tobacco cards – That T206 life

The Legendary T206collector.com Signed Pre-War Baseball Card Collection

Luke October 10, 2017 October 15, 2017 1 Comment

I’m very excited to share a interview I recently conducted with Paul of t206collector.com. Paul has put together a mind-blowing collection of autographed pre-war baseball cards. As you could surmise from the name of his website (t206collector.com), Paul is a T206 collector at heart. However, as you’ll see in the Gallery below, he doesn’t pass up a chance to add a significant signed card from any of the other sets produced during the era. In my opinion this collection belongs in a museum. After you read the article, please take a couple minutes to scroll through the Gallery below. I’m always blown away when I look at Paul’s cards. It’s almost beyond belief that this many signed Pre-War cards reside in a single collection.

Without further ado, here is our conversation:

What was the first signed card you acquired?

I met Mark McGwire in October 1987, right after he broke the rookie record for home runs in a season. He signed my 1985 Topps Olympic card. I still have it.

What was the first signed tobacco card you acquired?

In or about 2004, there were four signed Rube Marquards from the same collection listed on ebay over a couple of weeks. I won them all. Two of them, my hands at sides and my portrait, I still have. The others (dupes obviously) were traded or sold over 10 years ago.

Was there a specific moment when you decided to steer your collection in the direction it has ultimately taken?

I would pick up a signed T206 Snodgrass batting and a signed T206 Doyle Batting between 2004 and 2007, but my interest took a serious turn as a result of the Great Pittsburgh Find of Signed T206 Cards in 2007.

When did you decide “I’m going to get as many signed T206s as I can?”

I didn’t see that as a realistic goal until 2007, when The Great Pittsburgh Find of Signed T206 cards began hitting eBay. I thought about getting all the dupes too, but quickly ran out of money!

How many signed pre-war cards are you able to add in a given year? Has it varied over the years? I’m assuming it has gotten tougher as they have all dried up (thanks to you, haha)?

Exactly. It’s about 1 per year over the last seven or 8 years. Normally I already have the poses signed that come to market. Goodwin just had 7 signed T206s last month. But, I already had them all (and had previously owned many of them as well, but had upgraded).

Do you have a favorite card in your collection?

That is a really tough one, and it changes periodically. I love my signed T206 Lajoie, T206 Clarke, T206 Doyle Batting, M116 Sporting Life Wagner, M101-2 Speaker,1914 Cracker Jack Marquard, T201 Leifield and T201 Wheat, among others.

Do you have one or more favorite stories of how you acquired certain cards?

Being connected with an old time autograph collector who sold me the signed Lajoie and Wagner, as well as a signed T206 Baker and signed T206 Crawford batting, was outstanding. I literally flew from NYC to North Carolina over the Christmas Holiday to visit with the collector and peruse his collection. It was amazing.

Did you make any fun trades along the way?

Yes, my trades for the signed T206 Clarke and T206 Young both came from the same pre-war autographed card collector. I had some rare signed Goudeys, T201s, T202s, and T205s I was able to trade him.

With all the amazing stuff in your collection, is there anything else left to search for? Are there any “white whales” you are still after?

I need a signed T206 Cobb. That’s the “white whale” and I have gotten pretty close a few times.

Because your collection is so advanced, do you find yourself getting bored in periods of time when you aren’t able to add anything new?

Yes, that does happen. It’s during those down periods that I find interest in different unsigned sets for a period of time. That rarely lasts more than a year or two, before I am selling everything to make a run at a new signed T206 that I just have to have!

If so, do you have any other things you collect to pass the time?

Unsigned T206s and some caramel cards.

Do you have any big plans for the future with your collection such as showing it in a museum or anything like that?

That would be cool, but I do not think there are too many museums that would be interested in showcasing it. Instead, I’m happy to keep the collection in my bank’s safe deposit box, and share the scans online with anyone who is interested!

That meeting with the collector in NC sounds amazing. Is there any more you can tell us about that meeting? Like what kinds of stuff he had, or stories he might’ve told you? I know you may not want to say too much in the interest of keeping his anonymity, but if you can tell any stories, I’d love to hear them.

