Tag: Uzit

Some Things To Consider Before Starting a T206 Back Run

T206 is the greatest baseball card set of all time.  Since you’re here, you probably already knew that.  One of the reasons is there are so many different ways to collect T206s.  One of the more popular approaches in the “back run”.  A back run is a collection of cards where the fronts are the same, but the backs are all different.

The most important thing to think about before beginning to collect a back run is, “Which backs are a part of the run?”  Some poses will make for a fairly easy-to-complete project, while others are pretty much impossible.  For example, a Dode Criss back run consists of 7 different front/back combos.  The toughest backs in the run are Old Mill and Sovereign 150.  Neither should be too difficult to find, nor should they break the bank.  In contrast, a Ty Cobb Red Background Portrait back run consists of 24 different front/back combos.  A few of those combos are impossible to find, and even harder to afford.   There are only 2 examples of the Broad Leaf 460, both firmly entrenched in collections.  Finding a Red Cobb with a Drum, Carolina Brights, Blank Back or Red Hindu back would be similarly tough.

Before you commit to chasing a T206 back run, you should find out which backs exist for each pose that you are considering.    Some collectors will want to find a back run that is fairly easy and inexpensive to complete, while others may prefer more of a challenge, and not be deterred by a larger financial commitment.

Gibson is a 150-350 Series pose

Let’s take a look at how the T206 Print Groups can help you select a pose that suits your preferences:

150-350 Series:

With just a few exceptions, a pose from the 150-350 Series will be easier (and cheaper) to complete than a pose from the rest of the set.  The toughest backs in this series are Old Mill and Hindu.  Either back can take awhile to locate, but it won’t break the bank once you do.

350 Only Series:

Completing a back run featuring a 350 Series subject is tougher than a 150-350 pose.  350 Series poses are found with some combination of the following scarce backs: Broad Leaf 350, Carolina Brights, Drum, Tolstoi.  Most 350 Series poses will have some, but not all of those backs.  For example, Tris Speaker is known with all 4 of those backs, but Jimmy Collins is only known with Carolina Brights and Tolstoi backs.

Murphy (With Bat) is a 350-460 Series subject

350-460 Series:

Other than the Super Prints, this series contains some of the toughest back run subjects you could choose.  This series features Drum, Black Lenox, Piedmont 42, Red Hindu, and Uzit backs.

460 Only Series:

These poses can be found with some combination of American Beauty 460, Black Lenox, Brown Lenox, Cycle 460, Piedmont 42, Red Hindu, and Uzit backs.

Super Prints:

The Super Prints* were so named because they were printed with so many backs.  The Red Background Ty Cobb Portrait mentioned above was printed with 24 backs.  The exact back makeup of the six poses differs, but they can be found with the following array of rare backs: Broad Leaf 350, Broad Leaf 460, Carolina Brights, Drum, and Black Lenox.

Southern Leaguers:

A Southern Leaguer back run can range from very easy to complete, to near impossible.  14 poses were printed with only Piedmont 350 and Old Mill backs.  Another 34 poses were printed with Piedmont 350, Old Mill, and Brown Hindu backs.  If those two or three backs is all you are looking for, it should be a fairly easy and affordable project.  However, some Southern Leaguers were also printed with the extremely rare Brown Old Mill back.  In addition, Southern League poses can be found with a blank back.  If the poses you are working on exists with both Brown Old Mill and Blank backs, that is going to make for an incredibly expensive and challenging project.

Mailbag: Why Is It That Most T206 Hall of Fame Portraits Were Not Printed With Rare Backs?

A couple different friends have asked me recently why it is so hard to find a T206 Portrait of a Hall Of Famer with a rare back. The answer is pretty simple.  Most of them were never printed with a truly rare back.  For the purposes of this article (and all my other work) “rare backs” refers to Carolina Brights, Broad Leaf 350, Black Lenox, Brown Lenox, Red Hindu, Drum, and Broad Leaf 460*.  Let’s get into why.

