520: Reflections on a 40(ish)-year t206 journey

[unamuzd1]

I hit 520 yesterday. It still doesn't feel real. I've never "completed" a vintage set before, and this one... this one's been in part of my life for almost 40 years.

Travis, who traded me the last card I needed (thank you again, Travis!), asked that I post something about building the set, some reflections - and out of respect to him, I'm going to do that. Out of respect to everyone else, I'm going to keep what goes on the board somewhat brief, then link to a much longer version I put up in a blog.

When did you start? I'm not positive when it was. My dad gave my brother and me vintage cards for Christmas every year when we were young, shirt boxes filled with plastic sheets containing Topps and Bowman cards from the 50s that he bought in bulk from the local card store. Every once in a while, though, there was something else. A Goudey, maybe, or if we were really lucky, a tobacco card. I was probably 8 or 9 when dad gave me the card that made me fall in love with the set.



It may not have been my first t206, but it's the first one that mattered.

When did you get serious about the set? Potentially completing it? Not for a while. I picked them up when I saw them at card shows and could afford them, but I didn't have any "meaningful" purchase until probably 1996 or 1997, when I visited the shop of a guy I'd grown up trading cards with. He was building a card and memorabilia business, and we stopped in to say hello. He showed me a collection of low-grade t206 cards he'd picked up. I ended up buying a pretty substantial lot from him, including a couple of Cy Young cards, a Lajoie, and a variety of others. I can only point to a half-dozen cards that I know for sure came from him, but there were probably 20 or 30 I bought that day.

Was that your biggest find? Not even close. That would be the collection I bought from a dealer in Dayton around 2003 or so. It set me back maybe $300 and included my first WaJo and a couple of oddities I posted about in 2004 - the Doolan and Bradley Polar Bears with the missing "ie". It was over 100 cards, all raw, mostly PB.

What was your strategy for collecting? Slow and steady. Like that's a surprise - it took me almost 40 years! These cards were always coming up for sale, and I like getting bargains. So I learned to use sniping services and was patient with my buying.

Any regrets? Well, yeah. Bargain hunting doesn't always work, and I DRAMATICALLY under-estimated how hard it would be to get the Cobb cards. My "only buy bargains" strategy left me needing 3 Cobbs out of the last 10 cards to complete the set, and paying way more than I would have had to pay if I'd gone after them more aggressively at almost any point in the previous 20 years.

Also, I have to live with the knowledge that I got out-sniped on a pair of Broadleafs on eBay back in 1998 or so. Being the under-bidder on one of them with a $45 snipe stung then, and it's way, way worse now!

What was the last card you got, to finish the set?



I made the deal to get me to 519 5 years to the day after I entered the "Monster Number" thread at 318. It took almost another 6 months to get to 520. Thanks yet again to Travis for trading me the Lundgren, and to TonyO for selling me the Demmitt and O'Hara that were numbers 518 and 519!

(Something I learned tonight: Carl Lundgren pitched in his last major league game on April 23, 1909. On April 23, 2021, Carl Lundgren arrived at my house and became #520 in my t206 set.)

What's the best thing about collecting t206? It's the same "best thing" as for anybody who finds something they enjoy that a bunch of other people also enjoy: the community. I don't post a ton, but I've learned a lot from other collectors at Net54, and other collectors and dealers I've interacted with over the past 40 years.

Now what? Heh. No idea. Probably more back-stamps.

Wait - this is the SHORT version? Yeah. Here's a link to the long version, for anybody who's curious: 520

[Piratedogcardshows]

Excellent write up. Congrats on getting to 520!

[Casey2296]

Congratulations on completing your quest Morrie and thanks for posting your story.

[danf19]

thanks for sharing ! slow and steady seems to be a forgotten way anymore for many ! stories like these, keep me going with so much negativity in the hobby and the world !
Nice job,
Dan

[jjp3rd]

Congratulations!!


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[Rhotchkiss]

Contrasts. Great accomplishment!

[aaamchenry]

Just an amazing achievement. Congrats!


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[pwang100]

Cool story. Thanks

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[Kevin]

I had an emotional response to reading this. Congratulations, friend. THS ks for the post.

[rats60]

Congratulations. My first two were Mathewson and Speaker. 520 was O'Hara. It is a great feeling to slay the monster. Welcome to the club.

[MuncieNolePAZ]

Congrats! Awesome accomplishment. Thanks for sharing.

Chad

[ValKehl]

Congrats, well done & thanks for telling us about your collecting journey. I hope you start another set, such as the T205 set.

[doug.goodman]

That's pretty great. Congrats.

[Bpm0014]

Great article! Really enjoyed reading that. I’m at 517 myself. Quick question; is that Mathewson genuine? It just looks off to me. Maybe it’s just the picture. Anyway, congratulations!!

[Eric72]

A 40-year journey. What a significant thing.

Along with the sense of accomplishment, it appears you have also acquired a one-of-a-kind story. While many people have pieced together baseball card sets, none have taken the same exact path as you.

Congratulations on 520! Treasure this.

[jp1216]

Congrats on 520! My last card was Ryan. Will NEVER forget!

[phlflyer1]

Congratulations on such a great accomplishment and having the patience to keep at it all these years!

[unamuzd1]

Originally Posted by Bpm0014

Great article! Really enjoyed reading that. I’m at 517 myself. Quick question; is that Mathewson genuine? It just looks off to me. Maybe it’s just the picture. Anyway, congratulations!!

Although it's possible someone 40+ years ago artificially aged a card that they sold to a dealer who probably sold it to my dad for no more than $20, I find it kind of unlikely.

(Plus, he passes the "sniff test".)

And thanks!

