Why do you collect backs?
I ask this question because the back of a baseball card has never particularly mattered to me, and even less so when they are ads. All of us collect what we love, and this is by no means a shot at you back collectors. IN fact, I ask humbly, and seek to understand.
I think it's cool when you guys show your runs of the same card with like 10 different backs. I can totally get the high in chasing rarity. But I sometimes find that you guys don't even care who is on the picture as long as it's a brown Hindu or a Broadleaf. So I want to hear from you back collectors, and there are TONS of you, what it is exactly that draws you in? |
"I can totally get the high in chasing rarity."
That's about the size of it. |
My quest is to collect every possible fronr/back combo of the T205 Cubs. I have been a Cub fan since I was young and have collected Cubs cards exclusively for years. I like the idea of the hunt and having a T205 Cubs master set.
|
I just wanted to get at least one of every ad. I do care who is on the front. I much prefer a Cobb/ Lenox to a Howell/ Lenox. But I can't always afford a HOF/ rare back combination.
And having advanced to a level where I have all the fronts and backs that I can afford, I want more challenges. So now I'm working on a couple back runs. My Merkle back run has been more fun than anything else that I've acquired. Now if only I could get that damn Red Cross. ;) |
Coming at this as a complete novice who only bought his first vintage card about a year ago - I love the personality that the different backs bring to the T206 set. Different colours, different slogans...as much a relic of the era as the deadball player on the front, for me.
That said, I totally understand why they might mean nothing to others. All part of the charm of the set is that there is seemingly endless ways to collect it. |
I've been collecting T206 rare backs for almost 30 years (wow, I'm dating myself). From day one, when I discovered T206 at a small show, I was instantly drawn to the ornate, often colorful, ads on the back of the cards. The vintage, bold graphics pulled me right in. Add to that, the challenge of rarity of many of them, I was hooked.
|
I have always loved rare backs because the fronts are usually easy... whereas the fronts with rare backs are not!!
|
Initially, because they are rare. Now, because I am addicted
|
2 Attachment(s)
Just stretching the subject to the M101-4/5s and other back sets. It is simply the fun of finding the backs:
|
I like to collect players from the Providence team. There are very few of them in any set. Collecting the different backs is a way to expand my collection. Plus, it's just fun chasing down rarities.
|
Back in January 2016 I had finished a 520 T206 set. All Pied. and SC, on purpose. Commons vg; HOF/sl good (Demmitt and O'Hara acceptable). I sold any non-pied/sc back and any high grades from lots I won, so to finance this project. FUN set to put together, based on condition ........... but, when I was done, I was done. Not to sound egotistical, but it had gone as far as it could...... so I sold it.
Now being a T206-ahaolic (I can quit any time I want, I just don't want to :)), I still needed my T206 fix. Just after selling old set, I bought a fairly large lot of cards. About 50 with mid-tier backs.............. thought, why not ??!!! My original goal was to get 520 with ~50% backs between PB and Pied.42. After about 6 months I hit 50%............. and said, once again, why not go for more ;). Now sit at 507/520 :):). What I find is the search is a bit more fun, and what I have learned about the T206 set is quite unreal and amazing. The nuances of the set are so much more intricate than I ever thought !!!!!!!!!!! Also IF I'll ever reach 520, I never really be done. There are always "back upgrades" to be gotten, and more knowledge to be learned. Fun stuff, Scott :rolleyes: |
I collect different T206 backs because honestly a basic 520 card Piedmont/Sweet Caporal/Polar Bear set is a simple task if you have the money. Collecting the different front/back combo's is kind of like treasure hunting and needing to be at the right place at the right time to score a rare combo. Also, searching and buying one card at a time kind of brings me back to when I was a kid building a Topps set one pack at a time. I guess the last reason is I needed something that can not be completed. Other sets that I've completed, I lost interest in right after the purchase of the last card and then either sold the set or broke it up which I don't enjoy but also don't want to keep something I've lost interest for.
|
Back collecting is a lot of fun and adds variety to the common fronts...
