Another T205 vs T206
 

im still pretty new to the T205 set, but I just had some questions about some differences between both the T205 and T206 sets.

1 - It seems there are alot more T206's for sale as well as alot more T206 buyers(collectors) - BUT which is more rare? Comparing a common T205 to a T206, were there more made of one over the other? Are they the same amount? Just wondering which set cads there are more OR less of in circulation now / or even when they were made.

2 - Which common card OR comparabel card would sell for more? Looking at some websites t206.org & t205.org and looking at some sales on ebay it seems the T205 sell for a bit higher price for a common card. Does one sell for more than the other? (for commons / same players in the set, not talking the whole set or the wagner etc)

thanks in advance

1. The t206 set was produced in far greater numbers than the t205 set and therefore more have survived to be bought/sold/traded today.

2. Depending on the commons, t205s generally sell for more although not too much more...probably mostly as a result of #1, although other factors contribute (like the personal aesthetics).

Joshua

Thanks josh, Thats what I was thinking from what I have seen but figured id ask.

And don't forget...
 

T205's are so much cooler than T206's...:p

+1 :d

Having collected and enjoyed both I disagree that 205s sell for more than 206s. A t206 of a comparable HOFer will sell both more quickly and for a higher dollar in general. The 205s are limited in their variation of poses but the gold leaf is a beautiful effect. Neither are rare in the least except for a few variations. Love them both...

One big difference is that T205s have considerably less threads about them than T206s. :p

Hall of Famer to Hall of Famer, yes, T205s generally sell for a bit less in lower condition but a really nice t205 Hofer might outperform a t206 counterpart in similar condition due to rarity of card/grade...commons sell a couple of dollars more but not much more.

Joshua

Are you trying to get yourself banned? ;)
JimB

T206
 

T206s have the advantage of displaying various playing poses and pastel colors/backgrounds whereas T205s are almost all head shots. T206s also make things interesting for some due to the multiple of back brands ...T205s not so much. The Gold borders obviously make T205s pop. To me the T206s are a more complex set and therefore slightly more appealing to me. T206s have significant more popularity but T205s have a nice-sized collector base as well.

T205's have 18 different backs, though some dont come with every back. I dont know what the back info is on the T206's but 18 diff backs is alot to me. :D

Also seems alot less T205 for sale, just a quick search with out looking through all of them:

currently on ebay:

T206 SGC - 2097
T205 SGC - 374

T206 PSA - 3476
T205 PSA - 928

T206 BVG - 116
T205 BVG - 35

I didnt search the raw cards cause there are so many other things that pop up, along with the reprints.

T206s are so much better than T205s it's not even close. The fact that they were printed over three years in far greater quantities, and remain far more available to this day at higher prices than their ugly little gold leaf floating head younger brothers, shows that vast preference of T206 among seasoned hobbyists and rookie collectors alike.

T205s are uniform in player pose and garish in presentation. And they don't hold up under normal wear -- the chipping and the creasing is accentuated by whitened corners and borders.

And the floating headshots make the players look bloated and covered makeup. I'll take the red or green portrait of Cobb in the T206 set any day over his tiny-headed little bloated and pinkened, then surrounded by stale gold and crudely drawn baseball sketches, T205 counterpart.

About the only benefit worth noting in T205 is the biographical information and statistics. Still, there is something classic about T206s cigarette advertisement and it's otherwise uncluttered back. T205s are like someone took all of the T206 portraits and then crammed a lot of mostly unnecessary crap on them, front and back.

Having said all of the above, this signed T205 of Lena Blackburne is still one of my all-time favorites, and so much nicer than his signed T206 counterpart, where the "artist" mailed it in.

