T218 Tolstoi Backs

[BradH]

Love this topic and this set!!

Like the previous posters, I've had a ton of T218s over the years and very few Tolstoi backs. Without looking at my database, I believe I currently have about 700 total cards and only 4 Tolstoi backs, but this is in no way representative of the ratio, as I've trimmed my collection down in recent years and sold lots of Mecca and Hassan backs (but I kept the Tolstoi backs).

In my research, and in some of the posts on this topic here on Net54 in recent years, it seems that the distribution between Hassan and Mecca backs are fairly even, but Mecca is slightly more common than Hassan, by maybe a 55:45 ratio.

The 1% rule for Tolstoi sounds way high to me. In fact, I really don't think it's a stretch to say that Tolstoi backs run at about a 500-to-1 ratio to the other brands. Maybe I'm way off, just going off my own observation and talking with fellow collectors.

I am not suggesting that Tolstoi backs should be 500 times more valuable - I think the prices that Exhibitman posted seem about right and are in line with what I've paid.

I would bet my house that a full 153-card set can NOT be completed in Tolstoi backs. In fact, if someone here on the board is closing in on a full set of the boxers, I'd love to see them. I haven't heard of that before.