Mission #1 Accomplished! (Backs collection)

[Chicago206]

On January 5th, 2010, I purchased on ebay my very 1st T206 card. It was a beat to hell Bob Hall in a PSA 1 for about 16 bucks. Although I have been an on again, off again collector of cards since my youth in the late 80's, I had never owned a vintage card. Upon its arrival, I was absolutely mesmorized at the antiquity and beauty of that Bob Hall, and all of its dozen or so creases. My wife had commented that it looked like "the cover of a miniature old time book". The richness of color and fact that it was a drawing rather than a photo forced me to want more. Afterall, what a fun and INEXPENSIVE new hobby this was going to be for me. Hell, I could afford 16 bucks a few times a month, right?

Cavvy was my second card, perhaps a week or so later, and I knew that I really dug the oranges....ok...nothing but cards with orange color from here on out, right? Wrong! I could care less who was on the front, for I had heard of just 3 players in the entire set anyway, Cobb, Young, and of course Wagner. I wanted more of the vivid colors!!!

A few weeks later, I ran into a BIG problem! You see, it seems that these wonderful little pieces of artwork actually had 2 sides in fact. Who woulda thunk it? As it turns out, the backs of these cards were almost as interesting as the fronts....more research needed.

Two weeks later, im now "bad shit" because my 1st Polar Bear arrived in the mail! Wow, the cards DO come with backs other than Piedmont and Sweet Caporal! This is fun....but now the cards are no longer $16, they are more in the $30ish range....no problem, thats not very much....lets keep going. Yeah!

Another week or so and I start getting the shakes and sweats because its been a full 7 days since my latest "fix". Need.....more.....206's! I spent $175 on a pair of cards, EPDG, and a Tolstoi. Now its getting semi serious. How do I explain the missing funds to my better half....surely she just wouldnt understand, would she???

My 1st score!!! I cherry pick an AB460 off ebay as a BIN for $125....what a great feeling, we have all been there im sure. Oh, and by the way, I buy a CB and a Hindu for $350 apiece that same week or so.....hey, wait a second!!! What the hell happened to my fun $16 per card hobby? Am I firmly in the grasp of the fabled "Monster"? You betcha!!! And having an absolute BLAST!

Another few weeks, another few sweet pick-ups including a beater BL350 from Leon's auction, a very pretty Cycle 460, and a couple AB350's (with and without).

Next up, the Chicago SunTimes show....$2500 on a very pretty Drum....who cares, im already this far in, right?

Two weeks later or so, I pick up a nice Lenox, and then a beat to all hell Uzit...but its MY beat to all hell Uzit!!! Just shy of my 4th month into the hobby, I have completed my 15 card "basic" backs set. Im already actively pursuing the varieties now as im not quite sure when the "Monster" will release his grasp, if ever. I have learned so much in these 4 months, mostly thanks to this very forum. One thing I have always been short on is patience, but since my collection will remain a "work in progress", there will be opportunities to upgrade. Enjoy the photos!

[Leon]

Hey Chicago
Great stuff. Very nice prose writing. Many, many of us have been there, me included. All with different cards but I also did just about the same thing. Then when I bought my T205 Johnson in a 7 holder, from my now partner Scott B (who I introduced myself to the first 8 yrs I knew him) it was all over. Then money became secondary and cards primary. All I can say, for the thousandth time is, be careful. This is truly a marathon and not a sprint. Enjoy the scenery along the way. Congrats on some great cards and thanks for your participation on the board. It helps to keep it fun for everyone. And after last night I need to figure out what I can sell, quickly .

[Chicago206]

" And after last night I need to figure out what I can sell, quickly "


Got a red Hindu?

And I will take it slower now that I have them all by the way. It was a sprint to get 1 of each, and now the marathon of upgrading, and learning more begins!

[B O'Brien]

Congrats reaching goal #1 and new found way to spend those pesky extra dollars that you may find laying around!!!

As long as you are able to fight off the urges to turn all of those fronts into HOFers, it will all be good. You should try buying a raw lot of 50 or so cards with a couple HOFers and SLers, and get a copy of the Super Set checklist. That is when you REALLY feel the addiction!!!

I hope all is well,
Bob

[teetwoohsix]

Great story Chicago206,and I can relate!!I must admit,I also got hooked on T206's myself-I do love pretty much all of the pre-war cards,but not as much as the T206's.Sounds like you went hog wild

I've found myself going after a certain consistant grade with T206, rather than getting hyped on the "back thing".......and trying to get as many HOF'ers as possible.Eventually,I will have an example of each back,but I'm taking it slow.

