Why do you collect backs?
 

I ask this question because the back of a baseball card has never particularly mattered to me, and even less so when they are ads. All of us collect what we love, and this is by no means a shot at you back collectors. IN fact, I ask humbly, and seek to understand.
I think it's cool when you guys show your runs of the same card with like 10 different backs. I can totally get the high in chasing rarity. But I sometimes find that you guys don't even care who is on the picture as long as it's a brown Hindu or a Broadleaf. So I want to hear from you back collectors, and there are TONS of you, what it is exactly that draws you in?

"I can totally get the high in chasing rarity."

That's about the size of it.

My quest is to collect every possible fronr/back combo of the T205 Cubs. I have been a Cub fan since I was young and have collected Cubs cards exclusively for years. I like the idea of the hunt and having a T205 Cubs master set.

I just wanted to get at least one of every ad. I do care who is on the front. I much prefer a Cobb/ Lenox to a Howell/ Lenox. But I can't always afford a HOF/ rare back combination.


And having advanced to a level where I have all the fronts and backs that I can afford, I want more challenges. So now I'm working on a couple back runs. My Merkle back run has been more fun than anything else that I've acquired. Now if only I could get that damn Red Cross. ;)

Coming at this as a complete novice who only bought his first vintage card about a year ago - I love the personality that the different backs bring to the T206 set. Different colours, different slogans...as much a relic of the era as the deadball player on the front, for me.

That said, I totally understand why they might mean nothing to others. All part of the charm of the set is that there is seemingly endless ways to collect it.

I've been collecting T206 rare backs for almost 30 years (wow, I'm dating myself). From day one, when I discovered T206 at a small show, I was instantly drawn to the ornate, often colorful, ads on the back of the cards. The vintage, bold graphics pulled me right in. Add to that, the challenge of rarity of many of them, I was hooked.

I have always loved rare backs because the fronts are usually easy... whereas the fronts with rare backs are not!!

Initially, because they are rare. Now, because I am addicted

Just stretching the subject to the M101-4/5s and other back sets. It is simply the fun of finding the backs:

I like to collect players from the Providence team. There are very few of them in any set. Collecting the different backs is a way to expand my collection. Plus, it's just fun chasing down rarities.

Back in January 2016 I had finished a 520 T206 set. All Pied. and SC, on purpose. Commons vg; HOF/sl good (Demmitt and O'Hara acceptable). I sold any non-pied/sc back and any high grades from lots I won, so to finance this project. FUN set to put together, based on condition ........... but, when I was done, I was done. Not to sound egotistical, but it had gone as far as it could...... so I sold it.

Now being a T206-ahaolic (I can quit any time I want, I just don't want to :)), I still needed my T206 fix. Just after selling old set, I bought a fairly large lot of cards. About 50 with mid-tier backs.............. thought, why not ??!!! My original goal was to get 520 with ~50% backs between PB and Pied.42. After about 6 months I hit 50%............. and said, once again, why not go for more ;). Now sit at 507/520 :):).

What I find is the search is a bit more fun, and what I have learned about the T206 set is quite unreal and amazing. The nuances of the set are so much more intricate than I ever thought !!!!!!!!!!!

Also IF I'll ever reach 520, I never really be done. There are always "back upgrades" to be gotten, and more knowledge to be learned.

Fun stuff, Scott :rolleyes:

I collect different T206 backs because honestly a basic 520 card Piedmont/Sweet Caporal/Polar Bear set is a simple task if you have the money. Collecting the different front/back combo's is kind of like treasure hunting and needing to be at the right place at the right time to score a rare combo. Also, searching and buying one card at a time kind of brings me back to when I was a kid building a Topps set one pack at a time. I guess the last reason is I needed something that can not be completed. Other sets that I've completed, I lost interest in right after the purchase of the last card and then either sold the set or broke it up which I don't enjoy but also don't want to keep something I've lost interest for.

Back collecting is a lot of fun and adds variety to the common fronts...

From the previous collection...
http://luckeycards.com/pm101backsmaster2.jpg

Makes sense. Chasing rarities, while frustrating, is really fun. I also see the point about how a rare back makes what is usually a readily-available card into something more special.

I like the artwork of the t206 backs. That is why I am trying to get one of each back. I am also collecting t205, but I don't collect the different backs on those. It would be a case by case basis for me.

