Polar bear underrated t206 back?
 

This is a back that is extremely tough to find in high grades, but it does not seem to bring the premium other uncommon backs do. I looked at the recent psa population report, and there are only 25 total that are graded higher than a psa 6. Would really like to hear thoughts and opinions......

i agree, it's tuff to find above a 6. i actually used to own a PSA 7, and even a PSA 8. might have been the only example, not sure. yet another card i still wish i owned.

Agreed, being inserted loose in pouches, higher grade examples just don't show up.

I picked up a 35 PB lot last year that had several mid grade examples, several showed little signs of tobacco or wear, only a slight diamond cut. I only have scans of a few.

http://i.imgur.com/LnjSH.jpg

Kevin,
I think it is because next to SC and Piedmont, PB is the easiest back to find. It is definitely tough in high grade, mostly because it was packed with loose leaf tobacco and thus was susceptible to staining and also wrinkles/creases due to rougher handling in the pouches. The cardboard packs of cigs for the other brands mostly had hard cardboard packaging.
JimB

Chris,
Those are beauties!
JimB

polar bear
 

i never fully understood the reason many polar bears are so tobacco stained until I bought my first full polar bear tobacco pouch. The tobacco is all over the place--even the pouch that I have that is unopened!!! I'm surprised the cards turn out as well as they do.
I now say congratulations for the low grades due to tobacco stains and to the high grades which survived the stains somehow or other.
all the best,
barry

Barry....i completely agree. I just don't understand how the high grade cards don't get the premiums based on other backs and what they receive. I have been looking for quite sometime for psa 7 examples, and they are simply non existant in the market....

any chance that PB deliberately made those backs that solid blue due to the fact they were in tobacco pouches with moist loose leaf tobacco? Would make sense considering that PB is the only solid body colored T206 back and only known distributor with cards in pouches from the T206 and T205 sets.

Hi Kevin, I do believe polar bear backs are underrated in higher grades. Even PSA 4/SGC 50 grades are near impossible to find with some cards. When i first started collecting T206's, i was trying to put together a polar bear subset in psa 4 and some cards even to this day, i still can't find and have psa 3's instead.

I think high grade PB backs should absolutely demand premiums. It stands to reason that someone putting together a high-grade t206 set would want at least one example of each back, thus creating bidding wars when say a PSA 7 PB back hits the market. Whether this actually happens or not, I have no idea since my set condition averages about F.

This is my highest-graded PB, which is in a PSA 6 holder. Just picked it up recently.

http://photos.imageevent.com/ineedan...r-flanagan.jpg