Category: Collecting Tips

Some More Things to Consider Before Starting a T206 Back Run

Last week’s article focused on what I believe to be the most important consideration when it comes to starting a T206 back run.  Namely, finding out which backs exist for a given pose.  I took a broad look at which backs you can expect to need for your run based on which T206 Print Group your preferred pose falls into.

In a way, I got ahead of myself last week.  Knowing which backs make up the run is definitely important, but it probably won’t be the main reason why you choose a certain pose for your back run.  There are many reasons why collectors choose their back run’s subject.  Let’s take a look at some of them:

Player Collectors

This is one of the more common reasons to choose a player/pose for a back run.  If you pick based on a player, you don’t have to worry about any of the other selection criteria.  Unless the player you want to collect has more than one pose.  In that case you will want to take into consideration which backs exist for each pose.

For example, let’s say you want to do a back run featuring John McGraw.  You have four poses to choose from.  You can pick the one that looks the best to you, or the one that presents the biggest challenge, or the one that will the easiest or most cost-effective to complete.

The easiest would be McGraw’s Finger in Air pose as it only consists of a tough Old Mill, Sovereign 150 & 350, and a bunch of Piedmont and Sweet Caporal backs.

The toughest pose would be either Portrait With Cap or Glove at Hip.  There is only one known McGraw Glove at Hip with a Uzit back, so that would present quite a challenge.  Old Mill and Cycle 460 would also be very tough to locate.  Uzit, Lenox, American Beauty 460 and Cycle 460 backs are the biggest obstacles to completing a back run featuring McGraw Portrait With Cap.

Team Collectors

If you’re a team collector, it makes a lot of sense to choose a player from your favorite team as your back run subject.  In most cases, you’ll have multiple options.  This is nice because you can choose a pose based on which backs it was printed with in conjunction with how costly you want the project to be.

Share the same last name

This is a great reason to start a back run, but as with the player collector, doesn’t give you a ton of flexibility to customize the difficulty of the project.

Love the look of the pose

This selection criteria obviously doesn’t allow any flexibility.

Start with one of the rarest backs

This is another common reason that collectors choose to start a back run.  This method involves waiting until you acquire a card with a rare back, and then starting a back run for that pose.  It makes a lot of sense to knock out one of the toughest backs and start there.  I’ve done this in the past, and I know many other collectors who have as well.

Customize the Difficulty of Your Back Run:

Whether you want a project that is so hard to complete that it could take decades, or you want something you can finish within a couple years, the T206 set offers a pose to suit your preference.

How to Find Out Exactly Which Backs Exist for a Given Pose?

Click on this link ————–>  T206resource.com

From the checklist page of t206resource.com, click on each individual back and look for the pose that you have chosen as your back run subject.

There are spreadsheets out there that list back checklists by player, but I have yet to see one that is without errors.  The checklists on t206resource.com are the best that I have seen, so I recommend just using them and verifying each back individually.

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: What is The Best Scanner for Graded Cards?

I could make this a really long post with tons of in-depth information on how scanners work.  Thankfully, that is not necessary.  If you plan to use your scanner for more complicated projects than just scanning slabbed cards, then you do need to do some additional research.  Although if you have the need for a high-end scanner, you probably already have one.  For our purposes, there is just one thing you need to know:

There are two main types of “scanning elements”: CIS and CCD.  You need a scanner with a CCD element.

The reason you see so many horrible blurry scans of graded cards is that most commercially available scanners have a CIS element.  If your scanner has a CIS element, you will always have blurry scans of graded cards.

CIS Element:

CIS stands for Contact Image Sensor.  The full name actually does a pretty good job of explaining why a scanner with a CIS element does a poor job of scanning graded cards.  CIS elements scan the surface that is directly against the glass.  Scanners with CIS elements do a great job of scanning raw cards because they are laying directly on the glass.  When you place a graded card on a CIS scanner, the scanner is scanning the front of the plastic slab, leaving the image of the card behind very blurry.

CCD Element:

CCD (which stands for Charged Coupled Device) technology was originally intended to be used for scanning film slides.  Scanners with CCD elements can focus on the image in a slide (or a card in a slab) rather than just the first layer of plastic (in the case of a slabbed card) or paper (in the case of a film slide).

