Tips/ Ideas/ And your thoughts on starting T206

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Posted By: vetekbob

I have just started work on the T206 set and have 7 cards so far. I realize its miniscule in comparison to the amount of cards in the total set. I have tried to read what I can thus far on the net as well as the postings here. I realize that it takes time and experience in this area. My questions to the veteran collectors of this set is as follows... I wont a few auctions last night on Ebay and one of the sellers is a local guy to me it turns out with lots of graded 5 and 6 and even some 4's. I have talked with him on the phone and he is willing to work with me some.

1) What tips and or recommendations would you or could you give to someone who is just starting out on the set in regards to building a solid foundation to get started?
2) Should I work on the so called commons first as I can and get the HOF later and or as budget allows? I want to make sure to not get so tunneled visioned that I only concentrate on one area as to pertaining to the set and let stuff slip by that I shouldnt as to particular cards in the set that may be a little harder to get common or otherwise.

Thank you for any school of hard knocks tips you can share that can help me from avoiding from possibly overpaying or otherwise.
Robert

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Posted By: Ray

I was in the same boat a few years ago. I started collecting them in August of 2003. I bought my first one the weekend of the big blackout on the east coast. I now have about 115.

What worked: research is the key to happiness and success in this journey. i started out buying commons, mostly fair to poor shape. I handled them. I learned as much as i could about the set. as i got comfortable, i started buying HOF cards.

What i did that i would change: In the beginning, i was too focused on trying to get as many backs as possible. i missed out on some good deals because the cards had piedmont or sweet caporal backs. As my set grows, the backs mean less and less to me.

The key to completing it is research. If you don't do your research and see what's real, what's fake, what's trimmed, etc... you'll get burned and that kills the fun... which in turn kills the collecting experience.

Hope that helps...
Ray

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Posted By: vetekbob

Thank you very much Ray for your responding and for your thoughts on the subject. I do what to learn all I can and I want to be a wise hobbyist and collector. I must admit that in doing my initial research on the set I was tempted to go after different backs but then I had to step back and remind myself that I am more drawn to the front of the card and the artistic aspect than the back. I ordered Lew's book and still waiting for it to come and I read on the 206 museum the last night. Are there other sites that I can go to to read more?
Robert

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Posted By: leon

Just go to the links page at the top of this forum.....you will find multitudes of different vintage card sites....some for sale, some collections, and some references....good luck

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Posted By: JimB

I started in 1980 buying a red portrait Cobb and Lajoie with bat. Over the years I bought a few here and a few there. Sometimes I would buy larger lots in auctions. I would suggest figuring out what grade range you would like the cards to be in. Do you want a gd-vg set, a vg/ex to ex set? A crease-free set? Maybe condition does not matter. Then collect cards in that grade range. Grade consistency will become more important as you accumulate more cards. I would suggest buying lots of cards, whether that is five or fifty at a time because dealers will usually cut you a break if you buy in quantity. As far as HOFs vs. commons, I went back and forth. Accumulating commons is a relatively cheap way to feel like you are making progress and having a bunch of the cards from the set is very cool. I realized the more different cards I had, the more I loved the set. But picking up HOFs here and there can also add quite a bit to a collection. For most mortals, patience is the key. I completed my T206 set this past December, nearly 24 years after beginning it. As for backs, that is a personal question. I personally enjoy the different backs and not only tried to get at least one of all sixteen brand backs, but tried to pick up as many of the obscure ones as possible. Thus, if a dealer had 200 T206s to search through and I could afford to buy 15, I would do a quick flip through the backs to see if there were any of the more scarce backs in the grade I wanted. My set still probably has 300+ Piedmont and Sweet Caps, but 200+ of the other 14 brands makes is pretty interesting when flipping through the notebook. I hope that helps. Have fun. The T206 set is a wonderful, beautiful set and it is completable.
JimB

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Posted By: Lee Behrens

I do not remeber my first T206 but I had bought 0 of them in the 80's and was out of collecting from 92-00, and then I got the ebay bug. Living in Minnesota I could not be picky about collecting T206s because there wasn't many around. Once I got on ebay I started collecting Cubs and HOFers. I occasionally bought lots and cards that caught my fancy. i found it was a great idea to buy the HOFers early because they just get more and more expensive related to the commons. By going after a certain team it gives you a focus with a reasonable end in sight.
It is not a bad idea to buy a T206 reprint to have one so you know what they look like nad how they feel. There is more than one T206 reprint set some more recognizable then others. If you are in question aboout a card don't bid on it, there will be others up in the future.

Patience is also big. The only times I felt I overpaid for cards are generrally when I get impatient trying to get a card and make sure I win one.

It has been 4 1/2 years on ebay to finish my set minus the BIG 5. I am waiting for my last 2 cards to come in the mail.