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iVe3cS1fBYYtk0omcVuDh4RT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-DbgjlV2jsgI/UQl2Q9HsnPI/AAAAAAAAQ3o/CftcjH1_frw/s800/T205BlackburneFTnBK.jpg" height="642" width="800" /></a>

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/w9R1wCYwqw1aLwOMlDDnNDiJm_Z5QsNdec5_I7WHZRE?feat=e mbedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lU_hH5HeBT8/TZaKVGZSjKI/AAAAAAAAI8s/McwzG7OEjRE/s800/Blackburne_Auto_SGC50.JPG" height="633" width="800" /></a>

T205 vs T 206
 

Couldn't disagree more. The beauty of the T 205s outshine the rather bland looking T 206s and they look much better in a SGC holder. The multitude of colors catches one's eye in the T 205s. The addition of a biography and stats is also a plus.

totally agree - the T205 fronts have much better art work, color, design along with the gold border. The backs with the stats and bios are also way better IMO.

Girls, Girls! You're both pretty!

Ugly Face
 

Even if you like the look of dirty gold borders, and even if you like a ton of peripheral art on the front of your baseball card, and even if you like a set full of nothing more than floating heads with baseball caps on them, then how can you stand the huge numbers of ugly heads?

Can you tell which one's the actual catfish?

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QTbTXE4Dt5aq8xppRHrcwYRT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-McGsrI_NsDI/UTd_eZj1SxI/AAAAAAAAQ8E/ZWuB-StQN8w/s800/Catfish.jpg" height="168" width="800" /></a>

"Baseball cards rule!"

"Uh huh huh, h-uh huh uh heh heh huh... you said 'ball'!"

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hljfnnhb13wn9SxZoxoj2IRT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-v6-hj-upAVo/UTd_d3bpWYI/AAAAAAAAQ7g/kEF7ctBpDzc/s800/Butthead.jpg" height="191" width="341" /></a>

"I'm cranky! And I blame you!"

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BnSfYjdjnDVWogCw8OksnIRT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eRZEaPt02qo/UTd_eLBPpHI/AAAAAAAAQ7o/Le8JsfuRLAk/s800/CrankyFace.jpg" height="265" width="796" /></a>

"Have big ears and pursed lips I do."

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cQOnAgJsjzZz9QYUswpqXIRT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8cMXW-QEl1s/UTd_fC_nPQI/AAAAAAAAQ74/3zEtsaVgr3U/s800/Yoda.jpg" height="169" width="628" /></a>

T206 art is juvenile compared to the 205s. The 205s actually look like the real players. Let's not forgot that the 205s were visionary in that they included team names and logos on the front, a practice used ever-since. Bios and statistics on the back? Now those are backs worth collecting! The 206 set is amateur hour.

I will grant you Mathewson and Joss as compelling portraits to portray on a baseball card. But Cobb looks like he has a scrunched face and no neck, and I'm sure Joe Tinker is thrilled that T205 accurately captured his enormous unibrow. And Frank Chance looks like he is in pain -- like he just got some horrible news.

I just can't get behind a set that captures its subjects, realistic or otherwise, in such ugly caricatures.

Finally, I could spend hours copying and pasting sophisticated (i.e., not juvenile images) of T206 cards.

I love these! For the record I'm a t205 guy all the way.

Fair is fair. Here are a few favorites.

1. Eddie Gaedel's father.
2. Humpty Dumpty.
3. First baseball card depicting an erection...gotta love the smile.
4. I don't even know what is happening here.
5. Not only does he have no neck, but he throws like the Sandlot kid.
6. The forebear of A-Rod's limp-wristed slap action?
7. Have you seen my baseball" Franks and beans!

And talk about generic. I don't know of anyone who looks like any of these guys. One small step from strip cards.

I'm glad there are a ton of 206 collectors. You guys keep spending your money there and I'll spend mine elsewhere :D

In all seriousness, the 206s are cool, but there are a dozen sets I would collect first. Just my preference. At least we can all agree that there is nothing better than getting a Ty Cobb or Walter Johnson in the mail ;)

T206s have their fair share of uglies, to be sure -- and the T205 Egan is MUCH better than the T206 version....


