Hi Zach,
Here's how I approached the T206 set, along with random thoughts at the end. By no means is this the only way to go, but it was enjoyable for me.
In December 2012 I decided to collect the Polar Bear subset of 250 cards. I figured this would be a good mini project before committing to collect the entire set. I thought that breaking off a small piece of the monster would allow me to decide if I wanted to tackle the entire beast. Though Polar Bears are by no means a tough back, there are a handful of players who don't show up on a regular basis. Plus, there's the St. Louis versions of Demmitt and O'Hara that are in shorter supply than the rest. There also are enough Hall of Famers in the subset so that you don't feel like you're in a rut buying just common players. All in all, it's somewhat of a challenge but certainly doable without investing the prime of your life and 401K account.
When I got to about the 200-card plateau, I had enjoyed the ride enough that I decided to jump feet first and attempt the collect the entire set, minus the Wagner and Doyle. At that point I stuck to my original plan of completing the Polar Bear set but also began buying cards that didn't come with a PB back to round out the set. The end result was I got all the "others" (except the Plank) before I finished the Polar Bears. The final Polar Bear (Nichols batting) came in August of this year, and I added a Plank shortly after that to complete my "set."
So, with a pretty aggressive approach, it all came together in 15 months. Had I not stuck with the Polar Bear plan, the time frame would have been much shorter.
Random thoughts, in no particular order:
My goal was to buy cards in very good condition. If a card had a nice front but minor paper loss on the reverse and technically graded worse than very good, that was fine with me. As I got down to the final Polar Bears, I bought lower-grade cards just so I could cross them off of the list. I've since upgraded most of them. The only beaters in my set are the Plank and Magie error, simply because I did not want to break the bank on those two cards. I've not regretted that decision at all.
For whatever reason, I didn't want to buy southern leaguers individually. I bided my time, and when a near-complete subset of SLers with Old Mill backs came up for sale in an auction, I bought it. I think it was missing 5-6 cards, and those holes were easy to fill. So within my T206 set is a complete Polar Bear subset and a subset of Old Mill southern leaguers.
The most important piece of advice I think I could give someone regarding collecting T206s is: Be patient! For the most part, you won't find yourself in a situation where you'll say to yourself, "If I don't buy this card now, I'll never have the chance again." Sure, there are rarities and lone examples of cards, but these won't be part of your landscape at the start. Don't tell yourself, "I've got to buy a red background Cobb by the end of the month," because if you do, you will overpay.
There are
always T206s to buy, and you will quickly realize this. It really is more fun to wait for just the right example of a card for your collection. And, trust me, that right example will turn up. If someone tells you that he's offering you a T206 card that's "rare in this condition" or is "rarely ever offered," your B.S. meter should sound an alarm. You'll soon see that it's often the same people who always seem to be hawking the "rare for the grade" cards. (Funny how that works out.) Ditto for when someone is always touting a card as being one-of-a-kind. Just last week one of those surfaced on Net54. The second example was posted within a day or two.
At the outset, if you're unsure whether you'll see this project to the end, my suggestion would be to buy more Hall of Famers than commons. The reason is if you decide to bail, it will be much easier to recoup your money selling the HOFers you bought as opposed to commons. There are
always commons available to buy. Though this strategy requires more money to be spent at the beginning, I still think it's the way to go.
I would suggest taking some time and reading
T206resource.com. There you will find a lot of information that might not interest you, but there also are valuable tools. My favorite is the
searchable database, which allows you to check for all of the confirmed front-back combinations for any player/pose.
To answer your "raw or graded" question. From a personal standpoint, if third-party grading disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn't care one bit. The flip side is I can appreciate the positive aspects of graded cards. Having an entire T206 set in slabs means you are going to have a heck of a lot of plastic. But given the number of lowlifes in this hobby and the fact you'll be buying a lot of cards online, suggesting to a newcomer to buy only raw cards is irresponsible. I'm very comfortable having two-thirds of my set raw and the other third in slabs.
Simply put, if you crack out every slabbed card you buy, you will cost yourself money. If the financial aspect totally doesn't matter to you, then I would say all-raw would work for you. But even though I don't buy cards with the long-term financial implication in mind (it's a hobby, not an investment), I still realize that cracking out high-dollar cards is going to make them tougher to sell down the line, when/if that time arrives. Also, you will eventually buy a card in say, a 5 holder, get it and realize that it's terribly overgraded. If you remove it from the slab, you will cost yourself money, because no way is that card getting back into a 5 holder. If you're OK with that, then it's no problem.
The solution I found was to scan each of my cards with the holders on the graded cards cropped out and create an ImageEvent album. That way, my set has a uniform look online even though it's mixed in the two boxes I use to store the set (pictured below). Here's a link to my set:
http://imageevent.com/ineedanap/t206set
Finally, if you are patient and take the time to watch eBay, the B/S/T on this site and other auctions before you buy, you will quickly become educated on both values and fakes. You'll quickly find out that collecting T206s is not rocket science. You certainly will not need a coach. You will be amazed at what you will learn by owning a few raw T206s and seeing what differentiates them from fakes. Detecting alterations and trimming can be more tricky, and though third-party grading isn't a sure-fire safety net, it can be a valuable tool. But even though it might be hard to believe right now, you can become an informed T206 collector sooner rather than later.
That's not to say you won't have questions. I always seemed to be seeking advice from folks whose opinions I respected and trusted. I think if you pay attention you'll find fellow collectors who care more about passing along solid advice than they do about selling you or hyping a card -- or reminding you of how long they've collected or how many great cards they once owned. Those people will be your most valuable resources.
Good luck.
