When I first started collecting baseball cards in earnest in the early 1980s, I had a dogeared copy of an old Beckett guide that purported to show every baseball card in existence. I would read about the old players and go to the library to find out more about them. I knew all about the old tobacco sets, or at least more than any other kid in my neighborhood did, but my collection didn't grow much past Topps, Bowman, Fleer, and Donruss. I also knew that someday that would change.
The cards that always captured my fancy were the T201 Mecca Double Folders. 100 players on 50 cards that were designed to be folded in half. Unlike the bigger T206 series, these cards had statistics on the back of them. To me, that made them more like the modern cards I was collecting. A few years ago I stumbled onto this site and saw a chance to collect some old tobacco cards and interact with fellow baseball enthusiasts. I first went on a T206 binge focusing on players from the 1908 Cubs, but realized that I would never complete the entire Monster. Since I'm a set collector at heart, I turned my attention towards something achievable and something I'd always wanted to possess. The T201 quest began.
I started in mid-2013 with the three Cubs cards, Kling/Cole, Brown/Hofman, and Evers/Chance. Once I had them in hand, I was hooked. I bought cards one or two at a time from the B/S/T section and on eBay and began to slowly accumulate a lower-condition set. Lower condition cards are not only less expensive, but seemingly more readily available than higher grade cards. Most of the better cards are in respectable condition with SGC grades of 10-40 in the collection with no single card, including the Cobb & WaJo examples, running over $100.00.
In recent weeks I've been approaching the end of the quest, and found myself in need of one more card, Lush/Houser. Last week my eBay notifications found one in VG condition being offered in a 99 cent auction. My eyes lit up, this was it!! I went to my snipe program and entered in an amount I felt would win and then waited the long six days before the auction ended. Twice during that period I revisited my snipe and jacked it up a few shekels. This card wasn't getting away! Last weekend the auction came to a close, and I watched the seconds tick away on my phone's eBay app. With three seconds left in the auction, my phone gave the familiar buzz that signals a new bid. It was my bid. The final three seconds ticked away, there was no further buzz. The card was mine, and at a relative bargain to boot!
I paid instantly to seal the deal and then waited for the card to arrive. This morning the mailman came calling with a familiar bubble envelope in hand. This was it. I ripped open the well-packed envelope (thanks forazzurri2axz) and there it was...
There are other, grander collections than the one I've cobbled together over the last 35+ years but none are loved more than mine. My first pre-war set is in the books! Long live the T201 set! Thanks to all the forum members who have made it possible and enjoyable!
Mike