How to approach the T206 spreadsheet

[Kevin]

I made myself a little check list back in October...right around the same time I became a member here. It is in google docs. I am currently at 169. There are a ton of holes. As crazy as this seems, the lack of players that last names begin with "A" sort of bothers me. One of my last acquisitions was Ed Abbaticchio (brown sleeves) so I could fill the hole at the top of the list.

Anyway, just some Saturday morning musings.

[jggames]

For us binder collectors those are the annoying cluster of holes on each page. If you want to feel any better by adding more, I have an Ames, Arellanes, and Arndt all P350s that I’d let go.

[FrankWakefield]

I think I bought my first few white border tobacco cards about 35 years ago.
'Bitten by the bug' seems an understatement for self proclaimed T206 collectors, it's more like the bite of an alligator, or maybe a monster.

At some point, after picking up a few dozen T206s, collectors might develop some degree of a planned assault on the cards. Collectors might go for a team, or HOFers, or... they'd see the alphabetical listing in the early Beckett books. Collectors would feel like starting at the beginning seemed sensible, or maybe reflexive. Collectors would gravitate to the A's. I know the first time I tried accumulating these cards (I got to 512 or 516, something like that) I reached a point where I started pushing on filling in the blank spaces and that started with the A's. Contemporaneous with this was the change in card sources. The evolution went something like this: face to face with friends and acquaintances, through the mail with correspondence and mailing cards, through the mail with catalogs and mailing lists, small to large scale meets and conventions, and then came the internet with eBay and online businesses. With eBay and all, I think there's more buying pressure on the players with names at the beginning of the alphabet. Some collectors' passion for a rapid chase of the cards has them collecting alphabetically, A-Z. (Similarly, it seems to me that after the Cubs won their recent World Championship that the bidding prices on the white border Cubs seemed a bit higher.) Someone on the board said something along the line that most all of the T206's except for a few rarities were most always available on eBay for a price, if you're willing to pay. I agree with that.

There was a time when some seller would describe a T206 card to me with a number. Usually a Beckett number. But sometimes it would be from a different numbering system. I disliked the uncertainty. Evidently others did, too; because now the description might say cap or no cap, glove or no glove, batting or fielding, a description. Nowadays, seldom does a seller list an un-numbered tobacco card with a number.

Binders... that's where I'm headed. I dislike cards in grading slabs. I've not broken all of my graded cards out, but most of the time if I get a card in a slab it gets broken out within a day or so.

The kids who collected these cards 110 years ago bunched them by team. Look at the lists of the old collectors. those lists sorted the players by team, then alphabetically within the team. Look at the lists in one of Bert Sugar's book, The Sports Collectors Bible (even today a quite useful resource for identifying and understanding old cards, look for one on ABEbooks). That book lists the subjects in T205, T206, T207, T209, T210 and T211 by teams. So this time as I chase the white border cards I'm going with 15 pocket sheets in binders, with the cards sorted by team. Seeing the cards sorted into teams is really neat. First time I was chasing these cards hard the Cubs were the first team I completed. I took a photo or two of all of them, slightly overlapping. A few guys expressed thanks for that photo and said they were using it as a screensaver photo. If you look at a complete team of T206s, you can see the uniform changes for the players with multiple cards. You can see the changes as the cards move from the 150 series, to the 350 series, and the 460 series. This series evolution isn't as obvious in an A-Z sorting of the cards. And you'll notice that some of the cards that maybe look slightly more worn on the front, with corners a bit more worn, that those cards are more likely 150 series cards. The kids of a century ago were wearing and tearing those cards for maybe 2 or 3 years in a kid's pocket, while series 460 cards usually look slightly less worn. (That is from a consideration of all cards out there, not slabbed cards; because people wanting to slab a card generally want to slab less worn cards.)

When collecting, there's a bit of a sense of reward or accomplishment in steps of completion. Completing an alphabet letter, A, or B, of F... that's not quite as satisfying as collecting all of the Cubs, or Cardinals, or Giants or the Washington Senators... That's what I've found. So I really suggest sorting these guys by team. That's how they were collected generations ago. And it's neat to see that most of the portraits are in the earlier series, and see the changes in poses and uniforms.

[Tao_Moko]

I collected the set by team. That was fun. You can break it up to knock out a tough one(Detroit) and then follow up with an easier one. There are some(Whitesox) that are fun because they have a larger representation in the set and also easier on the budget. Those feel fruitful when sorting the spreadsheet by team because you get to flag a lot of cells. I also put the set together while not owning them all at once, but recorded as once owned. I still have some Lotus123 sheets printed dot matrix and even further back on graph paper hand written. Have fun!

