Posted By:
Al C.risafulliI understand there's bad blood with the seller, but I don't think the seller should have any bearing on people's judgement on this card. If anything, the seller has some pretty exceptional knowledge of the hobby.
I'm hung on the card itself. It sure is interesting, and Kevin's photos are much more enlightening than the original scans. It sure does appear that the red print is above the black print.
That said, Frank's assertion is also a good one, and Frank's got some pretty outstanding knowledge as well - more than most of us, I'd say.
As Kevin is the only one of us who's actually held the card in his hand, he's probably got more insight than the rest of us.
Then again, Occam's Razor would point to the United Cigars logo having been applied after the fact. It's the most simple and logical conclusion to draw. I still haven't even seen another card - non-sports or otherwise - containing that logo in that size in that color. So it makes absolutely no sense that it would somehow have appeared on a printer's scrap, nor does it make any sense that the printing technique of T206s would have included applying layers to the card paper - especially since we've seen no evidence of that kind of printing technique on other T206s.
Although we've all seen multiple backs printed on the same T206, it is VERY rare to see printing on the back that doesn't belong on a T206 (i.e. a back that's not akin to the ads typically seen on T206s). We have, however, seen many different types of stamps on the back of a T206 card - whether it be Old Puts, or personalized stamps, or whatever.
And yet it's hard not to trust your own eyes.
Either way, I find it to be an incredibly interesting card. Not $150,000 interesting, or $10,000 interesting, or even $1,500 interesting, but interesting nonetheless.
-Al