There are 31 Portraits in the T206 set that feature a Hall of Famer.  23 of them were printed in the 150-350 Series.  The rarest backs that were printed in the 150-350 Series are Old Mill and Brown Hindu.

These 23 Hall Of Fame Portraits were printed during the 150-350 Series (along with the rarest back(s) the pose was printed with):

  • Bender (Old Mill)
  • Bresnahan (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Brown (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Chance Red Background (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Chesbro (Old Mill)
  • Clarke (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Cobb Green Background (Old Mill)
  • Evers (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Griffith (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Jennings (Old Mill)
  • Johnson (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Joss (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Keeler (Old Mill)
  • Lajoie (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Mathewson (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • McGraw No Cap (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Plank
  • Tinker (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Waddell (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Wagner
  • Walsh (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Willis (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)
  • Young (Brown Hindu & Old Mill)

These 8 Hall of Fame Portraits were printed in later Series (and which rare backs they were printed with):

  • Beckley (350 Series – Broad Leaf 350)
  • Chance Yellow Background (Super Print – Broad Leaf 350, Carolina Brights, Drum, Lenox, Red Hindu)
  • Cobb Red Background (Super Print – Broad Leaf 350, Broad Leaf 460, Carolina Brights, Drum, Lenox, Red Hindu)
  • Eddie Collins (350 Series – Broad Leaf 350 & Carolina Brights)
  • Jimmy Collins (350 Series – Carolina Brights)
  • Huggins (350 Series – Broad Leaf 350)
  • Marquard (350 Series – Broad Leaf 350)
  • McGraw With Cap (460 Only Series -Lenox, Uzit)

The above 8 poses were printed with various rare backs**.  They definitely are not easy to find, but at least they exist.  To learn exactly which poses were printed with each back, I recommend perusing the checklists at t206resource.com.

The moral of the story is, if you attempt to own the rarest back for a given Hall of Fame Portrait, you will become very well acquainted with Brown Hindu and Old Mill backs.

* I did not include Blank Backs in this list because they don’t follow the same patterns as all other backs.  This is because were not intended to exist.

** They were also printed with various mid-tier backs such as American Beauty, Cycle, EPDG, Piedmont 42, and Tolstoi.  I didn’t list each because that is beyond the scope of this article.

Taking a Look Back at the Crazy Prices for T206 Rare Backs in the October REA Auction

Back on October 28th, the Fall REA auction ended.  Prices were very strong across the board on rare T206 backs.  In the days following the auction, I wondered if we were going to see a sustained rise in the value of tougher-backed T206s.  However, in the six weeks since the auction ended, that does not appear to have been the case.  Let’s take a look at the REA sales results, as well as some more recent sales from Heritage, Love of the Game, and eBay.

REA Fall Auction Results:

  • American Beauty 350 With Frame Cobb Red Background Portrait PSA 6 – $33,000
  • Black Lenox Cobb Red Background PSA 3 – $30,000

  • Cycle 460 Cobb Bat Off Shoulder PSA 1.5 – $18,000
  • Brown Old Mill Helm SGC A – $11,400

  • Brown Lenox McQuillan With Bat PSA 1.5 – $9,000

  • Uzit Chase Holding Trophy PSA 2(mk) – $6,600
  • Brown Hindu Mathewson Portrait PSA 1 – $6,600
  • Carolina Brights Lavender PSA 4 – $4,200
  • Cycle 460 Crawford With Bat PSA 7 – $3,900
  • Black Lenox Chance Batting PSA 3 – $3,600
  • Cycle 460 Cobb Red Background Portrait SGC A – $3,300
  • Black Lenox Frill PSA 2 – $3,000

  • Broad Leaf 350 Clancy PSA 3 – $2,700
  • Carolina Brights Puttman SGC 50 – $2,700
  • Carolina Brights Shad Barry SGC 3.5 – $2,700
  • Carolina Brights Dinneen PSA 4 – $2,700
  • Carolina Brights Krause Portrait SGC 3 – $2,280
  • American Beauty 460 Meyers Portrait PSA 6 – $2,160
  • Carolina Brights Bush SGC 1.5 – $1,920