Good Luck

Lee

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Posted By: Rob

I just started collecting T-206 cards, too. But I am collecting them in a certain way. Since I know I would be unable to afford the "big ones" (at the same time affording other tobacco issues), I am just scooping up the red portrait commons in VG condition (no doubles) and just have them matted and framed. I've got 10 so far and I think I have about 30 to go. I love that set because each card is like a miniature work of art. If you are trying to complete the set, I wish you all the best! It's a monster!

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Posted By: T206Collector

My first T206 cards were a Matty White Cap and Bender Portrait that I bought in 1997 from a guy whose grandfather left him a cigar box filled with T206 cards. The guy wanted $500 to travel to Vegas back then, so I obliged him. The Matty graded a 5 and the Bender a 4. It was not a great deal back then, but it has turned into a pretty good one in the last few years. I now have about 510 of the cards in the set, 135 of which are slabbed by SGC, and I continue to upgrade to improve my SGC set registry. I concur that the best thing to do is buy in bulk in lots whenever you get the chance, and then sell back the worse condition doubles individually in order to cut the overall cost of the collection. Recently, I sold 10 graded cards from my collection in order to finance large future purchases -- Ty Cobb, specifically, as I only have the bat on variation.

In recent months, the price for raw/ungraded T206 cards has gone through the roof, if you ask me. Last weekend I sold about a dozen beaters-VG cards on ebay for two to three times what I paid for them just in the past couple of years. Yet, the price of SGC 30's and 40's remain relatively affordable. I think that is because you only compete with true collectors for SGC material, whereas lots of new collectors go after the raw stuff because they think it may be worth more than they're paying. As such, I am not sure there is much value in buying ungraded singles. I believe the real value is in SGC graded 2's, 3's and 4's. So, in short, buy raw cards only in bulk, grade the ones that will grade a 2, 3, 4 or higher. Sell the doubles, and buy graded singles to fill out your collection.

That's been my system for awhile and it has been working well for me.

Good luck!

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Posted By: vetekbob

Thank you all for your sage advice. I appreciate it. You have answered several of my questions without me having to ask them first lol I will certainly take heed to what has been shared from those that are much more well informed than me and with much patience and focus and probably more than a few more postings I will have a collection that I can be proud of.
Robert.

PS. It was a pleasure being in the chat room last night and meeting several of you. It was fun and I appreciate the warm welcome you have given me here.

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Posted By: Dave

I would start with the more inexpensive cards, just to get used to buying, grading, judging sellers, and so on. I made my first purchase February 2004, so have been at it for just over a year. I had the good fortune that never happens - "My grandfather found it in a trunk in the attic." Actually, it was my wife's great uncle, and her dad got the set out of his uncles trunk in the attic, with the Uncle's consent. True story. So, I started with about 80% of the set. I've now bought about 80 cards, am down to 21 missing. This doesn't count Wagner, Plank, Nodgrass, Magie, Demmitt (St. L), O'Hara (St.L), or Doyle NY Nat'l. Some may think my exception list is too long, particularly the St. L cards.

The mistakes I've made were in buying too quickly on cards that weren't very good. I didn't get badly burned on these, but they are below the grade of the rest of the set.

The other advice is to bring money. This set can get expensive. I try to get mostly grade 4 cards, some 3 and some 5, the price almost doubles to get to a 5 from there. A 4 generally costs about 40% more than a 3.

Even though I'm close to the end, I've put off buying some of the more expensive cards, so I'm looking at close to $5k for the 21 missing if all were in grade 4. That includes Cobb bat off and Matty Port as my two bigest tickets.

My experience is that there has been 20% to 25% increase in these prices since last summer.

When I got started, I spent about an hour each week collecting a list of prices and grades on any T206 that sold on ebay that had been professionally graded. Forget PRO and CSA, and don't bother with MK cards. This will take a lot of time, but then you can look up what a recent sale went for. Record the back if it is at all uncommon, as well. I did this in Excel, and sort by name to get them alphabetical. You need to learn the set well to know which cards need a pose description, which players only have one card.

I do all my buying from my missing list, I almost bought Mordicai Brown Port because it was listed as missing. It turns out his port has the word Cubs across his chest, but his Cubs batting card is listed as Cubs on Chest. I applied that title to my port, and showed the port as missing. Luckily, I looked at the real cards, and realized my mistake before spending $120 for a grade 3 card I already have. So, check your missing list very carefully, and be meticulous about logging purchases.

After about 3000 entries, I started logging only my missing list. I can do that in 10 minutes per week.

Good Luck with this.

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Posted By: Bob Marquette

I don't know that there is any one way to do it. I made a few starts at completing the set (minus the Big 4) and each time ended up selling them off to buy something else. Finally about 6 or 7 years ago I took the plunge, restricting my purchases to creasless cards (vgexish) and now only lack the Demmitt St. Louis, and Cobb green and bat on. Ebay affords you the opportunity to try and try and try again to get the one you want at the best price because unlike the T207s and other sets, these cards are always available eventually. The demand is great but so is the supply. I put my set together card by card but in retrospect I would have been better off buying lots, (groups of 10 or more), but I was trying to stay on a budget.
Good luck.
Bob

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Posted By: My 2 Cents

In all seriousness.
First you have to establish.
Are you a collector, or an investor?

