350 series – That T206 life

Did T206 Artists Cut Some Corners in the 350 Series?

Luke March 1, 2017 March 2, 2017

T206 350 series solid backgrounds — 350 Series (Print Group 2) Solid Backgrounds

Many collectors organize their T206s alphabetically by the player’s last name. Others group them by teams. I tend to think about the set and organize my cards according to print group. When you look at the set in this way, some patterns emerge. Throughout the set, the portraits have varying degrees of background shading. The 150-350 series has the highest percentage of portraits with shading in the background, but there are still plenty that have a single color background. Most of the portraits in the 350 series utilize only a single, solid color, but there are some with a more nuanced, shaded background. Because each Print Group includes multiple examples of portrait cards with solid backgrounds, I will not focus on portrait for this article.

In the 150-350 series (Print Group 1), every color imaginable was used. The action shots all have some variety to the backgrounds, and are often quite stunning. There is a feeling of cohesiveness throughout. Print Group 1 clearly exhibits more attention to detail than than the 350 series (Print Group 2). Print Groups 1, 3, and 4 are quite similar in style and appearance. Many cards in Print Group 2 have a single, solid color as the background. Print Group 1 only has a single card like that (Donlin seated). The Conroy below comes close, but the artist took a little extra time to add texture so you know he is fielding a ball on the grass. The solid backgrounds of the 350 series always made me feel like they rushed the artistic process, and maybe they did. The solid backgrounds still make for some beautiful cards, but I prefer a little more detail.

T206 150 series action shots — Print Group 1 Action Shots

My theory is the American Tobacco Company was surprised by the success of their baseball card promotion (they weren’t referred to as T206 back then). I think they decided to keep it going, and needed a large number of cards, quickly. The 350 series consists of 208 cards, more than any other series. It stands to reason that the artwork was put together in a short period of time. Whereas the 150-350 series has one card with a solid color background, there are dozens in the 350 series. These cards still look great, but it’s also clear that they took less time to create than a similar card with a more nuanced background. Although many cards in the 350 series have plain backgrounds, there are also some of the most beautiful cards in the set in this series. Donovan, Campbell, and Dinneen all come to mind as some of the most visually appealing cards in the set. It’s possible some cards didn’t make the 150-350 series cut but were ready to be included when ATC decided to expand the set. It’s also possible certain artists just used the same style and attention to detail in all their work, and others may have cut some corners to churn out the pieces needed for the 350 series.

The 350-460 series (Print Group 3), which consists of only 63 cards, was a return to the attention to detail of Print Group 1. There are four cards in the series that have a solid color background: Joe Doyle, Kleinow catching, Wagner bat on right shoulder, and White pitching. However, the first three have blue backgrounds which look like the sky. White, which has a yellow background, is the only card in the 350-460 series that resembles the solid backgrounds of the 350 series.

The 460 series (Print Group 4) was smaller still than Print Group 3, clocking in at just 46 cards. The artwork has a similar look and feel to Print Groups 1 and 3. Howell hand at waist is the only non-portrait with a solid color background.

T206 Sweet Caporal 150 Factory 649 Overprint – An Interesting Subset

Luke February 23, 2017 February 23, 2017

I’m excited to bring you another guest article from fellow T206 aficionado Scott Gross!

T206 Sweet Caporal 150 Factory 649 Overprints are a small (only 34 total cards) back printing sub-set. They were produced in the first printing of T206s in 1909 and are part of Print Group 1 (all Print Groups are based on the fantastic web site t206resource.com). Originally, they were produced as Sweet Caporal 150 Factory 30. The Factory 30 can be seen on some cards where the Red Stripe Over Print was misaligned. In fact, sometimes this back is called “Sweet Caporal Red Stripes.”

Due to Federal Tobacco laws, these cards were shipped from Factory 30 (2^ndDistrict NY) to Factory 649 (1^st District NY). Although there are only 34 cards, there is a nice variety, which includes 7 future Hall of Famers. There are also a few commons that have interesting printing anomalies.

The following table is based on the PSA Population report, which shows the backs that were printed for each player. There are two exceptions: First, PSA has not graded a Bates with a SC 350 / 25 back. It is theorized this card “should” exist, and the other day, a knowledgeable T206 friend of mine said he has seen one. Secondly, whereas PSA has no graded Gilbert listed, he is confirmed on T206resource.com.

EPDG

Hindu

Old Mill

Pied.150

Pied.350

Sov.150

Sov.350

SC 150/25

SC 150/30

SC 150/649

SC 350/25

SC350/30

Alperman

Bates

Bransfield

Bresnahan, portait

Clarke, J.J.

Davis, George

Davis, H.

Delehanty, Wash.