In order to make sure you’re buying the right scanner, you have look through the specs and make sure your target scanner clearly states that it has a CCD element.  Like I said earlier, if you get a scanner with a CIS element, you will have blurry scans.  There aren’t any adjustments you can make to improve the quality of scans.

All of the scans you see on this website were taken with my Epson Perfection v33 scanner.  It’s a refurbished unit that I got on eBay for $40.  If you currently have a scanner with a CIS element and you own graded cards, buying yourself a scanner with a CCD element may be the best present you can give yourself for the price.  As you can see from my example, you can get one for the price of a PSA 2.5 T206 common.

T206 Collecting Tips for Beginners: It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint

I recall a Tony Robbins quote where he said something to the effect of:

People overestimate what they can achieve in a year.  But they underestimate what they can do in five years.

Obviously, opinions are going to differ on Tony Robbins, but the quote stuck with me because it describes my T206 collecting journey perfectly.  I started collecting T206s in 2010.  I joined net54 and spent hours poring over old threads in an attempt to learn as much as possible about the set.  A side effect of joining net54 was that I was also constantly looking at scans of other people’s collections.

I was working with a budget of around $200 a month, and my collection was tiny.  Looking at all the amazing, valuable items that other people owned was a bit daunting.  How was I supposed to a build a collection anywhere near as impressive as these guys when I was only able to buy a couple lower grade Hall of Famers each month?

I tried to avoid any negative thoughts and just enjoy the hunt, and cards I did have.  But I couldn’t help feeling discouraged from time to time.  Honestly, I didn’t expect those feelings to ever go away completely.  After all, there will always be someone out there with a bigger and better collection than yours.

Around three years ago, I was looking through my collection and it occurred to me that I hadn’t felt discouraged in that same way in quite awhile.  I thought about why that might be.  Could it have been because I had made an effort to just enjoy the hobby and not get caught up in comparing my collection to anyone else’s?  Or maybe it was the fact that I had consciously made it a priority to spend more time enjoying my collection than searching for cards to add to it?  Both of those things played a part, to be sure, but I think the most impactful elements were time and effort.  There’s a bit of a “compounding interest” effect with building a collection.  The cards you add to the collection in a given month may not seem like they are moving the needle much, but over time they can add up to something really significant.

When you are just getting started with your T206 collection, it’s hard to imagine your collection in the future, as a finished product, and therefore easy to get discouraged.  It’s difficult for humans to imagine what their effort multiplied over days, weeks, months, and years will look like.  And even harder to imagine what the fruits of that labor will look like.  If you consistently spend time looking for good deals and tough-to-find cards, you will get some hits here and there.  Over time, those cards begin to stack up.

Collecting is as much (if not more) about “the hunt” as it is about owning the items we collect.  As long as you are having fun collecting T206s, the rest will take care of itself.  And if you’re still collecting the set five years from now, you’re going to be surprised at how many great cards you’ve found between then and now.

T206 Ghosts, Wet Sheet Transfers, and Post-Factory Transfers Explained

There is a lot of confusion and misinformation out there with regard to T206 ghosts.  As a result, collectors are often hesitant to collect them, for fear of being taken advantage of.  It doesn’t help that many sellers misrepresent what they are selling.  So, let’s get into it.

“Ghosts”

A “ghost” is a card that has one or more layers of ink printed out of registration in a way that creates a “ghost-like” effect.  The McBride above has a ghost printed in light black ink slightly above and to the left of the main image.  The Hoblitzell below has the ghost off to the right of the main image.  You’ll also notice part of the card that was printed to the left of Hoblitzell is also visible.  These are the most fun types of ghosts to find, as it tells you which player was printed next door to Hoblitzell.  In this case, Hoblitzell’s sheet-mate is Art Fromme.

Ghosts can occur on either the front or back of a T206, though the front is much more common because there were a number of color passes that could possibly get out of alignment.  Some front ghosts (like Hoblitzell) were factory-cut, while others (like McBride) were scrapped at the factory, and later hand-cut from a sheet.

