T206 backs in 1978-80

[trdcrdkid]

In the July 1978 issue of The Trader Speaks, Bill Heitman wrote a column about T206. He opened it by mentioning the huge number of front-back combinations, and how he would get snickers at shows for looking at the backs of the cards and checking them against his master list, because few people paid attention to that then. At the end of the article he lists the 16 T206 brands in order of his estimate of their difficulty, from Ty Cobb down to Piedmont and Sweet Caporal. That's the first two pages below.

In the November 1979 Trader Speaks, Heitman wrote a followup column in which he said there had been an explosion of interest in T206 since his first column, especially in the backs. He gives his estimate of the premium each brand commanded over Piedmont/Sweet Caporal. That's the third page below.

Around the same time, Heitman was finishing up his booklet on T206, "The Monster", which was the most exhaustive study of the set up to that time. It was published in early 1980. The last seven pages below are the ones in that booklet devoted to the backs, to give an idea of the state of hobby knowledge at that time. Heitman was way ahead of his time in paying attention to factory numbers and the different series of fronts that went with each back. He didn't know about brown Lenox or brown Old Mill (I don't think anybody did then), but he knew about red Hindu, and that it had only been found with 460-series cards.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Thanks for sharing this. I had not read it before.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[kailes2872]

Forgive me as I did not make it through all the articles (reading on my phone and my 44 year old eyes got fatigued).

It speaks to 523 cards with Plank, Wagner and Magee being the 1000+ (oh... To have a time machine...)

I didn't see a mention of Doyle. Isn't that the 524th? Was that found later?

I am a post war guy but getting close to getting them complete and moving to pre war soon. I have about 10-15 T206's and will tackle some smaller sets like the Delongs and T205s before I take on the monster - but I am interested in learning as much as I can sling the way

[Sean]

The Doyle wasn't made public until 1987 or 88 I believe. Before then, only the guy who found the first one (Larry Fritsch) knew about it.

[trdcrdkid]

Yes, the Doyle was first found in 1981 by Larry Frisch, but not made public until 1987 when somebody else found one. Before that Sweeney with no B on his cap was often considered a separate card, thus making 524 in the set, but that is now considered a printing error and not a distinct card. Heitman was writing after the Sweeney card was relegated to a printing error, but before the Doyle was discovered.

[frankbmd]

"The Monster" was coined by Bill and he copyrighted the term. He threatened to sue me () for copyright infringement using the term in the Monster Number Thread, an obscure non-profit entity I might add. He was smiling when he made the threat though.()

The careful reader will note the image of Farrah Fawcett in one of the scans in Post #1. For those of you that own the booklet you already know that there are several Fawcett images in the booklet. Bill did not have a Fawcett fetish though or so he claims, but rather the Fawcett pictures were added by the printer as a "practical" joke.

Now you know the rest of the story..........

[Joshchisox08]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Yes, the Doyle was first found in 1981 by Larry Frisch, but not made public until 1987 when somebody else found one. Before that Sweeney with no B on his cap was often considered a separate card, thus making 524 in the set, but that is now considered a printing error and not a distinct card. Heitman was writing after the Sweeney card was relegated to a printing error, but before the Doyle was discovered.

I never knew that Sweeney was considered a separate card holy scnikies!

What's the story on that?

And how much a premium do those go for?

[rats60]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Yes, the Doyle was first found in 1981 by Larry Frisch, but not made public until 1987 when somebody else found one. Before that Sweeney with no B on his cap was often considered a separate card, thus making 524 in the set, but that is now considered a printing error and not a distinct card. Heitman was writing after the Sweeney card was relegated to a printing error, but before the Doyle was discovered.

Bill Huggins found the first publicly sold Doyle. He auctioned it off and Frisch was the winning bidder.