Hi Ryan,
Kudos on dipping your toes in the T206 pool. The set is
a lot of fun. There are so many different ways to collect it: you can focus on individual players, teams, Hall of Famers, Southern Leaguers, poses (portrait or action cards), specific backs, runs of one player with all the backs, ghosts, scraps, proofs, etc. The ways of collecting the Monster are pretty much limitless. Once you find your niche, run with it!
Both of the books listed by MVSNYC are must haves, in my opinion. I have them, and refer to them constantly when I am working on my collection:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MVSNYC
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I would also download
Scot Reader's Inside T206 pdf. It's free. Just click the link.
You'll find a good number of sites devoted to the Monster. I use
http://t206resource.com/ quite often. That's a really great resource.
There are a few good periodicals that have had really interesting articles about the T206 set (among other pre-war sets). I've subscribed to
Old Cardboard, and have bought several of the back issues. Great publication that really gets you in the mood for pre-war cards in general, not just T206. That link will take you to the page where you can get profiles of each issue that's been published; some will go into T206, but they're all great reads, regardless.
I also highly recommend the old
Vintage & Classic Baseball Collector magazines. They're no longer published, but you can find the back copies on Ebay. Search by VCBC. I have several of these, also.
As for jumping into the set, my recommendation would be to start small. The BST here (buy, sell, trade) has a specific sub-forum for T206 cards. I'd get one or two commons, in lower condition, and ungraded. When you start getting into the more expensive cards, likely most of them will be slabbed. But starting out with a few commons that you can hold in your hand, look over under magnification, feel and smell...will give you an idea of what is typical for the cards. Get used to the card stock, how the lithography looks under magnification, what a factory cut edge looks like, and how it differs from a trim under magnification. You really want to spend some time getting used to the variations that can come with these cards. Unlike modern cards, there will be some slight size variance. Don't always assume a card has been trimmed because of this. One example is the
American Beauty advertising back. Also, depending on where a card was located within a sheet, you might have one border that is slightly larger than the other three. If you're not sure of what you're seeing, ask the members here.
If you've not built a "starter kit", you should do so. This will help you look over your cards close up, as well as detect alterations that may have been done to the cards (trimming, bleaching, adding paper, etc). These are the tools that all vintage and pre-war collectors have.
Items you need:
A good ruler.
A high-quality jeweler's loupe
A black light
You might also purchase a 50 x portable microscope
One other book I
highly recommend is David Cycleback's
Judging the Authenticity of Early Baseball Cards. David is one of the members of this forum. The knowledge you'll glean is applicable to any older set you might collect, and will go a long way to protect you when buying from dealers you might not know (you should always try to buy from reputable dealers/individuals if at all possible).
His website also has a wealth of information on forensic analysis, which will come in handy when examining not only baseball cards, but currency and historical documents, as well.
This article on forensic light is fascinating, and useful to collectors.
Lastly, if you are unsure of something, ask! The members of this forum are incredibly knowledgeable, and very helpful, in my experience. Be a discerning buyer, and listen to your instincts. But most of all, have fun!!