Category: Collector Spotlight

 

Q:  How (and when) did you get into collecting T206s?

I started collecting T206s at the end of 2010. I have always had some interest in them but when I started going to card shows in the mid 1980s, I just didn’t feel comfortable buying something I knew very little about. At that time I was only 12 years old and didn’t have many ways of learning about the set except for the basic card value catalogs that were out at that time. I remember being at the shows and only a few tables having the older tobacco cards and there were always older guys at those tables and it felt like it was not a kid type of card display. It just didn’t feel too inviting. Too bad I didn’t just jump in there the same way I would when I was buying gold coins at the age of 12.

Q:  How did you get interested in back collecting?

My first Tolstoi back card was Bob Groom. A month after that purchase, I bought a PSA 4 Bob Groom Polar Bear. This was only a few months into collecting T206s. I think I only had five different cards when I added my first duplicate front with a different back. That purchase opened up a lot of research on different combinations that were out there and also led me to net54. The more I read and researched, the more I was hooked on the idea of back collecting.

Q:  Was there a certain card that piqued your interest in collecting cards based on their backs?

Besides the Bob Groom being my first duplicate front, the Hal Chase Blue Portrait was my first T206 project that I had more focus on than anything else at that time. I got up to 15 different backs before I jumped to another area of the set.

Q:  How did you decide to go after a T206 Master Set?

It seemed like many collectors were going after certain card front runs of the different backs. There were many that I wanted to collect along with the basic 520-card set that it just made sense to go after them all. I figured that I could just buy cards when they were priced right and at some point I would be close to many goals that I wanted.

Q:  What is your favorite back (and why)?

I can honestly say that I don’t really have a favorite back. If value is left out, I enjoy them all equally. If I had to choose at least one, it would be the Carolina Brights. I actually like some of the non T206 backs more, such as Mello Mint, Pirate, and Obak series one’s with or without the border.

Q:  Working on a master set is a huge and potentially overwhelming project.  Do you break it down into smaller projects in order to make it more manageable/approachable?

I bounce around the set so much. I don’t think I’ve ever been 100 percent focused on a goal in the master set. Every couple of weeks I’m changing my mind on what to go after. I can say that I actually stay away from Piedmont backs unless they are factory 42s or Elite 11s, and I was staying away from Sweet Caporals until recently. There’s just so many Piedmonts that there’s no point in purchasing them until there’s nothing else to buy.

Q:  If so, which of these projects is closest to completion?

Even though I don’t focus 100 percent on one thing, after acquiring over 1000 different cards with nearly no Piedmonts or Sweet Caporals, you’re bound to be close to some subsets. I have a complete Old Mill Southern League set. I’m two cards away from a Sovereign 460 set, and eight cards away from a Polar Bear set.

Q:  I recall you saying on net54 that you chose to go after a master set because you wanted a project that you couldn’t complete.  That struck a chord with me because my collecting goals are similar in that I can never be finished.  Can you elaborate a little on why that appeals to you?  (No worries if not, I just think it’s a really interesting thing to think about.  I think a lot of people collect sets, then sell them and keep moving on to something new, not realizing that getting the finish line isn’t as satisfying as they expect it to be.)

I’ve collected so many things over the period of my life from coins, stamps, comic books, and sports cards. What I’ve learned about myself is I enjoy the hunt and the chase the most. I actually lose interest in a set as I get closer to finishing it. For me, that’s an awful feeling, especially since so much time, money, and effort was spent into something and then you’re just looking to unload it to start something else. I feel with the challenge of a T206 master front/back set, I don’t ever have to worry about getting to that point and just continue to hunt and chase every day.

Q:  Do you have a favorite card or cards in your collection?

As with not having a favorite card back, I don’t really have a favorite card front. I do like some, more than others. A few that I prefer: Bill Bradley with bat, Ty Cobb bat off shoulder, Wid Conroy with bat, Nap Lajoie with bat, and Heinie Zimmerman.

Q:  Do you have a “white whale” or dream card that you’d like to someday own?

Well, since I am going after every card possible, The Honus Wagner is going to be needed. The only thing is I’ll need all 3 different card backs.

Q:  Who is your favorite player in the T206 set?

I would probably have to say Hal Chase. I’m a New York Yankees fan anyways, and Chase was a good player, but controversy and corruption always seemed to follow him.

Q:  Do you have any favorite stories of how you acquired certain cards?  Are there any cards that you searched for for a long time before finally getting one?

I don’t really have any stories but during my first couple years of research, I was determined to find some of the now-well-known Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 30 “No Prints”. I found my first two cards in April 2014, after nearly two years of searching for something that wasn’t supposed to exist. You can imagine the heart pounding through my chest feeling. Fourteen months later the largest group of them started showing up on eBay and I was ready. I picked up the first two weeks of cards undetected until someone posted on Net54 questioning them. Then it was game on and time to show the deep pockets.

Q:  Is there anything that you’ve learned along the way about the T206 set that was unexpected

Probably the fact that there’s always more to learn. As much of an expert you think you might be, there’s so much more that’s just not known for sure. That is one of the things I really do like about the set. All the answers can’t be found online. Many theories need to be investigated and even then, you may just have a bunch of great theories.

Q:  Have you made any fun trades while building your collection?

I haven’t traded too much since I buy usually only what I need for my set. I’ve upgraded maybe 15 cards so far. I’ll pick up a Piedmont Elite 11 or similar if the price is right to either resell or trade for something else that I need for that subset but it doesn’t happen often.