Ghosts that appear on the back of the card are referred to as “Cylinder Print Ghosts”.  There was at least one sheet of Piedmont 150s where a black outline ghost of the image on the front was mistakenly printed on the back.  You can check out the article by clicking the link below:

The T206 Piedmont 150 “Cylinder Print Ghosts”

Cylinder print ghosts usually sell in the $1000 plus range.   Front ghosts like the McBride and Hoblitzell shown sell for a premium as well, but nowhere near as much as the cylinder prints.  Though the market for “T206 Print Freaks” can be volatile, I would expect McBride and Hoblitzell to sell for at least $200.

The one thing all ghosts have in common is the “ghost” was printed on the card in the factory.  This is an important distinction because I constantly see sellers trying to sell a card that merely has a transfer on it as a ghost.  The purpose of this article is to help you understand the difference.

Piedmont 150 with Cylinder Print Ghost

Wet Sheet Transfers

Wet sheet transfers (also commonly referred to as WST) are different from ghosts in that they are not printed directly on the card.  Rather, they are a transfer of ink from one card to another.  When T206s were printed, an entire sheet of fronts was printed, then put onto the stack of completed sheets.  Then the next sheet was printed and added to the stack.  The vast majority of sheets were completely dry before being added to the stack, but occasionally the ink hadn’t quite dried.  This led to a transfer of ink from one sheet to the other.  Because the sheets were stacked, a transfer was only possible from the back of one card to the front of the card on the adjacent sheet, or vice versa.

WSTs occurred most often with black ink, and specifically black ink from the back advertisements.  My guess is the black ink took longer to dry, leading to transfers when the fresh sheet of backs was placed on top of the stack.  As a result, the vast majority of wet sheet transfers out there are Cycle, Old Mill, or Tolstoi backs which have WST of the back advertisement on the front.  These transfers vary in intensity.  Some are very faint and hard to see, and some are very dark and obvious.

This Topsy Hartsel T206 has a Sweet Caporal Wet Sheet Transfer

The other type of WST is a transfer of ink from the front of a card onto the back.  These are often pretty faint and tend to be a vague outline of the front of the card.  The back of the Joss Portrait below is an example of such a WST.  Typically, WSTs on the back of a card are not very impressive, just like this one.

It’s important to understand that wet sheet transfers are not ghosts.  Ghosts are much more rare and valuable.  They are also more impressive and interesting to look at.  Sadly, there are sellers who try to pass WSTs off as ghosts.  You’ll occasionally see a WST listed on eBay as a ghost and priced at some insane price.  Hopefully, as people become more educated about this subject, those type of listings will start to go away.  Unlike ghosts, WSTs do not command much of a premium (if any) when they sell.

Post-Factory Transfers

The third type of transfer is one that happens after the card leaves the factory.  Typically this type of transfer is caused by some sort of moisture damage.  I’ve seen cards that were clearly in a stack that got soaked in water.  Many cards with post-factory transfers will also have paper loss as a result of the cards being stuck together and then separated.  These post-factory transfers will usually be faint and not at all precise.  A wet sheet transfer of an Old Mill back is a precise transfer of the back onto the front of the card.  Post-factory transfers are not like that.  There is a lot of color bleed in a post-factory transfer.  The Seymour below is a good example.  It has the tell-tale paper loss on the back, and the transfer of the Sweet Caporal ad onto the front is faint and indistinct.  It kind of looks like a watercolor copy of the ink of the back of the adjacent card in the stack.  Though post-factory transfers are fairly uncommon, they don’t usually command any premium when they sell.

This Seymour has a post-factory transfer
The back has the tell-tale signs of a post-factory transfer

T206 Collecting Tips for Beginners: Spend More Time Reading and Studying Than Buying

Anytime you get excited about a new hobby, it’s only natural to jump into it headfirst.  However, with a hobby like collecting baseball cards, jumping in too fast can lead to some costly mistakes.  I’ve made a ton of such mistakes throughout my collecting journey.  I’m sure I’ll make more in the future, but it’s important to try and keep them to a minimum.

When I talk about jumping in too fast, I am referring to spending money before you really understand the value of what you are buying.  Now obviously if you’re spending your money on a product, it means that you are happy with the value you are getting in return.  So in the short term, you are probably going to be happy with your purchase.  In the long-term however, it could be a different story.  The reality is that most T206 collectors don’t hang onto their cards forever.  People sell for a number of different reasons.  Some decide the T206 set just isn’t for them.  Others realize after a while that they prefer higher (or lower) eye appeal cards, so they sell the cards they bought initially in order to buy cards that fit their new collecting vision.  Some collectors realize they enjoy both buying and selling and end up turning over their collections multiple times.  If, in the future, you find yourself selling the T206s that you bought when you first got into the hobby, you’ll be a lot happier if you paid fair prices for them than if you overpaid.