It was crazy from a travel perspective – flying from NYC to Charlotte to have him (a complete stranger) pick me up at the airport and take me to his house to look at baseball cards. Ever since I started speaking with Jeff Morey in 2007, I have had a tiny little want ad in his “The Autograph Review” or “TAR” mailing. In December, a guy who also subscribes to TAR found out about the NC guy’s collection and connected me for a finder’s fee. The NC guy is maybe in his mid 60s, a dentist, with a passion for baseball and music autographs. Most of his stuff he bought at auction or in old baseball card catalogs over the past 30 years. Most of his signed pre-war (he had Cobb, Cy Young, Tris Speaker) were obvious fakes, but he had struck a little gold now and again — he had bought the M116 Wagner from a memorabilia shop in Texas in the early 90s. What he didn’t sell to me, and what was authentic, he consigned to Robert Edward Auctions. He made over $100,000 in the April 2017 REA, mostly driven by some sick early, pre-Ringo Beatles autographs. He has a bunch of lesser items still being listed in the October REA. And a few smaller lots were listed in Sterling Sports Auctions.

From that collection I got the M116 Wagner, and signed T206s of Baker, Lajoie and Crawford Batting. Many of the other cards in my collection come from Jeff Morey’s collection – a dozen or so signed pre-war cards he didn’t consign with Mastro in 2001. The great balance came out of the 2007 Great Pittsburgh Find of Signed T206 Cards and a Hunt Auction that November.

Sorry, no stories of getting the signatures myself. I was not even 8 when the last T206er died (Marquard)! I wouldn’t own an unsigned T206 for another 17 years, or a signed T206 Marquard for 24 years!

Is there anything that I didn’t think to ask, but you think people would be interested to know?

On our wedding day, after the ceremony, but before the dinner/toasts, my wife pulled me aside and gave me a T206 Groom card – as I was the groom that day. Now that was awesome!

Please take a couple minutes to view the complete collection below in the Gallery!

*All of the scans used in this article and the Gallery below are courtesy of T206collector.com. Please check out the site!

Did T206 Artists Cut Some Corners in the 350 Series?

Luke March 1, 2017 March 2, 2017

T206 350 series solid backgrounds — 350 Series (Print Group 2) Solid Backgrounds

Many collectors organize their T206s alphabetically by the player’s last name. Others group them by teams. I tend to think about the set and organize my cards according to print group. When you look at the set in this way, some patterns emerge. Throughout the set, the portraits have varying degrees of background shading. The 150-350 series has the highest percentage of portraits with shading in the background, but there are still plenty that have a single color background. Most of the portraits in the 350 series utilize only a single, solid color, but there are some with a more nuanced, shaded background. Because each Print Group includes multiple examples of portrait cards with solid backgrounds, I will not focus on portrait for this article.

In the 150-350 series (Print Group 1), every color imaginable was used. The action shots all have some variety to the backgrounds, and are often quite stunning. There is a feeling of cohesiveness throughout. Print Group 1 clearly exhibits more attention to detail than than the 350 series (Print Group 2). Print Groups 1, 3, and 4 are quite similar in style and appearance. Many cards in Print Group 2 have a single, solid color as the background. Print Group 1 only has a single card like that (Donlin seated). The Conroy below comes close, but the artist took a little extra time to add texture so you know he is fielding a ball on the grass. The solid backgrounds of the 350 series always made me feel like they rushed the artistic process, and maybe they did. The solid backgrounds still make for some beautiful cards, but I prefer a little more detail.

T206 150 series action shots — Print Group 1 Action Shots

My theory is the American Tobacco Company was surprised by the success of their baseball card promotion (they weren’t referred to as T206 back then). I think they decided to keep it going, and needed a large number of cards, quickly. The 350 series consists of 208 cards, more than any other series. It stands to reason that the artwork was put together in a short period of time. Whereas the 150-350 series has one card with a solid color background, there are dozens in the 350 series. These cards still look great, but it’s also clear that they took less time to create than a similar card with a more nuanced background. Although many cards in the 350 series have plain backgrounds, there are also some of the most beautiful cards in the set in this series. Donovan, Campbell, and Dinneen all come to mind as some of the most visually appealing cards in the set. It’s possible some cards didn’t make the 150-350 series cut but were ready to be included when ATC decided to expand the set. It’s also possible certain artists just used the same style and attention to detail in all their work, and others may have cut some corners to churn out the pieces needed for the 350 series.