Q:  Have you made any friends along the way from trading, buying, chatting on net54, etc?

Yes. I like to think of everyone as a friend until they have given me a reason not to be. T206 collectors are like online family to me. Probably my best online friend/T206 family is Pete Gustafson.

Q:  When did you start collecting baseball cards?

A:  I’m 33 years old today, I have been collecting baseball cards for as long as I can remember. When I was a young boy, my parents would buy me a pack of cards every time we went to the store. I used to sort out and keep all the Hall of Famers. I would put those in binders, the rest would build up in shoe boxes.

 Q:  What were you collecting then?

A:  Back then I just collected up as many cards of each Hall of Famer that I could. Most of the cards I had were from the late ’80’s and early ’90’s.

Q:  How did you wind up collecting T206s?

A.  In 2004 (junior year in college) I opened an eBay account after browsing through the baseball card listings. I was drawn to the old cards because prior to this I had only seen them and read about them in magazines (I subscribed to Beckett Baseball growing up). I will submit a photo of my first pre-war card. Burleigh Grimes Strip Card for $6 total, including shipping. When it arrived in the mail, I was hooked. I concentrated on putting together multiple strip card sets from the ’20’s, ’30’s, and ’40’s at first because they were more affordable and quite frankly the idea of the T206 set was a bit overwhelming. However, I started buying them up when I could find a good deal or a cheap lot. In 2009 I needed some money and decided to sell all the 1933 Goudeys and T206s that I had collected. Actually, I sold all but 12 T206 Hall of Famers. I hid those away and strictly concentrated on completing the multiple strip card sets that I had begun.   In 2014 I got bored waiting for the final key cards to complete my other sets to come along. I had always cherished those 12 T206s that I kept, and decided to pull the trigger and go for the T206 set.

Q:  What is your current T206 collecting focus?

A:  In the short time collecting this set, the focus has changed a few times already. I enjoy researching these things and have found the T206 set to be the most amazing set that I’ve ever concentrated on due to the massive amount of data that is out there. I have always found the rare and/or scarce backs to be the most interesting. I look at these as the “inserts” of today’s baseball card world. The idea of finding a T206 with maybe only a few other of the same front/back combinations known to exist is really neat to me. To have one that is the only known example (front/back combo) is way neater to me than to have the nicest card known to exist (grading wise) of say any given Piedmont pose. Further, I can’t afford the super high grade cards, so I have always leaned toward the low grade cards with the rare backs. About a year into collecting the set, I decided I wanted to put together as many rare back cards as I could. The current focus is to collect all 524 T206s with as many rare backs as possible. I try and concentrate on Hindu, EPDG, American Beauty, Cycle, Old Mill, Sovereign and Tolstoi backs. Further, I have decided to try and acquire a “back run” within the 76 Hall of Famers that make up the T206 set. I am trying to collect at least one of every tobacco brand back that was printed with a Hall of Fame front.

Q:  Why did you decide to collect the set in that way?  Was there a specific card you acquired that piqued your interest?

A:  No specific card, just always drawn to the history of the set and I think the different back brands are a really cool trait that further distinguishes this set as arguably the best set to acquire of all time.

Q:  Would you say you’re more of a set collector, back collector, HOF collector, team collector, etc?

A:  I’m only interested in Hall of Fame cards post 1950. However, pre-1950 I would say I’m a set collector. Within the T206 set, I am most definitely a back collector.

Q:  What is your favorite card in your collection?  (feel free to name more than one if you can’t decide)

A:  W515-2 Babe Ruth (#3 & #48)

      W515-2 Strip(s)

      W513 Complete Strip of 20

As for the T206s, all 12 of the ones I kept when I sold the rest in 2009 are my favorite, specifically the

T206 Marquard Cycle 460 & 350, both poses and both solid cards.

Q:  What is your “dream card” that would be the centerpiece of your collection?

A:  The Wagner of course.

Q:  Who is your favorite player from the T206 set?

A:  Walter Johnson, but I envy Birdie Cree’s name.

Q:  I see from the scans you sent me that you have a number of raw cards that used to be graded.  Do you prefer raw cards to graded cards?

A:  My opinion on this has changed over the years. I do prefer raw cards to graded cards for the ease and conformity of storage, and have busted many cards out over the years. However, I seldom break the cards today as it has become more difficult to get them out for one and I find the graded cards hold their value a little better for trading purposes. I have long debated if I will want to someday have the collection slabbed, but remain undecided to date. I appreciate that the major graders’ databases have become public, but must weigh cost vs. value gained for my lower-grade collection … another interesting debate.

Q:  Wagner aside, are there any more attainable cards or backs that you hope to add to the collection in the next few years?

A:   I currently have over 300 different T206’s on the way to my quest for 524…..(we’ll see). Of those, over 200 have either an EPDG, American Beauty, Cycle, or Tolstoi back. Of which most are considered poor condition.  At the top of my current wish list would be any Hall of Famer with a super rare back (Drum, Lenox, Uzit, Carolina Brights, Red Hindu, Broadleaf). Of course, I can only afford and would only be interested in these cards in lower-grade condition at a reasonable cost. Also, I’m currently looking for the third Jennings EPDG pose to complete the player back run.  I currently have for trade a lower grade 1948 Bowman complete set and a partial set of 28 different lower grade 1909 E92 Dockmans (all commons except for Lajoie).