Luckily, there is a wealth of information available at your fingertips.  When I began collecting T206s in 2010, I started by joining net54baseball.com.  I spent dozens of hours poring over every T206 thread I could find, and combing through eBay listings.  It’s pretty crazy to say this, but when I first began buying T206s, I don’t think I made a single ill-advised purchase.  I spent a lot a time reading, researching, and learning before I spent any money on T206s, but it wasn’t because I have superhuman amounts of willpower.  Looking back, the reason I held off on buying any cards until I had a good idea of the market was simple.  When I started researching the set, I was merely interested in it.  I hadn’t decided whether I wanted to collect it or not.  I didn’t have my eye on a certain card I “had to have” or a wad of money burning a hole in my pocket.  That approach served me well, but I haven’t been able to replicate it with other sets that I have become enamored with over the ensuing years.

I lost money on the first handful of T205s, T207s, E135s, M101-4/5s, and Cracker Jacks that I bought.  Like most T206 collectors who end up collecting backs, I started out just collecting fronts.  The first back I really fell in love with was Brown Hindu.  I decided I wanted to have a stack of Hall of Famers with Brown Hindu backs.  I sold off my partial lower grade T206 set (with common backs), and the first cards I bought with the money were lower grade copies of Willis Portrait, both Clarke poses, Waddell Portrait, and Flick with Hindu backs.  The only one I still own is the Flick, and I lost money on each of the other four when I went to sell them.  I don’t really regret those buying decisions because I learned from each of them.  However, I feel a lot smarter about the way I began my T206 collection than the way I jumped in too fast with my T206 back collecting and my forays into other pre-war sets.

Luckily, finding information and sales data is easier now than ever.  Because the T206 set is so widely collected, and the cards are readily available, eBay is the go-to place for sales data.  Thousands of T206s sell on eBay each month.  Using the “Sold Items” tab, you can search the last three months of completed sales on eBay.  When you are collecting T206s based on the player on the front, rather than worrying about backs, eBay’s sold items archive is often all you need to learn about current market values.  When you are just starting out, I don’t think you need any other resources.  At a certain point, you may find it helpful to check out vintagecardprices.com, or “VCP”.  VCP is a pay site which offers access to a large archive of sales data.  Subscriptions are sold either by the year ($180), the month ($18), or the day ($4).  At $4, the 24 hour pass is a nice tool for a beginning collector.  I used it a handful of times when I was first learning about the T206 market.  I would keep a list of cards I wanted to look up.  When I had a day where I could devote a few hours to price research, I would pay the $4 and look up tons of cards and take notes.

Paying a little too much here and there is pretty much inevitable when you first begin collecting T206s (or anything, really).  However, a little patience and preparation will go a long way toward keeping those mistakes to a minimum.  When those inevitable mistakes happen, try not to be too hard on yourself.  If you keep at it, and refine your knowledge, your understanding of the T206 marketplace will pay dividends.  Over time, the undervalued cards you find will outweigh the ones that you overspent on in the beginning of your collecting journey.

Monthly Mailbag #2: How do Back and Grade Effect T206 Pricing?

A question I had on pricing is: How do you take backs into account for pricing?  I know there are multipliers out there for mid-tier and rare backs.  But, when a card has a low population (5 or less 10 or less ect.) How do you determine prices for those?  How do the prices move as grade goes up?

Im my opinion, there is no easy answer to this question.  While helpful, the back multipliers will almost always be off in one direction or the other in practice.  If you’re trying to price a mid-tier back in order to sell it and you use one of the back multipliers, typically one of two things will happen:  Either it will sell right away because you had it a little too low, or it will just sit there because the back multiplier estimate was too high.

Personally, I have never paid any attention to the multipliers that people have come up with.  Even years ago when I was just getting into buying the tougher backs, I always tried to base values/prices on actual sales.  These days I have seen so much price data over the years that I just kind of know values instinctively.  It took quite a lot of price research and buying/selling to get to where I am now, but anyone can do it.

