Advice on the t206 set

[Niko]

Hey,

When I came to this forum about a week ago, I asked for advice on a 55 topps set. I originally intended to go for the set in complete psa 5/6 form. A few people essentially convinced me that it wasn't worth paying nearly double the cost of the set just to have em graded in plastic slabs. Another reason why I wanted to put together the set was the challenge. However, what is the challenge in putting together a 55 set? There's so much of it out there in so many varying conditions, I could easily put a set together with no work for like 2K - the challenge wouldn't be much of a challenge to me.

I saw someone post here about having over 500 cards in the t206 set and they said they averaged about $10 a card. While my budget would certainly restrict me to an extremely low grade set (all would be psa1/sgc10/ or the equivalent in raw), it would still be amazing to attempt such a set. I'm not sure exactly how much it would cost to get up to that point (obviously the big 4 would probably elude me forever), and if it's the right thing for me.

So, if you have attempted to or successfully put together your t206 set, please give me some insight. I've changed my mind far too many times with what set I want to put together, but this seems like a great challenge, something that would surely hold value for ever, and if I made it to even 520, it would be something to really be proud of.

Thanks,
Zach

[tonyo]

Hi Zach,

This thread: http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=126837 has alot of good info that pertains to your question.

I'm always amazed when I hear that folks have so many t206's and average $10 per card or less. That certainly would be a challenge for you.

I'd say it would take incredible patience, diligence, and luck to start today, and put together even a poor condition set at an average cost of $10 per card.

Hopefully in the responses to your thread, there will be more insight as to how to acheive that $10 per card goal.

In the last year, I've collected 67 hall of famers in low, but decent, grade and let's just say the average I paid per card is ALOT more than $10.

Of course I've never even attempted flipping to fund these, either.

Also have collected 70 non-hall of famers and averaged $11 per card.

At that pace, assuming I can find the cards at $11 per card, It'll take 5 more years just to get the rest of the "commons"

That doesn't even account for the 48 southern leaguers at I don't know maybe 50-75 each? Haven't even started tracking those. Nor the remaining hall of famers I need that will probably be about another grand.

Hey, I think the Monster is whispering to me to quit


Good Luck and I'm looking forward to the repsonses to this thread!

Tony

[mintacular]

I would think $10/card or less and you are going to get some pretty hammered/thrashed cards...If you are good with that go for it...

I would recommend before starting to really pinpoint which grade you find acceptable/meets your budget before you start buying. You will lose alot of $ if you decide later on to upgrade IMO. For pre-war stuff I have found that gd/vg cards work for me as they are low grade enough to avoid paying too much $ but not so low that I wince when looking at them...I would think that $20/card for most gd/vg t206s (w/common backs) is typical btw...

In terms of the challenge aspect, I don't think you have to worry about that with this set as there are so many variations/poses/tough backs/ HOFers, etc. Good luck and like I said really start to study cards in PSA/SGC holders and figure out which low grade condition (P-VGEX) you are happy with...Also, when start out a set it is good for you to buy a big chunk to get started so you can a better price and then from their cherry pick the singles you need.

As for graded cards, figure out if you are going for raw card set or a graded one. One thing to consider is maybe buying commons raw and the stars graded, that's what I would do...Also, in most cases you can probably save $ buying cards already graded than sending them in yourself.

[ethicsprof]

yes, a major step along the way is to realize that the Monster wants you to quit.

Don't listen to it.

all the best in your quest,

barry

[E93]

I thought of it as a marathon. I finished about 25 years after I started. Now I am doing side projects with backs. Before I contented myself with an example of each of the 16 brands. Now I going for color variations of brands and series, etc. (basically every back). I am down to BL 460 and brown Old Mill.
JimB

[Niko]

I wouldn't even begin to start worrying about the backs- I would just try to get the project underway.

I'm worried that the price will be too high for my budget, and I'll be stuck at a point where I rarely have cards incoming anymore - it will definitely take COUNTLESS years to complete.

With that said, I have read countless archived threads here on net54 and have been looking a lot into the set, and the more I look, the more excited I get.