From the previous collection... http://luckeycards.com/pm101backsmaster2.jpg |
Makes sense. Chasing rarities, while frustrating, is really fun. I also see the point about how a rare back makes what is usually a readily-available card into something more special.
|
I like the artwork of the t206 backs. That is why I am trying to get one of each back. I am also collecting t205, but I don't collect the different backs on those. It would be a case by case basis for me.
|
It's a collection of history. Advertising is boring nowadays. The outlets are no longer unique, and it's pretty easy to reach the masses. They had to be creative back then, and the backs are proof.
|
Why? Because it's 50% of the card.
|
I don't collect backs, but -- if you think about it -- we call them baseball cards but they are also "advertising cards" and, overall, their function was to market products.
|
When I was a kid, I didn't have much money, so it wasn't feasible for me to try to collect sets for any cards other than the current year's Topps set (which I did each year from 1977 through 1981). So as I got into older cards, I became a type collector sort of by default, trying to get examples of as many different sets as I could. That allowed me to see the history of baseball and baseball cards while keeping to my (necessarily) limited budget. See this post with my type checklist from 1980, when I was 14: http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=239160
When I got back into collecting in the early 1990s, I was a grad student with a bit more money than I had as a kid, but still not a lot. I was able to pick up more T and E and R cards for my type collection, and I didn't have to limit myself to a single example of each set; I could and did accumulate more of sets I liked. These included some that were relatively tough to find, but not much more expensive than T206s, such as T210s and T212s (and even T211s, which you could get in presentable shape for about $30 in the mid-90s). As I learned more about T206 backs, I saw that as another good way to extend my type collection without busting my collecting budget. In the early to mid-90s, the mid-tier backs (e.g. AB, Cycle, Tolstoi) didn't command much of a premium over common backs, but they were significantly tougher to find, which made them a good collecting challenge for me at the time. See this 1995 article on T206 backs, written by board member Judson Hamlin: http://net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=210404 More broadly, I see my card collection as a window into the past, of baseball as well as the culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. That's why I collect non-sport tobacco cards and trade cards as well as baseball cards. Collecting different backs allows me to see (and show others) the variety of different types of cards that were issued back then, and the variety of products they were issued with. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
I like both fronts and backs, but I don't mind blank backs if the fronts are interesting enough. I love Old Judges, which have blank backs. On the other hand, most blank-backed strip cards don't do much for me, because the fronts are so bad.
|
I collect the different T206 (and T205) backs, because they tell the history of the sets, as well as show how the cards were issued. I have the 520 card short-set of T206, and just picked up my 100th T205, and collecting the backs just seems to be a logical extension of the sets. I want at least one of each different back, but I don't really care about specific front/back combos.
So far, I have all the T206 backs except Broadleaf, Carolina Brights, Drum, Lenox and Uzit, and the T205 backs except Broadleaf and Drum. I'm also looking for Coupon (series 1), Red Cross (series 1) and Victory backs (and if I'm really lucky, a Pirate back). Steve |
A little rabbit trail, but in regards to back runs, what players (with the particular pose) has the most "backs?"
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
What about beyond T206? Where the player from that set also has the same pose on same pose say on the Red Cross back, or on an E95?
|
Why?
Because T206 Sweet Caporal backs from any series are just soooo common! ;):) All joking aside, I collect different backs for my T206 set because it adds variety. I'm not what you would call the average T206 collector though because from day one I never had any desire to own an example of each back. Do I chase backs? Yes and I care just as much about the backs as I do the fronts. In order to complete a back set (every card/same back), a collector has to chase the player on the front and the advertisement on the back equally. |
Being a T206 guy, I have always marched to the sound of my own Drummer.
|
I've always had a desire to collect stuff that you normally don't see. I've also generally consider myself to be a set collector. Combine that with being a bit obsessive and I ended up starting to build an E92 set with the Nadja back. I also always found the e92 red crofts really cool and again, something you hardly ever find. When Leon auctioned his collection, I made sure to pick up 1, then quickly added another and then another, and well, again, I can be a bit obsessive. :D
https://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsredmiller.md.jpghttps://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsredcrawford.md.jpghttps://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsreddonovan.md.jpghttps://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsredbemis.md.jpghttps://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsredbescher.md.jpghttps://gifyu.com/images/e92croftsre...r-SGC50.md.jpg |
Quote:
|
When I got my first checklist in 78 I thought "wouldn't it be cool to get at least one of each back" So I'd pick up backs I didn't have when they were in a stack of cards. Didn't think of different factories and series until much later, but when I did check, I found I'd only missed one easy one and maybe two fairly tough ones.
