Who's completed T206 and how close are you?

[BigDan502]

It seems like there's alot of people attempting a T206 set.
Who's completed it? (let's call it the 518 set)
How'd you do it? (graded, raw, grading company, grade?)
How long did it take? How did you feel when you were finished?
How close did you come to giving up? Most satisfying moment?

This set and stories around it are just fascinating to listen to.
I thought a thread where people could talk about their set or attempted set in
Retrospect would be fun.

[Blunder19]

Who's completed it?
I got to 520 in 2008.

How'd you do it? (graded, raw, grading company, grade?)
Anyway possible.. cards ranged from Authentic-VG.. most were FR-GD. The best way to get the cards is in lots of 150-200.. get the best ones/ones you need out... and sell all the dupes to try and minimize the cost of the ones your kept.

How long did it take?
6 months of non stop looking :)

How did you feel when you were finished?
About as good as you would think. Not easy to put together the 520 set. Even tougher if you try to stay within a $12,000 budget

How close did you come to giving up?
never was going to stop until after I got to 520... but I had to sell the set a few months after completeing it due to house repairs. That really sucked.. the best part however is that you can always try again.

Most satisfying moment?
Completeing the set and taking the time to make a online photo album of it.. you can post the Link to your set.. and see others feedback on your hardwork.. Here was the photo album I created.. so even though they are sold.. I can still check out what I once put together..
http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg309/blunder19/T206%20520%20Set/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ16

[Edwolf1963]

Dan,

I did late last year/early part of this .. finally. Set minus Big 4. Was set minus Big 6 but was able to get an O'Hara and Demmit STL this year. Mine are all graded between 40/3 to 80/6, mostly 4's through 6's now. I try to upgrade the 40/3's where it makes sense, but that's hit & miss. Mostly common backs, but I have some Cycles, OM's, SOV 460's, Tolstoi, EPDG and AB's mixed in. Mostly SGC and PSA, a few BVG's and a couple GAI's mixed in.

Took me about 2 years - not really focused on it first year, then when I realized I had half already, then the "set focus" became more clear. I was bored when I completed to be honest. "Now what" set in. Started on a lower grade E93, but that gets little of my attention. 50's & 60's rookie HOF's have been another focus, but most of my time is still trading, upgrading, selling T206 dupes now.

Never close to giving up. Most satisfying cards were the Cobb Green (been after that for a while in 3 or better), Elberfeld Portrait Washington w/Old Mill back - have that in a beautiful 50 (should be a 60 easy) and Dahlen Brooklyn in a 60. My first Net54 card was Johnson Portrait from the member who introduced me to this. Great experience so far, made many friends here .. look forward to saying hello to many of you at the National!

Ed

[4815162342]

The best way to get the cards is in lots of 150-200..

I admire your supersonic hare speed in getting to 520, but I'm taking the tortoise approach. I started 2 1/2 years ago, and have slowwwwly picked up T206s in alphabetical order (mostly) all in PSA 4. At only 25 cards, I've got a long way to go; this hobby will take a lifetime for sure. But I want 522!

[Blunder19]

I admire your supersonic hare speed in getting to 520, but I'm taking the tortoise approach. I started 2 1/2 years ago, and have slowwwwly picked up T206s in alphabetical order (mostly) all in PSA 4. At only 25 cards, I've got a long way to go; this hobby will take a lifetime for sure. But I want 522!

In alphabetical order...You will dread those P's as a PSA 4 Plank is gonna be 6 figures :)

[Zach Wheat]

I am somewhere around 76% complete with about 80 dupes. I bought non-graded and generally do not pay much of a premium for graded cards. I picked up 3 large batches of cards accounting for about 50% of the set and then purchased the remainder in singles (which were mainly HOF'ers) via eBay and other auctions.

Greatest joy was picking up my first T206 - a Johnson portrait. I started in approx. 2005 and i suspect it will take me 5+ more years until I finish.


MWheat

[4815162342]

In alphabetical order...You will dread those P's as a PSA 4 Plank is gonna be 6 figures :)

By the time I get to it, inflation will probably send it to 7 figures! :eek:

[BigDan502]

Really cool thread so far.
I love getting them in sgc slabs for no other reason than
I think they look so much better in the black slab opposed
To the Psa clear case.

