Why T206?

[Archive]

Posted By: JMcKenna

I'm curious why the T206 set garners far more attention than the T205? I realize that the T206 is the MONSTER with over 500 cards. But, IMHO, the t205's are more attractive cards and could be considered "true" baseball cards with their biographical and statisical info on the reverse.

[Archive]

Posted By: Jerry

I think the T-206 cards have more different poses and look better in lower conditions, which alot of collectors are forced to collect. While The T-205's are spectacular in High grade. JMHO

[Archive]

Posted By: identify7

I think that t206, Goudeys, and PlayBalls have been hyped by sellers because of their abundance.

[Archive]

Posted By: davidcycleback

Collect what you like. A collector doesn't need a popularity poll to decide what he or she likes.

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

#1....It's the CHALLENGE, most collectors' love a challenge.

#2....While certain cards of the 209 in the T205 set can be
tough to find, none of them compare with a Magie....Plank
Demmitt....O'Hara....Doyle (error)....and of course Wagner.

#3....Thanks to Bill Heitman, Lew Lipset, Mark Peavey, and
Scot Reader the mysteries of the T206 cards are well doc-
umented. And this means a lot in fostering a greater appre-
ciation for these cards.

[Archive]

Posted By: RP60

I am a serious collector of T205..But I must say that T206 is the king of ALL tobacco sets..Forget about its size for a moment and think of its poses, portraits, colors and backgrounds. The set has it all! God almighty man its BEAUTIFUL.

[Archive]

Posted By: Joe P.

I agree with Jerry, IMHO the T205 in a high grade, is the better looking set of the two.

Being the owner of a very eye appealing T206 set that's only missing the second hardest card in the set.

Sorry Ted, If only I didn't know that the Wagner was a part of that set, I'd be a happy camper, but it is, and therefore my set is incomplete, and that's how it is.
As long as the rivers will flow, and the mountains will rise:
The Wagner will always be part of the T206 set and there's no way that I can erase it from my mind.

Owning an eye appealing complete T205 set gets my vote for the more attractive set of the two, but the T206 still maintains its Heavyweight ranking since 1909.
It's got all those HOF's, and as they say in Brooklyn, the Wagner coitainly did't hoit.

[Archive]

Posted By: .

for me the t206 set is a challenge with all of the set's rarity, error and different back. Immediatly when i see the first time a t206 card i loving it.

[Archive]

Posted By: JimB

I agree with all the reasons people have given above. I just want to second the idea that T206s still look good in lower grades, while T205s suffer a lot more in terms of eye appeal in lower grades. I agree that the T205 set is an incredibly beautiful set, but what has kept me from going for is the prohibitive cost of trying to put it together in a grade that still has nice eye appeal. So I have about 550 T206s. I do have one T205 and it happens to be one of my all-time favorite baseball cards.

[Archive]

Posted By: Brett

I like T206's over T205's, but i still think the E93, E94, E97 and E98 sets look the best out of the pre war cards.

[Archive]

Posted By: JimB

Brett,
I was using restraint to not mention the E93 set, so thanks for doing it. Another of the most beautiful sets from the era are the Obaks, but they suffer from not having many well-known players.
JimB

[Archive]

Posted By: tbob

Ted, normally we agree but...
"#2....While certain cards of the 209 in the T205 set can be tough to find, none of them compare with a Magie....Plank Demmitt....O'Hara....Doyle (error)....and of course Wagner."

The T205 Hoblitzell no stats is arguably rarer than ANY of the T206s. The T205 Wilhelm with "suffered" instead of "suffe ed" is tougher than Demmitt or O'Hara easily.

[Archive]

Posted By: Al Crisafulli

Wow - I love T206s, but I started a T205 set about three months ago because I think T205s can be GORGEOUS in lower grades. I just wish there was a resource so I could learn more about the set - seems like there's a ton of info out there describing everything you'd ever want to know about T206, but nothing like that for T205.

That I'm aware of, that is.

-Al

[Archive]

Posted By: T206Collector

People drone on and on about the beaty of T205, but really I think they're sort of gross. I also do not like how AL and NL are framed differently. I also do not need such close up shots of the players' faces in the NL or distant shots of the faces in the AL, surounded by basebally bats and pennants and stuff. It's all waaaayyy to busy.