<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FnN7M2cr5-D2pC_kNW0rD4RT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-IViQKv_R19Y/UTevjpqITdI/AAAAAAAAQ9E/gXN0ClvN1Bw/s800/Egan.jpg" height="216" width="655" /></a>

-- but T205 is ugly all over the place....

Make mine a HUGE forehead...

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7nKq-Gl_jZRumrlZ5KLdIYRT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fPtpjUULXRA/UTeqvaZxMUI/AAAAAAAAQ8s/5-I5nZLpYww/s800/Big%2520Bald%2520Head.jpg" height="184" width="800" /></a>

Why does Fletcher look that way? Seriously. What healthy thoughts could this man possibly be having?

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lgFeX26YKDL_ZM2-Djm2qYRT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-igma-YXNg5M/UTeqvZRpc1I/AAAAAAAAQ8o/TNvdc_3TySw/s800/Joker.jpg" height="288" width="657" /></a>

^ true story....

Depressed T205ers? Or was everybody miserable in 1911?
 

Don't be sad fellas. The Great Depression isn't for another 20 years!

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/0GGzgfxwEmbW3JS6M5RR3oRT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D0-NTTaKI6Q/UTe4ThSdBYI/AAAAAAAAQ9k/pQPmnj7sTS8/s800/Sadness.jpg" height="469" width="800" /></a>

just looking at a grouping of cards, Post #21 and Post #24 how can there even be an argument that the T205s are way more artistic??

Paskert looks like a serial killer on his t205. Imagine if they'd made a Marty Bergen...

In January 1900, at his home in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, the 28-year-old Bergen ended his life in murder-suicide. Bergen killed his wife and two children with an axe, then used a straight razor to cut his own throat with such force that he nearly beheaded himself. Bergen's father discovered the bodies. According to an article from The New York Times reporting on the tragedy:

The little boy (Bergen's 3-year-old son) was lying on the floor with a large wound in the head. Mrs. Bergen's skull was terribly crushed, having evidently been struck more than one blow by the infuriated husband. The appearance of the little girl (his 6-year-old daughter found on the kitchen floor next to Bergen) also showed that a number of savage blows had been rained upon the top and side of her head. Bergen's throat had been cut with a razor, and the head was nearly severed.

You think the cards in post 21 ARE artistic? They don't even look like the players...just glorified strip cards.

If you have problems with t205 art, you would have to take it up with Frank Chance's mom and dad, not the artist.

That was a great run T206 collector:D.. you've almost convinced me to stop liking my T205 Cobb. Alas, I love both sets (and still like Cobby), but find the back and forth, supported by visuals very amusing

Jesus thats F-in nuts

yea thats what im saying 205's are way better that the 206's.

Eric,

And I'm sure you know that Marty had a brother who also played ball ;)

r/
Frank

But they all look much different from each other. When someone uses the phrase "generic" they usually mean they all look the same. These cards don't support that notion. Whether they look like the players or not is hardly relevant when you can't compare them to action shots in T205 because there are only a handful there.

Evidently you credit the T205 artists with choosing that horrible mugshot instead of this classic pose:

<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/kHtJ7G8WnPSYOY_l4DN0w4RT3dysq2WPtX5u9gk-z0Y?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XEGHkDygQUg/UTkHOdWgsQI/AAAAAAAAQ-M/SBXfIZl1H8o/s800/chance_horner.jpg" height="346" width="200" /></a>

That's just further evidence that the T205 artists had little or no skill in presentation. Maybe they were just trying to use as many ugly shots as possible in an effort to turn the public off of baseball.....

See the problem is even people who hate T206 have to tip their caps to an awful lot of the images -- frankly, most people who hate T206 don't like the fact that they are generally easy to obtain; and also get a ton of publicity.

But the reason I hate T205 is because I really do find it hard to look at. Like staring at the floor of a 1970s casino. Floating pink heads with no necks, many of the players looking sad, in pain, or slightly deformed. Are there exceptions? Sure. And I've conceded that in my posts above. But as a whole, taking a stack of T205s at a time, the images are just wholly unappealing. No reason to preserve so many of those images for all hobby history.