I fiddled around with collecting it for a year but decided to
Make this my sole focus when I realized it was the only part of collecting
I was still enjoying. Every new card that comes in is exciting.

I'm figuring at 2 per week it'll take 5 years so if I go all out for awhile
I may be able to knock it down a little.

I love sgc 40s but don't mind 20s an 30s on commons
As long as they Have nicer fronts.

The board is also one of the best message boards of any type on the net

[tbob]

Completed the set of 520 about 10 years ago. The cards are all vgex to exmt, all raw, all in pocket pages and binder. Glad I completed it then with the prices today :eek:

[Northviewcats]

I'm past the midway point. Started with raw cards with no creases, until I sent in about 100 to be graded. There wasn't a 5 in the lot. Now I just buy graded cards. Most of my cards are SGC50-70s, some PSA 4s & 5s. Still have about 50 ungraded cards that I plan on selling as I replace them with graded. No hurry to complete the set. Different backs are cool, but right now very expensive. I just buy cards when the price is reasonable. When I get close to 400 this may change, and I will get more serious about completing the set.

Best regards,

Joe

[majordanby]

im not even close and ive been going at it for 4-5 years now. at one point, i had a significant chunk of the HOFers, but i had to sell a lot of them for financial reasons and an adjustment of how im going to collect the set. ive got one of the big 4 (the easiest of the 4 to get) and a demmitt, but might decide to sell them so i can afford to get the rest of the set. unless youve got the money or you're not super specific in how you're collecting the set, the monster can be had...and rather quickly, as evidenced so far in this thread. Look through ebay, private auctions, the BST...T206s are always for sale.

ive wavered a few times and thought i would drop the set, but every time i keep getting sucked right back in.

[BigDan502]

It seems like the set can be had but the question is how do you want it?
Would you like the set just to be complete with any old example if any card?
Do you want it completely graded etc?

Another interesting question is: do you think the cards and set will maintain their current value?
Not something everyone cares about however with the amount of time, effort and money put into it it's nice to know you have something extremely desirable.

[teetwoohsix]

I'm going for it but am no where close to completion ........I'm not even half way to the half way point yet :D

I think I have around 80 or 81. Have to go back and count again. I'm trying to have a nice blend of backs and stay within a VG 3 to VG/EX 4 range, only have a couple raw and the rest are slabbed- mostly SGC, but also BVG and PSA.

I am in no rush to complete it, I'm enjoying the slow ride. I only pick up one or two here and there.

So far back representation consists of each Piedmont except Fact. 42, Sweet Cap (all), Polar Bear, Old Mill, EPDG, Tolstoi, Sov. 350 & 460, Cycle 350,and I think that's it.

Sincerely, Clayton

[bunst]

I'm 34% there and have been picking away at it since 1996. Most are raw and average VG/EX. I don't have any particular pattern; I just buy when I find a good deal and can afford. Many HOFer's and tougher cards in my collection so I'm confident that I'll eventually get the set done. My problem is that I'm working on too many other sets also, so I'm not focused enough to finish any of them. But I'm having fun trying!

[toppcat]

I have about 160 and was very close to giving up as recently as last month. I looked at the prices I paid vs what I might get and decided to hold off but now I'm glad I did and plan to just put the T206 set on hold for a little while longer to see if I want to complete it minus the big 6. The Monster definitely wants me to quit, just not sure if I'll listen to it or not.

[7nohitter]

Ok...I just started the T206 collecting....tell me: Who are the big 4?

Demmit and Magie? Wagner?

Who else?

Yes, this board is the absolute best of its kind. I downloaded Scot Reader's publication, found on this site, and have been reading it...great stuff!

Thanks!

[4815162342]

Doyle Natl, Wagner, Plank, Magie

[7nohitter]

Thanks Daryl!

[jp1216]

Just hit 80% a day or two ago!! Very low grade overall. Mostly ungraded - or low graded that I extracted from the slabs. 2+ years now. My cards are listed below. My goal is 514 - no variations. Wagner & Plank are reprints. My goal is a few a month from here on out. Better to enjoy a few at a time anyway.
I keep mine in a beautiful T206 wooden box: http://www.dakotawoodcrafts.com/baseball-card-boxes.html

Enjoy the ride (the monster wants you to quit)

[judsonhamlin]

I'm at 518 (and have been there for a while). I started in the late '80s and decided in '92 or so to stop buying Piedmont and Sweet Cap backed cards (except for Piedmont 42's and 3-4 Sweet Cap's with tougher factories or cool back stamps). At this point, only 30% of my set are those two backs. Still need one more Cobb and the O'Hara.

