What's your reason for collecting T206
 

As we all know 2/3 of the forums are focused on T206 card discussion and I was wondering what is the specific reason why each of you collect the set? Is it the challenge / art work / affordability (outside of the big boys) / etc. I love how there are so many backs.

I'm in it for the signatures
 

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9JThsZG2x8u9YDxbx6mrFDiJm_Z5QsNdec5_I7WHZRE?feat=e mbedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iQ_phCjfIIU/S7FELuCjRqI/AAAAAAAAJ6Y/xE6ymo7l4wM/s800/Clarke%252520Batting%252520Auto%252520SGC%25252010 .jpg" height="800" width="499" /></a>

I do not collect them anymore but I used to collect The New York Highlanders with as many backs possible, sold this collection a few years ago. As to why, just had a wild hair. :)
http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u...20Highlanders/

I don't specifically collect t206's. If I find a pre-20's beater under $10, I'll usually pick it up. However, when it comes to pre-20's beaters under $10, the majority of them are t206s.. Also, when it comes to my HOF collection, for some players, a beater t206 is about as low-budget as you can get.

Unavoidable
 

Not only because of the nice artwork seen on the majority of cards in the set, but also because it is such a large set and the fact that they are incredibly unavoidable when searching for Pre-WW2 cards...you just bump into them all the time. Sooner or later you end up buying some.

Brian

1) It's a huge set. Only other pre-war set in the same size category is OJ's, and they aren't lithos and they are more costly
2) Litho quality - most sets, even medium-size, are of poorer quality. Only T205's compare, and they don't have near the action poses, and the set is small
3) No black and white competition. Even if I liked B&W cards, the pre-war sets are pretty ugly for the most part.
4) It's a great era, and this is the most comprehensive set from the era.

Lots of reasons.

The art is very good and is varied.

The sets is very large and is comprised of virtually all of the best players of the deadball era.

It is attainable but not too attainable. Even though I am down to about 50, I have a decent chance of picking up a couple I need every week or two.

I see it as my lifetime set. I hope to complete it in p-f this year, with the O'Hara variation (along with the big 4, of course) being the only real obstacle, provided my cashflow holds out. I intend to spend the rest of my life upgrading it as the opportunity presents itself starting with the worst, but occasionally buying lots of cards and using the upgrading lots and selling or trading the dupes. It is what I am concentrating on this year.

I have a low grade Delong set on deck along with a high grade 1961 Topps.

Never got to sit at the "cool" lunch table in high school.

Really collect them only tangentially as an A's team set collector and a HOF type collector. Sold many of the HOfers off as I migrated to more obscure issues over time.

Rob, the Chess Club will do it to you everytime!

it's one of my favorites.
 

The T206s, 34 goudeys, 52Topps, 51Bowmans, 72Topps, oops thats 5 Oh yeah and I have a nice HOF set going of all diff types, none the same issue, oh yeah and cabinet cards and I forgot to mention my regional issues and................oh forget it! :)

But the t206s have me right now, it's like once you hook a Billfish everything else is "bait":D The artwork, the legends, the challenge, the discoveries. The blood sweat and tears, the delights the disasters.

Simply cause I like'em.

I collect them mostly for the interesting fact that you never really know when your set is complete. Theres so many ways to collect them. I started collecting Piedmont factory 42's only and then got my first Tolstoi and started buying them, then there were the Cycles and wanted more of them and you gotta love the EPDG's and before I knew it, I figured i'd go after all the front/back combos.

Orions Father, I regret missing out on your Pink Hal Chase EPDG but I was into the Piedmont 42's at the time and was lucky enough to make a deal with you for your Blue Portrait Hal Chase factory 42 and its still one of my favorite T206's out of the many 100's I have. Thank you.

I like them for the history of the deadball era and for the history of the cards themselves. Bought a few '33 Goudey cards and they just don't do anything for me but I love the tobacco issues. Old Judge would be something I could completely dig but I can't afford them being a single dad.

Good question, and one that I have always wondered myself.

Nice artwork sure, but has nothing on a set like T3.