The 350-460 series (Print Group 3), which consists of only 63 cards, was a return to the attention to detail of Print Group 1. There are four cards in the series that have a solid color background: Joe Doyle, Kleinow catching, Wagner bat on right shoulder, and White pitching. However, the first three have blue backgrounds which look like the sky. White, which has a yellow background, is the only card in the 350-460 series that resembles the solid backgrounds of the 350 series.

The 460 series (Print Group 4) was smaller still than Print Group 3, clocking in at just 46 cards. The artwork has a similar look and feel to Print Groups 1 and 3. Howell hand at waist is the only non-portrait with a solid color background.

Beware of Expensive “Missing Red” T206 cards

Luke December 19, 2016 December 18, 2016

T206 Beck missing red — Legit and very cool Beck missing red ink

A few years back, T206s that were missing a certain color got very popular and expensive. For a combination of reasons (printing process, the inks used, the way our eye processes colors, etc.) red is the easiest color to notice the absence of. During this “Missing Red” fad, a lot of cards were sold for high prices.

Some T206 were legitimately printed without red ink, while others were printed normally, and altered in the years after their production. The legit “missing reds” are cool cards and certainly worth paying a premium for due to their rarity. The problem is that neither PSA nor SGC is holdering missing ink cards at this time. There are a lot of cards out there in holders noted as “Missing Ink”, but they were all graded a few years back. So, if you want to add a T206 with missing red ink to your collection, you have to do the research to determine if it is legit on your own. In addition to doing your own homework, I highly recommend asking the opinion of someone you trust. I’m always happy to answer any questions you may have.

T206 Oakes Missing Ink — Adhesive residue covering the entire back

So, why are many of these “missing red” cards suspect? Red ink on a T206 is very prone to fading under certain conditions. Sunlight has been shown to fade red ink completely, while not altering the other colors nearly as much. If you see a card that is advertised as “missing red ink” but has a pinhole at the top, that is a very good indicator that the card was tacked to a wall and the red faded due to sunlight exposure. Also, many cards that appear to be missing red ink will have adhesive residue on the backs, or paper loss indicating that the card was once adhered to a scrapbook or some other surface. I believe that certain adhesives used back in the T206 era would cause the red ink to fade. It’s based on looking at thousands of scans and seeing patterns, but it is just my opinion. It’s also possible that all the “faded red” cards that we see with back damage or adhesive residue were displayed in the sunlight for years. If that is the case, then the sun is responsible. I think that exposure to sunlight and to certain adhesives are both likely causes.

T206 Huggins and Scott collage — Auctioned off in 2012, this awesome collage shows the effect that sunlight can have on a T206

The above collage was auctioned off by Huggins and Scott in 2012. Besides being an incredibly cool piece, it’s also very useful in that it shows us the effects of sunlight on T206 and other cards from the period. Take a look at the above Pickering, Grimshaw, and Lennox. Those three (and plenty of others) make it pretty clear that red ink can fade from the front of a T206.

There has been a lot of confusion over the years about these cards. Trustworthy sellers have sold faded cards as missing red and trustworthy grading companies have mistakenly slabbed faded and altered cards as “missing red”. Nobody’s perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. The grading companies have stopped slabbing these cards as “missing ink” and I don’t think we will see those same Auction Houses offer them for sale in the future.

T206 Griffith faded red — Paper loss, adhesive residue and fading

It’s important to use common sense when looking at cards that are touted as “missing ink”. These cards were printed over 100 years ago. A lot of things can happen to a piece of cardboard in 100 years. Occam’s razor applies here. If a card appears to be missing red ink, but it also looks a little faded, and maybe has some back damage, those are big red flags.

The main thing to keep in mind is that if the card is in really poor condition, the missing red ink is very likely to be due to an alteration, whether that be sunlight or chemical damage from an adhesive. If the price is low, go ahead and grab the card. They are cool oddities. But, before you spend hundreds of dollars on a card that supposedly is missing ink, do your homework and ask an experienced friend for help.