A collector does it for the enjoyment of filling in an empty slot, and never thinking of what the card would fetch later.

An investor, just like someone that owns and follows the price of the current oil stock market, is just that, an investor.
Stock investors have never been looked upon as collectors.
If they didn't move their investments according to the up and down movements, the results would be like overstaying your welcome at a slot machine.
To some on this board, cards are a glorified stock.
It has more of a related identity, than a share of US Steel say. ... it's a fun stock.

There's nothing wrong in having the investment approach, but let's call a spade, a spade. ...

It's all part of the hobby/investment picture.
Which road will you select?

This collector has enjoyed every bit of his adventure.

I have won some, and I have lost some.
I have at times been involved in auctions that I had no business being in. ... but won.
I had more pelotas than brains.
My main T206 set is missing only the second hardest card in the set.
The set I really love is the one made up of cards that were loved by every T206 collectors that ever lived, and that one has 484 cards in it.

Folks, I'm proud of my adventure.
I'm not a rich person, I am just like you.
I earned my money through my job.
My adventure was my sublimation to counter the job.
I could have easily gone into wheeling and dealing, but that would have created another job and defeated the purpose of the sublimation.
I am satisfied with the choice I made at the fork in the road.
It worked for me.

What is YOUR choice?

A Collector, or an Investor? ....

Joe

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Posted By: JimB

Joe,
I don't think much of anything in the world is black and white and the collector/investor distinction is certainly in a grey area. It sounds like you want people to go to confession if they have ever thought about the value or potential future value of their collection. I hope I die with my collection, or pass it on to a son or somebody else who would appreciate it, but I am not blind to the idea that I may one day need to sell it (against my wishes) and that it is wise to keep that in mind too.
JimB

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Posted By: Bob Marquette

I am a collector first but if you didn't try to make good and wise purchases with an eye to future value, you would be very foolish. This hobby can get very expensive. Often I'll buy cards strictly as an investment as I will sell them down the road to make money to plow back in to my hobby. For those of us without rich daddies, trust funds or silver spoons, buying and selling to stay afloat and being able to buy more cards with our profits is the only way to go.
I put two daughters through college thanks in part to selling a large comic book collection from the 60's. The profits on cards I sell are almost 100% plunged back in to my collection.
Just my 2 cents, I am not ready to get out the sackcloth just because I try to make wise purchases and sales...

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Posted By: vetekbob

I am a collector first and foremost and I would be lying if I said that I am not concerned at all with a possible sale/ down the road god forbid if I needed such for something truly important outside of cards or that once in a life time chance. Right now I think I am going to work on the commons for a while to build a base with and if the opportunity arises where i can get some Hof'ers then all the better. I just dont want to try and get the big hof'ers right off the bat and make things harder on myself financially when I can try and build slowly and be proud of each and every card I get. I have a lot to learn and I thank you for the replies and as I said I will take heed to what has been shared with me from those of you who have been and or are there because if I didnt then I would end up being a fool in the long run and I dont want to do that lol I hope I can return the generosity that has been shown to me one day in some way to you all.
Robert

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Posted By: A Chuckle

Rich daddies - Trust Funds - Silver Spoons, in Spanish Harlem of the '30's and '40's??? =

You obviously aren't familiar with the area and the economy of those times.
Try to visualize it as the booming economy of the last five years, and pressing for that of the '30's and early '40's.

Black, white and grey's.
Confessionals and sackcloth.

Gentlemen, if you're calling me foolish for doing it my way. ... I don't have a problem with that.
If you are saying that anyone that purchase a card without thinking of what it will fetch later is foolish, then I will disagree with you.

All I did was state my mindset on how I approached my sets.
My approach has not changed since I've started.
At the moment I'm in the process of closing in on two tough minor league sets.
I'm five short on one, and seven short on the other.
Whether I finish them or not, doesn't matter.
If for any reason I have to sell.
I'm sure that I'll know what to do then.
Meanwhile, I will continue to be foolish and happy.
For some strange reason, I have a feeling that I'm not alone.
Somehow I feel that there are others out there that collect purely for the enjoyment of it, and don't have the need to call anyone foolish for their approach.
It would be like me calling some of you, Investors In Denial." --
Uh oh, it's time for the Confessional.

Joe

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

I would start with portraits of HOFers-- get them sooner rather than later.

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Posted By: Dan Koteles

Mr. Darren beat me to it....I too suggest the Portraits, but there are some classic commons and Southerns that will enlighten you besides the HOF's, such as McCauley and Guiheen from Portsmouth. Some of the most colorful actions are those from the Brooklyn team.

I find that the Baltimores and the New Yorks portraits are some difficult ones and have their prospctive classic vintage looks.

The Pittsburgh team have some beautiful blue sleeves that you can also appreciate, so , good luck on your start.


-Dan