In short, T205 ugly. T206 perfect.

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Bob M

When I put together my T205 set, I had 2 - Hoblitzell (no
Stats.) cards. I just "completed" a 2nd T206 (520) cards;
and I've only had one Magie, no Plank's, no Doyle's (Er).
And, I had a really tough time acquiring the Demmitt and
O'Hara cards.....and just forget Wagner.

In the course of 25 years collecting these T-cards, I have
seen at least 2 more Hoblitzell's. I really don't want to
differ with you, Bob.......I might just be lucky and have
had, or seen more than my share. I will say this, though, I
have not seen this card in recent years.

I think one thing we can agree on, though, is that neither
of these cards [Hoblitzell (NoSt) or Wilhelm (Sp)] are part
of the basic T205 set; but, are just printing errors.

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Al C.

Kevin Struss wrote a nice article on the T205 set several
years ago in the VCBC Mag. Kevin is very knowledgeable on
T205 cards.

[Archive]

Posted By: JimB

Al,
That is the nicest looking T205 SGC 30 I have ever seen. If I could put gd set together that looks like that, I would.
JimB
P.S. Any back damage?

[Archive]

Posted By: Shawn

I have to agree with TBob on the Hobby no stats, Wilhelm with R and we could probably even through in the Wallace one line. Granted the Wagner is a very tough card but we can't go by quantity alone, personally I think status is what keeps this card at the top. Even people that don't have a clue about baseball cards have heard about the Wagner. I'm a set builder, so I don't really understand why so many people chase a set in which 95% will never complete. I can see the desire to have the cards yeah, but I guess I'd fall back on the tradition of actually having a chance to complete a set I started.

For me, the T205 set (in any condition) beats the heck out of the T206. In my eyes there is no comparison between the two. I know I'm in the minority here but I love the gold border set, dare I say, with a passion.

VCBC Issue #1 has the T205 article by Kevin. More current information is out there Al, it's just tough to find. If you like, shoot me an email as I love talking about this set.

Shawn
webmaster@showmesavants.com

[Archive]

Posted By: pete

i think you're a little bias since your handle is t206collector.

there are obvious pros and cons on the t205 set, i like the stats in the 206 and the fact that there are less backs to try and find, the 206 has several different ways to collect; portraits, hofers, rare backs, all backs, poses, etc...me personally i think the 206 is a better looking set overall but the 205 does have a handful of appealing cards in high grade, either way, im too poor to complete either set, so about a year ago i came up with about 15-20 cards that i'll figure to be my fav's and go after them in the highest grade i can afford. (so look in the b/s/t soon for 75+ t206s)**hint, hint**

pete-

[Archive]

Posted By: Charlie O'Neal

I think Pete hit the nail on the head about collecting 206 there are so many different ways to collecting the cards people can adopt into the set based on there preferences thus bring more interest to the set (all the HOFers and Wagner history doesn't hurt either). This niche collections that can be made from the 206 is not really available in the 205.

Personally I would buy 206's over 205's any day of the week b/c they appeal to me more and it's what got me into collecting pre war cards in the first place.

[Archive]

Posted By: barry arnold

I'm with trex Ted.
i've collected 206's and 205's and found the challenge
of collecting the 206's,particularly the different backs
and the fabulous portraits, absolutely autohypnotic.
The last word is for you Fred.


barry

[Archive]

Posted By: Josh K.

Im with T206collector - I personally do not find most t205s to be very appealing. I will say that the cobb, young and johnson are very nice looking cards - but I will take a t206 matty over the t205 matty every time.

[Archive]

Posted By: Martin Neal

I collect t205s and t206s. They are both beautiful in different ways. I have put the t206s on hold at 495 cards mainly because I realized (a little late) that I will never be able to finish it. I think I will finish the t205 set which as a set collector will give me a sense of satifaction.
I don't understand why some members consider the Hoblitzell no stats not part of the set. It is my understanding that the no stats was printed first and then came the subsequent corrections. If this card is not a part of the set then I guess we will have to take out the Magie from the t206 set.

[Archive]

Posted By: Al Crisafulli

Thanks, guys. Don't get me wrong, I love T206 as well - I've been picking them up whenever I find them cheap, since I was a kid. But I realized I'd be kidding myself if I ever thought I'd finish the set.

