I could probably list off 100 reasons why T206 is the perfect baseball card set to collect. However, in the interest of brevity, these are the most compelling:
- It’s the most iconic set in sports card history:
Because of the mystique of the T206 Honus Wagner, the set has a special place in American lore. The average American (at least those over 30 years old) has heard of the famous Honus Wagner card. No other set has that kind of visibility with the general public. Issued over 3 years, and boasting a massive 524 cards, it’s more than just the greatest baseball card set ever produced. It’s an important piece of American history.
- It’s packed with Hall of Famers
76 of the 524 cards in the set (15%) feature a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
- Eye appeal
The images and lithography are stunning. There is depth and nuance to the images that are reminiscent of larger works of art. The wide variety of colors and shades keeps the set interesting and fun.
- Affordability
It’s a very accessible set. You can buy a low grade common for $15. You can buy a low grade Hall of Famer for $40-50. Any collector, regardless of budget, can find a way to add a few T206s to their stash.
- Availability
This is my personal favorite reason to collect T206. There are a ton of great baseball card sets from baseball’s early days, but none are as accessible as the T206 set. I just searched ebay, and there are 12,000 T206s for sale right this moment. For a T206 collector, there is always action, always a new listing to look at. To me, it’s a lot more exciting to collect a set that is readily available than one which changes hands infrequently. Let’s compare it to the E107 Breisch Williams Caramel set, another great set from days of yore. There are much fewer E107s out there. If you want to collect E107s you have to wait around for the 4 or 5 largest auctions of the year before you see any for sale. Then you have to have the cash to outbid everyone else who has been waiting all year. I know some people find this process fun, but to me it’s too much waiting and inaction. I’d rather be in there on a regular basis, searching listings, finding hidden gems, selling off some duplicates, etc.
- There are tons of different ways to collect T206s
You can go after one copy of each card (minus the Wagner and Plank, for most of us). You can collect one team or city. You can collect one particular back advertisement. You can collect errors and oddities. You can do some combination of all of these approaches, or you can keep it simple and just pick up a few Hall of Famers that really appeal to you.