T206 - Monster Advice

[rats60]

Originally Posted by cincyredlegs

I started the Monster in Jan 2013. I settled on two priorities:

1.) I set a timetable of completing the set (minus the big 4) in 10 years. This has me buying a little over 50 cards/year. For me this is doable. For me it was important to set a time table......basically made it a game as well.

2.) I decided I would only buy the nicest centered cards in 3-5 grade range with the majority in the 3-4 range. To me, having high eye appeal cards was important. It definitely has made me pickier.

I am at 74 (I think...have to check because I just got two more in the last day) so I am off of my plan but should make up for it next year.

Another fun thing I did was start a thread posting my journey. Kinda fun for me to document my journey.

Mark

A lot of good advice here. Budget and what condition you want are what I prioritized. The other thing I would say is to learn rarity and when you have a chance to pull the trigger on one for your set do it. You are going for the 520, Demmitt and O"Hara are the keys. Buy them the first chance you get.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by rats60

The other thing I would say is to learn rarity and when you have a chance to pull the trigger on one for your set do it. You are going for the 520, Demmitt and O"Hara are the keys. Buy them the first chance you get.

YES
The biggest mistake I made was in 2002 or 2003, when I was just starting. I had a chance for a PSA 3 Plank, but someone topped my bid on the last day. I let it go (for $12,000) because I told myself that I could buy so many commons that I could get close to finishing the set with that money.

But I could have bought those commons any time. Planks are few and far between. If you have a chance for something rare, not necessarily a Plank, but maybe a Cobb with a Lenox back or a Red Hindu W. Johnson, buy it. You can get the commons anytime, but the big stuff is rarely available. You'll never regret owning them, and they are the cards that always go up in value, so you won't lose money on them.

By the way, that PSA 3 Plank that I didn't get later sold for $75,000.

[the 'stache]

That's good advice, too, what Sean said. Something else to keep in mind. As you collect the set, you will discover things about it that you didn't anticipate. You're going to get a lot of the Piedmont and Sweet Caporal backs at first. Once you get something else, even your first Polar Bear, it will feel great. It's not a rare back by any means, but it's different. It's the Monster revealing just a little hint of its charms. It's like a beautiful woman leaving just the slightest hint of cleavage. As you collect a little more, you may not only like getting different backs, you will start to seem them out. That's the phase I'm at now. I have only recently started buying the cards a little more frequently. And a few times, when I had the decision to make-a common back, or a little less common, I found myself going for the less common back. You'll know pretty early on if the backs will hold some appeal. Maybe not. Maybe you'll be smarter than me, and figure out that the Monster in decent shape will cost you a bloody fortune, even if you do start out buying a large block of cards. Because then you start upgrading. Then you want to know what all the fuss about EPDG really means. You'll start buying those Old Mill cards for the first time, and then you get your first Southern Leaguer.

The T206 set is king because there are so many ways to collect the set. You could literally have started collecting the Monster when you were 18, and on your 60th birthday, finding something new you love about it.

Some people love doing runs. You pick a player you like, or a card that appeals to you. You open up your Bill Heitman book, and figure out how many backs exist for that card. And then you begin your search. You knock out the easy ones first. You get hooked up on the BST, and pick up a few of the semi-rare backs. You're going for the PSA 5 grades to start out, but by the time you're finalizing your deal for that Uzit back, the card is beat to ----, and you couldn't be happier.

Or, maybe you decide that ugly is beautiful. Some guys want their cards perfectly centered (hi Matt!). And that sounds good to you, too, until you hold your first severely miscut T206. And you're hooked. Or, you start hunting for cards with wet sheet transfers. Or cards missing certain inks. Maybe you are a Dodger fan, and you want to put together the ultimate Brooklyn Dodger set.

Maybe you have an idea what you're going to love already. Maybe you will know 3 months from now, or a year from now. You might go from a fan of the set to a true T206 lover, and you will remember the exact moment when you because a Monster freak. For me, it was opening up the package Rob sent me.

My first Hall of Famer. But more importantly, it was a card I just wanted because it spoke to me. The first time I saw it, I knew I was going to own it.



This card is gone. It's been upgraded by a nice PSA. But I still love it.

