Getting that feeling...
 

I have to blame several of you for my starting this thread :D. As a card collector, I have always, always, always been a '50s guy and considered Post-war cards to be the only cards I would ever care about. I also have recently developed an interest in vintage photography, with a particular focus on Ted Williams. I have always been aware of tobacco cards, and I have seen many, many Net54 threads about them as well, like the Monster Number thread. The enthusiasm of you guys (too many of you to list, but you know who you are) has caused me to take a closer look. I caught myself looking at tobacco cards at the National. There is just something about them. The colors, the backs, I am not sure really. Since getting back from Chicago, I have been looking at threads about purchases some of you made...hard to find backs, fronts, etc. and I am interested....but overwhelmed.

Where would I start? I have the book The Golden Era of Baseball Cards (the exact title escapes me) that has them all pictured. I have noticed the t205s and the t206s and others. Like many other collectors, I find myself drawn to the t206s. Should I just "try on" a few relatively inexpensive ones to see what I think about them in hand? I know that t206 collecting is a vast enterprise. I am crazy to plunge in?

I would appreciate feedback from you long time t206 and other tobacco card collectors.

Aw...Hell! Try one....I can quit any time I want....:D

Hi Robert,

Yes, if you don't take a liking to them, they are fairly easy to re-sell.

Nope, So many people collect them in so many different ways... Since I started about 6 years ago, I have come to think of monster collectors as a brotherhood of sorts.

I am certainly not a long-time collector, but here is a thread quote from Barry A regarding t206's that I came across several years ago and think it sums up nicely:

"It is an amazingly shrewd adversary,yet a most intriguing friend.
Forgive my anthropomorphism."



Plus, in a few minutes MrVster will be on here recruiting you and he is hard to resist.:eek::D

I bought a some T206's, very few T205's, and some T210's to start. After I got to around 40 T206 cards I realized I did not like them and as others said they are easy to resell. The T205 cards just never appealed to me after getting around 5. Now those beautiful red bordered cards with the B/W photo are a whole different story and I found my tobacco card set to collect. So my suggestion is try on a few different sets and see what fits.

Something I meant to mention in my initial post is that I have reservations about starting these type of sets because I won't be getting many of the key cards. For example, if I buy 206s, I do so knowing I will never buy a Wagner. The t210 Jackson can be pricey...might not happen for me. Do you guys have designs on purchasing all the key cards in these sets, or are you happy with just accumulating cards like the t206s and focusing on the front/back variations?

T206
 

Bought a Cy Young glove shows PSA 4 and Miller Huggins PSA 4 at the National and I have to say, after nearly completing the T205 set, I am hooked on the T206s. I am going to go for the HOFers less Wagner and Plank in PSA 4 or better holders. This will be a bigtime quest and will not be easily completed, but I am up for a challenge. Something about those cards...

I chose the T210 set to collect and it has the Joe Jackson and a few other cards I will never be able to afford and for me personally I don't have a problem with that. I just buy what I can and am very happy with that.

T206's are extremely addicting. The color, history and availability make is hard to resist. So many different ways to collect them. They are miniature works of art. And a big plus is they look great in lower condition. In general, T205's don't present quite as well as T206's due to the border chipping. Like others have said, try one one. What's the worst thing that can happen? :D

I figured I'd add a picture to give you a little nudge. :)

http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=10126

Dean, good point about their attractiveness in lower condition. That would be important to me as I would probably aim at vgex and lower. In collecting post war, I seldom if ever bought a card with a crease. This would change if I collected T206s. I wouldn't want creasing right across the face/focal point but otherwise a crease or two would be ok. Really other than substantial paper loss or staining, I would be good to go. That Johnson is very, very nice!

I would have to do likewise. Thank you for sharing.

With a set the size of t206 I don't have any problem not pursuing those 4 cards that cost ALOT more than I can justify and considering my set complete at 520.

Also there are literally dozens of subsets you can chase within t206. I started with just 150 series subjects.....

I could not decide between the T206 and T210 so I serve two masters (well actually six but who is counting?)


Attachment 199749

From everything you have mentioned I feel like the T206s are a great option. I collect just the Hofers and indianapolis players right now and my collecting budget allows me to purchase lower grade generally graded 1-3 and like others have said the lower grade cards can still look great. If you decide to go this route youll find some things are more important to you than others, for example especially with the t206 set I prefer the colors to pop, i dont mind if it has a small crease in the corner or a stain on the back or something as long as the color pops nicely and i like the centering to be decent as well.

