinker’s Hands at Knees T206 card. You can see why they didn’t want to copy it exactly, since his jersey is unbuttoned and it’s hard to read the letters across his chest. Why they chose to remove “CHICAGO” and add “CUBS” rather than just touch it up so “CHICAGO” was legible is anyone’s guess. Every Chicago Cubs pose released in the 150 series features”CUBS” across the jersey. It’s possible all Cubs were initially slated to be printed with “CHICAGO” on their jerseys. It’s also possible that Schulte and Tinker were changed to “CUBS” to fit in with the rest of the team.

In REA’s Spring 2012 Auction, a second copy of this variation surfaced, selling for $18,960. This one was noticed by an SGC grader who spotted it while grading a submission. The owner promptly sent it to REA and cashed in. Soon after, the first copy was auctioned off in Greg Bussineau’s Summer 2012 Auction, where it fetched $33,720. The second copy is in much nicer shape, even though the grades are identical. Waiting until the second copy sold turned out to be a wise move for the owner of the first copy.

In 2013, the third copy of this variation surfaced. This one is by far the nicest. It was graded a 2.5 by PSA due to some slight surface wear on the back but looks a lot more like a 5. A distinct pattern had developed, as this card (in addition to copy #1 and copy #2) featured a Sweet Caporal 150 factory 30 back. The third copy was auctioned off by REA in the Fall of 2013 and went for $11,850. The same card was recently sold via Heritage Auctions in their August 2016 Platinum Night Auction. This time, it fetched $22,705.

T206 Tinker Chicago Sweet Caporal SGC 20 — Copy #1, sold by Greg Bussineau for $33,720 in Summer 2012

Only 3 copies of this variation are known, but a number of Tinker Hands on Knees cards show remnants of the darker “CHICAGO” text. The theory is that when the printers swapped “CHICAGO” for “CUBS”, they initially left “CHICAGO” underneath but reacted quickly to erase most of “CHICAGO”. The partial remnant can be found on cards with Hindu, Piedmont 150, Sovereign 150, and Sweet Caporal 150 backs. I am not aware of any 350 series backs that feature the remnant, so they must have cleaned it up for a second time following the 150 series print runs. Copies with the remnant are not particularly tough to find and don’t seem to sell for any premium.

Next time you come across a copy of Tinker Hands on Knees, make sure to give it a close look. There might be another one out there just waiting to be found!

Thanks to Robert Edwards Auctions, net54baseball.com, Bob Lemke’s blog, and Heritage Auctions for the reference materials for this article.

Tag: error

Does the Huge Price Tag for the T206 Magie Error Make Sense?

Examining the T206 Joe Tinker Hands on Knees “Chicago” Variation