[camlov2]

We have a collection of 520, my Dad did the collecting and passed it down to my brother and I. Not sure how long it took but I would guess most of the 70's. All cards are raw.

[BleedinBlue]

I'm a bit over 90% of the way there right now. 478/524 so I need 40 plus the big 6. I hope to pick up the majority of the remaining 40 this year and will see where things go from there with the Big 6. It's taken me about 2 years to get this far. Currrently I'm trying to put this together in a PSA 3-4 range but originally started in wanting just anything above PSA 1. As new card aquisition has wound down I'm beginning to upgrade the cards I originally picked up in grades below PSA 3. I'm also looking at different approaches to keep going with the collecting. I'd like to put together a back set, a set with one back (such as all 250 Polar Bear cards) and a strong run of a single front with different backs. There are so many ways to collect this set that I don't ever expect to be "finished".

[where the gold at?]

ive been working on this for a couple years now. its been tough but i will win this battle. lots of rare backs and oddities.

http://sgccardregistry.com/set.aspx?cat=1&set=239&userset=1606

[Bridwell]

I have a near set of 520. It is all PSA graded, and 16th on the PSA Registry. Got my first T206 in 1972 at a Detroit area card show which was a Ty Cobb batting card with a couple creases. It was only 40 cents (yes $0.40). I also got a Johnny Evers for 20 cents. I was only 12 years old, but my brother and a couple of our friends were already studying the old-time players so we knew who Cobb and Evers were. I started collecting graded cards in 1999 and began to have some of mine graded. After numerous upgrades, most of my set is now PSA 5-6. One of my best T206 moments was buying a Ty Cobb (green portrait) at a Detroit area show in about 1978 for $10. It is now in a PSA 5 holder. I have cards from many other sets, but the T206's are still the 'heart' of my collection.

[3-2-count]

Been working on the set since about mid March. I have been lucky enough to purchase 3 pretty good size lots to get me off and running. I'm approaching the 300 card point and going strong. The cards range from VG to EX and have nice eye appeal. The HOF's are either graded or will be graded while the commons will stay raw in semi rigid sleeves. Takes up alot less room plus they look great unslabbed. I definitely have been bitten by the monster!!

[richieb315]

I am at 415. I have another 250 Dupes. They are mostly lower grade. I been working on the set together for 2 years now.

[Theoldprofessor]

I'm within two -- Honus and Slo Joe -- of completing the set. I'll never have either of them, so I'll just sit around and admire the cards I already have.

My first was Germany Schaefer Washington, a miserable card of a grand ballplayer. I'd read about Schaefer as a kid, and was really pleased to own anything wth his picture on it, even if it did have a BB hole in his rght eye..

After my son got old enough we began going to shows, local and regional at first and eventually The National. No slabbing back then ... just a bunch of cards in plastic pages. "Can I see your T206s, please?" Man, we must have said that a thousand times over the years. The collection grew, and the fun of building it brought us closer togather.

And yes, I own both Plank and Magie (both PSA 4). Sell the set? Maybe someday, but it's as much my son's as mine, and it will give me pleasure to pass it on to him.

Thanks for asking

[steve B]

Well, at least I can make the slow guys feel better. I'm at about 160, bought my first one in 1978 or 79. So I've been "working" on it for roughly 32 years. I'm avaraging nearly 1% a year, so I should finish when I'm 118:)

I was lucky enough to be interested in backs from the start, so only 7 left to get. 2 fairly easy ones and the rest probably won't happen unless I get lucky.


Steve B

[T206Collector]

I got to 520, then sold a few to get a Magie... Then two months later sold over 400 of them to get enough money to buy Lionel Carter's Eddie Plank in the April 2007 Mastro Auction. Still have that Plank, but my autographed T206 card collection now outnumbers my unsigned T206 collection by about 4 to 1.

The signed cards ruined my fascination for the unsigned ones. Once you hold a card that has actually been touched by the player, the ones that the player never touched simply don't possess the same magic.

I've made it back up to 300+ once since 2007, buying mostly raw lots. But I sold them all to make a run at the signed T206 Cobb in th September 2010 Imperial Sports auction. When that attempt failed, I decided to update our guest bathroom with the money rather than pour it back into unsigned T206 cards. I have never regretted that move.