  • American Beauty 460 Bescher Hands in Air PSA 6 – $1,920
  • Carolina Brights Burns SGC 2.5 – $1,800
  • Red Hindu McGraw Glove at Hip PSA 3 – $1,560

Heritage Auction’s “Fall Sports Card Catalog Auction” ended on November 16th:

  • Brown Old Mill Dutch Jordan SGC A – $15,600
  • Broad Leaf 350 Rhoades SGC 3 – $1,560

  • Red Hindu McGraw Glove at Hip SGC 2.5 – $1,546
  • Red Hindu O’Leary SGC 3 – $1,440

  • Broad Leaf 350 Nattress SGC 1 – $900

Love of the Game’s “Fall 2018 Premier Auction” ended on November 25th:

  • Uzit Merkle PSA 2 – $3,690

  • Uzit Lake No Ball in Hand SGC 30 – $2,583

  • Lenox Wiltse Portrait w/ Cap SGC 30 – $1,800

The following rare backs sold on ebay in the same time-frame:

  • Carolina Brights Schlafly SGC 5.5 – $2,284 (sold on 11-07-2018)

  • Lenox Wiltse Portrait w/ Cap SGC 40 – $2,026 (sold on 12-12-2018)

  • Carolina Brights Dinneen PSA 3 – $1,295 (sold on 11-28-2018)
  • Carolina Brights Jesse Tannehill PSA 2 – $1,000 (sold on 12-12-2018)
  • Carolina Brights Freeman PSA 1.5 – $700 (sold on 12-13-2018)

T206 Hall of Fame Front/Back Combo Power Rankings: The Elite (Top 10)

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I was talking with a friend last week about the Tris Speaker Drum that ended in Memory Lane recently and the phrase “Top 10 front/back combo” rolled off my tongue in explaining how significant a card it is.  I had a strong feeling that Speaker belonged in the top 10, but I wasn’t exactly sure what the list actually looked like.  So I figured, why not put together a Top Ten list of the most desirable Hall of Fame front/back examples?  I’ve chosen to leave Wagner and Plank off the list because they are coveted for their fronts rather than the combination of their fronts and a rare back.  I’m also leaving the Ty Cobb back off this list as it is debatable whether that card should be classified as a T206.  That is probably a subject for a future article.  Without further ado, here it is (in my humble opinion of course):

#1.  Ty Cobb Red Portrait Broad Leaf 460

The biggest star in the set combined with the scarcest back (not counting Brown Old Mill and Brown Lenox, which were produced by mistake).  There is one copy of this card known in the hobby.  I wrote an article about the incredible collection that this card resides in.  You may read about it here if you are so inclined.

#2.  Ty Cobb Red Portrait Drum

No surprise here.  Cobb’s second most desirable front/back combo is the Drum.  As of this writing, there are three examples known.  Two are graded by PSA and one by SGC.

#3.  Ty Cobb Bat off Shoulder Brown Lenox

Another near impossible Cobb card, this one has been graded twice, once each by PSA and SGC.

#4.  Walter Johnson Hands at Chest Broad Leaf 460

The Big Train’s most desirable cards comes in fourth on the list.  There appear to be two known copies,  both incredibly nice.  The above SGC 60 and a PSA 4.5.  It’s very possible that this is just one card, which has been crossed from the SGC 60 to a PSA 4.5.

#5.  Cy Young Glove Shows Broad Leaf 460

There appears to be only one copy of this card, and it is an absolute beauty.  SGC graded this card above, and PSA has graded a PSA 5.5.  I am guessing this card was purchased in the SGC holder and crossed over to a PSA slab.