Ewing

Gilbert

Goode

Griffith, Portrait

Johnson, Portrait

Jones, St. Louis

Killian, Pitching

Lajoie, Throwing

Lake, New York

Liebhardt, Glenn

Manning, Batting

Marquard, Hands Thighs

Mathewson, White

McIntire, Brooklyn

McQuillan, ball in hand

O’Leary, Portrait

Owen

Pastorius

Powers

Ritchey

Schlei, Catching

Schmidt, Pitching

Sheckard, no glove

Spencer

Wagner, Bat Left

Wilhelm, Pitch

Let’s look at what these cards have in common. Actually they ALL have a lot in common. ALL can be found with Hindu backs. That would make sense, as Hindus were also produced at Factory 649. They also can ALL be found with the following backs: Piedmont 150, Sovereign 150, Sweet Caporal 150 / 25, and Sweet Caporal 150 / 30.

Cards produced with El Principe De Gales backs are kind of hit-or-miss. The majority of them, 22, have EPDG backs. I can only assume the 12 that do not have EPDG backs just “didn’t make the cut” for this back run.

All but one player (Powers, which will be discussed later) were produced with Piedmont 350 backs. However, only ten have a Sovereign 350 back. Once again, kind of hit-or-miss who made the this cut. On one hand you have very talented and popular (future HOFs) cards like Roger Bresnahan, George Davis, Clarke Griffith, and Walter Johnson, but not Napoleon Lajoie, Rube Marquard, or Christy Mathewson. Commons-wise, Glenn Liebhardt (who was printed with Sovereign 350 back) was a very good minor league pitcher, but nothing to brag about in the majors.

OK, now let’s look at the few anomalies:

First, we have Mike “Doc” Powers. Powers was a medical physician, thus the nickname, and was mainly a back-up catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics. He has no EPDG (as suspected, just didn’t make the printing). More importantly, he has NO 350 series backs. The reason for this: He was one of the very first cards pulled from T206 production. He also has no Old Mill back (which probably was pulled early, also). This is sadly understandable in that he died on April 26, 1909, just after the production began. The romantic version of his death is he died running into the stands after a foul ball on opening day. Partly true; he actually died from complications following surgery resulting from injuries sustained on that day. His full catcher’s-gear image is a favorite of many collectors, including myself.

Three other “odd” cards are Bob Ewing, Tom Jones of St. Louis, and Tubby Spencer. Like Powers, they neither have Old Mill backs, nor do they have Sweet Caporal 350 backs. The explanation is that they were pulled from production early. Not as early as Powers, but right about the beginning of 350 Series production. This timeline is not only based on the absence of Old Mill or Sweet Caporal 350 cards (or Sovereign) but also the fact that they are very short-printed, and extremely tough to find with Piedmont 350 backs. They both fall into the category known as The Elite 11*, which all have the same back distribution.

By the way, I have collected all 34 cards. It took about a year. I can’t say any one is anymore difficult to come by than any other. That includes HOFers, commons, and anomalies. It’s a FUN and doable sub-set, give it a try!!!!!

Written by Scott Gross

* the term Elite 11 was first introduced by collector Ted Zanidakis over on net54baseball.com

Ever noticed that some T206 cards with 350 backs have a “washed out” look to them?

Luke February 9, 2017 November 27, 2016

Me too, so I figured I’d write a post about it. This is a phenomenon that most advanced collectors are aware of. However, I don’t think there hasn’t been much written about it.

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, I’ll get right to it. Some cards from the 350 series have an unfocused, “washed out” look to them that is easy to notice once you know what you are looking for. Not all cards with 350 backs can be found with the washed out look. From what I have seen, only poses from Print Group 1 have exhibited this print anomaly. So, in theory, there should be 146 subjects that exist with a washed out image. The way I arrive at that number is taking the entire checklist of Print Group 1 (thanks to t206resource.com for the checklist) which is 159 subjects, and subtracting the 13 subjects that are 150 only poses.

“Washed out” images can be found on fronts with these backs:

Old Mill
Piedmont 350
Sovereign 350
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 25
Sweet Caporal 350 factory 30

It’s really unclear at this point how this may have happened. Not all Print Group 1 cards with the above backs have washed out images. I talked with a friend recently who has a theory that there were three distinct print runs in the 350 series and that small changes were made before the printing of each. I’m very intrigued by this idea and I plan to look into it further. If I’m able to find anything of substance, I will be sure to write about it. This theory would explain the washed out image phenomenon pretty well. It would explain why some Old Mills from Print Group 1 have great focus and vivid colors, while others are unfocused and have muted colors. It seems that at some point during the 350 series run on Print Group 1, that the printing presses got out of whack for a little while and created this washed out look. That could have been at the tail-end of the 350 print run of PG1, or at the beginning and the printing presses were fixed for subsequent print runs.

I find it hard to explain exactly what we are looking at. The Old Mill Overall at the top of this post is clearly missing some of the darker colors. The red, blue, brown and black are all darker and more crisp on the SC 150/25 copy. Meanwhile, the Hahn Old Mill below actually looks darker than it’s Sov150 counterpart. Both Old Mills clearly have the same washed out look however. If anyone who has a better understanding of the printing process can shed some light on what created this “washed out” look, I would very appreciative.

Many collectors actively avoid these cards, preferring 150 backs with crisp images. I may be the only one, but I really like the washed out look. If these cards ever gained popularity, I think we would find that they are somewhat tough to find in general and that the really extreme examples are quite scarce.