[jcarroll84]

I had a friend from work show me a card about a year ago and was amazed at the beauty of the cards. I have been hooked ever since and have collected about 12% of the set and am doing it in PSA (3 or 3.5).

[E93]

I was slow. It took about 25 years from my first T206 when I was 12 or 13 until my last. My back set still needs BL 460 and Piedmont factory 42. About 80% of mine are raw. I got most of the HOFs graded a few years ago, but I like flipping through the notebook pages from time to time. I got a reprint set to fill in the holes where the HOFs used to be.
JimB

[tonyo]

I started almost 2 years ago and am at 468 including all but 2 hofers (Plank and Wagner) and including 37/48 SLers. Need the other 4 of the big six, also need Dahlen Brooklyn and Elberfeld Washington. The remaining 37 are commons.

These are all low grade with "good enough for me" eye appeal. Some are slabbed, but I prefer raw. Just yesterday I bought an old wooden cigar box at an antique store that will probably be their home soon. I'll probably put them in sleeves and maybe the smaller top loaders since some are a little on the fragile side. I just like holding them and flipping through them like I did with my cards as a kid.

I have about 50 doubles right now and would love to trade with you guys who have low grade dupes.

When I first started I was only going to get the HOFers and found myself buying random beaters here and there. That got slightly out of hand so I decided to sell the beaters thinking I would only collect HOFers then stop. That was the monsters best attempt to get me to stop. As I approached finishing the HOF set, I decided to make a slower go at the set and raised my standards slightly above beater to Fair/Good/VG and tried to limit myself to 150 subject backs only. That didn't last long and the ball has been rolling with an eye on 518 for several months now. My pick ups seem to come in waves, but overall the number is steadily rising. I'm hoping to join the 500 club relatively soon.

Different backs interest me slightly, but not too much. However, I have been thinking lately that it would be neat to have each back represented in my set in the same percentage that they seem to exist in reality. At this point in time though, I can't really see myself paying several hundred dollars each for the more rare backs........we'll see.


Tony

[Danny Smith]

Im at about 350 after 3 years. Im aiming for 522 (no wagner or doyle). I have all the rarities except plank. Almost all hofers and im about ten short on slers. Mostly just commons left to go. Ive lost focus on the set here and there but im looking to get to 522 in a couple years.

Danny

[BigDan502]

I was under the assumption that the plank was as tough if not tougher than the Wagner. It seems like a decent amount of people own the plank, some own a magie but no one really has a Doyle or Wagner .

[yoyot1]

I'm at 513; started collecting in 2000 and collected off and on since then. Most of my set is low grade (you can see it in my sig); never considered stopping collecting, but I did stop looking for cards a couple times for more than a year over the past decade. I've collected mainly by price - I know how much I'm willing to pay for each particular card, and won't go $1 over; although it seems I'll eventually need to bump up how much I'll pay for the last 2 Cobbs I need.

T206 is a nice gateway set - I like it a lot and still hope to get to 518 (or 520 eventually), but I'm more excited about some other sets these days (Obaks, C46, T222 especially).

[Robextend]

I am going for the Tolstoi back set. I am over 30% of the way there based on the confirmed list.

http://imageevent.com/vanslykefan/prewar1/tolstoibacks

http://www.sgccardregistry.com/set.aspx?cat=1&set=1695&userset=5117

[T3s]

I finished a set of 518 around 2000 in about vg condition. I guess it took about 7 years or so and at one time I had about 1000 different front and back combinations.

I remember buying 100 cards lots in g-vg for $8-10/card in SCD, helped fill a lot of holes in the set quickly. I bought a Demmitt in about f-g on Ebay for about $350. I remember winning a group of 40 Cycle backs in an auction (Festberg I think) including a Cy Young for about $400. When I got down to the last 60-70 cards, I picked 'em off one by one from Ebay, all raw.

When Topps began the first year of T206 inserts (2001?), they were buying cards from many dealers around the country. I was looking to sell my set and caught wind of it. I ended up calling Topps directly and negotiating a deal to sell them 500 cards, including several HOFers, SLers, etc. I was heading to NY and brought them with me for delivery. Topps cut me a nice check (based on prices at that time) and then sent me a 1099 the next spring.