T206 missing red Harry Niles — Paper loss on the back caused by being glued to a scrapbook or display piece

Understanding the American Beauty backs: T206 American Beauty 350 with frame (Part 2/4)

Luke February 9, 2017 November 30, 2016

American Beauty 350 with frame is the most straight-forward of all the AB subsets. The checklist consists of 190 different poses. As a result, it is easier to list the “no-prints” here than the full checklist. 184 of the cards in the AB350w/f checklist come from Print Group 2. Print group 2 consists of 202 cards. This leaves these 18 poses that were not printed with an AB350w/f back:

It’s not readily apparent why most of these players were excluded from the AB350w/f print run. Demmitt STL and O’Hara STL are the two that make sense, because we know the team name changes were made near the end of 350 series production, and they were only printed with Polar Bear backs.

That covers 184 of the 190 cards in the subset. The other 6 are the “Super Prints”, also known as Print Group 5. The Super Prints are an interesting subset that have their own rules. They were printed with more backs than any other poses in the entire set. I will most likely devote an entire post to them at some point. As you can see, all 6 were very popular players at the time:

As I said in Part One of this series, there are more T206s with AB350w/f backs in existence than AB350nf backs. The reason is that AB350w/f were printed on 190 different poses while AB350nf backs were printed on only 37 poses. So, if you just want one copy of each back and you don’t care who is on the front, you’ll have an easier time finding the AB350w/f. You’ll also most likely pay less.

One thing that many collectors do not realize is that individual poses with AB350w/f backs are usually more scarce than their AB350nf counterparts. I think the best way to illustrate this is with an example. There are 8 players who have one pose that was printed with AB350w/f back and another with AB350nf back. If you were working on player back runs for any of these players, you would most likely find the AB350w/f back tougher to locate. 4 of those players also were printed with AB460 backs. I will exclude them from the example because their Pop Reports are harder to read. PSA only recently started to differentiate between AB350nf and AB460 backs, so our Pop Report Results would be suspect if I were to include those 4 players. Here is the list of the remaining 4 players, along with PSA and SGC pop report numbers for each front/back combo*.

This example serves as a fairly random sampling of cards from each subset. As you can see, each card on the AB350w/f list is more scarce than the AB350nf pose. To get a better idea of the Pop Reports for cards with each back, play around a little bit with the PSA and SGC Pop Reports.

Some poses are very tough to find with AB350w/f and command a premium over the more common subjects. Thielman (2 combined in PSA & SGC Pop Reports) and Herbie Moran (3 combined in PSA & SGC Pop Reports) are a couple examples. There are also some subjects that are pretty easy to find. The best tool we have to help us judge scarcity is the Pop Reports, so I recommend using them to help you make a buying or selling decision.

*-For each of these players, the SGC Pop Report also lists a generic “American Beauty” back. Since these cards could be either pose, I simply excluded them from the results.

Thank you to T206resource.com for allowing me to use their checklists.

Ever noticed that some T206 cards with 350 backs have a “washed out” look to them?

Luke February 9, 2017 November 27, 2016

Me too, so I figured I’d write a post about it. This is a phenomenon that most advanced collectors are aware of. However, I don’t think there hasn’t been much written about it.

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll get right to it. Some cards from the 350 series have an unfocused, “washed out” look to them that is easy to notice once you know what you are looking for. Not all cards with 350 backs can be found with the washed out look. From what I have seen, only poses from Print Group 1 have exhibited this print anomaly. So, in theory, there should be 146 subjects that exist with a washed out image. The way I arrive at that number is taking the entire checklist of Print Group 1 (thanks to t206resource.com for the checklist) which is 159 subjects, and subtracting the 13 subjects that are 150 only poses.

