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warshawlaw The T218 set is where most people get started because it is really attractive and readily attainable if you aren't a condition freak. While there are 153 cards (61 boxers plus a boxing referee) in the basic set, as could be expected with T cards from this era, the master set is huge by virtue of brand, factory and series designations. Mecca is the most common brand of T218. Hassan is slightly more difficult to find than Mecca, say on a 55:45 ratio. Burdick accurately reported three brands: Hassan, Mecca and Tolstoi. Over the years later publications “lost” Tolstoi, probably because the Tolstoi back is rare, surfacing only a few times a year. I do not know of any advanced collectors who are close to a full set of Tolstois. Mecca and Tolstoi backs have black print, while Hassan backs are printed in green ink. Collectors also should note that the Hassan cards can run a little narrow in this set. The card fronts also were issued in Canada without back branding by Imperial Tobacco and are designated as C52. These are quite a bit more difficult than the T218 Mecca or Hassan cards, but nowhere near the level of the Tolstois.
The Mecca and the Hassan brand can be found with either factory 649 or factory 30. All Tolstoi cards carry a factory 30 designation. There is also a variation in the legend on the Mecca cards. The series situation further muddies the picture. The Hassan and Mecca cards carry either no series designation, or a designation of “series #2, 51 to 100”. Unfortunately for collectors, the same cards pop up in both series with both brands. Not even the Jack Johnson, Jim Jeffries and Johnny Summers cards (each has two cards in the set) are series specific. Accordingly, for each card in the set there may be the following major back variations: Hassan and Hassan series II, Mecca and Mecca series II, Mecca “Series of Champions” logo, and Tolstoi, plus factory variations on the Hassan and Mecca cards. A master group would consist of at least 7 cards of the same fighter.
It may be that the series II cards are 50 reissues from the whole set (including athletes from other sports); I just don’t know. Obviously, a true master set would be quite an undertaking, and is probably impossible given the rarity of the Tolstois. Most collectors content themselves with one of each front, which is how the cards are commonly offered, or one of each front and a type card of each back.