#6.  Christy Mathewson Dark Cap Broad Leaf 460

Matty’s most sought after card clocks in a sixth.  Really, I could arranged Matty, Cy, and WaJo in any order, but I think this order is most in line with the prices that each card tends to sell for.  SGC has graded two copies of this combo (both graded “A”) and PSA has not graded any.

#7.  Walter Johnson Hands at Chest Drum

There appear to be two copies of this card graded.  This one graded by SGC and likely crossed to a PSA 4, and another PSA 1.5.

#8.  Christy Mathewson Dark Cap Drum

This combo has not been graded by either SGC or PSA.  It is however, confirmed to exist on T206resource.com.

#9.  Tris Speaker Drum

The first non-Cobb/WaJo/Young/Matty on the list is Tris Speaker’s most desirable front/back combo.  SGC and PSA each show a single entry for this card, and both are graded “1”s.

10.  Ty Cobb Bat off Shoulder Uzit

The fourth Cobb on the list and the only Uzit, this combo barely edged out the honorable mentions below.  This combo is significantly easier to find than any above.  SGC has graded four copies, while PSA has graded six.

 

Honorable Mentions:

Addie Joss Hands at Chest Broad Leaf 460

Mordecai Brown Chicago on Shirt Broad Leaf 460

Nap Lajoie With Bat Brown Lenox

Frank Chance Yellow Portrait Drum

Sam Crawford Batting Drum

Auction Report: Memory Lane Spring 2017

The latest Memory Lane auction concluded on Saturday evening/Sunday morning.  It was absolutely loaded with T206s.  It appears that an entire set was auctioned off, one card at a time.  Many of the cards were in high grade, and the ones that weren’t had scarce backs.  Let’s get right to the recap.

Wagner PSA 2 sells for a cool $600,000
You know it’s a special auction when there’s a Wagner up for sale.  The grade is a bit of a head-scratcher, but the card is a beauty regardless.  Congrats to the new owner!

Plank PSA 4 sells for $76,800
An absolutely beautiful centered copy with a flawless surface.  I love this card and I bet the new owner does as well.

SGC 60 Magie Error sells for $40,800 

Cobb Bat Off Lenox SGC 40 sells for $41,249
A week after the PSA 6 Uzit Cobb sold in REA for $106k, this copy finds a new home as well.  It’s a very strong card for the grade.  One of many absolute monster cards in this auction.

Speaker Drum PSA 1 sells for $26,534
One of the top 10 combos in my humble opinion, this card was in the middle of a spirited bidding war.  When the dust settled, the hammer was a healthy $26k.  In much the same way that the Wagner does not look like a “2”, this card doesn’t look like a “1”.  It’s a beautiful card for the grade.  The rounded corners and creases above his head don’t detract from the overall eye appeal much.

Carolina Brights Mathewson Dark Cap PSA 3 sells for $12,113
This card is an absolute beauty.  The colors are incredible, the surface and back are clean and the centering is solid.

Tinker Bat Off Shoulder Lenox PSA 3.5 sells for $11,011
Another extremely tough card that looks amazing for the grade.

Hindu Johnson Portrait PSA 2 sells for $6,060
Yet another example of a scarce front/back combo in this auction where the eye appeal far exceeded the technical grade.  This card looks like a 4 to me, and it looks like the bidders agreed.

Hindu Lajoie Portrait PSA 2 sells for $5,918
Like the WaJo Hindu, this one looks much nicer than a “2”.  The price was pretty hefty.  I’m surprised that Lajoie went for essentially the same price as the WaJo, especially considering that the WaJo looks like a slightly nicer card in terms of eye appeal.

Autographed Crawford with bat Polar Bear sells for $4,903
This card is an absolute beauty.  The signature is clean and the card looks to be in a clean VGEX.  The Polar Bear back adds to the appeal of this rare specimen.

Broad Leaf 460 Baker SGC 10 sells for $3,110
It doesn’t get much better than a Hall of Famer with a Broad Leaf 460 back.  This card has some obvious issues, and they no doubt kept the price down.  This feels to me like a good deal for the winner.  It’s definitely not every day you get a shot at a BL460 HOFer.