[jamest206]

I have tried a few routes, and am going the portrait route. Everything I have is raw as well, and typically you can get what you are after on here at the right price. On eBay, just make the offer to everyone selling what you are looking for, and see who comes in. Also, don’t be afraid to post that you are looking to buy something specific. I kept losing out on the red portrait Chance at PSA 2 on eBay. I stayed patient, and got a raw with creases that have no affect on the integrity of the card for 150. To cut the story short, picked up an Evers. So no one wanted to negotiate on eBay, and I just posted the other day looking for a Tinker, and got what I wanted. Coincidentally the guy had a really nice Joss raw, which I decided to buy with the Tinker. I do have a Cy Young PSA 3 right now, so the Joss was icing on the cake to add next to him. I love this site, and it has been beneficial in numerous ways. Just stay the course!

[jcmtiger]

I collected the T206. Detroit, was not that diffiicult because I went for the Cobb cards 1st, My set was completed in the 90’s. When I moved to Florida 5 years ago most of my cards & large display items were sold. I actually have had at least 3 different collections. 1st were collections of complete sets 1967 thru 1990 Topps,Fleer, & Donruss. 2nd.were display items for my walls & cases in my Basement, bobbin heads, Hartland Statues, had the complete set of originals, & & the new ones from the 90’s, Detroit Tigers WS press pins, programs, etc. All of these items have been sold or traded away. Now collect 19th Century Detroit. Have all 26 poses for the 1887 season, & a few others. Still need more, but hard to find. Joe

[Kevin]

Thanks for all the posts friends. A lot of little nuggets here. I currently have 4 graded cards that I want to break out. Any advice on how to go about it?

I'll be in touch about those duplicates, too! Thanks so much...

[tonyo]

My spreadsheet had my own 4 pt grading scale:

4=good
3=minor
2=tolerable
1=distracting

I graded each of these categories: Creases, border, front clean, front paper loss, back overall, then averaged the 5 for an overall grade.


Oh and: all raw, in binder pages, alphabetical order not by team. Had a "real looking" Plank reprint, and 5 or 6 Wagner reprints with different backs.


Really enjoyed my t206 journey. I started, sold off most, then started again twice before I took the plunge and went all in

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I currently have 4 graded cards that I want to break out. Any advice on how to go about it?

..

I used tile nippers on one corner, then a screw driver to pry the two pieces apart.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

It never happens but I always want to be first on threads with titles like this so I can say something like

"slowly and from behind"

A guy can dream.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

It never happens but I always want to be first on threads with titles like this so I can say something like

"slowly and from behind"

Doing so will likely scare the sheet out of the spreadsheet.

Brian

[sando69]

now, scott..........

[Exhibitman]

It's all HOFers for me, though I have a Pelty horizontal I really like, a Chase that I've hung onto because it is a Piedmont 460 factory 42, and a Harry Steinfeldt because it felt right to get the 3B portrait to go with the Tinker-Evers-Chance portraits. Portraits guy, too; if there is a choice between action and portrait I am ll over the portrait. I missed the boat on Cobb, though: at the time I bought the red portrait I figured "who needs the green one too?" Oops. The only multiple I have is WaJo. I got the ready to pitch when I was 12 and many years later added the portrait, which is one of my favorites. Speaking of which, my favorite card is a tie between Eddie Collins and Ed Walsh.



I also bought a Coupon Cobb bat off because it looked like the T206 but was cheaper at the time. That turned out to be a fortuitous choice and it is a beautiful card.

[pwang100]

I too keep track of my T206's on a spreadsheet. When I started, I simply typed in the card, back, pose, team and $ I paid. Over time, I realized the order was.. the order in which I bought them. Not very useful. So, I created another tab, and sorted Alphabetically. That helped.
I collect mostly raw, ( Monster # is at 340-ish) and I store them in a binder.. in the order I bought them. Again, not real helpful, but I started that way, and just continued...

[Kevin]

“A” is complete! LoL

[Kevin]

I compiled the "B" list and there are quite a few HOF players I need:

Baker, Beckley, Bender (no trees), Bender (portrait), Breshnahan (portrait), Three Finger Brown (portrait), Three Finger Brown (Chicago on Shirt).

Just these guys and 17 others! Goals for 2022: Green Cobb and completing the "B" subset in the T206 series.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I compiled the "B" list and there are quite a few HOF players I need:

Baker, Beckley, Bender (no trees), Bender (portrait), Breshnahan (portrait), Three Finger Brown (portrait), Three Finger Brown (Chicago on Shirt).

Just these guys and 17 others! Goals for 2022: Green Cobb and completing the "B" subset in the T206 series.

Beck and Bliss are on their way.

[Kevin]

Baker is on his was…Bs still tough w the HoF guys.

[Redleg25]

I started on the 520 a few months ago. I decided to primarily start by filling Scott Rs scarcity list #5 through 100, after that's complete I'll focus on #101 -200, and so on. I figured I'd go after the toughest first, then it would be all downhill from there, other than those other pesky HOFers that occupy #101 - 520 lol.
Imo you have to start with some sort of plan of attack. Either by scarcity, team, HOFers first , etc, or it's just too overwhelming, hence "the monster". Best of luck on your quest.