t206 portraits and action poses

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Posted By: Cashews

i've always wondered what makes the portrait cards in the t206 set more valuable than the action poses. is it just that the portraits were printed in lower runs or is it an aesthetic thing? do they generally sell at a higher price because they are more visually appealing or is it a rarity issue? just something i've been wondering about for a while.

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Posted By: barrysloate

The portraits are well executed and look just like the players.

Many of the action poses are not well drawn, and it is difficult to recognize some players without looking at the caption.

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Posted By: JimB

For what it is worth, I have always enjoyed the action poses more.
JimB

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Posted By: Cashews

i like the action poses a lot more too. especially the mathewson dark and white cap variations over the portrait. also i think the ty cobb bat off card is a lot more stunning than the portrait.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Cashews- those action poses, of Matty and Cobb, are among the better ones. When you get to McGraw pointing, or Chief Bender pitching, for example, they just aren't as good.

How can you beat the Matty, Johnson, Cobb, and Young portraits?

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Posted By: Cashews

i like the johnson and cy young glove poses so much more than the portraits. maybe its just because i feel like so many of the portraits make the players look dainty. cobb was such a gritty guy but that doesn't come through in his portrait. he looks like a newborn.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Cobb does look really young, and the Horner portrait used for the card was taken a few years before the T206's were issued. I would guess Cobb was 20-21 years old when that photo was taken.

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Posted By: Cashews

i was just looking at few portraits and action poses on ebay. i do see what you're saying, the portraits for a lot of guys are a lot better looking than their action poses and you can really see what a player looked like. there are some action shots that are so much better than the poses though. the lajoie with bat card strikes me as one really strong example. but on the whole i think you're right, the portraits are a lot more detailed and telling than the action poses.

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Posted By: barrysloate

As you and Jim B. pointed out it is subjective, and there are a lot of great action poses too. Look how wonderful the Cobb bat off shoulder is, but the bat on shoulder is a rather poor likeness of him. Must have been two different artists.

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Posted By: nbrazil

i personally like the portraits because of the vibrant colors in the background (cobb red, young green, chance, tinker and brown red).

however, the backgrounds (sky, stadium, mixture of colors) on some action poses (davis, cobb bat off) are quite nice.

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Posted By: Jason L

"...-not that there's anything wrong with that!"

(actually, I like the vivid color backgrounds you usually find in those cards, but I don't care for the rather feminine facial feature detail work, and I truly loathe the premium prices they require!)



-and what is with Tinker's hair?!?! I am really not looking forward to having to pay for that card!

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Posted By: John

I tend to collect only the "Action of Portraits' cards in the set, where the players in action poses hold and show off their portraits, a little tougher to come by and they do demand a premium…

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Posted By: Jason L

I was just thinking I could really use one of your works here today. Thanks for the laugh.

Can you produce a set of those?
Maybe team up with Trae on the printing...what would a set of those look like?

I can just hear the player blurting out an emphatic "BAM!" as they thrust the card forward...

Edited to add: there's just something about Waddell that makes him look a little slow, if you know what I mean. Don't you think?

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Posted By: Aaron Patton

seriously...thats the hardest I've laughed all week. Hil-arious.

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Posted By: Martin Neal

Very, very clever. Best laugh all day.

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Posted By: Paul S

Great question -- I've often asked myself the same thing (or did I just pay myself a compliment?!) Aside from a few of the downright gorgeous portraits -- Johnson, for instance -- I like the action poses more overall.

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Posted By: Steve Dawson

I just realized it from looking at Wonka's Waddell above, but ole' Rube looks like Grandpa Munster!


Steve

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Posted By: Joann

I used to like the action shots more because I somehow felt like they showed more of "baseball", and not just some guy. As I got more familiar with the individual players, I started to appreciate the texture and depth of the portraits more.

I think some of the T206 action shots have really neat backgrounds - Bat Off comes to mind immediately. But as sets go, I think that the T206 set has generally duller backgrounds for action shots than other sets. (Gads. Here it comes!) There are too many of the "orange sky" cards. Many others are just blue top half for sky and green bottom half for grass without much texture.

Just as an example, look at the E90-1 action shot backgrounds. Holy cow. Jordan? Oakes? O'Leary? They put the best T206's to shame. The Obaks - especially the (thinking hard here) 1910's? are really cool as well. Just generally more colorful, vibrant and interesting than the T206's.

So the popularity of T206 portraits over action may have several reasons. More depth and less cartoonish. Appreciation for a specific player. But also maybe because the T206 just doesn't have great backgrounds overall in the action shots. Some awesome backgrounds? Yep. But not A-1 compared to some other sets.

Which brings up a second question, I guess. Are portraits generally favored over action shots in all sets, or more in T206's?

J

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Not sure you can beat the portraits.

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Posted By: barry arnold

I'm with my Emory brother.
On display in my 206 room are portraits and packs.
2 cobbs,johnson,young,mathewson are at the center.

all the best,

barry

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Posted By: Trae R.

Portraits all the way here...
http://flickr.com/photos/traeregan/sets/72157600958784625/detail/




---
"There ain't much to being a ballplayer, if you're a ballplayer."
-Honus Wagner

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Posted By: Jerry Rucker

Joanne, Nice Post
You are Correct there are alot of beautiful Cards within sets that surpass most T206's astetically, but the Monster with it's shear volume and Beauty makes it one Formidable Foe

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Posted By: Dennis Winters

How many Emory U T206 collectors are there? You can count me in this group. I appreciate the portraits and horizontals as well.

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Posted By: barry arnold

3 that i know of Dennis.
Glad to know another eagle who loves the Monster!!!

all the best,

barry