Kelley Broad Leaf 350 PSA 1 sells for $2,147
Kelley is one of the more scarce BL350s, and the price reflected that.  This is a pretty nice looking card for the grade and it could be a long while before another copy comes to market.

Auction Report: REA Spring 2017

Another incredible REA auction is in the books.  As usual, I’ll be focusing on the T206s that were sold, but they were just a tiny percentage of the amazing offerings in the auction.  This auction had a little something for almost everyone.  There were pristine Cobbs and rare backs for the high-rollers, and lower grade rarities for the collector-grade folks.  In this wrap-up, I’ll try to spotlight a selection from both ends of the spectrum.

Cobb Bat Off Shoulder Uzit PSA 6 Sells for $108,000
This card is absolutely stunning.  A high-grade copy of one of the toughest and most sought after rare backs.

Cobb Green Portrait SGC 60 Sells for $9,000
Yet another mid-grade Green Cobb hit the market and did quite well.  This one is a beauty.

Four 150-350 Series Proofs Sell for $7,200 – $8,400

Bates $8,400
Alperman $8,400 
Jacklitsch $7,800
Wagner $7,200

I was a little surprised that the Alperman didn’t sell for more than the other three.  As the only one of the quartet to not feature a name caption, it has much more appeal to me personally.  Apparently the guys who actually have the money to bid on these don’t feel the same.

Magie Error PSA A Sells for $5,400
A nice looking card with a slight trim from top-to-bottom.

Cobb Green Portrait PSA 2 Sells for $5,400
Quite the strong price for this one.  It’s either a case of someone buying the card, rather than the holder, or someone thinking they can remove the tape residue on the back of the card and elevate the grade to a 3.5 or 4.

Bell Lenox SGC 50 Sells for $3,600
A beautiful example, this one sold for about what you’d expect.

Arellanes Broad Leaf 350 SGC 50 Sells for $3,300
This card is amazing.  Love the baby blue background and the back is clean and looks great.

Pelty Horizontal Hindu PSA 5 Sells for $2,700

Stovall with Bat Lenox SGC 30 Sells for $1,920
Another tough Lenox back, this one has great eye appeal for the grade.  The only flaws are the spots of paper loss on the back.  Luckily, they don’t affect any of the text.

Young Portrait El Principe De Gales PSA 3 Sells for $2,280
This is very strong “3” and it sold for a strong price.  Seeing this result makes me wonder what a nice PSA 3 Old Mill or Hindu would fetch at auction.

Dougherty Portrait Hindu SGC 60 Sells for $1,560
Waddell Portrait SGC 40 Sells for $1,320
Walsh Hindu SGC 40 Sells for $1200
Tinker Hands on Knees Hindu SGC 20 Sells for $1,080
I thought these Hindus were a nice value for the new owners.  All are really solid examples with great eye appeal.

Magee with Bat Red Hindu Sells for $1,440
This was the only Red Hindu in the auction, and it’s a beauty.  I personally value cards of guys like Magee who were stars at the time more than a similar card of a player who had a less notable career.  This card seems to have gone for a strong price, and I wonder if his status as a guy who just barely missed the Hall of Fame might have something to do with it.

Brown Chicago on Shirt Piedmont Factory 42 Sells for $840
This was one of my personal favorites in the auction.  It’s a great looking “3” and it’s not every day you can find this pose with a tough back.

The Greatest T206 Back Run Ever Assembled: Ty Cobb Red Background Portrait

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Completing any back run that includes Broad Leaf 460, Red Hindu, and/or Lenox is a daunting project.  Attempting to complete a Ty Cobb Red Background Portrait back run is sheer lunacy.  But that’s just what T206 collector Jamie Blundell set out to do in 2013.

The story actually starts in December of 2011.  A Cobb portrait with Drum back was auctioned off via ebay and Jamie’s bid held up.  Any time you get a Drum, the thought of a back run inevitably comes to mind, since you’ve just added one of the toughest possible backs (at least so I’ve heard, no Drum for me yet).  The idea did occur to him, but at that point the rest of the cards he would have to acquire still seemed too far out of reach.

