Why collect T206?

[Cozumeleno]

Originally Posted by Fred

1. Back story - The Back story on how/why they were created by the tobacco companies, their demand by kids (who couldn't legally even buy the cigarettes), etc., is all fascinating stuff to me.

Did they have an age limit on purchasing smokes back then? I figure kids probably didn't have enough money to buy smokes back then. There's a cool Old Judge advertising piece with a dad spanking his kid for getting the wrong brand of cigarettes. I guess that means in the 1880s there was no age limit. Not sure about 1910 era.

There was an age limit but not sure what it was. This PDF book on T206 cards at the Old Cardboard site talks about store owners that sold the packs to boys being arrested or fined.

http://www.oldcardboard.com/t/t206/I...al-edition.pdf

[Reds Collector]

Great stories and some humor thrown in.

I bought my first T206, Hans Lobert - Piedmont Back for $20.00 in 2004 while visiting Houston, TX. I sent it to SGC and it came back slabbed VG 40/3. I didn't think I could afford a set, so I stuck with the cheaper cards until I reread the article "For Richer or Poorer" in the September 2003 Beckett Sports Collectibles magazine. The article compared the appeal of a Cobb portrait graded PSA 8 and a Cobb portrait graded SGC 40/3. The article also discussed collecting within your budget. A really good article. After some research, I found that with time, I could complete my favorite teams set. Since then, I have been working on a Cincinnati Nationals Team Set and still have the Lobert as part of my set. I need the Clark Griffith SGC 30 or 40 to complete my set.

[bravesfan22]

Ive collected modern cards on and off since i was a kid. Mainly my favorite players from when i was growing up and currently. I have done some "prospecting" as well within the modern cards but there are a few things about modern card collecting I dont like outside of collecting my favorite players. One its become all about prospects on the baseball side of things and I feel like the companies abuse that fact and over produce product and the quality of product is lacking because of this. I also feel like the modern side is much more of a business and for profit then it is for the joy of collecting.

Therefore over the last year or so I started digging into vintage. I started with a few 1955 topps hof's and then I really got more involved on here and started researching the t206 cards. I had always heard about the honus wagner and seen pictures of the ty cobb red portrait and such but never really looked into them. Figured they were way too expensive. Once i researched them I learned theyre pretty affordable cards especially for the lower grade. I seen there was Indianapolis players in the set and being from around the area that caught my interest. Also around this same time I started watching Ken Burns Baseball series and hearing all these names from the t206 time period made me research the players and look them up. I decided to buy my first t206 card which was a Christy Mathewson dark cap here off the b/s/t and I now have 7 t206's. 6 hof's and 1 Indianapolis player. I have decided to collect the hof's and indy players first and then i may tackle the rest of the set.

-adam

[arc2q]

Originally Posted by Cozumeleno

There was an age limit but not sure what it was. This PDF book on T206 cards at the Old Cardboard site talks about store owners that sold the packs to boys being arrested or fined.

http://www.oldcardboard.com/t/t206/I...al-edition.pdf

Most states likely had limits but I dont think all did. I believe Virginia did not have a minimum age to purchase cigarettes until 1986! After 1986 it was 16.

[Cozumeleno]

Originally Posted by arc2q

Most states likely had limits but I dont think all did. I believe Virginia did not have a minimum age to purchase cigarettes until 1986! After 1986 it was 16.

Interesting - thanks for sharing that.