“Washed out” images can be found on fronts with these backs:

Old Mill
Piedmont 350
Sovereign 350
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30

It’s really unclear at this point how this may have happened. Not all Print Group 1 cards with the above backs have washed out images. I talked with a friend recently who has a theory that there were three distinct print runs in the 350 series and that small changes were made before the printing of each. I’m very intrigued by this idea and I plan to look into it further. If I’m able to find anything of substance, I will be sure to write about it. This theory would explain the washed out image phenomenon pretty well. It would explain why some Old Mills from Print Group 1 have great focus and vivid colors, while others are unfocused and have muted colors. It seems that at some point during the 350 series run on Print Group 1, that the printing presses got out of whack for a little while and created this washed out look. That could have been at the tail-end of the 350 print run of PG1, or at the beginning and the printing presses were fixed for subsequent print runs.

I find it hard to explain exactly what we are looking at. The Old Mill Overall at the top of this post is clearly missing some of the darker colors. The red, blue, brown and black are all darker and more crisp on the SC 150/25 copy. Meanwhile, the Hahn Old Mill below actually looks darker than it’s Sov150 counterpart. Both Old Mills clearly have the same washed out look however. If anyone who has a better understanding of the printing process can shed some light on what created this “washed out” look, I would very appreciative.

Many collectors actively avoid these cards, preferring 150 backs with crisp images. I may be the only one, but I really like the washed out look. If these cards ever gained popularity, I think we would find that they are somewhat tough to find in general and that the really extreme examples are quite scarce.

T206 Brown Hindu: The Case of the Missing Red Ink

Luke February 9, 2017 November 13, 2016

If you’ve looked at enough T206 scans, you’ve probably come across some Hindus that look a little weird. Many, like this Beaumont above, were printed with very faint red ink. Others appear to be missing red altogether. This phenomenon is most pronounced on cards with red backgrounds, though it does affect other cards as well. If you take a look at my example scans, you can see that most of these cards appear to have an orange background. Some have more red than others, but all of them are noticeably more orange than a typical example with a different back.

If you take a close look at other cards with Hindu backs, you can see that red is missing, even when red didn’t figure prominently in the card’s design. These two Bradley portraits have a subtle difference; the color of the lips.

I have never heard any theory about why so many Hindus are missing red ink. It would stand to reason that quality control was not a huge concern at American Lithographic Co. where the cards where produced. After all, the cards were to be given away for free as advertising. That said, the overall quality of production across the entire set is quite high in my opinion. Most cards are well-centered with nicely aligned fronts and backs. Colors and shading can vary a bit from one example of a card to another, but rarely to the level we are looking at here.

Here’s my theory: Hindu backs were produced early in the T206 production run. My guess is that at the beginning, quality control was a little bit lax. Most of the Hindus were probably printed, even though the red was not as dark as they wanted. Once the cards were released they became a cultural sensation. People loved them, and as a result the American Tobacco Company may have wanted to ensure that subsequent printings would be of higher quality. It’s also possible that the printers didn’t realize that the design called for more red, because they hadn’t seen enough copies of the cards to be able to tell what they were meant to look like.

The Easiest T206 Back Run: Jiggs Donahue

Luke February 9, 2017 November 4, 2016

So, what’s the easiest back run to complete in the 150-350 series? Chicago White Sox first baseman Jiggs Donahue. Donahue (mis-spelled on his t206 as Donohue) is the only player from the 150-350 series that was not printed with a Hindu, El Principe de Gales or Old Mill back. All other subjects were printed with at least one of those backs, and often more than one.

Here is the complete checklist for Donahue:

Piedmont 150
Sovereign 150
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 25
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 30
Piedmont 350
Sovereign 350
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30

Donahue had a fairly nondescript career, and it helps to understand why he was not included in the aforementioned print runs. He played a little outfield and catcher in his first 3 seasons, but by the age of 22, was solely a first baseman. In 1904, his first year with the White Sox, he topped 100 games played for the first time. His career batting average (.255) and WAR (13.5) are very solid, but he rarely ranked among the top 10 in any category. In 1905, he was 7th in the A.L. in WAR for position players. He hit .287 that year, which was the 7th best average in the A.L. In 1907 he led the A.L. in games played and at bats. He never approached that number of games again. In 1908 he played just 93 and followed it up with 86 in 1909, his final year.