Fast forward to Spring of 2013.  Jamie was killing some time scrolling through posts on the net54baseball.com forum.  He stumbled upon a test page where another collector had uploaded scans of 17 different Red Background Ty Cobb Portraits, all with different backs.  Upon seeing all those different Cobbs lined up together, he was fixated on the idea of putting together a Cobb run of his own.  Jamie made the following checklist of every Red Background Ty Cobb:

  1. SC 350 25
  2. SC 350 30
  3. SC 460 25
  4. SC 460 30
  5. SC 460 42
  6. SC 460 42 OP
  7. Pied 350
  8. Pied 460 25
  9. Pied 460 42
  10. Sov 350
  11. Sov 460
  12. Old Mill
  13. Polar Bear
  14. Tolstoi
  15. Cycle 350
  16. Cycle 460
  17. American beauty 350 Frame
  18. EPDG
  19. Carolina Brights
  20. Red Hindu
  21. Black Lenox
  22. Drum
  23. Broadleaf 460
  24. Blank Back
  25. T213 Type 1
  26. T213 Type 2
  27. T213 Type 3
  28. T213 Type 3 Overprint
  29. T214 Victory
  30. Cobb back

To say that list is intimidating would be a severe understatement.  However, he already had one of the toughest cards on the list, and was about to add another.  In April 2013 a Cobb portrait with Lenox back showed up on ebay, but it was in a GAI holder, and it sat there for a few days despite a low Buy It Now price.  Jamie decided to take a gamble on it and immediately sent it to SGC, who agreed with GAI’s assessment that the card was authentic and unaltered.

“That was the defining moment.. my first two Cobbs were the Drum and the Lenox… and at that point I decided to make a run at it.”

Over the course of the next 5 months, he added 14 more to the run including the very tough Cycle 460.

  • April 2013 – Polar Bear
  • May 2013 – SC 350-460 Fact 25, SC 350-460 Fact 30, SC 350-460 Fact 42 w/ Overprint, T213 Coupon Type 2
  • June 2013 – Tolstoi, Piedmont 350, SC 350/25, SC 350/30, SC 350-460 Fact 42 
  • July 2013 – Sovereign 350, Old Mill, Cycle 460, Piedmont 460 25

September 2013 was an absolutely huge month for the back run:

  • Sept 2013 – Cycle 350, Red Hindu, T213 Coupon Type 1, American Beauty 350

The Cycle 350 is a tough card in its own right, but it was overshadowed by three extremely rare combos.  The T213 Coupon Type 1 and American Beauty were acquired in separate private transactions with fellow net54 forum members.  The Red Hindu trade is my favorite story.  Here it is in Jamie’s own words:

“I was emailing with another collector who I knew had three Cobb Red Hindus.  Yes you read that right.  Only 6 known to exist, and this collector had three.  I really thought the Red Hindu was one I would never get.  But this collector was willing to perhaps trade me for several of my errors and rare backs.  The only problem: We would have to meet face to face.  No trade of this magnitude can be done remotely.  As fate would have it I had a work appointment within a one-hour drive of this collector.  So we agreed to meet to see if a trade was possible.  I flew out a day early, met with him
and traded 15 of my cards (which included a Brown Lenox back, many tough front-back combinations, blank backs, mis-cuts, and ghost images) for one very clean PSA 1 Red Hindu Cobb.  I flew home in disbelief that I’d just combined the Drum, the Lenox and the Red Hindu.  I knew the Red Hindu was on the checklist of 30, but it was off of my mental checklist.  I just assumed I would not get it, and if I did, it would be a very long time before I would see one for sale. The opportunity to own one so early in my quest was fantastic.  So, I literally flew across country for that card.
So now I am 5 months into the back run and I have reached 20 backs.  I was thrilled with my progress, but I also knew it was about to get much tougher if I wanted to continue.  In my mind I was happy to reach 20.  That was my personal goal.  Why not keep going…”

