T206 collector Erick Summers, known on net54 as “t206hound” has sniffed out another elusive prize. This time, he found one of the crown jewels of the T206 set, a Broad Leaf 460 back. And not just any Broad Leaf 460. The front of the card features Hall of Famer Frank “Home Run” Baker. I caught up with Erick to learn more about his most recent T206 discovery.
Q: This is amazing! Congrats! So, where did you find it?
A: It was affixed to a poster along with the other cards in this Huggins & Scott auction lot:
Q: What made you decide to go after that lot?
A: After being out of the hobby for about a year, I recently sold my Sweet Caporal 460 Factory 42 subset and had some money to play with, so I had been looking for something interesting. There were two lots in the Huggins auction that caught my eye, but this one really intrigued me. Of the 111 cards, there were 16 HOF including Cobb, Young and Johnson. There was also an Elberfeld Washington Portrait, a card I’ve never owned. With such a high percentage of “high value” cards (even in lower condition), I figured I could get the thrill of treasure hunting for a tougher back, but still get close to my money back in resale in the likely scenario of all common backs.
Q: Have you ever bought any similar display pieces with the backs obscured?
A: I’ve been tempted before, but never pulled the trigger. I’ve soaked cards in the past, so I’m familiar with the practice. These cards were all rough, so I wasn’t worried too much about ending up with cards with back damage in the event that the cards didn’t come off clean. I was more concerned about cards being offset as it was apparent that the cards on front and back of the display were not aligned. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to “sacrifice” a card on one side to remove another.
Q: If so, have you ever found any rare backs in similar fashion?
A: Never. In fact, this purchase looked like it was going to yield nothing but Sweet Caporals. It wasn’t until I got to the two Crawfords that I came across a different back. The Crawford was one of only four Sovereigns to go along with 106 Sweet Caps. I had been texting Johnny Vanderbeck and the last message I received from him before seeing the Broadleaf was “I’m hoping you have something really crazy in there.” It took me two more hours before I had moved on to the Baker. I got glimpse of the back of the Baker, and I saw that the back was brown. Initially I was thinking it was a Hindu as I didn’t recall that Baker isn’t available with that advertisement. Imagine my surprise when I saw “Leaf” on the back.
Q: Have you decided if you will keep it?
A: I’m honestly not much of a collector as I enjoy the hunt more than acquisition. However, in this case I’m going to keep the card. The other 110 cards, however, will likely find new homes.
1 comments