[Luke]

I started collecting the set a few months ago with a very similar post on this forum. When you first start, you can bargain hunt a lot, because you need everything, so I have gotten a few very good deals. In my opinion, it would be very difficult to keep your average cost below $20. Even common beater lots tend to average out at around $10 per card and there are over 120 SL/HOFers that will average closer to $50 if you stick to beaters.
I have had a lot of fun so far and would definitely recommend it, but I just wanted to give you a realistic idea of what the cards are going for now as I have spent a lot of time searching for deals in the last couple months. Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do.

Luke

[lharri3600]

well my friend,
welcome to the monster club. be patient, be patient. it's fun! in fact i'm 3 cards away from completing a raw set (minus the big 4). have fun.

[Tcards-Please]

I can certainly understand the the attraction at the attempt to complete the monster. I was in your position roughly 3 years ago trying to decide what pre-war set to try and complete. I was going back and forth between T206, T205 and Cracker Jack. They all have certain qualities that I like. It finally all boiled down to what I realistically had a chance to complete in low grade. For me, there was no sense in going after a set that I know would be missing certain key cards.

After sleeping on it for a week, I made my decision and haven't regretted it one bit. I decided on the T205's and have been at it for almost 3 years now. I purchased my first T205 (Hugh Jennings) in November 2007 and haven't looked back. I've just recently hit the 60% mark and will probably take another 2 years to complete.

Good luck on your endeavor if you do go after the monster and remember it isn't a sprint, but a marathon. I've seen people hit it hard and really not enjoy what they are collecting.

r/
Frank

[BleedinBlue]

What do you have to lose except your sanity? My experience with the monster is detailed in a posting I made about a year ago. It is highly addictive, potentially very expensive and about the most fun you can have legally with cardboard and plastic.

Brian

I need a little support here. I know there must be at least one other person out there who has experienced a similar fate and I'm hoping that with your support I can get through this.

The last month has been a bad time for me and my bank account. It's not my fault really but somehow a few weeks ago I got bit by The Monster. Not just any monster, The Monster. It was careless of me. I knew it was out there but I had always been able to keep it at arm’s length and admire it from afar. But, somehow the past few weeks have transformed me from a normal collector into somebody I don't recognize.

The T206 set has always been something I wanted to take a stab at. And when I picked up the last card for my 1953 Topps set a few weeks ago I had a void that needed to be filled. What am I going to do next? I guess that is how things start with other addicts as well. Anyway, I took what I thought was not an irrational step and bought a card. One card. Nothing fancy or expensive but I bought one. Ed Abbaticchio with Blue Sleeves in PSA 2. Piedmont 460 Back. $20 bucks. No Big Deal. The first card (alphabetically) in the set. As I envisioned things, this was the first step in a very long and sane journey toward a lifelong ambition.

Up to this point I'm real clear but soon after things start to get fuzzy. I remember that while waiting for my new card to arrive I started to do a little reading about The Monster. I read about things I "knew" but didn't really know. 524 cards. Sizable but manageable given time. 76 Hall of Famers. 48 Southern Leaguers. 4 Ty Cobb’s. 3 Cy Young’s. 2 Walter Johnson’s. Tinker to Evers to Chance. Eddie Plank, Sherry Magie, Joe Doyle. And Honus Wagner. The Card. Just to be clear, my name is not Donald Trump. I'm a collector but also a realist. Reality says this will be a 520 card journey rather than a 524 card journey but hey, who's to say I won't win the lottery in the next decade? Anyway, I'll cross that bridge when the time comes. But then things start to get murky. I started to learn things I "knew of" but didn't really know. 40 different backs. Piedmont and Sweet Caporal. Old Mill and Polar Bear. Sovereign and Tolstoi. Drum, Broadleaf, American Beauty, Carolina Bright, Cycle and El Principe De Gales. Ty Cobb with Ty Cobb back. Brown Hindu and Red Hindu? Brown Lenox, Black Lenox? Uzit? Factory 42? Over 5000 known front-back combinations? Nine different Sweet Caporal backs? 150 Series, 150/350 Series, 460 Series? Super Prints? O'Hara and Demmit in St. Louis but only with Polar Bear backs? Horizontal poses? The information overload left me woozy. Like most things in life, the more you learn the about The Monster the more you realize how much you don't know. Knowing my tendencies I should have predicted where this would lead. But I was naive. I thought I could control things.

