Price Check Aisle 9...
 

Please delete thread.

AB350, Tolstoi, Cycle Common player:

PSA2 ~75
PSA3 ~100

With some patience :rolleyes:, less :)

Low grade Brown Hindu -- 150+


HAHA, like your signature, I'm right on the senile edge ;), so take above advice accordingly ................. Scott

Please allow me to restate my intentions of this post. I for the most part know the general progression of common to rare backs. This board does an amazing job of illustrating that. I also know that through a tremendous amount of digging that most sites especially ebay are inflated in price mostly because of cost of doing business. While I would certainly love to have all the backs I asked about in the first post, my intent is to get a solid guide post as to which direction to start. Do I try to pick up most of the uncommon backs? Do, I set my sites on a singular back like the American Beauties and branch out slowly? I completely understand that many on here painstakingly spend and enormous amount of time researching and collecting early tobacco cards are are not too keen on giving advice to neophytes. For that I apologize.

The best advice I can offer is collect what you want to collect. I started collecting solely T206 Boston Red Sox players and have since started collecting all the backs of each of those players.

I even have the same player with the same back multiple times over just because I want them all, high grade or beaters, common or rare.

My goal is to have zero Red Sox available on the market (HAHA, as if that will ever happen!).

I did that for the local team over in Shreveport, but since there was only one player and two backs it didn't take long. LOL

On the contrary, most of the experts here are happy to give advice to neophytes, as long as they're genuinely interested. I didn't see your original post before you deleted it, but I gather you were asking about how best to collect the tougher T206 backs. My advice echoes what others have said: keep your eyes open, be patient, and collect what interests you. I became interested in T206 backs more than 20 years ago in the early 90s, when the tougher backs were much more affordable in relative terms, but it wasn't as easy to find cards as it is today. Back then I would scour the ads in Sports Collector's Digest each week looking for things I was interested in, primarily T and E cards (including tough T206 backs), and sometimes bid in auctions in SCD like the long-gone David Festberg's (from whom I got a lot of tough T206 backs and type cards).

Nowadays, it depends on what your collecting budget is and what you're looking for, but I would definitely keep an eye on the T206 B/S/T forum here on Net54, and set up eBay searches for T206 + the names of the tougher backs (Cycle, American Beauty, Tolstoi, etc.). I have several such searches saved, and you can set them to send you e-mail alerts when new things matching the search are listed. Also watch the auctions by the many auction houses that handle vintage cards, nearly all of whom have T206s, often with tougher backs. Those cards will all be graded, and many are high-grade cards that go for a pretty penny, but it's sometimes possible to find pretty decent deals on T206s in some of the auctions.

If you're not sure what you want to collect, get examples of a bunch of different T206 backs, raw and graded, and see what tickles your fancy. There are as many ways to collect that set as there are collectors.

Thank you. This thread was poorly constructed from the start. I have met some fantastic people here who have put me onto some really good threads. I've always sought HOF players with interesting stories. My first card was purchased around 2002 and I had reprints as early as 91. There was a fantastic website in the early 2000 that allowed you to go through each card one at a time and if available you could purchase the card by clicking the button below the card. I bought a Carlos Smith with a Piedmont back for $35 and hovered over a VG Eddie Collins forever but couldn't get the courage to spend the $70 they were asking. I would spend $175 10 years later. Heck I thought they all had Piedmont backs back then.

The approach I've taken with backs for a long time has been mostly opportunistic. It was far easier when I started 30+ years ago, but works well for me considering the two things I lack - concentration and budget.

So when I used to look through a stack, I'd look at both fronts and backs. There were some tough choices and a few easier ones. Like do I get a couple fairly nice commons, or slightly more but with "tougher" backs but not as nice.

My goal had been to get one back from each company, and I got close. Just missing Drum, Uzit, and Ty Cobb. And Maybe AB I don't recall for sure on that one. (Lets not go "there", it was on the list so it was on my list :) )

Along the way I picked up most of the factories and series too, missing the ones you'd expect plus for some reason a SC150-649. I had a bit of a preference for the 460 series and minor leaguers.

I'd think a basic set of backs could be put together easily with just a few more holes without it being a major budget issue. Figure you'll spend a bunch on Broadleaf , Lenox, and CB. The real tough ones will take some budget, some luck, and some willingness to actually buy them. I passed on a Drum a long time ago because it was basically equal to my entire amount of spending money for the show. I just didn't want to walk in buy one card and leave. Not a smart move, but the tough backs hadn't really taken off then. The marginally tougher ones weren't even set aside as special.

So overall, look for the backs but don't get crazy about getting them all or sticking to one tougher back unless you've got the budget and some patience. Pick up cards you like that seem like good deals, and maybe opt for a tougher back now and then. Like "Do I get this card as a VG Piedmont or a G-Vg Old Mill"


Steve B

Good advice.

Remember that the common to rare back list is just a guideline. Sure a Drum back is considered rarer than a Sweet Caporal back and to a degree they are, but when broken down by the player on the front, then that is when you will find where the commonness and rarity begins.

Ask a board member or T206 collector assembling a back run of a certain player. A lot of times the Sweet Caporal back is the last back they need to complete their player run.

Two things that you should focus on besides the backs are availability and opportunity.

I've run into that with the Nap Lajoie portrait. The difficult ones aren't the ones you expected and finding certain cards in better condition is very difficult. Is it me or are red portrait Ty Cobbs fairly common due to the fact he was in almost every set??

Red portrait Cobb is the most common T206, according to a census that was done a few years ago. It's one of the six "super-prints" that appeared in all three series (150, 350, 460).

If you run across a red Cobb nicely centered with bold color and perfect registration, don't pass it up. A common card but tricky to find with nice qualities. Good luck on your hunt!

I have hovered over a lot of PSA 2 Red Cobbs with good qualities and some bad. It's on my short list for sure.

+1 Some cards are very common in regular grade and dimensions. And then there are some you can never find centered, focused or whatever. There are literally an unlimited amount of ways to collect. I echo everyone's sentiments in, take some time to find what YOU really enjoy and go that route. It's the best one. Just because 50s rookies are hot doesn't mean you HAVE to collect them. (although I think it could be fun :))