It's a collection of history. Advertising is boring nowadays. The outlets are no longer unique, and it's pretty easy to reach the masses. They had to be creative back then, and the backs are proof.

Why? Because it's 50% of the card.

I don't collect backs, but -- if you think about it -- we call them baseball cards but they are also "advertising cards" and, overall, their function was to market products.

When I was a kid, I didn't have much money, so it wasn't feasible for me to try to collect sets for any cards other than the current year's Topps set (which I did each year from 1977 through 1981). So as I got into older cards, I became a type collector sort of by default, trying to get examples of as many different sets as I could. That allowed me to see the history of baseball and baseball cards while keeping to my (necessarily) limited budget. See this post with my type checklist from 1980, when I was 14: http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=239160

When I got back into collecting in the early 1990s, I was a grad student with a bit more money than I had as a kid, but still not a lot. I was able to pick up more T and E and R cards for my type collection, and I didn't have to limit myself to a single example of each set; I could and did accumulate more of sets I liked. These included some that were relatively tough to find, but not much more expensive than T206s, such as T210s and T212s (and even T211s, which you could get in presentable shape for about $30 in the mid-90s). As I learned more about T206 backs, I saw that as another good way to extend my type collection without busting my collecting budget. In the early to mid-90s, the mid-tier backs (e.g. AB, Cycle, Tolstoi) didn't command much of a premium over common backs, but they were significantly tougher to find, which made them a good collecting challenge for me at the time. See this 1995 article on T206 backs, written by board member Judson Hamlin: http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=210404

More broadly, I see my card collection as a window into the past, of baseball as well as the culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. That's why I collect non-sport tobacco cards and trade cards as well as baseball cards. Collecting different backs allows me to see (and show others) the variety of different types of cards that were issued back then, and the variety of products they were issued with.

That's a good one. But something tells me that if t206s only had images of baseball players with blank backs, they would still be collected today. If the reverse were true, and they were only cardboard advertisements with no images, they would not be. Again, I am totally getting all of your motivations now, but not sure about that 50% argument;)

But would they be as popular? Probably not. A lot of collectors like myself appreciate both the front and back of cards. Blank back cards have little interest to me. I won't ever buy a blank back t206.

Agreed. I am not a back collector, yet I am not a fan of blank-backs.

I like both fronts and backs, but I don't mind blank backs if the fronts are interesting enough. I love Old Judges, which have blank backs. On the other hand, most blank-backed strip cards don't do much for me, because the fronts are so bad.

I collect the different T206 (and T205) backs, because they tell the history of the sets, as well as show how the cards were issued. I have the 520 card short-set of T206, and just picked up my 100th T205, and collecting the backs just seems to be a logical extension of the sets. I want at least one of each different back, but I don't really care about specific front/back combos.

So far, I have all the T206 backs except Broadleaf, Carolina Brights, Drum, Lenox and Uzit, and the T205 backs except Broadleaf and Drum. I'm also looking for Coupon (series 1), Red Cross (series 1) and Victory backs (and if I'm really lucky, a Pirate back).

Steve

A little rabbit trail, but in regards to back runs, what players (with the particular pose) has the most "backs?"

The six super print cards each appear with 24 different backs. Chase blue portrait, Chase black cap, Chance yellow background, Cobb red background, Evers batting Chicago and Mathewson black cap.

The Cobb red also appears on the Cobb/ Cobb back, so it appears on the most different backs.

Only if you consider it a t206. That is another can of worms.

What about beyond T206? Where the player from that set also has the same pose on same pose say on the Red Cross back, or on an E95?

Why?

Because T206 Sweet Caporal backs from any series are just soooo common! ;):)

All joking aside, I collect different backs for my T206 set because it adds variety. I'm not what you would call the average T206 collector though because from day one I never had any desire to own an example of each back.

Do I chase backs? Yes and I care just as much about the backs as I do the fronts. In order to complete a back set (every card/same back), a collector has to chase the player on the front and the advertisement on the back equally.

Being a T206 guy, I have always marched to the sound of my own Drummer.