Haven't reduced the wantlist since then, and there's really only one I might be able to afford out of the ones I need. I think of then as different sets that just happen to be cataloged as one. Steve B |
I enjoy the hunt for rarer cards. It's the same as collecting new cards, would you buy just a base card of your favorite player and stop? No, you'd have to "collect" the chrome, refractor, auto, blue, red, black, ect.
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
DJ |
i collect backs because they are easy to flip for huge profits.
|
Quote:
|
John, I thought I saw before that you picked that up. If you ever feel like taking a little vacation, let me know ;)
DJ |
Epdgs
1 Attachment(s)
I need to update the collage and find an alternative to photobucket.....Always found EPDGs to be interesting. Sitting on 222 unique ones at this point.
To me a card is a 90/10 or 50/50. A red Cobb I care 90% about the front. A Maddox EPDG I care 90% about the back. But then there's a few that split like a Magee portrait Hindu. I love the front and the back about the same.....they are both important. Attachment 280862 |
Hey Jeff, how many more EPDGs do you need for the complete set?
|
Quote:
I was incorrect that I have 221, not 222. The known list according to Ted and the t206resource is 284 but I think it's actually 281. Pastorius, Hunky Shaw, and Ed Willetts no "S" are in their list but there are no records of one being sold or graded. I don't think this is like a Drum or Uzit situation where an unknown one will show up, I just don't think they exist. So I think I need 60 to get there but I've already surpassed my goal of 200. Not sure I will complete or not. |
Good luck. :)
|
Quote:
|
That's awesome jeff,
What HOFs are you missing |
Quote:
Bender, Chief (With Trees) Chance, Frank (Batting) Chance, Frank (Portrait - Red) Cobb, Ty (Bat Off Shoulder) Cobb, Ty (Portrait - Red) Jennings, Hughie (One Hand Showing) Johnson, Walter (Glove At Chest) Johnson, Walter (Portrait) Keeler, Willie (With Bat) McGraw, John (Glove At Hip) Tinker, Joe (Bat Off Shoulder) Walsh, Ed Wheat, Zack Young, Cy (Bare Hand) Young, Cy (Portrait) Young, Cy (With Glove) |
For me I am looking to have 1 of each cigarette/cigar brand as a type collection. I don't care who is on the front of the card, the factory #/variation, color of the ad or what sport/non sport set it is from.
If we are talking T206s I have 6 different cigarette brand backs so far. |
Quote:
|
13 Attachment(s)
Quote:
|
1 Attachment(s)
Quote:
Some time ago we had a thread about doppelganger collectors. I think you and Dan Mckee might be close to the ticket for me...Love me some backs of cards. Even Heinie is agreeing with a WTF gesture. The rarer the better!! |
2 Attachment(s)
Quote:
My first instinct re your including me in the same category as Dan Mckee was to consider it an insult (hi Dan!), but then I quickly remembered that my drinks at the Net54 "dinner" at the National are on your tab, so all is good! :D I can match your Leader Theatre, but I'm still wanting a Shotwell for my type collection. I assumed that obtaining scarce type cards would become easier after you sold your fantastic type collection a couple of years ago, but it appears to me that you have gotten back into the game. :( |
Quote:
I guess this one doesn't have a back but it has a printed front, and was part of a set, which is sort of scarce for a cabinet card..... http://luckeycards.com/phunc1888joshall.jpg |
I don't specifically collect backs, however I have really come to appreciate them more over the last few years. I really enjoy the graphic and typographical design of many of them. Definitely want to add an Croft's Candy. Those red back Croft's are awesome!!
http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=22907http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=16140http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=16129 http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=22647http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=18934http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=22713 http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=16138http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=18324http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=16127 http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=16128 |
Quote:
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:35 PM. |