Again as others have said sure there are cards that are hard to ever afford for most anyone but there are so many subsets, back runs etc you can do to keep a goal to accomplish.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I think I would most likely start targeting HOFers to accumulate a few and just see how it goes. I never really considered T206 up to now. I just assumed they were out of reach. However, with the exception of the Big Four, they look doable in lower grade (but presentable with good eye appeal). A couple of posts ago I talked about creases, stains, centering, and paper loss. I left out the obvious must have with T206s: color. Thanks, Adam for reminding me. The popping colors really have major visual appeal.

Yeah no problem. I personally like the "action" photos better than the portrait cards for the different colors. However some portraits are very nice too and I think a lot of collectors prefer the portraits. I look at a Johnny Evers with bat card or Ty Cobb bat off card compared to their portrait cards and the appeal just isn't there for me with the portraits. The bright colors just always drew me in.

Welcome!!
 

hi, I'm Johnny and I'm a T206 FANATIC:)..... T206 is the way to go!!!!....email me....pm me.....call me.....I can explain everything to you......plus, always here for support...:)

trust me, I'm happy to help:)

He is NOT kidding. :D

T206 Matty
 

My first T206, acquired nearly 20 years ago. Still love it. Don't worry about completion, just enjoy the chase. And don't look back... The Monster may be gaining on you!

Johnny, you forgot to mention they are each a precious snowflake. Johnny is like my T206 best friend, and I have never met him in person. He is great, as are so many others on this board for T206 advice (referencing you, Dr. Frank).

Ed.......
 

Thanks my friend! YOU are great and supportive yourself!:)

I always look forward to your emails:)

Bryan....
 

tHANKS MY FRIEND! YOU ARE BECOMING AN EXPERT fast!;)

Ok, you T206 collectors, let me ask you this: do you feel compelled for all of your T206s to reside in a PSA/SGC slab at the time of purchase? Like post war card collectors, I have seen some of you all post pics of your T206 purchases with some slabbed, some not. Much like dealing with the big post war star cards, I would assume the big stars would be slabbed due to concerns over trimming, doctoring, etc. What about the commons? I mean, if you collected 150s how would you handle that? Slabbed or not?

I know I'm in the minority among T206 collectors, but I prefer to collect them raw, keeping them in toploaders or CardSaver IIs. For one thing, it's almost always possible to get them cheaper that way, and I can put them in plastic pages, hold them in my hand if I want, and display them however I choose. All but a handful of my 250+ T206s are raw, including all of my 30+ Hall of Famers, and in fact I've cracked out a few that were slabbed when I got them. If I want to get some or all of them slabbed at some point down the road, ahead of a sale or whatever, I can do that. Part of this is because I started seriously collecting T206s (and other T cards) in the early 90s, before the grading companies were a major factor. (I know PSA was founded in 1991, but in its early years, as I recall, it was only used for very high-end cards, of the type that were way out of my league.) But I'm also a big advocate of buying the card, not the holder; I look for cards that have good eye appeal but are reasonably priced, and I'm never thinking about a card's resale value, just whether it would look good in my collection. It helps that I have never dealt in the really high-end T206s, having seldom paid more than $100 for a card until just recently. (Though some of the cards I got 15-20 years ago are worth quite a bit more than that now.) If I were to spend $500 or $1000 or more for a card, I might be more inclined to go for a slabbed card, but the TPGs are far from infallible, as most people here know. For the cards I buy and am interested in, my own eyes and experience are enough to evaluate a card.

It depends on your comfort level. I have been handling T206 since the 70's. I can just tell by looking most of the time if a card is short, by eye. When buying off the 'Bay, I always err on the side of caution. If he card is shaky and I do not have a relationship with the seller, I will move on.

Lately though, I have been "stabilizing my collection" by buying slabs and getting rid of the raw. If II was immortal, I would leave them raw but for ease of liquidation for me or the wife(:eek:). Sale of Slabs less is less opinion-driven.:)

David and Mike, thanks for your thoughts. In different ways you brought up important points. Most of my buying will be online, either through the B/S/T or ebay. That makes me gravitate toward slabbed cards. There are a few dealers I have bought postwar stuff from that I would probably trust but not that many. I am a collector first and foremost, and I don't buy to sell but you never know. I have to think a PSA holder makes the potential sale a little simpler. It is vital to buy the card, not the holder. One can get a lot of eye appeal in lower grades. In a perfect world, I like them in their natural state, but...

