Posted By:
T206CollectorWelcome to the Board!
It is a very good idea to start to explore vintage cards and you picked a set I started putting together about 10 years ago. It has been a remarkable journey and I've loved every minute of it.
Now, as far as purchasing raw T206 cards at hobby shops, it is generally a bad idea -- the prices will be much too high. You are right to hold the real thing a few times before you make the plunge on ebay, because there are plenty of reprints out there. Stick with SGC or PSA or GAI and you'll be fine, if you buy from reputable dealers. You are smart to compare what the market will bear on ebay, that is what most of us use as a reliable price guide these days.
I would not recommend that you pay more than $25 for this card. If you do wind up buying it, you do not need a membership to SGC to have SGC grade the cards, but I believe you do for PSA. Check out the SGC website at
http://www.sgccard.com/index.php
You can also see many of the T206 sets and partial sets that have been registered with SGC here:
http://www.sgccardregistry.com/index.asp
And don't forget to check out the vintage links section of this website, which also has a link to:
http://www.oldcardboard.com/
Good luck and, again, welcome!