Posted By:
Rhett YeakleyI think this is a valid question. The answer probably has more to do with tradition than anything else. Remember, that at one point some considered the T213-1 and T215-1 sets to be part of the larger T206 set as well. It has a much smaller checklist, but had the same pictures, same style printing, and (T213)include Southern League cards as well. There are definately some backs/brands that do not include every player produced in t206, and some are even different sizes (American Beauty). It is interesting to note that within the t205-t207 sets there are many examples of checklists being totally different for each back. For example, in t205 if they seperated them by backs the minor leaguers would only be part of the Hassan and Polar Bear sets.
If this hobby was more like Coins or Stamps (with the slightest variations being scrutinized), the t206 set would probably would be seperated into distinct sets, based on their backs. There are tons of variations within our hobby that also recieve little to no attention. Examples are Colgans Chips photo cropping variations, and 1939 Play Balls. The 39 Play Balls are an interesting story. When I first got into the hobby, many made a big deal about the two different styles of backs on most low-# cards. Some being found with names in all caps, and some in caps and lower case. This is a minor variation, however there are cards within the 1939 set that have changes in thir bios--and these variations are not even mentioned in the SCD anymore (they used to be long ago). Personally I like variations, and think that they should all be noted for future reference, but the book producers disagree. Anyways, I'm just ranting a little.
-Rhett