If T206 were collected and catalogued by back only, how would T206 be differentiated from any of the sets that shared the same fronts?
Collectors would still go after the Piedmont and Sweet Caporal sets, but what collector today would try to finish the Lenox set, or the Uzit? And if one weren't working on the Polar Bear set, would he care about the Demmitt or O'Hara variations? They wouldn't even be a part of his set.
And finally, the Ty Cobb King of the Smoking Tobacco World set would be complete at one card.