T206 variations

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Posted By: Brian Weisner

Hi Ted,
I understand your skepticism about the Doyle, because it's tough to believe it took so many years for the card to surface, but to be fair the Hobby didn't really explode until the 80's. If we can agree that the Hobby really started picking up steam in the mid to late 70's, then It didn't take that long(1980) before one was found. Then 7 years, with only one person looking, to find another. Are there a few fake Doyle's out there, probably so, but I do believe it's a real card, because too many of the Hobby's best have held the Doyle and believe it to be authenticate. Would I like to hold one and see for myself, absolutely, but I probably won't get a chance until I make time to head to the National.
It's also interesting to remember that until shows became more popular during the roaring 80's, many collectors rarely came across cards which were not distributed in there region of the country. I can remember getting exited about the 1975 topps Mini's at a show in Charlotte in the late 70's, because they were never distributed in the South. But, head to Michigan and they were a dime a dozen. The same goes for T206's, not many Northern collectors had Southern Leaguers in there collections, but they did have all the Wagners(ESPECIALLY IN NY City.) I started collecting T206's in 1975 here in North Carolina, and rarely saw T206's without a Piedmont, Old Mill , Sweet Caporal, or Polar Bear back. I owned a few Hindu's, Tolstoi's, and Sovereigns, but never saw Drums, Uzit's or Lenox backs until the early 80's. Sorry for rambling on, but I think the growth of National shows and the advent of auctions made many more cards available to collectors, spurring a boom in the Hobby that brought about many of our greatest discoveries. Be well Brian