RANK: Top 5 "Toughest" T206 Southern Leaguers

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Posted By: Adam

I have just completed my T206 SLer sub-set. Without a doubt, for me Ed Foster was the hardest card to obtain. Second place would be Sid Smith. Shag would be 3rd.

Curious as to what people would rank as the 5 toughest SLers to find (ranking them in order, with number 1 being the toughest).

I would say:

1. Foster;
2. Sid Smith;
3. Shag Shaughnessy;
4. ?
5. ?

Also, any explaination (print runs etc.) as to why some SLers are tougher to find than others?

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Posted By: John S

I am not much of an expert as I only own a half-dozen SLers; but I had always heard that Foster and Paige of Charleston were tough...maybe because the Charleston franchise moved temporarily in 1910 and Charleston did not field a team? I can't remember were they they moved...possibly Frankfurt? Maybe Foster's and Paige's cards were not produced during the 1910 printings.

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Posted By: Rick McQuillan

Hi Guys,
I have also been interested in this question. Scot Readers info is weighted by PSA Pop Report,PSA grades, and pricing. His list is:

Persons (although it seems like this card is relatively easy to find in low grades)
Cranston
Foster
Mullaney
Revelle
Hart
Manion
Ellam
Smith
Ryan

I have been trying to pick up the most difficult cards in each of the series. It seems like the Southern League and Texas League cards always go fairly high, even the raw poor/fair cards.

Rick

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

I did something as I collected the white border tobacco cards, I commenced it about halfway through the set. I made a note on the checklist of which number T206 it was when I got it. So I knew when I got card #400, it has '400' beside it. Eventually I was putting down the date of acquisition, too. I wish I'd started that sooner...

Anyway. As I gathered in the T206s, I decided to try to get the southern league cards because I perceived them undervalued. I thought demand would drive their cost higher than other T206s. I think I was correct.

So I know the order of acquisition on some of the T206s. The last SLer I got was Lipe. Cranston was the next to last. McCauley was just before him. And preceeding him was Foster.

So that would weakly support the Cranston and Foster idea above. The Beckett catalog used to give a slight premium to Shaughnessy and Perdue, I think. I don't know if it still does, or not. I bought a couple of Shaughnessy cards, thinking that if they were tough I needed 2... one for trade bait. This was pre-eBay, back when folks swapped cards. But I'd find more Shaughnessy cards. He was president of the International League for 2 dozen years. He managed over 2000 games in the minors. He was in baseball forever. I think that put some demand on his card. As for Perdue, I kinda like him. He was from a town about 30 miles from me. Quite a character. Best game he ever pitched was for the 1912 Braves, opening day... it was against the New York Giants, Matty threw for them. Hub pitched a 3 hit shutout, and beat Mathewson. But not much was whooped up in the newspapers about it. Instead, the papers covered news about a shipping accident in the Atlantic, a new ship had hit an iceberg... the Titanic. No idea, though, why there'd be a premium on his card...





Solidarity on post editing!!!!

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Gotta love Hub's nickname, "The Gallatin Squash"!

Also interesting to note that Shag's autograph is fairly easily obtained due to his lifelong involvement in the game. One of the more easily-acquired 1919 White Sox autographs.

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Posted By: Adam

It would be neat to see a photo of Shag and a copy of his autograph if anyone has them scanned. Please post!

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Posted By: Darren

My experience has 'em ranked

5. Revelle
4. Paige
3. Helm
2. Foster
1. Shag

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Posted By: Bob

If we are talking about who's toughest in very nice condition, I would say the guy from memphis scoops carey