A couple days later I went to my mailbox with life seemingly in check when reality stepped in to remind me who is boss. There it was. A seemingly innocuous Bubble Mailer mixed in with a couple of other Bubble Mailers. I sat down as I do many evenings to savor my daily take. I can't tell you what else came that day. It doesn't really matter. All I can clearly remember is opening that special package and seeing my new card for the first time. It is beautiful. Ed Abbaticchio. Piedmont. I couldn't get enough of this 100 year old piece of cardboard. I showed my family. I showed my friends. “Who’s he” they asked. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. They all heard me but they just didn't understand. They still don't. I tried to explain but they couldn't know how I felt. Unfortunately, just like most "high's" this one started to fade. I still love my Ed Abbaticchio with Blue Sleeves and a Piedmont back but I needed another hit. I needed to feel that high again. So in all my wisdom I hatched a plan. I thought "I'll do these cards one at a time to stretch the experience out and keep things under control. I'll do them in alphabetical order picking them up one at a time." This seemed like a good plan. It would be nearly 100 cards before I hit the Ty Cobb sequence and nothing up to that seemed unreasonably priced. So I went to my local drug dealer, ebay, and found card #2 in the set. Ed Abbaticchio with Brown Sleeves. PSA 3. Another Piedmont back. Piedmont 150 this time. $30. No Big Deal. And irrecoverably the second step down this infernal path was taken.

The card arrived and the high was exquisite. I'm telling you it is better than sex. Heck I've been married 16 years so I don't really remember sex anymore but from what I remember this is better. But I needed another hit. And another. Card #3 Fred Abbott. Card #4 Bill Abstein. Easy scores. Quick highs. Low cost. Then the trouble began. I blame Card #5 Doc Adkins and I blame the Dodgers. My dealer was out of stock. How can this be? What do you mean this is a "tough common"? What do you mean you don't have any? I NEED DOC ADKINS!! My Dodgers are choking in September and I need something to get me through the regular season!! So, with my hands trembling slightly I decided to rethink my plan. I know, I'll expand my list. Sure, no big deal. I'll look for all the cards of players who's last names start with "A". There are only 10 more and it will give me more options. So with Doc Adkins (temporarily) unavailable I set off in search of my next hit. Atz, Armbruster, Anderson, Ames Portrait, Ames Hands at Chest, Ames Hands above Head, Adkins (finally), Alperman, Arellanes and Arndt all joined my stash with surprising rapidity. And fatefully my first back variations began to show up. A Sovereign, a Sweet Caporal and a couple of Polar Bears joined my Piedmont backed cards. With the "A" players having all been acquired I needed a new list. I took the next 10 cards and put them in my saved searches. And I started looking for Back Variations. And what the hell, while I'm at it I figured out a Brooklyn Superba's team set and decided to track that down as well. This really was my fatal mistake. With so many options I quickly bypassed the difficult cards and started buying with reckless abandon. I began making back alley deals with shady characters including some of you reading this. I needed that next hit. I needed to score. I needed to recreate that high. And I went on a buying spree like never before. I bought those 10 cards (the ones I could find), I bought 21 of the 27 Brooklyn Superba's. I bought a Cycle back, an American Beauty back, all the Piedmont backs, all the Sweet Caporal backs, all the Sovereign backs. An El Principe De Galles. Old Mill, Old Mill Southern League. I bought cards for no good reason other than the seller had them and I needed them. Hey, I'm saving shipping charges if I buy 2 aren't I? It's like the cards are on sale!! I had to have them all and I just kept buying.

Reality is a mother and facing reality can be a sobering experience. For me reality came in the mail yesterday. After quickly ripping through the large stack of bubble mailers last night I came across a very thick envelope from somebody called MasterCard. Maybe some of you know him? He acts like a friend but really he's just using you. Anyway my former friend MasterCard said it was time for him to call in his favors. It was time to pay the piper and oh what a steep price it was. As I stared at the sheets and sheets of charges I thought that surely somebody must have stolen my identity. Then I prayed that HOPEFULLY somebody had stolen my identity. But after carefully cross checking my records I realized there was no one else to blame. I had done this to myself. Somehow I had taken an innocent little adventure down the T206 path and turned that first slow step into 90 quick ones. Didn't I realize The Monster is a marathon and not a sprint? I had bought 90 T206 cards in only 6 weeks. Nearly 20% of the set in such a short time. I had figured it would take me 2 years to get this far.

