Many, many things have been miscategorized throughout the history of mankind. Fortunately, most humans are logical creatures and very adaptable. We are able to admit when a mistake has been made, and then make the correction on most things. But much like the Catholic church, vintage card hobbyists have decided its better to be rigid and unchanging than to admit a mistake in judgement has been made. For this reason, the Cobb/Cobb will probably forever remain categorized as a T206, although incorrectly as such. It clearly displays more differences than similarities with the other 15 brands as a group. Just the fact that this topic is so frequently discussed is proof that something is amiss!
I doubt anyone has challenged Polar Bear because of its 1 difference from the rest of the group. Same goes for American Beauty for its glaring 1 difference from the group. But the Cobb/Cobb has at least 2 major physical differences from the group, and then a couple of other differences in regards to distribution, time of issue (completely unknown and unproven), as well as control over who owned the company itself (at the time the card was assumed to have been produced). To me, the Cobb/Cobb is nothing more than an afterthought to the rest of the T206 series. It was produced as a slick marketing tool (most likely never even associated with distribution in actual tobacco products) to help sales of a very unpopular brand of tobacco. Think of it as the cardboard cutout of Michael Jordan from the 90's Gatorade ad campaign. Nobody would consider that a "sports card" even though its made of the same material. It was just a marketing tool, much like the Cobb/Cobb.
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