It was lots of fun building the set, kinda fun selling it and in selling it, I'd like to think I helped quite a few younger or newer collectors get excited about the T206 set. Long live the Monster!

Craig

[wheels56]

My set is experiencing infinite growth right now*. Been back in the hobby for about a year now. Set my sights on a 56 topps set (6 to go). However, reading theses great forums and having picked up an eCopy of "The Card" to get reacquainted with the hobby I loved as a kid, the monster has certainly intrigued me. Mostly just educating myself now, but recently picked up a really cool Unglaub. 1 down, 500 and something to go... :D

*. Well, technically, impossible growth. ;)

[t206hound]

I started buying and selling T206s in 2005 with the sole intention of getting the four Cobbs (for free by flipping) and stopping there. I accomplished this by buying a monster lot with a Cobb, McGraw red Hindu, a BL350 a Uzit and over 100 other cards. In hindsight, I should have sold the Cobb and kept the other three.

Flash forward to 2010 and I got the itch on T206s again when I noticed the prices drop a bit. I wanted to go for 518 and didn't care about the grade ( although I want them slabbed). I got to about 30% and then I bought a beantown lot. At that point, I decided to go to SGC 30-40. An then about a month ago I dumped everything that wasn't a 40 (except my Cobbs and Lundy Chi). Right now I'm sitting at 20% graded (my net cost on these is $0) with roughly 50 additional raws ready to go to SGC.

[bbcard1]

260 out of 518, mostly in fair, some not quite that nice. Unslabbed. Have a nice little twist on the that makes them pretty presentable. I had a about 150 when I started focusing about six months ago. The biggest part was 100 bought for $100 in the 1980s. I am just doing it for fun, don't know what i will eventually do with it, doing it as a hobby not an investment (much like collecting pennies). The thing that got me started is I completed a low grade T205 set (fronts only) in just a few months (thanks to Marc Delpino). Just gotted started thinking it was entirely possible and am working on it now. 518 will be fine, 514 won't bother me any, but if the right Plank comes available (poor, but with some charm) I will probably make a play for it. Have written off Wagner, don't think the Magie is very interesting.

[Gradedcardman]

I am currently back into T206's for a third time. The first set I started in 1982 and ended complete minus the Wagner, Plank and Doyle. The Magie was great and recently resold in REA. My other jewel was a Collins Carolina Brights. In 2009 I started and got to about 300 after the 2010 national and then sold them all. I bought a lot in December 2010 of 300 and decided to start again. I'm down to needing about 80. I will end needing the Wagner and Doyle but will always look for them at estate sales.

[Scott T]

I have 513 ultra low grade SGC T206's. (It's complete if you factor out the "Big 11"!)

I bought most of mine from Ebay raw and submitted them myself.

The B/S/T board has also helped quite a bit. Although I am (somewhat) jealous when someone upgrades their collection, their "downgrades" can always find a place in my collection.

Next up: Elberfeld Portrait (Washington)

[JasonL]

I started by collecting the Chicago Cubs team set. So that's 37 and I was really happy and satisfied to have completed that after a couple years.

Then a funny thing happened...I found myself buying nice examples of what I thought were some of the set's most visually appealing card images, and all of a sudden that was another 20 or so cards thus far.

Then one day I thought it would be neat to have the Milwaukee team set because my parents grew up there, and what the heck, that's only 4 cards...

So now after about 5 years of casual collecting, I realize that I am about 60-65 cards in without ever trying to collect the Monster...funny, huh? :):o:rolleyes:

[wrapperguy]

Started in the mid to late 1980's, thank goodness. I could not afford to start now. Completed the set with a Demmitt and O'Hara as part of a big purchase at one of the Chicago Nationals. Now that I am in the process of a divorce, I am not sure of where it will end up, though I am sure my wife will be happy to let me have it in lieu of money. The set is in a binder, and I love the look of them in plastic sheets where I can see many of them at once. The condition is not that great but I love being able to hold them and look at them en masse.

[Jason]

I started collecting T206 about 6 months ago and am up to about 8% or 41 cards.I try to purchase all my cards in the SGC 30-50 range but will accept a 10 or 20 here and there of a card i couldnt easily afford otherwise.I buy primarily graded cards.I have enjoyed building this set alot and look forward to working on this classic for years to come.Thanks for the opportunity to share.Jason