Affordable yes, but putting together a complete set is very costly. And also a futile effort since the majority of us won't be able to ever afford to truly complete it with the Wagner card.

Attainable of course, but the fact that you see them everywhere and everyone collects them is actually a big reason why I don't collect them. To me, the much more interesting things are the things that you don't see every day.

Back variations are cool, but a card's charm to me has always been much more about the front. A card that you have to turn over to truly appreciate doesn't really appeal to me personally.

Just my honest thoughts, and don't get me wrong, I can definitely appreciate the importance of t206's!

Because it is nicknamed "The Monster"

They're are so many different ways one can collect them and any budget can enjoy them. Most definitely the funnest set I've ever collected.

I just recently started collecting T206s. As some on this site know, I have been in the business of selling my grandma's cards. My great grandfather collected cards as a kid from 1909 to 1912. He passed to my grandfather over a thousand cards. about 600 of them baseball and the other 400 where different sports and non sports cards. When my grandpa died he didn't leave any money for my grandma and she has been living off cards since 2000, for extra income. In the past year or so I have sold a bunch of E79 and E80s (Boxing), 75 T210s, over 20 E95s (including Wagner and Cobb), a Mellomint, a T205 Pat Moran w/stray line, and finally 2 Red Hindu and 8 Brown Hindu T206s (to include a Walter Johnson portrait). Now that my grandma is set with a good amount in savings, she has given my uncle and I whats left. So, I am now taking what I have of my great grandfather's cards and setting out to do what he tried back in 1909-11 and complete the T206 set (minus the 4 I can't afford).

The size of the set, big fan of the deadball era, the average person can get almost the entire thing if theyre patient. When I started collecting them I just wanted one card of each player, from the set, didn't think I was patient enough to go all the way to the 500's but the further I got the more fun it was to collect(the chase) so I ended up going as far as I could go and since I have my new toy(scanner) this is where I stopped....

This is the center piece of my part of the collection that I inherited.

http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/a...ront-Copy8.jpg
http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/a...back-Copy8.jpg

My reason
 

I pretty much collect them to pick up babes at card shows...

Take Care,
Geno

Rob D
 

At least you had a lunch table, ole buddy.
My high school in the late 60's tried to be liberal and innovative and provided only vending machines and picnic tables. Only way to be cool was to smoke in the assigned area. I missed out on that.

I collected the T206s because of their aesthetics. Even after taming the Monster a few years back, I couldn't part with those beauties and still have every single one. I've been a type collector since and have to admit that i've acquired some beauties that have surpassed the T206s but the T206s will always be 'my first love'---in the card collecting arena!!
all the best,
barry

Cue my good friend Fred with the t206/girls story he heard once. I won't ruin it but if you have a Walter Johnson card, girls won't be impressed if it has a polar bear back :)

I don't really collect them, but have accumulated 75 or so just because they are always available in beater grade cheap. They were also the first pre war cards I ever bought.

It's also a pre war set that anyone with a little patience can get 95% complete over a few years without going bankrupt.

What's your reason for collecting T206
 

What's your reason for collecting T206 > They have an ACC number.

One of the most iconic sets of all time, along with OJs, Goudeys and 52 Topps. Lots of ways to collect them, a large variety of subjects, pretty much all of the HOFers of the period in more than one pose, cards that are really scarce and sought after, and just a pretty set for the most part. It can keep you busy for as long as you want it to. There are period sets that can arguably compete with it in one or two categories, but none can compete in an overall sense. T206 just has it all.

I don't collect them

This about sums it up for me as well.

It's also the best set ever produced (IMO) :D

Sincerely, Clayton

First pre war card I ever got, in early 70's. The true importance of it was my dad got it for me. Still have it, the Lajoie throwing. Didn't get another one until the 1990's.

Best reason so far............

When I look at my T206 cards i often wonder if any of them have ever been part of the same collection before. If at some point in their century long history some of my personal cards have ever been the possession of a single collect before.
This intrigues me

Reason for collecting T206's
 

1. For my 4 player Nashville Subset : Bay, Bernhard, Ellam, and Perdue
2. For my back type collection (Hindu, Old Mill, Piedmont)

At 12 T206's, my T206 collection is complete, so I am onto other Nashville types.