So, as I sit here recovering from the shock I realize there is only one way to get over this addiction. I need to quit cold turkey. No cards of any kind. 30 days. I should probably do 60 or 90 days but those numbers seem too daunting. 30 days. I can do it right? After all collecting is something I do right? Not who I am? It's a hobby, not an addiction right? Fortunately I have the post season to keep me occupied. Damn those Dodgers better knock off the Cardinals this week. I don't think I can make it without them. If they can just get to the next round that would give me a couple more weeks of distraction.

30 Days.

This is day 1.

The rest of the story is that I took my month off and then got back into things again slowly. Slow and controlled lasted for about a month until I went on an insane buying binge again. I took about 9 months off the next time before pulling the monsters tail again. I am just now getting back into the arena. My advice is to have a budget and stick to it. The monster will always be there. Enjoy the ride.

Brian

[scottglevy]

Zack,

Sounds like you want a challenge and that you're on a somewhat restrictive budget. I'd guess that for around 10-12k you can put together a T206 set minus the big 4. But you've gotta be willing to deal with some pretty ugly cards -- especially for Demmitt, O'hara and Cobb Green.

If it was me, I'd budget a little more ... say $15-20k and do it over a many year period. that amount should enable you to get cards that are around the "Fair/Good" level. Don't worry about the different backs at all, and be willing to accept creasing, trimming or some back damage (but at that price you shouldn't need to buy cards with pieces missing). Since Demmitt and O'hara alone can run close to 2k for the pair, I'd push that off till the end -- unless a deal that you can't pass up comes along.

As for my dad and I, we're putting together a raw set that a minimum vg/ex. We get so much more pleasure looking at the cards in a binder instead of plastic slabs. We're probably about 50 cards away from completing it in any shape (and about 120 cards from completing it in vg/ex or better).

Best regards and enjoy the journey - it's a very, very fun challenge!
-S

[Niko]

Brian, that is one helluva story.

Good news is that it's impossible for me to have that problem, I'm a kid in college, and I know better than to use my parents credit card for that haha.

However, being a college student, makes my budget obviously small. My card collection is probably worth around 4K or so, but it's all stuff that I don't care so much about anymore. The goal would be to try and sell what I have (it's all modern stuff, for the most part), and put that towards t206 stuff. Eventually, I'll have a job, and then slowly go from there.

If I think of the idea of spending 15k on a set, I will tell myself that it is impossible. However, spending 1K a year (if I can limit myself to that), is doable. I need to really understand that this is a marathon.

A big problem with me is never really knowing what I want. Ultimately I decided to build the 55 Topps set. I have 20 PSA 5/6 cards, and about 100 other commons in mid-grade form (like 30-40 dupes though). I was going to send those in to get graded, and then go for the set in PSA 5/6 form. It's somewhat challenging, but it could be done - all it takes is $$. Recently, I feel like that set won't give me enough satisfaction. However, I am impatient, so it would be much easier to go that route.

I've probably spent at least 15-20 hours browsing these forums since I signed up about a week ago. I'm reading up lots on the t206 set, and the more I look, the more I want to go for it. If I do decide to go for it, I'm getting a big one out of the way first, so that if the monster does succeed or I need the $$, I won't have a problem moving it. (I'm thinking Cobb with bat, gorgeous card).

Keep the opinions coming. Thanks to everyone who contributed thus far,

Zach

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by Niko

However, I am impatient,

Me too. Fortunately one great thing about collecting t206's is you can always find something related to the cards to read or browse or view. So you can quench your impatient thirst without actually having to be in the process of purchasing a card.

Originally Posted by Niko

(I'm thinking Cobb with bat, gorgeous card).

I agree....and you must be talking about "Cobb bat off" not "Cobb bat on"

It won't be long before you can't say Cobb without it being followed by "red, green, bat on or bat off" or Lajoie without "throwing, with bat, or portrait" or Matty without "white cap, black cap, or portrait" or .......you get the drift

[Niko]

Yup, referring to the Cobb bat off, really a great looking card. Should cost around 350-400 in the condition I want,I believe.

The impatience part will likely be a problem. I'll just have to set a strict budget for myself, and not spend everything I have at the moment all at once. If I go for the Cobb, I wont buy anything else that month. Then maybe a handful of commons next month, then one biggie the month after, something like that, if I can.