As I've mentioned before on here (in this thread:
http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=204248), one of the two Lenox T206s that I've had since the early 1980s is Hooks Wiltse, portrait with cap. As I've worked on my T206 collection over the decades, I've never gotten that card with any other backs, because I was focused on getting different fronts, and tougher backs when I saw them for a decent price. Well, last Friday at the National, I stopped by Ted Z. and Marc Macrae's table to admire their fantastic display of T206s. Among the cards that Ted had for sale was a Piedmont 350-460 Factory 42, one of the few T206 backs I didn't have (along with Drum, Uzit, Red Hindu, Broadleaf 460, Brown Lenox, Brown Old Mill, and Ty Cobb). I asked to see it, and the front was Wiltse, portrait with cap! I told Ted about my Lenox of the same card, he offered me a pretty good deal and threw in a couple of Southern Leaguers, and soon I was the proud owner of a Piedmont Factory 42! Ted said, only half-jokingly, that now I had to start a back run of that card, because I now had two of the toughest backs. I said maybe I would. Then when I was back at the show on Sunday, I was looking through Ed Hans's raw T206s, and there was Wiltse portrait with cap, with a Polar Bear back! I had to get it, so now I guess I've officially started a back run. Here they are in all their glory:
I do have multiple backs for numerous other T206 fronts, because when I see a nice-looking tough back at a decent price, I tend to grab it with little regard for who's on the front (though it's always nice when it's a front that I need). In the heyday of my T206 back collecting 15-20 years ago, I got each of the two pitching poses of Howie Camnitz with three different backs: Camnitz arms at sides with Tolstoi, EPDG, and Polar Bear, and Camnitz hands above head with Sovereign 460, Cycle 460, and EPDG. A few months ago I decided to look for some more common backs for the hands above head card, and I picked up Piedmont 350-460 Factory 25, Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 30, and Sweet Caporal 350-460 Factory 42 Overprint. So now I have six different backs for that card, a decent start, though the fact that it comes with Lenox and Uzit means I'm not seriously expecting to complete the full back run unless I win the lottery or something. (Yes, I know there's a Lenox of that card in the current LOTG auction, originally offered for sale on the B/S/T forums here, but there's no way I could afford it right now.) Still, there are plenty of other backs for that card that I don't yet have, and I'm goinng to keep an eye out for them (along with the Wiltse).