[Cmount76]

I cannot thank everyone enough for all of your advice. I have been collecting for many years and have finished everything I set out for and always wanted to tackle this set (the challenge), but knew I didn't know enough to get going. I am taking it all in and will certainly begin this beast as soon as I polish off a few others and get all of my ducks (and cash) in a row.

To those of you who offered future advice, I will reach out when the situation arises.

I look forward to joining all of those great threads about "my monster number" -

'Stache - I have already been working on the backs for some time now and think I am going to deal mostly with the fronts for this. I'll be in touch!

Thanks to all!!!

[wolf441]

Great advice by Bill, as usual! You'll find some great folks on this site that are willing to help.

My advice would be to take in everything that the forum members have said, research the T206 threads (some great stuff in the archives as well as the more recent threads) and then jump and a start your set. You'll probably change direction several times as you go (when I started, I didn't care about particular grading companies vs. raw before I finally settled on either SGC graded or raw - I like the way that SGC display in a wall mount and I also like to be able to flip through an album of 15 card sheets, organized by team).

There's a great excel spreadsheet on t206resource.com. Under the Checklists tab, it's down in the bottom right corner - Bill Brown's Superset checklist. I used this as I tackled the monster, highlighting each card by row in yellow and the back cell in green. It was kind of fun to watch it get filled in as I progressed.

Best of luck!

Steve

[T206.org]

Good luck if you dive in, Cmount76! You're certainly in the right place. I say pick up your first common, even if it's a beater, and once you have it in your hands you'll appreciate them even more. Even the smell is an experience.

[Mountaineer1999]

I got started on this thing about 3 months ago and have about 75 cards. Most of what i have bought are eBay sales that I thought were good deals. Most cards are PSA 1 to 4 (63) with a few raw (12) because I wanted to compare and hold the raw card. I prefer the raw cards but also like tracking my progress with PSA. I've started mainly with commons and low grade HOF to keep the cost down and build up inventory. I assume I'll have a bit more available cash later in life and can worry about the expensive cards then. Good luck and keep us posted.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Sean

YES
The biggest mistake I made was in 2002 or 2003, when I was just starting. I had a chance for a PSA 3 Plank, but someone topped my bid on the last day. I let it go (for $12,000) because I told myself that I could buy so many commons that I could get close to finishing the set with that money.

But I could have bought those commons any time. Planks are few and far between. If you have a chance for something rare, not necessarily a Plank, but maybe a Cobb with a Lenox back or a Red Hindu W. Johnson, buy it. You can get the commons anytime, but the big stuff is rarely available. You'll never regret owning them, and they are the cards that always go up in value, so you won't lose money on them.

By the way, that PSA 3 Plank that I didn't get later sold for $75,000.

I have a similar story. I had a chance to buy a really nice Plank and Magie that would fit my set back in the 80's. I will never see those cards again or if I do, I'll be up against people with much deeper pockets than me. My set is now done at 520.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by icollectDCsports

Bill -- I won't be taking on the Monster, but I really enjoyed reading that post which will no doubt be very helpful to those who go for it.

Well, thank you!

Originally Posted by Cmount76

I cannot thank everyone enough for all of your advice. I have been collecting for many years and have finished everything I set out for and always wanted to tackle this set (the challenge), but knew I didn't know enough to get going. I am taking it all in and will certainly begin this beast as soon as I polish off a few others and get all of my ducks (and cash) in a row.

To those of you who offered future advice, I will reach out when the situation arises.

I look forward to joining all of those great threads about "my monster number" -

'Stache - I have already been working on the backs for some time now and think I am going to deal mostly with the fronts for this. I'll be in touch!

Thanks to all!!!

Excellent. If you've been working on the backs already, you know most of what I said already. But my first post will still help others, I hope.

I look forward to seeing your set as it grows. Taking on the whole set is quite a daunting challenge, but it will be a fun one nonetheless. Good luck!

Originally Posted by freakhappy

All good advice here and I don't believe I have too much to add, but will just let you know what I have learned in the three plus years that I've been tackling the Monster.

