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:
- SC 350 25
- SC 350 30
- SC 460 25
- SC 460 30
- SC 460 42
- SC 460 42 OP
- Pied 350
- Pied 460 25
- Pied 460 42
- Sov 350
- Sov 460
- Old Mill
- Polar Bear
- Tolstoi
- Cycle 350
- Cycle 460
- American beauty 350 Frame
- EPDG
- Carolina Brights
- Red Hindu
- Black Lenox
- Drum
- Broadleaf 460
- Blank Back
- T213 Type 1
- T213 Type 2
- T213 Type 3
- T213 Type 3 Overprint
- T214 Victory
- 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.
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