I've always had a desire to collect stuff that you normally don't see. I've also generally consider myself to be a set collector. Combine that with being a bit obsessive and I ended up starting to build an E92 set with the Nadja back. I also always found the e92 red crofts really cool and again, something you hardly ever find. When Leon auctioned his collection, I made sure to pick up 1, then quickly added another and then another, and well, again, I can be a bit obsessive. :D

https://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsredmiller.md.jpghttps://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsredcrawford.md.jpghttps://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsreddonovan.md.jpghttps://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsredbemis.md.jpghttps://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsredbescher.md.jpghttps://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsre...r-SGC50.md.jpg

I actually don't consider it to be aT206, but Burdick made the list and he gets the last word. And we definitely shouldn't get that argument started again.

When I got my first checklist in 78 I thought "wouldn't it be cool to get at least one of each back" So I'd pick up backs I didn't have when they were in a stack of cards. Didn't think of different factories and series until much later, but when I did check, I found I'd only missed one easy one and maybe two fairly tough ones.

Haven't reduced the wantlist since then, and there's really only one I might be able to afford out of the ones I need.

I think of then as different sets that just happen to be cataloged as one.

Steve B

I enjoy the hunt for rarer cards. It's the same as collecting new cards, would you buy just a base card of your favorite player and stop? No, you'd have to "collect" the chrome, refractor, auto, blue, red, black, ect.

Thats some addiction!!! Great group!!!!! Miller is most common of them all isnt it!!!!

Pete, as far as I am aware, the Miller is the most common red back. I am aware of 3; yours, mine and a trimmed copy.

DJ

i collect backs because they are easy to flip for huge profits.

When Leon auctioned off his amazing type collection, I was fortunate to pick up a Crofts Candy red background of Davis SGC ex, a great card in its' own right. Only red back I have.

John, I thought I saw before that you picked that up. If you ever feel like taking a little vacation, let me know ;)

DJ

Epdgs
 

I need to update the collage and find an alternative to photobucket.....Always found EPDGs to be interesting. Sitting on 222 unique ones at this point.

To me a card is a 90/10 or 50/50.

A red Cobb I care 90% about the front. A Maddox EPDG I care 90% about the back.

But then there's a few that split like a Magee portrait Hindu. I love the front and the back about the same.....they are both important.

Attachment 280862

Hey Jeff, how many more EPDGs do you need for the complete set?

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7...E9NU3pramNFYlk

I was incorrect that I have 221, not 222. The known list according to Ted and the t206resource is 284 but I think it's actually 281. Pastorius, Hunky Shaw, and Ed Willetts no "S" are in their list but there are no records of one being sold or graded.

I don't think this is like a Drum or Uzit situation where an unknown one will show up, I just don't think they exist.

So I think I need 60 to get there but I've already surpassed my goal of 200. Not sure I will complete or not.

Good luck. :)

Hey Jeff, I say go for a complete set. Looks like you picked up 3 or 4 more since your last post about the set. I've gotten 3 more since then also. I'm now at an even 100 EPDG's. Took a while to get the first 100. Hopefully the second 100 is a bit quicker. Good luck on your EPDG journey and I look forward to when we are both within single digits of a complete subset.

That's awesome jeff,
What HOFs are you missing

All the big ones! Haha....trying to stick to a budget, so focus has been on commons for the most part. If I see a HOFer at a good price or in a lot, that's a bonus.

Bender, Chief (With Trees)
Chance, Frank (Batting)
Chance, Frank (Portrait - Red)
Cobb, Ty (Bat Off Shoulder)
Cobb, Ty (Portrait - Red)
Jennings, Hughie (One Hand Showing)
Johnson, Walter (Glove At Chest)
Johnson, Walter (Portrait)
Keeler, Willie (With Bat)
McGraw, John (Glove At Hip)
Tinker, Joe (Bat Off Shoulder)
Walsh, Ed
Wheat, Zack
Young, Cy (Bare Hand)
Young, Cy (Portrait)
Young, Cy (With Glove)

For me I am looking to have 1 of each cigarette/cigar brand as a type collection. I don't care who is on the front of the card, the factory #/variation, color of the ad or what sport/non sport set it is from.

If we are talking T206s I have 6 different cigarette brand backs so far.

I've wondered about the Shaw also. I'd love to see one.

Exactly! Also, I really like the advertising on cards. Frequently, the same player image was used for several pre-War sets, making the backs as or more interesting than the fronts. For example, this Sam Rice image was used for several sets, but many of the backs it can be found with are scarce: