T206 Collecting

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Posted By: david poses

i always wanted to collect t206 cards and started about 7 months ago, buying them up with a ferocity i never expected. it seems like sometime between june and september, the prices got ridiculous. i began to notice, based on the board and the stats of bidders i was bidding against, that a lot of people, just like me, were also starting to collect t206s and i developed a theory that this rush of novice collectors will drive the price of low-end cards through the roof, as everyone's price point was about the same. i had about 60 cards when i decided to cool it for a bit. ultimately, i put most of them on ebay and made back much more than i had spent on them. 1950 and 52 bowmans were cards i always loved, so i put the money i made on the t206 cards into bowmans and now have a nearly complete 52 set and 1/4 of a 50 set. the t206 cards i kept are all southern leaguers (persons, carlos smith, cranston, etc) and a few i couldn't part with (malarkey- love the name, dooin, jack white, cy young portrait, starr, abstein, becker).

pardon me if this comes off negative, but i started thinking that if everyone went into the monster with the same gusto as i, and everyone got discouraged when prices started getting ridiculous (a psa2 clymer selling for $67- what? why?!), and the notion of completing a t206 set seemed impossible, eventually, some of you/us would start selling to focus on a more realistic set to complete (the bowmans?). i also got the feeling that if anyone had spent a fortune on t206 cards for months and found themselves strapped for cash around the holidays, prices might fall a bit (at which point i might get back into the monster)

i came to this as a pure collector- have no intent of making a profit (that i profited from my sales is coincidence- obviously i won't reject free money, but i was only looking to recoup expenses) and just wanted nice cards to look at and keep for the kids, so when it stopped being fun and started being too much of a business (losing by 50cents to a sniper, prices too high to justify, etc), i leaned toward the bowmans partially also because they aren't too popular and i seldom pay more than $3.00 for a card. they are beautiful cards and they can be found in great shape for not a lot of money.

hopefully this won't make the 50's bowman market too hot for me, but i turned 50 or so t206 cards into 300+ bowmans and as much as i miss the t206 cards, i love getting more cards everyday and enjoy the thrill of knowing i will complete a set without having to mortgage my house for an eddie plank card. not sure if anybody cares, but i figured i'd throw my t206 story from the perspective of someone who got discouraged. this board has been incredibly useful and informative and even though i haven't bought a t206 in a while, i'm here everyday.