Collectors Just Discovering T210

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Posted By: FYS

Courtesy of Beckett:




T210 Old Mill
By Andy Broome, Beckett Vintage Grading

The T206 set is a large set. More than 500 cards made up of mostly major league players. To add an additional local flavor to the massive set, there is a series of minor league players found in the T206 set. How about a T set made up of more than 600 cards and every card is a minor leaguer? You can already see why for decades the 1910 T210 set was not at the top of collector's lists. The impossibility of completing a set and the fact that the majority of the players are people your grandfather never even heard of playing for teams like Roanoke, Dallas, Chattanooga and Atlanta (that's the Crackers, not the Braves).

Only recently have collectors "discovered" this amazing set and what it can offer. The cards are unnumbered and feature black and white photos surrounded by a red border. The backs feature an Old Mill ad that is almost identical to the Old Mill backs found in the T206 set. The only difference is the series is listed on the T210 card back. The set known as T210 red borders and T210 Old Mill is made up of 8 different series. Here is a quick breakdown of the series:

Series 1 is the South Atlantic League
Series 2 is the Virginia League
Series 3 is the Texas League
Series 4 Virginia Valley League
Series 5 Carolina Association
Series 6 Blue Grass League
Series 7 Eastern Carolina League
Series 8 Southern Association
Series 3 can be found with an orange border color variation. The color change can only be found in the Texas League series. Series 8 is nearly identical to the T211 green border Red Sun set. The difference being that there are no Chattanooga players in the Red Sun set.

As said before, the set is made up of mostly forgotten minor league players. There are a few noteworthy cards found in the T210 set.

Series 8, the Southern Association features the key card to the set. A Southern boy from a mill town who already played in Philadelphia in 1908, he played for the New Orleans Pelicans in 1910 and was the batting leader for the Southern Association. He later became famous in the 1919 World Series. While this isn't Shoeless Joe Jackson's rookie card, it may be his rarest card. Another baseball legend is found with Maysville in the series 6 Blue Grass League. Charles Stengel may better be remembered as "Casey". There are others sprinkled in this set. The 19th century star Lave Cross ended his major league career in 1907 but played in the minors for several years. While in his 40's, Cross played with Charlotte in 1910. His card is in the series 5. One card "missing" from the T210 set some hope is yet to be discovered. He played for the Giants and later tossed the pigskin for the Canton Bulldogs, he first played for Rocky Mount in 1909 and 1910. Called the greatest athlete of all time, Jim Thorpe was the original 2-sport superstar.

The fun of this set is not only the unique photos but also the chance to get a card of a hometown team. How many tobacco card sets feature teams like Ft. Worth, Chattanooga, Danville, Dallas, Nashville and New Orleans?

Finding T210's can be a challenge but grading them can be just as tough. The red borders seem to chip and flake away with little effort. High-grade examples are rare and when they surface can command high prices. BVG population reports show the highest graded card is a 4.5, which is a nice card for a T210.

Card images shown above provided courtesy of www.oldcardboard.com