Robert, I do not know how old you are or what the value of your collection might be. I too am a collector, first and foremost. At some point you start adding up the $20 cards, the $40 cards etc. and the number shocks you because it is likely more than you expect. My wife is a willing enabler with my collection and will offer opinions. She enjoys these bits of cardboard more than I ever expected. However, I have no heirs to even consider leaving the collection to. Anything I do from here on out (I am 56 so I hope it is for decades yet) will be with an eye towards that day when I change the direction of the flow of cardboard from inbound to out. The wife would be cussing me if I go first anyway so I don't want to add fuel to the fire by saddling her with a pile of raw tobacco cards to sift through.....:eek::):p:rolleyes::D

We do all have to consider our own mortality...comforting thought :o.

I have been looking for a focus of sorts where I might get started without totally losing my mind. Although they can be plagued by tobacco stains, I am really liking the Polar Bear backs. Is that a reasonable goal/place to start?

That may be a tall task in itself. Let's see somewhere around February this year I had a total of maybe 50 or so and now a half year later I sit on 199 T206s.

You'll get hooked, you're not immune to the disease :rolleyes:

Others are trying to lure you in but when you have a taste of the monster he'll keep yanking you back for more ;)

As others have said, T206 collecting can get a wee-bit :rolleyes: addicting.

HOWEVER, how you choose to do it, is up to you. So many options, from tougher all HOF, all Southern Lg, or back runs, to some what easier team sub sets. Heck, go buy a $15 Casey, and you've just COMPETED the "Montreal" team set :).

I do think Polar Bear is a very neat idea. First you don't ever have to worry about the big 4, or Southern Lg. Secondly there isn't much of a premium on them. Yet you still have the "fun" of the HOFs, and other tougher cards. I personally like the tobacco stains, adds character ;)

As we all say at our T206 Anonymous meetings: "I know I have a problem, but I have it under control." :p


Fun, fun, Scott

Thanks, Scott. I figured the Polar Bears would be good to start with for the reasons you stated. If I can get those, I will move on to another part of the set. I just love the way the backs look, and there are some relatively affordable HOFers included in the Polar Bears.

im a huge fan of the T205's hope you give them a look:D

I have been reading and reading trying to soak up T206 knowledge, and I wanted to say thanks to all who chimed in and helped get me started. People like John, Jantz, and Luke as well as a couple of other collectors have been incredibly helpful in helping my T206 collecting to get off the ground. I have collected a few different things over the years in the postwar era, but I don't believe I have ever come across a group of collectors who manage to simultaneously be tight-knit but also accepting and sharing toward newcomers.
This really feels like a community. I do a lot more reading on this board than typing. A lot of the time when I google a topic, it brings me to an old Net54 thread. That says something about the knowledge base that exists here. This ended up being longer than what I intended. Bottom line is that I hope in the future to be able to contribute something here that adds to the knowledge base and somehow helps another collector, especially new ones. I also hope to be able to give you guys decent stuff to look at in the form of purchases. Happy collecting!

Robert

Robert.....
 

You are the Man!!! great taste in your focus;)

I totally enjoy helping you out......makes me happy:)

I can't wait until you get some cards in hand......you will love 'em:)

the guys and ladies :confused: (haven't seen any ladies post in a while ??? joan?? ect)..... are the best!! so helpful.....

Robert, there will be other very cool members helping you out soon I'm sure ( Chris B, Adam, ect ect, there so many).....

I am here for you every step of the way my friend....YOU HAVE A GREAT EYE!

thanks Jantz and Scot for helping Robert.....Robert is another great guy we have acquired!!! your in with me friend:)

Robert....
 

btw...love the avatar!! and can't wait to see your posts/ pick ups;)

Thanks, Johnny!! I appreciate it; collecting is fun again!:D

Robert!!!
 

anytime!!! here for you bro!! your going to have a blast:)

but seriously

Sounds like you will fit right in with the good people on the board. If I can ever help, I am always here.

And here are a few I will be parting with later this evening.....kind of sad but they will make someone else very happy!!

http://luckeycards.com/pt206mattyproofandregularx2.jpg

Thanks for the kind words, Leon. There are some fantastic people involved in prewar collecting on this board! I went to my first National this year and swung by your booth. There were several guys there talking. I wasn't sure which one was you. I planned to make it back by, but time got away from me. I contacted Rich, and before the year is over, I would like to make it to one of the Plano shows. Perhaps I will see you there. Cool Mathewsons by the way.

Matty DESIGN CHANGE PROOF...
 

OMG...

the Mathewson is a piece of history being auctioned off tonite!!!:eek:

there are fewer than 10 design change proofs known to exist (TYPE 1 PROOFS according to the resource labeling them as "type 1" as the proofs with actual artwork changes/ pre production cards)..............

and a matty to boot??!!! OMG:eek:

just amazing!! the type 1's are true rarities of epic proportions, as we will see in the bidding.......;)