If you want to get more precise with your value estimates for T206 mid-tier and rare backs, I have a couple of things I would recommend.  First, follow the tougher backs that get listed in auction format on eBay.  Make a guess as to what you think the card will sell for, and then when the auction ends, see how close you got.  I’d recommend keeping notes of all the cards you observe so that you can review them in the future.  You can do the same with any cards that sell via an Auction House.  The second bit of advice is a pay service.  You can pay $4 for 24 hours of access to vintagecardprices.com (VCP).  When I was learning this stuff, I would pay for the 24 hours of access a few times a year, and spend a few hours searching tons of data and taking notes.

Obviously, doing this type of price research is only appealing if you’re really passionate about the mid-tier and rare backs.  If you mainly just collect the T206 set based on fronts, but want a quick way to estimate values, I wish I could be more helpful.  If you find yourself in that situation, I do have a couple bits of advice.  First, you can always ask me for my opinion.  I can be reached here via the “Contact” button on the site, or via net54 (Luke) or Facebook.  Alternatively, it might be worth the $4 to log into vintagecardprices.com (VCP).

Let’s look at an example:  Let’s say you have a Ed Killian Portrait with Cycle 350 back in a PSA 3 holder, and you have no idea what it’s worth.  Here’s what I would suggest you do.  Look up the PSA and SGC Population Reports for Killian.  Then look up a few other players’ Cycle 350 Pop Reports.  This will give you an idea of the relative scarcity of Killian versus other poses in the Cycle 350 subset.  The more poses you can look up, the better.  Then, log on to VCP, and look up sales data on Killian, and all the other poses that you checked Pop Report data for.  While you’re there, I would also check sales data for all the other Cycle 350s.  You’ve already paid for 24 hours of access to VCP, so why not get your money’s worth?  While browsing VCP, make sure to make note of the date that cards sold for.  If you see a card that sold in 2009, I wouldn’t use that piece of data to help you price your card.  Sales from the past couple years will obviously be the most helpful.

One more bit of information to keep in mind is if you happen to be trying to buy or sell the highest graded copy of a given front/back combo, you can expect that card to command a premium.  There’s no magic formula to figuring out the value of the highest graded copy, but it’s something that can be learned in the same way you would learn the value of the Killian Cycle 350 in a PSA 3 holder.

Monthly Mailbag #1: Aggregate Scarcity v.s. Relative Scarcity

This is a topic that I have touched on in the past, but never dedicated an entire article to.  I actually intended to write a post about this over a year ago, but it took a conversation with a new friend to jog my memory.

Q:  Regarding back scarcity and pricing/value.  I would think supply and demand would dictate pricing more than the perceived scarcity of a particular back, but it doesn’t seem to be the case? 

A couple of examples – You have a Carolina Brights Dots Miller PSA 1 priced at $769.  I understand the Carolina Brights back is the 11th most difficult.  But that specific card has a graded population of 15 – higher than the Clarke batting Sov 150 (25th in back difficulty) I am getting from you (I just have the PSA pop of 2) for $235.  Does the relative scarcity of a particular front-back combination have a greater affect on the cards value than the perceived scarcity of the back in general?  Thanks.

This is a topic that I could talk about for hours.  Ever since I got into T206 back collecting, I have been interested in why the market values scarcity the way it does.  Before I get into it, I think I should explain what I mean by aggregate scarcity and relative scarcity.

“Aggregate scarcity” is my definition for the overall scarcity of each back.  When you look at a back scarcity ranking list, such as this one at T206resource.com, you are looking strictly at aggregate scarcity.  Aggregate scarcity focuses only on the back.  The back scarcity rankings on T206resource.com tell you that there are fewer Broad Leaf 460s in existence than Drums, and fewer Drums than Uzits.

I use the term “Relative scarcity” to help me dive a little deeper.  It takes a couple new bits of information into consideration.  First, the number of poses within a given subset.  For example, the American Beauty 350 No Frame subset consists of 37 different poses.  The Cycle 460 subset consists of 109 different poses.  According to the back scarcity rankings, American Beauty 350 No Frame is the rarer back of the two.  So overall, there are less AB350nf backs in existence than Cycle 460 backs.  If you just want one copy of each back, that back scarcity list is really all the info you need.  However, if you take a deeper look into things, you may start to see inefficiencies in the market.  Although the AB350nf back is scarcer in an aggregate sense, every single AB350nf pose is more plentiful than the Highest Pop Cycle 460 pose.