In November 2013, after taking a short pause to breathe, Jamie began to search for the ultra-rare Broad Leaf 460.  There is only one copy of this card known to exist, graded SGC 10.  Finding the card was quite a challenge.   Jamie scoured the internet looking for clues as to the card’s whereabouts.  Eventually, he found a post on a forum from 2003 that led him to the card’s owner.  He had owned it since 2005 and was understandably hesitant to part with it.  In time, he decided the card would find a good home in Jamie’s epic back run.  The two collectors settled on a price, and Jamie became the proud new owner.  This card is the pinnacle of this incredible collection.

“This was, and still is to this day the most expensive card I have ever purchased.  I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to put the Broad Leaf, Drum, Red Hindu and Lenox together in the same collection.”
  • Dec 2013 – Piedmont 460 fact 42, Sov 460, EPDG

The train kept rolling in December.  Jamie traded a Blank Back Southern Leaguer and cash for the very tough Piedmont Factory 42 Cobby.  Next up was the scarce and underrated Sovereign 460.  A friend was working on the Sovereign 460 subset but decided to split it up and send the Cobb to Jamie for his back run.

  •   Feb 2014 – Blank Back

“60 days after my last Cobb, and a blank back comes up for auction.  This is one of two known!!!  Once I confirmed the card was authentic I knew I had to acquire it.  It might be my last chance at a Blank Back.  As the auction wound down, I made a bid, but was outbid at 2:00 A.M.  I woke up to the outbid email.  Good thing because my next bid is what won the card!  Went back to bed after bidding and woke up crossing off another card I never thought it would be possible to attain.”

At this point, Jamie had 25 of the possible 30 backs on his checklist.  The last 5 were some of the toughest and most coveted cards in the hobby: Carolina Brights (the only card left on the checklist that is universally considered a T206), T214 Victory, T213 type 3, T213 type 3 with Factory 8 overprint, and the iconic Ty Cobb back.  Some time passed, and then:

  • March 2015 – Carolina Brights, bought privately from a Net54 board member
  • August 2015 – T213 Type 3 with Factory 8 Overprint
“A huge breakthrough.  I found a Type 3 Coupon.  Two weeks later, I traded it with additional cash to a collector who I knew owned the only T213 Type 3 with factory 8 overprint… A true 1 of 1.  I crossed off the Coupon type 3 Factory 8 Overprint but had to give up the T213 normal type 3 to get it.  So that left me still needing the normal Type 3 Coupon.  I figured it would be easier to find another Type 3 Coupon and needed to secure the factory 8 overprint.  So I was happy to make the deal.”

At this point, the run was only missing 3 cards: Ty Cobb back, T213 Type 3, and T214 Victory.  As you can imagine, it was getting extremely tough to find the cards Jamie needed.  11 months passed, and then he found another:

  • July 2016 – T213 Type 3 
“Two net54 board members were at a regional trade show and saw one for sale.  Knowing I might be interested they contacted me, bought it for me, and sold it to me.  The type 3 completed the T213 Coupon run of all 4 possible backs: T213 Type 1, 2, 3 and 3 with OP.”

This brought the run to a staggering 28 cards.  I have no qualms with declaring this the greatest T206 Back Run that has ever been assembled.  In terms of T206 Cobbs, many people would argue that the run is complete.  Collectors are kind of split as to whether the Ty Cobb back should be considered a T206 or not.  I personally don’t consider it a T206 so to me, the T206 portion of Jamie’s run is complete.

This is where his collection sits today.  There are still two cards on Jamie’s want-list, and they are TOUGH.  Jamie plans to loan his Cobbies to the Detroit Tigers for a year or two so that they can display them, but he’s hoping to land the T214 Victory first.  There are only two copies known, so it’s not going to be easy.  But if this project has proven one thing, it’s that anything is possible.