Your story reminded me of how it all began for myself,and it would be great to hear some others experiences of how they "got bit"

Great subject!!

Sincerely,Clayton

[cfc1909]

I kinda started like that but I wanted 10 examples of each back. Take my word for it, it wont stop at 10-you will need 50 then 100-now I am at somewhere around 1000 tough back 206s and about 1300 total. I have pretty much stopped 206s and have switched to t210s, t211 and t213s. I would love to get my hands on that set of 74 t211s -missing just one.

oh forgot-congradulations on your pickups and in such a short time-

[quinnsryche]

Nothing warms the heart like a story of a boy, his cards and and huge pile of cash!!! Congrats, better slow down or you won't have anything left to collect!

[ethicsprof]

congratulations!!
Remember the always helpful aphorism/dictum:
The Monster wants you to quit.
Don't listen to it.

best,
barry

[M's_Fan]

CONGRATS! Sounds a lot like my T206 love affair with HOF'ers.

Is the Cobb back not considered part of the basic T206 back set?

[Potomac Yank]

The Monster wants you to quit ..... or to kid yourself into thinking that you have a complete set ... all you have to say is ... except for

A fellow sicko.

[Brian Weisner]

Hi Jim,
You are FOS.... You've quit T206's rare backs like I have.... Buy everyone you see that you don't have.....
Be well Brian


PS Congrats Chicago....

PS 2.... Hi Barry.... How's my writing style???? Who do you read? I like Mike Lupica.....

[Chicago206]

Thanks for all the compliments guys. Hopefully in another 12-18 months I will have another thread with the "master set" of backs (minus the Cobb) to show off!

[philliesphan]

curious as to which players are on the front side of these backs?

Nice collection -- and great job putting together such a run in a short period of time!

[iggyman]

Real Nice! Thanks for sharing.

Lovely Day...

[mrvster]

Great Job!!!

Enjoy the journey...

Peace

Johnny

[T206Collector]

...to get these 15 cards?

If I had $25 per card and condition was immaterial, I could pick up any of these 10, right?

Easy
Piedmont
Sweep Caporal
Polar Bear
Sovereign
Old Mill
American Beauty
Hindu
Tolstoi
El Principe De Gales
Cycle


How much would it cost me to get the remaining 5?

Harder
Lenox
Broadleaf ($700 for this one now: http://cgi.ebay.com/1909-11-T206-HER...item335bbd004c)
Uzit
Carolina Brights ($900 for this one now: http://cgi.ebay.com/PSA-3-1909-T206-...item519153b16c)
Drum

So with $2,000, I think I could accomplish 12 of 15 of these today on ebay.

What would the Lenox, Drum and Uzit cost me? And how long would it take to find them? There are 2 Lenox on ebay now -- is that common or uncommon to see? My sense is the Drum and Uzit are the hardest to find, right?

Just curious. I'm not a backs collector and never plan on collecting backs.

[Chicago206]

If you really mean that condition meant nothing to you, and could settle on all "A" or "1"s, then below are MY estimates on cost. These are the absolute lowest prices I think you could find on some serious beater (paper loss galore)cards....in other words, the cheapest you could probably find.

Drum- $800
Uzit $300
Lenox $200
Broadleaf $200
CB $150
Hindu $75
All the rest combined $100

Total $1700 or so.


Again, this set would be filled with horrendously ugly cards plagued with serious paper loss and probably wouldnt be much fun to look at. While I certainly looked for cards in the lower grades, I did consider eye appeal on all of them but the Uzit....that one I just bought as a filler for now. Even though the Broadleaf could be in better shape, the card really is pleasant to look at. The 15 cards you see in my scans cost roughly $5500 for all. You can spend as little as $1700 as shown above, or as much as probably $100,000 on the 15 cards. It really depends on just how picky you are in regards to eye appeal and quality. Thankfully, for my wallet's sake, I can be happy with lower grade material!!!

[T206Collector]

Nearly all of your 15 present well and so it really doesn't seem like you gave up on condition too much. Nicely done.

[ullmandds]

It doesn't look like there will be an updated...more complete backs collection thread...see BST for deals!

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

It doesn't look like there will be an updated...more complete backs collection thread...see BST for deals!

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=122489

[quinnsryche]

Wow, that was fast! I thought I gave up on stuff too fast. I've never changed my mind on my whole collection in 3 days!