For instance, there are 15 copies of Nap Rucker (Throwing) with an American Beauty 350 no frame back in the combined PSA and SGC Pop Reports.  His teammate Kaiser Wilhelm’s Cycle 460 only has 4 graded copies between PSA and SGC.  In terms of relative scarcity, the Wilhelm is in a completely different stratosphere.

The second application of the term “relative scarcity” is when dealing with a certain front/back combo that is rare in comparison to other poses with the same back.  To illustrate, let’s look at Kaiser Wilhelm again.  His (With Bat) poses is fairly plentiful with Old Mill back.  Between PSA and SGC, there are 37 copies graded.  In contrast, Wilhelm’s (Hands at Chest) pose is one of the scarcer Old Mills, with just 6 copies graded between PSA and SGC.

This is what my friend was talking about when he referenced the Sovereign 150 Fred Clarke (With Bat) he bought from me.  Earlier this year, Pat Romolo and I published some pretty compelling evidence that Clarke (With Bat) was on a sheet that was short-printed with Sovereign 150 backs.  That article can be read here.  As far as Sovereign 150s go, Clarke (With Bat) is scarce.  However, when one does come to market, it probably won’t sell for much a premium.  This is due more to incomplete information than anything else however.  Very few collectors realize that front/back combo is scarce, and even fewer have seen the research that Pat and I published.

On the other hand, many more collectors are aware that Carolina Brights is a rare back, and prices tend to remain strong despite the fact that some poses (like Dots Miller) have populations in the teens.   Though prices don’t seem to be depressed for higher pop cards like Miller, I think you do sometimes see those cards take longer to sell because some of your prospective buyers already have a copy.

The “relatively scarce” front/back combos may fall through the cracks and sell for a depressed price if sold by someone who doesn’t realize what they have.  However, once they are in the hands of a collector who recognizes their significance, they often stay there, or require an “above market” price in order to change hands.

T206 Short Prints: Six Poses That Were Pulled Early from the 350-460 Series

Five poses that were intended to be printed throughout the 350-460 Series were instead pulled early for various reasons.  The Joe Doyle error headlines this list, while four of the remaining five poses fly very much under the radar.  Joe Doyle’s corrected error (N.Y.) always sells for a premium, while the relative scarcity of the other four poses remain unnoticed by most collectors.

  • Doyle, Joe (N.Y. Nat’l)
  • Doyle, Joe (N.Y.)
  • Kleinow, Red (New York – Catching)
  • Nichols, Simon (Batting)
  • Rhoades, Bob (Right Arm Extended)
  • Smith, Frank (White Cap)

Because the above poses were pulled from production early, they were not printed with any of the “460” backs that other poses in the 350-460 Series went on to be printed with.   Due to being pulled early, the above poses were not printed with the following backs:

  • American Beauty 460
  • Broad Leaf 460
  • Cycle 460
  • Lenox
  • Piedmont 350-460 Factory 25
  • Piedmont 350-460 Factory 42
  • Red Hindu
  • Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 25*
  • Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 42*
  • Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 42 Overprint*
  • Uzit

Obviously, the absence of any 350-460 Piedmont or Sweet Caporal backs makes a huge difference to the overall population of the five Short Prints**.  Less so for the other backs, but even if they would have added up to 30 or 40 cards, that still makes a difference.

Now that we know that these poses were short-printed, let’s take a look at why.

Joe Doyle:

Doyle pitched in 17 games in 1909, going 8-6 with a 2.58 ERA.  However, his career came to an end abruptly in 1910.  After appearing in 3 games with New York Highlanders, he was sold to Cincinnati for $2,000 on May 31, 1910.  He appeared in just 5 games with Cincinnati.

Red Kleinow:

Kleinow’s contract was purchased  by Boston from New York on May 26, 1910.

Simon Nicholls:

Nicholls played 21 games with Philadelphia in 1909.  In 1910, he appeared in just games with Cleveland.  In addition, his name was mis-spelled on his (With Bat) card as “Nichols”.  ALC probably didn’t need another reason to pull his card, but it probably made their decision easier.

