Easy.
Instead of endless T206 threads, Net54 would be overrun with threads discussing the nuances of the card issue that would take it's place as the most beautiful, intriguing, and significant of its era. A set loaded with Hall of Famers, colorful artwork, detailed illustrations, back varieties, condition rarities, and print variations.
I'm referring, of course, to 1943 MP & Co.
Sometimes, T206 fans sit back and ask "How could anyone have POSSIBLY produced a set of cards like this?" and "What was going through the artist's mind when he produced this image?" Surely, people ask the exact same questions when discussing the MP & Co cards.
And, like the T206, MP & Co has its share of mysteries. For example, after putting out the set in 1943, why on earth would they have put it out AGAIN six years later, using different player names with the same artwork? Were the artists trying to improve on perfection? Were they trying to point out to young collectors that Larry Doby and Johnny Vandermeer looked so much alike that you couldn't
really tell the difference between the two?
And who, exactly, is the player #30 off in the distance in the background of the Mel Ott card?
http://www.oldcardboard.com/r/r302/r302.jpg
I realize it's not a very detailed image, but if you look at the earlobe, and the chin, I'd say that's a spitting image of an old Cap Anson out there, patrolling center field. What was Anson doing at the Polo Grounds in 1943, 21 years after his death? It's the kind of mystery that the hobby has never adequately addressed, if you ask me.
These are the kinds of discussions we'd be having here on Net54 if T206 had never existed.
Al