The very best thing you can do at first is learn the basics about the set, which means the backs, differentiating the value between commons, HOFers, SLers, tough variations (tough commons, horizontals, freaks, etc.,), and different grade pricing. I'm sure there are a few others to research, but this is most of the basic that you will need to know about before jumping on the Monster's back

When I first started the set, I didn't know much at all about it and just jumped right in and luckily I didn't get burned or anything of the sort. After a short while you will learn what you prefer and things will start to go in different directions....like if you want to collect certain backs, team sets or just certain conditions. The beauty of it is that it's up to you...no one tells you what and how to collect but yourself

If you are like me, you cannot simply jump in and buy huge lots of T206's to jump start your set and spend 1-2k or more doing so. If you can, that's great, but most people aren't so lucky. I've just pieced my set together over three and a half years and I'm close to the 200 mark. I'm hoping to add around 40 a year, but I don't pressure myself to do so for reasons that Bill Gregory has already mentioned. Make this journey fun and enjoyable, not like a job that forces you to have deadlines and such.

Quite often the journey is the fun part of collecting, not the end point. Can't tell you how many people zipped through sets just so they could finish and then they turn around and sell them...what's the point of that?

Anyway...good luck on your journey!

Mike, I agree completely. I've never understood buying a big chunk of the set. A collector is free to do whatever they want, but I would think someone buying 40-50% of the set right off the bat will miss out on a lot of fun. I've been working on the set for a year. I have only 40 cards thus far, and some of them I will definitely be replacing. But I've had a chance to meet and talk to a lot of new people. I've made a couple of new friends, and I've had some fun talks about the hobby while buying. I'm taking my time, and squeezing every ounce of enjoyment out of the hobby that I can.

Originally Posted by BicycleSpokes

I definitely agree with all the great advice above.

I started collecting T206 cards quite randomly, but have enjoyed it a much more once I started dividing it into fun sub-sets that were more attainable over shorter terms. Going "Full Monster" is just too daunting for me, though I will eventually piece my way there!

Regarding books, you may already have found it, but Scot Reader's Inside T206 is free and excellent:
http://www.oldcardboard.com/t/t206/i...al-edition.pdf

Also, "The T206 Collection: The Players and Their Stories" is a nice coffee table book focused on short player bios by Tom and Ellan Zappala. (My only complaint is on the choice to use reprints for the card images within, rather than true T206s; Did anybody else have a problem with that??).

Best,
David

David, YES! That bothered me, too. The last chapter, where Joe Orlando is talking about the set, and pimping PSA, all the cards pictured in his chapter are the real deal. I don't understand why the rest of the book didn't follow suit.

I don't mean to knock the book, because I love it. But I think it would have been so much nicer if real cards had been pictured. Even if some of the cards used hadn't been in perfect shape, who cares? They are T206 cars.

Nobody would write a book about classic cars, and then take pictures of matchbox cars to replace the real thing, right? So why use reproductions in place of the real thing, when at least one of each card is readily available. Hell, they could have taken pictures of the cards I had, and used them for free so long as I got a simple acknowledgement somewhere in the book. But that would have made the book so much better. The reprints they included just don't look like the real cards to me.

Originally Posted by T206Collector

I understand why people say "buy rarity," but I never loved my Eddie Plank more than my Matty portrait. Some cards speak to you, regardless of value or rarity. If a card speaks to you, get the nicest, prettiest one you can find. That's the one never to let go of. Because if you do, you may never find that one again. I still miss a PSA 6 Chase Pink Portrait that I sold when SGC noticed a hairline crease that prevented it from being crossed over. I now have an SGC 60 that is really nice with no creases, but still doesn't present as well.

I also agree that buying in bulk to get a head start is worth it. Nothing quite like flipping through a stack of tobacco cards.

Enjoy the hunt.

I agree with your point about some cards speaking to you. The Walter Johnson portrait speaks to me. It's absolutely my favorite pre-war card, and I've already upgraded once, from a SGC 2 to a PSA 4. And I'll upgrade it one more time yet, but after I've built my collection up. The Dutch Revelle also speaks to me. I was fortunate enough to get a PSA 4 that was magnificent looking. It's one of my favorite cards to look at.

I agree with you, too, that having a stack of T206 cards is really nice, but I can stack the cards I've bought over time, and probably enjoy them a little more because of the connections I've made when buying them one by one.