T206 Reference / Reflections.....Tuesday Nite Trivia

[Leon]

This is a very friendly bump so we know this hugely important file didn't get lost in our database crash.

[tedzan]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * T206 Reference, Theory's, Surveys, etc. * * * * * * * * * * * * *




Tell us of your first experience(s) regarding the BB card Show where you acquired your first T206 cards. I'll begin with my story which is from 40 years ago.

In the 1970's - 1980's, two of the major BB card Shows in the East were in Willow Grove and Valley Forge (Pennsylvania). They were situated in the George Washington
Motor Lodge Convention Halls. Bob Schmierer and Ted Taylor promoted the Willow Grove Show. Tony and Rose Carrafiell promoted the Valley Forge Show. Major Dealers
loaded with unbelievable stuff were set-up at these Shows

In 1980, Bill Heitman published his book "The T206 Monster". It motivated me to start a T206 set, so I drove to Willow Grove. Upon entering the Show, I was amazed at
the size of the crowd. After several hours of maneuvering, I achieved my goals. I acquired a bunch of T206's, some 1949 LEAF's, 1949 BOWMAN stars and 1952 TOPP's.
Enough said, here are the highlights of my BB card purchases on that 1st visit to the Willow Grove Show. I'm happy to say that these cards are still in my collection.


This is my very first T206 (cost me $20)

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1949 LEAF Stan Musial rare light blue variation (paid $25)........and, 1949 BOWMAN Paige (which I traded two 1952 TOPPS Hi #s for)

. . . .




1952 TOPPS Billy Martin's rookie card (paid $15)






Look forward to reading your stories.



TED Z
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[jggames]

Mine wasn’t at a card show, I hope that’s ok. I’m from the middle of nowhere Kansas. We didn’t have many shows to go to but somehow at about 12 years old I got on the Fritsch catalog mailing list. I can still picture what I think that black and white newspaper print cover looked like, because it’s the only reason I knew T206s were special. There was a Doyle, a Magie, a Plank and a Wagner. Inside, the prices for a couple of those cards were in ranges I knew my piggy bank couldn’t hold.

There must have been an advertisement for an auction house because within a year I was on the phone during visits to my grandparents house bidding on cards. I never won a T206.

Fast forward a couple years and we’re about to take a roadtrip to Philadelphia to visit family. I was 14 and checked out a Pennsylvania yellowpages from the library and wrote down every card shop that had big advertisements around philly. This was 1987 so there were a few. I mowed and collected cans for 3 weeks trying to make money for the trip. On the way we stopped at one shop in Lancaster, I’ll never forget it because every once in a while I’ll have a dream about thumbing through raw T206s there.

I bought these 3 cards and even though they’re Piedmont and Sweet Cap 350s, they’re a permanent part of the (mostly) off-back monster binder I just started building last year...my first major purchases since 1987.

[tedzan]

Hi Jason

Any means of acquiring the first T206 cards for your collection goes. I didn't mean to limit this topic only to BB card Show acquisitions.

And, your's is a great story. Brought back 1980's memories of Larry Fritsch.

Thanks for posting.


TED Z
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[steve B]

I moved to Arlington Ma in 1977, and being closer to the big city (I was from small towns, lots of land but under 10K people) I figured there might be someplace that sold old baseball cards. How little I knew that there were hardly any shops anywhere....
But there was one in town!
started hanging out there, and really liked the T206s, but wasn't really ready to spring a whole 1.50 for a decent one.
One day the guy running the shop said he had something for me. A T206! and only 20 cents! who cared if it didn't have one of the pastel scenery backgrounds? Or that it had creases so bad it was nearly torn in half?
It was Mine! They even let me use some scotch invisible tape to make sure it made it home in one piece.

I'd post the scan, but ….. maybe later when I don't have to hunt through my computer for it.

The guys at Halls would occasionally save stuff for me, especially nearly unsaleable items that might encourage me to collect more... My P-2 is even worse, but was free...
A good investment on their part.

[MVSNYC]

Hi Ted!

Summer of '91, a few years after moving to Bethlehem, PA (from Long Island), I started going to local card shows. I vividly remember going to a show at the Trolley Station Mall and seeing my first T206 cards; I was hooked from the beginning. I've been fascinated with them ever since, almost 30 years.

Here's some of my first cards, 2 of which I got that day in 1991, and still have...

[brianp-beme]

At my first show in 1981 I picked up these two T206 cards (plus 3 other 1910 era Hall of Famer cards) at the first table upon entering (on the right hand side, in case you were wondering) for all of the piggy bank money I brought, which was not a lot. I checked out the rest of the show, but had no more to spend. They were my first vintage cards, and I still have all five of them.

Brian