O/T t218

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Archive

Posted By: warshawlaw

The T218 set is where most people get started because it is really attractive and readily attainable if you aren't a condition freak. While there are 153 cards (61 boxers plus a boxing referee) in the basic set, as could be expected with T cards from this era, the master set is huge by virtue of brand, factory and series designations. Mecca is the most common brand of T218. Hassan is slightly more difficult to find than Mecca, say on a 55:45 ratio. Burdick accurately reported three brands: Hassan, Mecca and Tolstoi. Over the years later publications “lost” Tolstoi, probably because the Tolstoi back is rare, surfacing only a few times a year. I do not know of any advanced collectors who are close to a full set of Tolstois. Mecca and Tolstoi backs have black print, while Hassan backs are printed in green ink. Collectors also should note that the Hassan cards can run a little narrow in this set. The card fronts also were issued in Canada without back branding by Imperial Tobacco and are designated as C52. These are quite a bit more difficult than the T218 Mecca or Hassan cards, but nowhere near the level of the Tolstois.

The Mecca and the Hassan brand can be found with either factory 649 or factory 30. All Tolstoi cards carry a factory 30 designation. There is also a variation in the legend on the Mecca cards. The series situation further muddies the picture. The Hassan and Mecca cards carry either no series designation, or a designation of “series #2, 51 to 100”. Unfortunately for collectors, the same cards pop up in both series with both brands. Not even the Jack Johnson, Jim Jeffries and Johnny Summers cards (each has two cards in the set) are series specific. Accordingly, for each card in the set there may be the following major back variations: Hassan and Hassan series II, Mecca and Mecca series II, Mecca “Series of Champions” logo, and Tolstoi, plus factory variations on the Hassan and Mecca cards. A master group would consist of at least 7 cards of the same fighter.

It may be that the series II cards are 50 reissues from the whole set (including athletes from other sports); I just don’t know. Obviously, a true master set would be quite an undertaking, and is probably impossible given the rarity of the Tolstois. Most collectors content themselves with one of each front, which is how the cards are commonly offered, or one of each front and a type card of each back.

the full checklist is known. Series confusion stems from the Hassan 30 reverse found on all 2nd series cards

Series 1 cards have Mecca 30 and 649 backs and Hassan 30/649 backs. HJ Handy does not exist with either Hassan. He was pulled for the Jack Johnson green card mid way through, it appears. The Johnson green violates some rules all other cards follow. There are 3 name errors that were corrected.

Series 2 cards have Mecca 30/649 and Hassan 30/649 with series 2 51-100 notations. They have Tolstoi backs without a series notation as well (Johnson green has no tolstoi). They also ALL come with a Hassan 30 back missing the second series notation. This is true for every card, and that all 2nd series cards have this series 1 back is why the misinformation and confusion over the series has occurred for many years.

3rd series cards have Mecca 30 and 649 backs only with different series name. The 12 track cards have variations in the caption.

The only questions remaining in the checklist are whether the S P Gillis error exists with a Mecca 30 (some say yes, but nobody can produce a scan) and the cloughan error. I have this card, but it is missing on every other checklist and nobody else has reported one.