Then I bought my first T205 at the National, for my HOF set - this Bresnahan. I fell in love with it, and then realized that lower-grade T205s can be gorgeous. The color saturation on the cards hides a lot of wrinkles well, and although border chipping can really wreck the look of a card, I don't mind it if the chipping is slight.

There's a tiny bit of back damage on that card, but nothing dreadful. If you look closely at the front, you can see a lot of wrinkles.

Here's the Bresnahan (which is at SGC now), along with a few more.

-Al

[Archive]

Posted By: James Feagin

If we are only talking t205 v. t206, I will have to take t205 on an overall basis. I especially prefer the t205 Matty over a t206 Matty. IMHO, the t206 Matty looks so distant and boring. The color of t205 Matty, plus the close portrait makes it beautiful. Additionally, I also feel that t206 look a LOT worse in lower grade than t205. Even if a t205 is creased to heck, at least there is color to save the card. Many 206's don't have that. In the end, I like both sets, but will slot my vote to 205.

[Archive]

Posted By: Chad

I love my Matty T205, but the T206 is just a much more interesting set to me. I like seeing more of the uniforms and the equipment. The all close up nature of the 205's gets kinda boring for me. Plus, I like the simplicity of the 206's design. But, of course, if I had the money, I'd collect both sets!

--Chad

[Archive]

Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

Shawn

Thanx for being more precise on the Kevin Struss article on T205 cards.
And, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed putting together a 100% complete set
of these cards.

But, I am not sure about your comments "....95% will never complete", re-
garding the T206 set. A virtually complete 520 card set is 99.2% complete.
That is good enough for me, and most collectors would agree, given the
cost of "cardboard" nowadays (especially if it sealed in plastic).

[Archive]

Posted By: JimB

Here are both for easy comparison. I love both of these cards. It is really tough to decide.
JimB

[Archive]

Posted By: JimB

As much as I love the T206 (it is one of my favorite cards in the whole set), I think my vote would go with the T205.
JimB

[Archive]

Posted By: Al Crisafulli

Wow, that's one heck of a beautiful T206 Matty, though.

I'll go against the grain in this thread once again, and say that I like the T206 Mattys better than the T205. I'm hoping to add a lower grade, but presentable White Cap version to my HOF set this year.

-Al

[Archive]

Posted By: Shawn

Ted

I'm old fashioned in my thinking I guess. I agree that most collectors consider this set complete without the toughies, but it's just hard for my little mind to get around not having "all" the cards. The T205 set has good selection of HOFers, a great design, bio and stats all wrapped up into a smaller set...what's not to love about that?

I definately commend anyone getting to the 520 card mark on the T206 set, that's an amazing feat in my book. While it's not my set of choice in this thread, there is little doubt why it is the most widely collected set of the era.

JimB - love the T205 Matty, very sharp looking card, what grade did it pull?

[Archive]

Posted By: barry arnold

Jim,
I thought you graded just Oregon State students, not
cards.
I'd love to see a grade on that 206 portrait---
bet it's a 6 or better.

all the best,
barry

[Archive]

Posted By: JimB

Since you all asked, the T205 is a PSA 5 and the T206 is a PSA 8. I picked up the T206 about ten years ago.
JimB

Edited to add that I thought I overpaid for the T206 at the time.

[Archive]

Posted By: Josh K.

jim - awesome t206 matty portrait. amazing color.

[Archive]

Posted By: barry arnold

a Matty portrait graded 8---wow!
thanks for sharing Jim.
where's the JimB website---I want to see the rest of your 'one in a million'
206's.


best

barry

[Archive]

Posted By: DJ

I love both and I have been working on the T206 for a quarter of my life and the T205 about three years. I'm at that point where I'm basically priced out as my T205 set averages out to a SCG50 and I want to keep them all about at that grading range. There is nothing better than a flawless T205 because they appear in that condition so rarely. The ones Marshall has shown on the board proved how pretty they could be when they are 8's and 9's.

The T206 is also a labor of love and a lifelong (it will be) goal in completing it as I have "rules" as far as the backs go (my Red Hindu's are negative ones) and what I will allow as far as things that lower it's grade.

I will leave it for my kids when they come about who will trade it in for something stupid like Sony Playstation 12 game or a hover craft.

DJ