T205 info

[tonyo]

Hi all,

With my newly developed interest in pre-war, I'm dipping my toe in the t205 waters.

A couple of questions for you all. A response or informative link would be appreciated!

How was the numbering in Beckett derived. Appears to be alphabetical, but why are #'s 187-198 priced higher than 1-186, and what of the 200 #'s?

Which backs are more scarce than others?

Thanks for your help!

Tony

[Baseball Rarities]

Tony,

I do not have a Beckett guide in front of me, but I think that the last 12 cards are probably the minor leaguers which are much scarcer than the "common" cards in the set.

[Wite3]

Tony,
I do not have the big Beckett in front of me but from what I remember the Beckett lists them alphabetically to begin with. The last ones appear to be the minor leaguers which are scarcer than most of the commons but not as scarce as some of the short prints and variations. I am not sure about anything else Beckett lists. I would also try not to use the Beckett for pricing. SCD big book is more accurate.

Here is the latest on my info for back rarity starting with the rarest first.
Blank (technically not an advertising back but super tough)
Hindu
Drum (fell because of the St. Louis find last year)
Broadleaf khaki color very tough
Broadleaf brown color also very difficult
Piedmont fact. 42 tough
American Beauty black nearly as tough as piedmont fact. 42
American Beauty green difficult but easier than the black version
Hassan fact. 30 (Cycle and Hassan fact. 30 are about the same)
Cycle
Sovereign
Honest Long Cut (about the same as the Hassan fact. 649)
Hassan fact. 649
Sweet Cap. black fact. 42
Sweet Cap. black fact. 25
Sweet Cap. red
Polar Bear (many dealers still attach a premium but my research says that this back is one of the most plentiful for T205)
Piedmont fact. 25

Good luck with this set as it is one of the most fun and interesting sets to complete. Not easy but not as difficult as some. If you want to see a great site devoted to the T205 set, try T205.org.

Joshua

[Tyler]

http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652/thread/1168817135/last-1168869598/Pondering+the+T205+Set

Have fun with the set...I know that a number of us have had a blast with it over the last couple of years. I kept it to the base set of 200+ cards and it was managable, affordable and very entertaining. Best of luck to you and welcome to the board.

Tyler

Oh and p.s.
still looking for Cobb to complete my set...if anybody has one really cheap please pm me...i spent all my money on the others.

[Steve D]

Tony,

I'm looking at my 2004 Beckett edition.

The T205 set contains 186 major league players and 12 minor leaguers, for a total of 198 different players. In addition, there are 20 variations of major leaguers, for a total of 218 different cards. The minor league cards are tougher to find, and are therefore more expensive/valuable. Two of the minor leaguers (Jimmy Collins and Jack Dunn) are more valuable still, as Collins is in the Hall of Fame, and Jack Dunn is the man who basically "found" Babe Ruth. Ruth's nickname "Babe" in fact, came from the feeling that he was Jack Dunn's "Babe(y)".

Beckett has simply numbered the first 186 (major league) cards in alphabetical order, and then given the 12 minor leaguers' cards #187-198.

Beckett has given the variations a letter suffix after that card's particular number. Therefore for example, Roger Bresnahan's two cards are numbered 20A and 20B, and Dick Hoblitzell's four cards are numbered 76A - 76D.

Back difficulty pretty much mirrors the backs in T206.

Steve

[Tcards-Please]

Tony,

Below is a link devoted to an indepth article on T205's. David (Kawika), was kind enough to scan it in and save it. Scroll down and click on his link. It seems a lot of time and research was put into this article. You will find that there is an enormous wealth of knowledge from the board on this subject.

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=112249&highlight=sgc+t205+magazine

Enjoy

Frank

[tonyo]

Hi everyone and thanks for all the great replys.

I'll dive into those links and try to absorb the back info when I get a little more time on my hands.

I didn't know that about Jack Dunn, very cool.

Tony

[tonyo]

I would also try not to use the Beckett for pricing. SCD big book is more accurate.


Joshua

Joshua,

I found this price list on SCD.com http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.com/upload/images/PDF/1911-T205-Baseball.pdf

Can you tell me what grade these prices represent and give me some idea of the reduction scale for lower grade cards?

Thanks!

Read the linked article from SCD and also enjoyed the thread about "Doc" White.

Learning more and more thanks to the fine folks on this board.


Tony

[Steve D]

Tony,

The prices listed in your link appear to be for cards in NM or NM-MT condition. For instance, in my 2007 edition of the SCD Standard Catalog,
T205s are listed with the following prices:

Common players
NM condition $600
EX condition $90
VG condition $35

Ty Cobb prices are $11,000 - $3,125 - $900 in the three conditions.

Another good magazine to subscribe to is Beckett's "Graded Card Investor" (GCI). It is similar to PSA's "Sportscard Market Report" (SMR), but the GCI seems to be a bit closer to reality than the SMR usually is.


Steve

[Wite3]

Steve has it correct. Those are prices listed for nrmt cards and the prices Steve listed are fairly close now. Poor cards are running between $5-$10 now and f-g are between $10-$20 for commons.

Prices have remained steady on the low end for awhile but the high end t205 market has increased in value in recent years.

Joshua