Maybe the reason so many people focus on the gold borders is because the images contained within the borders are so often unpleasant.

Hmmm...interesting debate...to me...they are 2 very very different sets. The t206 has many many qualities that make it appealing to many...there are so many ways to collect it...not so with t205.

T206 backs are very appealing in their bold statements...whereas t205 backs have never had any real appeal to me...and the brands are secondary to the bios/stats...which I DO like!!!!

I can't really compare the images...they're like apples to oranges...the t206's can be cartoony...fuzzy...somewhat non-descript at times...whereas the t205's are a window into many players souls! Some poses are dogs...in both sets...so to me this is a non-issue!

So to me...T206 is infinitely more collectible...but T205 images are 2nd to none in their close...detail...look at the eyes...in many cases they look 3D...and it's not due to registration issues!!!!

The 206s would have been a far better set had they just stuck with portraits. Many of those are solid, but the majority of the action shots are crap. They don't look anything like the player. They remind me of W514s...not that there is anything wrong with collecting strip cards. Every 205 strongly resembles the player.

That is exactly the attraction for me, but to each their own.

t206collector that photo was already used twice in a set distributed by ATC why would they use it again?

There are a lot of great T206 poses. I like both T205 and T206. Personally, I think the T205s are better looking cards but I know many others like t206s better. Kind of like chocolate and vanilla. There isn't really a winner and loser. They are both winners!! How can you not think this is a good looking card? (shown many, many times but is a pretty card, imo.....)

http://luckeycards.com/pt205cobby80sgc.jpg

Never heard of the guy ;)

Yawn
 

Yawn, What a boring reply. Heard it all before.
At least the old guys who post once in awhile have.

Good rhetoric for the new guys though.

Thanks,
Matt

----------------------------------------------------------


T206s are so much better than T205s it's not even close. The fact that they were printed over three years in far greater quantities, and remain far more available to this day at higher prices than their ugly little gold leaf floating head younger brothers, shows that vast preference of T206 among seasoned hobbyists and rookie collectors alike.

T205s are uniform in player pose and garish in presentation. And they don't hold up under normal wear -- the chipping and the creasing is accentuated by whitened corners and borders.

And the floating headshots make the players look bloated and covered makeup. I'll take the red or green portrait of Cobb in the T206 set any day over his tiny-headed little bloated and pinkened, then surrounded by stale gold and crudely drawn baseball sketches, T205 counterpart.

About the only benefit worth noting in T205 is the biographical information and statistics. Still, there is something classic about T206s cigarette advertisement and it's otherwise uncluttered back. T205s are like someone took all of the T206 portraits and then crammed a lot of mostly unnecessary crap on them, front and back.

The National League is smarter
 

T205s remind me of the designated hitter rule. Personally I prefer the National League in both cases. No funky diamond around the portrait and no DH. As a result of the two formats the National Leaguers all have bigger heads, ergo they must be smarter. If the whole set had the NL format, I would in all likelyhood prefer it to their T206 counterparts. I like big heads.;)

Cobb has no neck, and looks like he has a bloated head. He looks plain weird in that image. Sorry, may be a good looking card, but the weird image of the player distracts me from the other benefits.

The 205 Cobb and Matty are probably among the most iconic and beautiful images in the hobby

I'll agree with you on the Matty, but no way on the Cobb. Matty looks like Matty. Not so much on the Cobb.

I finally decided to read this thread and glad I did. Great work t206collector.... hilarious!


My opinion:

I love the t205 national league version and can pretty much tolarate the AL version. However, even though I'm a set collector at heart, I doubt I will ever go for the t205 set because I like some variety in the poses and uniformity in the design of a set. That being said, I'd much more likely be interested in the entire set if they were all NL head shot style.

The negatives about the t205 SET imo is the three distinctly different styles within one set. The positives: the NL design, and the bio + stats on the back. Put my tick mark next to t206's with a high honorable mention to t205 NL.