Bob Rhoads:

Like Nicholls, Rhoads’ name was spelled wrong on his (Right Arm Extended) card.  On the field, there was also reason to pull his card early.  He went 5-9 with a 2.90 ERA in 1909, but did not appear in a single game in the Majors in 1910.

Frank Smith:

Smith was traded to the Boston Red Sox on August 11, 1910 along with Billy Purcell in exchange or Harry Lord an Amby McConnell.

*You might notice that Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 30 is missing from the list above.  This is because 350-460 Series poses were not printed with this back.

**I mention just five poses, because the Doyle N.Y. Nat’l error stands alone.  If that error had never been corrected, we would just be talking about five poses.

T206 Budget Series: If You Had $1,000 To Spend (4/4)

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This PSA 1 Cobb Red Background Portrait recently sold on eBay for $912

For the last installment of this series, we’ll take a look at how you could spend $1,000 if you were starting a T206 collection.

Buy one big-time Hall of Famer:

For the first time in this series, we get to talk about Ty Cobb.  A low grade Red Portrait or Bat On Shoulder can be had for around $1,000 if you wanted to make a big splash.  Alternatively, a nice looking Cy Young or Walter Johnson Portrait in around GD/VG condition seems like a great way to start a collection.  A VG-EX Tris Speaker or Christy Mathewson would fit the bill as well.

Buy a stack of Hall of Famers:

This is probably the route I would go.  If you spend $200 or less on each card, you should be able to get somewhere around ten cards for $1,000 if you stick with the lower and mid tiers of Hall of Famers.  I’d try and get some combination of 7-10 cards of these guys:

  • Home Run Baker
  • Chief Bender
  • Mordecai Brown
  • Jack Chesbro
  • Fred Clarke
  • Eddie Collins
  • Jimmy Collins
  • Sam Crawford
  • George Davis
  • Elmer Flick
  • Addie Joss
  • Willie Keeler
  • Iron Man McGinnity
  • John McGraw
  • Rube Waddell
  • Bobby Wallace
  • Ed Walsh
  • Zach Wheat
  • Vic Willis

Start with a large group of commons:

Kicking off your collection with a big stack of commons definitely has some appeal.  Depending on what your goals are, this might be a great way to build some momentum.  This approach has the added benefit of helping you get comfortable with how authentic T206s should look and feel.  There’s really no substitute for holding a stack of cards in your hands and being able to examine them up close.

Start with a mixture of Hall of Famers and commons:

In other words, just be patient and be opportunistic when a good buying opportunity presents itself.

You could also start to dabble in back collecting:

I didn’t bring up backs in the previous articles because the vast majority of T206 collectors do not start out as back collectors.  In fact, only a small percentage of collectors end up collecting backs, and it typically is a preference that is developed over time.  In general, I advise that if you don’t have a strong desire to collect the different backs, I would just focus on the fronts when you are getting started.  You’ll always be able change course in the future if you decide to.

However, if you do feel a strong attraction to the different T206 backs, a $1000 budget allows you to get a few different backs and still have some money left over for a few Hall of Famers with common backs.  If you decide to sprinkle some backs in your collection, I would recommend starting out with these backs, which offer a great combination of bang-for-the-buck and great eye appeal:

  • American Beauty 350 With Frame
  • Cycle 350
  • El Principe de Gales
  • Polar Bear
  • Sovereign 150
  • Sovereign 460
  • Tolstoi

Whatever approach you choose, just take your time and do your best to educate yourself on the market and you’ll do fine.  In the last few months it seems that the prices for Hall of Famers has risen a bit.  If that continues, you’ll have to adjust to the changing market and budget a bit more for them than I have suggested in the last few articles.

One of my favorite things about the T206 set is how liquid it is.  If you ever want or need to sell some of your cards, it’s very easy to do, and the demand is always there.  Because of this, there really isn’t much risk involved in starting a T206 collection.  As long as you educate yourself and make sure you’re paying fair prices, you will likely be able to sell your cards for pretty close to what you paid for them in the event you decide to go in a different direction.  Hopefully the articles on this site will go a long way towards helping you feel comfortable as you begin your T206 collecting journey.  If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will respond to any and all.  Good luck, and have fun!