When production began in 1909, there was no way to know that it would be Donahue’s last year in Major League Baseball. He was just 29. So, his initial inclusion in the set makes sense. He was a young regular on one of the premier teams in the league. It also makes sense that he was omitted from the Hindu print run. For reasons unknown, only 102 of the 150 series subjects were printed with a Hindu back. So, 48 players were left off the Hindu print run. After his part-time duty in 1908, he seems like a logical candidate to be omitted. In 1910, when it came time to choose which players would be used for the EPDG and Old Mill print runs, Donahue was out of baseball and he was not printed with either back.

The thing that really doesn’t make sense is, “Why was he printed with a Sovereign 350 back when he was omitted from all of the other non-Piedmont/Sweet Caporal runs?” Only 80 subjects from the 150-350 series were used for the Sovereign 350 series. That means they chose not to use about half of the players from Print Group One. Many players who were still in the big leagues were printed with a Sovereign 150 back, but not with a Sovereign 350 back. Some players such as Bill Bergen, Wid Conroy, and Doc Crandall were left off the Sovereign 350 print run and then had another pose released later on in T206 production. So clearly, some players were left off the Sovereign 350 print run who were still popular Major Leaguers. It’s a mystery why Donahue was one of the players chosen for inclusion in the Sovereign 350 print run. Vive Lindaman, whose career ended in 1909 as well was pulled from production in 1910 right after being included in the EPDG print run, and right in the middle of the Piedmont 350 run.

Every front/back combo on Donahue’s checklist is readily available, making it a good choice for an easy introduction into collecting a back run. The card itself is one of the most beautiful from the 150-350 series in my opinion. Heck, maybe that is the reason they decided to continue to include it in 1910 print runs? We’ll probably never know the reason, but it is fun to speculate.

Auction Report: REA

Luke November 17, 2016 October 31, 2016

Another fun REA auction has come to a close. Tons of amazing T206s are going to new homes. Let’s take a look at some of the most notable cards that sold last night:

Ty Cobb Red Portrait with Ty Cobb back goes for $192,000

The Fall edition of REA ended last night. This Cobb from the recent Lucky 7 find was the headliner as far as T206s go. Not everyone agrees that this card should be cataloged as a T206 however. There has long been a debate amongst T206 historians as to whether it should be included under the T206 umbrella, or given a slightly different distinction. The main reason for this is that Red Cobbs with Ty Cobb back all have a glossy finish on the surface of the cards. Whatever you want to call it, this is a spectacular card and I imagine the new owner is very pleased.

Burch 150 series proof goes for $10,200

There were two proofs from the 150 series in this auction. This Burch and Red Kleinow, which went for $8,400. Both are amazing cards, but the Burch in particular is stunning. There have been a few proofs on the market recently, and these two went for right about what I would expect.

Broad Leaf 460 Willis SGC 50 goes for $8,400

I thought this one went for a bargain price. Some similar BL 460s have sold for more recently. A Danny Murphy SGC 55 sold for $10,200 in last year’s Fall REA auction. I’m a little surprised, but not completely. Collectors don’t seem to care (or maybe even notice) that Vic Willis is in the Hall of Fame. I’ve thought for awhile that he doesn’t get the respect he should, and this is another example.

Sovereign 150 Cobb bat on shoulder PSA 8 sells for $54,000

A stunning card in all respects, I think this one went for a very strong price. The tough back probably played a part in that. Certainly one of the finest Cobbs in existence.

Drum Purtell SGC 82 sells for $10,200

This was one of my favorite cards in the auction. It would have been mine if only I was rich. I think the buyer got a nice deal, but I’m not too surprised. Recently, on net54baseball.com, Purtell was voted the ugliest card in the T206 set. If this had been another player, the price may have gone a bit higher.

Red Hindu Baker PSA 7 goes for $7,200

The new owner of this one has to be thrilled. While I can’t say that this was a bargain, it is an absolutely beautiful card. Hall of Fame examples with Red Hindu back don’t come up for sale very often. The “Exclusive 12 Subjects” are an exception to that rule. Wheat, McGraw and Duffy are fairly easy to find with Red Hindu backs.