[Vintagecatcher]

Congrats Morrie on your most excellent journey, and appreciate you sharing the ride with us.

Regards,

Patrick

[FrankWakefield]

Congratulations, Sir. And to your father who got you started..

I recall having one Cobb. Then by the time I got a second you and I had mirror image regrets. I tried for Demmitt and O'Hara early on. Got 'em, then let go of the O'Hara to get a slightly better one. The buyer was on this board and he asked if he could make payments, it all worked out well. I got to 512 and then needed to free up some money, I sold most of them in a big lot to a board member.

And over the last few years I've piddled at gathering them again.

So congratulations... and that's not just for getting to 520, it's also for staying the course, persisting, refusing to waiver. Thanks for sharing your recollections about that trek.

[tab]

Morrie congrats again! Loved hearing about your journey. Thanks for leaving the link to 520. It was a great read! For anyone who liked the short version click on his link.

[tonyo]

You ARE patient Morrie! I remember thinking back in October you would have that Lundgren in no time. The Lundgren you waited for is perfect. I love that pose, the subtle colors in the back, and the irony of the end of his career and the arrival in your mailbox

I agree , the t206 community is the best part

[DoubleJ]

Congrats! My first T206 was also a Mathewson portrait from my Dad, about 30 years ago. Since then I’ve picked up a few more T206 HOFs, but can’t imagine the effort required to get to 520. Quite the accomplishment.

Josh

[unamuzd1]

Originally Posted by tonyo

You ARE patient Morrie! I remember thinking back in October you would have that Lundgren in no time. The Lundgren you waited for is perfect. I love that pose, the subtle colors in the back, and the irony of the end of his career and the arrival in your mailbox

I agree , the t206 community is the best part

I learned other interesting things about Lundgren while I was writing up my reflections. Like, despite how relatively common his KC card is, the sources I found say that after his contract was sold to KC by Toronto, he never actually showed up there!

And that he went on to be an assistant football coach and head baseball coach at the University of Michigan.

[unamuzd1]

Originally Posted by DoubleJ

Congrats! My first T206 was also a Mathewson portrait from my Dad, about 30 years ago. Since then I’ve picked up a few more T206 HOFs, but can’t imagine the effort required to get to 520. Quite the accomplishment.

Josh

That's awesome! Thank you, and thanks to everyone who's posted. This continues to reaffirm for me what a great collecting community we have.

[FifferFeff]

Thank you for sharing your story! I’m just starting my journey and look forward to the day in the distant future when I can write a similar post.


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[steve B]

congratulations! I'm at 43-44 years, and only about halfway.

[sreader3]

Well done Morrie and thank you for sharing.

[chriskim]

I don't remember when was the last time t206 partial set that has over 500 cards being auctioned as a lot. Most of them are being sold/auctioned as a much smaller group nowaday. REA usually has one partial set that has 300s or 400s cards in every auction, but I don't see them anymore... not in their last April auction at least.

[tavo2311]

Thanks for sharing the long form, it was fun to read. It brought me back to the day I made my dad buy me "a tobacco card" at a card show. It didn't matter which one, just had to look and feel like that old Honus Wagner you heard so much about. It was an Elmer Flick in decent condition, probably 10 bucks at the time?? Long since lost, that was my first and only T206 until a couple years ago. I am now at about 2 years of only trying to collect the 28 New York Highlanders and with the recent prices even those are proving elusive. I wish I started when you did!

[egri]

Congratulations Morrie, and thank you for sharing!

[phlflyer1]

Originally Posted by chriskim

I don't remember when was the last time t206 partial set that has over 500 cards being auctioned as a lot. Most of them are being sold/auctioned as a much smaller group nowaday.

I don't know about recent 500+ card T206 near sets being sold as a complete lot but here is the link to my near set that sold as a single lot back in the April 2010 REA auction.

https://robertedwardauctions.com/auc...-set-registry/

I certainly do miss the cards but it helped me do some nice things for my family so I can't complain.

Morries excellent journey reminds me a lot of the one my father and I embarked on to put that set together. Congratulations, once again, Morrie on your accomplishment!

[tedzan]

Originally Posted by unamuzd1

I hit 520 yesterday. It still doesn't feel real. I've never "completed" a vintage set before, and this one... this one's been in part of my life for almost 40 years.

Travis, who traded me the last card I needed (thank you again, Travis!), asked that I post something about building the set, some reflections - and out of respect to him, I'm going to do that. Out of respect to everyone else, I'm going to keep what goes on the board somewhat brief, then link to a much longer version I put up in a blog.

Wait - this is the SHORT version? Yeah. Here's a link to the long version, for anybody who's curious: 520

Hi Morrie

Completing a 520-card T206 set is as good as it gets in this great hobby of ours. And, your story (posted here and in your Blog) are really great reading....Congratulations.

Be careful, though, "The Monster" can haunt you....as expressed in those classic lyrics in the song Hotel California.....

" You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave "


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[unamuzd1]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Hi Morrie

Completing a 520-card T206 set is as good as it gets in this great hobby of ours. And, your story (posted here and in your Blog) are really great reading....Congratulations.

Be careful, though, "The Monster" can haunt you....as expressed in those classic lyrics in the song Hotel California.....

" You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave "


TED Z

Thanks, Ted!

And I have no intention of leaving. There's always something new to discover with this beast! I can just do it now with a little less eye toward a specific goal.

(I was going to say "a little less urgency," but I didn't want to blow out every irony filter on the internet by referring to a 40-year collecting trek as having any "urgency" attached!)

[BRY68]

Well done and congrats. A great story!

[Forza_azzurri]

Great! Congrats!

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