What About Putting A T206 Set Together Today?

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Posted By: Lee

I was interested to see if the members of this board think it is wise to keep putting a T206 set together now. I'm not short on money, but since T206's are hot right now, I would like to wait if there is going to be a cool down.I've been buying mostly hall of famers and rare backs. Is this the direction to keep going? I was also seriously thinking of just collecting the hall of famers and rare backs, not the whole set. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

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Posted By: steve f

Lee, Start asap. In the past couple of years, it seems the T206 prices, on average, have increased about 100%. Some HOF's even more. Wish I had the liquidity build the Monster.

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Posted By: Lee

I've been plugging away at it for 3 months now, I have amassed 15 hof players, and 5 different rare backs. My goal is to get one of each hall of famer (except wagner and plank of course) first, and then move on to getting different variations. I have picked up a cobb, mathewson, and speaker as my big cards so far.

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Posted By: dennis

they'll never be cheaper. imo

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Posted By: Brueso

but as with all 'investments' (if that's how you're looking at it), be sure you actually love the cards in case they have plateaued.

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Posted By: Lee

I really love the T206's, they are one of the things that brighten my day. I figure if they plateau, this is OK. As for investments, I look at cards something I enjoy doing rather than a way to get rich. I was just wondering about peoples opions of wiether now is a good time to keep collecting because of rising prices.

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

"This set has gone up 100% in the past year"
This is good information. But do we have a breakdown of this appreciation?
For example, if I put $1000. into this set last year would it be better to have put that in a high grade common, a HOFer, or perhaps 50 - $20 commons?

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

I'm by no means an expert in this set. I just own a few with no aspirations of trying to complete the set.

How many HOF cards?
How many Southern Leaguers? What is the difficulty factor of the SL cards with respect to the rest of the set?

I know I can look this up somewhere but I'm just too lazy.

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Posted By: Brett

I was going to try and atleast get the set of commons including minor leaguers, but there are so many damn cards to get. Also, the HOFers would cost too damn much after a while... for poor grade,lets see :

4 Cobbs at ateast $400+... unless its cut in half. 3 youngs, 3 mathewsons and so on. too many HOFers to buy. I also got a bit bored of them too because i see so many on ebay and the prices for t206s have gotten rediculous.

i turned to E cards after. They look cooler and the sets only have 30 cards, so its possible without spending too much. More detail in them too, they actually look like the player. ( minus e91 set ofcource ).. Only cards that will cost alot are : Cobb, Wagner, Mathewson and Young for the e93s. Also the e98's are neat because they come in different background colours, so you can get complete sets in red, blue, orange and green.

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Posted By: MVSNYC

well, that's the beauty of this set...you can collect it in so many different ways...rare backs, SLers, HOFers, teams, portraits, etc. i personally collect high grade (8's & 9's) commons & rare backs. all PSA graded.

you might want to pick up some literature "t206 the monster", or goto t206museum.com (great reference).


good luck!
MS

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Posted By: T206Collector

I put my set together from 1997 through 2005. Among the last cards I needed were two Cy Youngs (with and without glove) and Cobb Red Back. I held off on these until last because I find Cy Young extremely overrated and because the Cob Red Back is one of the most available T206 cards. Well, I grossly miscalculated on that score. By the time I got around to purchasing them, beaters were going for $200+ and the SGC 50 Red Cobb that I held off on getting when it was $700-$800, is now $1,500+. Had I to do it over again, I would try to be disciplined and focus on getting the HOFers first. Then I would move to Southern Leaguers and rare variations second. Then I would move to commons. One caveat -- if you can snag an O'Hara or Demmitt (or Magie for that matter) at a somewhat reasonable price, get it. With all the people soaking up T206 cards lately, the number of O'Haras and Demmitts to go around will shrink.

For every detail imaginable, the latest must read is Scot Reader's book on T206. It has the relative scarcities that you are seeking. Click below to download a free copy:

http://www.oldcardboard.com/t/t206/InsideT206-3-edition.pdf

And, of course, on this Board there are two or three threads about El Principe De Gales and the Piedmont Primacy Theory that are important reads, too, for the advanced collector of T206.

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Posted By: Lee

Theres something like 350 commons, 76 HOF, 75 Southern league, and 25 semistars. I'm approaching it at the angle of get HOF, semistars, and rare backs. I'll worry about southern league and commons later if I decide to do the whole set. Its going to take over $10000 total to put just the HOF together at todays prices(I'm going to do it over about 5 years). I havent got any of the super rare backs, like Uzit or Red Hindu or Broadleaf 460 Yet, so I may abandon the rare back quest! I was just wondering if people think the market is going to slump soon, so I could pick up cards a bit cheaper. I have been noticing on eBay, a downward trend with a few T206 HOF's, like Hugie Jennings and Frank Chance (very slight, but still a reduction in price). Other HOF, such as cobb and johnson continue to rise. I have also noticed the rise in price for T206 commons, particularly those graded 4 or above. Any advice on when to buy, weither to hold out for a slump or not, wouls still be greatly appreciated. I have just gotten back into T206 a few months ago after a 10 year hiatus.

Thanks,
Lee

Edited to Add: Thanks T206 collector, its good to know I'm on the right track.

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

What does anyone know about future prices who does not have time machine access? That being stated, my guess is that t206s are as cheap today as they are going to be for quite a while.

I see a continuing influx of collectors into this market segment with probably the same distribution of purchasers (grade/pricewise) as currently exists. And in this market segment, for reasons which I do not fully understand, this set is the next step in the progression of 50s Topps/Playball/Goudey/t206.

Fortunately, for me, the next logical step is not typically taken. And please stay away from the OJs. I mean, afterall, who has ever even heard of those players - who look like old time cowboys. Or Civil War refugees.