Back Scarcity in the T206 150-350 series: Part One

Luke February 9, 2017 October 28, 2016

In this series of blog posts, I’m going to take an in-depth look at the different backs that make up the 150-350 series (also referred to as Print Group 1). The truly rare backs were not printed until the 350 series (Broadleaf 350 and Drum) and 460 series (Broadleaf 460, Lenox, Red Hindu, and Uzit). Because the 150-350 series is made up of backs which are considered relatively common, many very tough front/back combinations fly under the radar.

Cards from Print Group 1 can be found with the following backs:

Hindu
Piedmont 150
Sovereign 150
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 25
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 30
Sweet Caporal 150 factory 649
El Principe de Gales
Piedmont 350
Sovereign 350 Forest Green
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30
Old Mill

Many of the most iconic portrait cards in the T206 set were printed in the 150-350 series. Finding a card with one of these backs is easy, but finding a specific front/back combo can sometimes be quite difficult. For example, if you want a Green Background Ty Cobb portrait with the scarcest back, you need to find one with an Old Mill back. It might seem like this should be an easy task because Old Mills seem pretty common, but it could take you a few years to locate one.

I’m going to start with a very broad overview and drill down into the individual backs to see if we can find any patterns that will help us understand the 150-350 series better.

By the Numbers

There are 159 cards in the 150-350 series. Here is the checklist (thanks to the fine folks at t206resource.com).

Below is a breakdown of the backs that make up the 150-350 series (also known as Print Group 1 and abbreviated here as PG1):

As you can see, the vast majority of PG1 is represented with these backs:

Piedmont 150 (98%)

Sovereign 150 (94%)

Sweet Caporal 150 factory 25 (96%)

Sweet Caporal 150 factory 30 (96%)

The percentage is a bit less with these backs:

Piedmont 350 (91%)

Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25 (83%)

Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30 (84%)

Old Mill (81%)

The percentage is much lower with these backs:

Hindu (64%)

Sweet Caporal 150 factory 649 (21%)

El Principe de Gales (51%)

Sovereign 350 Forest Green (50%

In some cases, the reasons for differing percentages are known. Often, certain players were traded or they retired during production of the set. These players were removed from subsequent printings. For the most part, this is why players are missing from Piedmont 350 and both Sweet Caporal 350 print runs.

In other cases, the reasons are not known. Hindu backs were issued in 1909 near the start of T206 production. They had access to the same 150 subjects that were used for the Sovereign 150 printing, but only used 102 of them. For the the El Principe de Gales print run beginning in 1910, only 81 poses from PG1 were used. Likewise, only 80 PG1 players were used for the Sovereign 350 print run.

Were these omissions chosen randomly? Or is there a pattern? Let’s find out.

Intro and what’s to come

Luke November 23, 2016 October 19, 2016 1 Comment

First of all, thank you for stopping by and taking a moment to look around. This first post is going to be a brief overview of who I am and what I hope to accomplish with this blog.

My name is Luke, and I love baseball. I’m an avid T206 collector and researcher. For the past few years, I have spent around a dozen hours a week buying, selling, and researching the set. Over time, my interest has grown, and I’ve set out to learn as much as I can.

I anticipate that the vast majority of my posts will cover one of two overarching themes. First, the set itself. This will include things like the printing process used to create the cards, back advertisements, players depicted on the cards, timeline of production, print groups, individual player scarcity, back scarcity, and other such topics. Second, the collecting of the set. These type of posts will cover things like how to get started, different ways of collecting the set, making hobby friends, reacting to market trends, trading, new acquisitions, etc. I may occasionally stray into other topics such as current events in the hobby or other deadball era baseball card sets, but I will only do this when I have a compelling reason.

I decided to start a blog for a couple reasons. First, I have learned a lot over the last 7 years that I have been collecting T206s. I wanted a place to document and organize all of my thoughts and the new things I learn along the way. Also, I really enjoy talking with and interacting with other collectors. I think a blog is a great way to share knowledge and start a conversation. Working on a personal collection of anything is inherently a solitary endeavor. I have found that sharing it with others is what really gives meaning to a collector’s journey. I plan to post twice week and be active on social media and email. I hope you’ll stop by and be a regular visitor.