Starting T206 set Looking for advice on how to begin

[Dustanh1]

Take your time. I will be 29 in October....I started the set about 3 years ago and am a little over 20% complete. I started by picking up a few commons and then decided I would start picking up the Cubs team set. I try to pick up a few cards a month, on average. I wanted to get up to 150 different by the end of this year, and was on track to do so until my girlfriend and I found out we are having our first child near the end of November. I haven't picked up a new T206 in about 3-4 months, but I knew going into this that it would be a marathon, so a few months isn't a big deal.

Buy a few raw commons and get a feel for them. The more you study the cards in the set, the more comfortable you will be with identifying reprints, fakes, trim jobs, etc.

Get your hands on a lot of different reading materials, including auction house catalogs and even some books....a few of my favorites are Crazy '08 and A Prince at First. It adds something to collecting the set when you have a good feel for the era.

Most of all, be patient.

[Doug]

I'm 29 too so I figured I'd better chime in. I'd have to agree with the guys that have said patience is key. I bought my first T206 (Tom Downey, fielding) about 10-11 years ago with the intentions of putting a set (minus the big 4) together. I tried to buy as many cards as possible as fast as I could which led me to running out of money and eventually interest when I didn't have new cards arriving in the mail on a regular basis. Had I paced myself I probably would have had a nice set by now, but I ended up having to sell off the cards I accumulated and I couldn't get the motivation to start over again. Figure out what your budget is and come up with a solid game plan. Most of all good luck and have fun with it!

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by Doug

I'm 29 too so I figured I'd better chime in. I bought my first T206 (Tom Downey, fielding) about 10-11 years ago with the intentions of putting a set (minus the big 4) together.

I've enjoyed this thread - as I do most of the t206 threads - and thought I'd chime in because Doug wrote that his first t206 was a Downey fielding. That was my first t206 as well probably 25 years ago - just so I could say I had one. I thought that was a great coincidence since Downey is a common from a very big set.

My second t206 was a Matty black cap, bought last fall while reading "the celebrant"

I've learned everything I know about t206's and prewar thanks to this board.

Some of the advice I've tried to follow:

1. define a focus
2. it's a marathon, not a sprint
3. buy the card, not the holder
4. learn the histroy of the set (probably the most important)
5. read books about the era
6. get most of the expensive cards out of the way first.
7. The Monster wants you to quit, don't listen


While I'm thinking back about my short time collecting pre-war I want to give a quick "thank-you" to net54 and it's regular contributors. Even though I don't post alot, I feel like I'm part of a brotherhood here. No other set or card I have ever collected has ever given me that sense. There seems to definately be something special about pre-war and especially t206!

Tony (45)

[iggyman]

Hey Rob D., great advice, even though you were missing the part about "it" being an industry...............I sure wish I had known you 25 years ago.

Lovely Day...