T206
 

Found this site in 2005 and decided to collect pre war as the new shiney turned me off back in the early 90's when they made billions of them. T206's were readily available and loved the portraits. Still have about 100 but haven't added to them in awhile. Have collected since the 60's but mostly AFL football from that era. Still love the look of the T206.

With so many t206 collectors out there, must be very rewarding and fun to share something and have so many people have a true appreciation for it. That to me would be a good reason to collect t206's.

Come over to the dark side Jeff. ;)

+1.

And, I have no desire to "come over to the dark side." :)
Val

I have noticed many people collect T206 in many different ways (HOF'ers, Certain teams etc) and some are trying to get the entire set.
I collect it in a strange way I guess, I buy any T206 that I like, can afford and do not have with little attention to condition or rarity of the back etc. If someday I end up with 500 cards and can't afford the rest then fine I guess my set is done ;) I don't have as much rhyme or reason to collecting as most seem to have but I LOVE the cards and love buying em.

I like T206 for the fact that I can pick cards up relatively cheap in lower grades, the artwork is fantastic, and each card is a window into the early years of baseball.

because I said I was going to do it--dammit
 

...because I said I was going to do it. Not necessarily the best reason, but when you consider what a monumental task it is (if you don't have a money tree growing in the back yard) the quest becomes a test of a person's character.

I actually like the artwork, the availability, the variations and all of the other interesting reasons listed in the posts above, too. But dammit I'm going to slay this jabberwockey!

Best wishes whatever quest you are on.

Joe

I dont recall the particular reason or circumstance for my first T206 purchase.However,that one Killian Portrait got me back into collecting and has allowed me to meet some great people in the process.I love baseball and history so this set is perfect to learn more about both subjects.

As a Yankees collector, I go after all Yankees old and new, and I love the look of the T206 cards. Right now I have 26 of the 28 different Yankee cards (fronts, I dont get into back variations).

Because...
 

Variety is the spice of life...

So many different ways to attack !!

It is a beautifully illustrated set. The red BG portaits are my favorites. There is something very dignified about the simple design and portraiture. It also has a tremendous selection of players for the era and multiples of many of the stars. And it is a classic set where most vintage guys get their starts collecting. That certainly was the case for me as my 1st prewar card was a Johnson ready to throw.

The thing that has kept me from actively pursuing more of the set is the fact that I cannot possibly afford the Wagner or the Plank. I only collect HOFers and popular players, so the idea of filling out a set never appealed to me anyway, but the inaccessibility of some of the keys to me is a deal killer. Now I just hang on to what I have because they are as close to a blue chip as anything in card collecting.

1- Affordable price for 1909 cards
2- Beautifull color and beautifull looking card, portrait and action pose too
3- Many card for sale at any time on ebay, not a rare set
4- All the important card and their history like Wagner, Plank or Magie, ty cobb back, doyle
5- All the way to collect : Back, League,514,520,524 card set , etc...
6- All the HOF in this set
7- The size of the set, it is a lifetime project
8- The fact you can have many card with many pose, like 4 Cobb or 5 Chase etc ...
9- The thread : your monster number here on the net54 héhéhéhéh

I would echo many of the reasons already given but add this commercial one: the sense that if you purchase a card and later regret it, or price was a little high, or you upgraded, you KNOW you can always sells it at decent price because so many other collectors out there. Takes most of the stress out of it. Of course, you can still badly overpay but at least you know you can get most of it back quickly,almost a "liquid asset" ...not true with vast majority of other cards, right?

What's your reason for collecting T206
 

1. All the good people you meet on Net54 doing so.

2. Other reasons already mentioned.

3. It's the Monster

Same reason as everyone else.....the chicks.....

http://photos.imageevent.com/piojohn...46_468x352.jpg

LMAO! That picture is an instant classic. Demmitt St. Louis I hope...:D

Just saw this...very funny.

So that I can participate in all the T206 threads on Net 54
JimB

LOL Jim be careful hate to see you get sued over any comments you make regarding T206's. New board lots of legal action going on :D